Paizo Inc Frequently Asked Questions
Last updated: March 22, 2023.
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Questions about Payment and Billing
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Questions about Product Status
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Questions about Submitted Orders
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Forum Questions
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Private Messaging Questions
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Paizo Product Questions
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Subscription Questions
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PDF Questions
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ePub Questions
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Writing & Illustrating for Paizo
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General Magazine Questions
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General Paizo Questions
How do I reach customer service?
You can contact our customer service department via e-mail at customer.service@paizo.com
How do I add a new address to my account, or change my current address?
You can add or modify addresses for pending orders, wishlists, or subscriptions on your My Addresses page.
Do you ship internationally?
Paizo is located in the United States and we ship worldwide, if you have particular concern about delivery to your destination, contact customer.service@paizo.com and specify your concerns.
Note that customs fees are the responsibility of the recipient. Because such fees vary based on destination and order contents, Paizo does not calculate, compensate or refund for customs fees, duties, or taxes charged to the recipient. Questions regarding a specific country's customs fees should be directed to that country's customs office.
Some shipping methods may vary on how or when fees are charged, particularly UPS international. We recommend researching what you may be charged based on your particular destination before placing your order.
How much will shipping and handling cost?
Shipping and handling costs are based on dimensions, weight and protective packaging required and may vary significantly based on the item weight, size, destination and method. You can view shipping costs and transit times for the various methods we offer by adding items to your shopping cart and entering in your address. If you do not choose to continue with your purchase, just navigate away from the checkout. You can always remove or add more items to your shopping cart prior to completing checkout.
What shipping methods do you use?
Available shipping methods vary based on the contents of your order and its destination. During order checkout, we will display all available options for that particular order, along with delivery time estimates.
The following shipping methods may be offered for US addresses:
- Standard Postal Delivery via UPS Mail Innovations (Delivery Confirmation)
- USPS First Class (Not Trackable)
- USPS Priority (Not Trackable)
- UPS Ground (Trackable)
- UPS 2-Day (Trackable)
- UPS Overnight (Trackable)
The following shipping methods may be offered for addresses outside the US:
- Standard Postal Delivery (Not Trackable)
- USPS First Class International (Not Trackable)
- USPS Priority International (Not Trackable)
- UPS International (Trackable)
Paizo is not currently able to track USPS or Standard Postal international shipping methods.
Can multiple orders be shipped in the same package?
If you're placing a new order, and you have an order waiting to ship, during checkout you may be given the option to combine them in the same shipment. (If the previous order is almost ready to ship, or the combined orders could not ship together using the same shipping method, you may not be given this option.)
If you wish to have separate existing orders shipped together, please contact customer service as soon as possible and we will do our best to combine them.
If you have multiple orders that are ready to ship at the same time, they may automatically be combined to ship in the same shipment even if you did not specifically choose to combine them during checkout.
If you wish to avoid the possibility of multiple orders being combined into one shipment, we recommend waiting until the first order has shipped before placing the next order.
Why did my order split into multiple packages?
Occasionally our order processing system will determine that shipping costs are lower if an order is split into multiple packages. This usually occurs because the combined size and/or weight of the items in an order exceed the limitations of a particular shipping method.
I'd like to have the customs label modified for my international shipment so that a particular type of item is declared in a different category. Can I do that?
Our customs labels are generated automatically, and we cannot and will not alter them based solely on the recipient's preference. If an item is declared in the wrong customs category, however, please let us know so that we may correct it for future shipments.
Do you have wishlists?
Yes, we do. See this thread for details.
What is a sidecart?
Sidecarts allow customers with regular subscription shipments to combine new orders with upcoming subscription shipments to potentially save on shipping charges. See here for details.
I forgot my password. How do I recover it?
Enter your email address on the password request page and we'll email you a new, temporary password that you'll need to change when you next log in.
How do I get on (or off) your email lists?
You can update your email notification settings in the Privacy Settings section of your My Account page.
Please note: You cannot opt out of transactional emails, such as order confirmations, shipment notices, or notification of updates to your digital assets. If you do not wish to receive any emails from us, including transactional emails, we can close your account at your request.
Can you ship to APO/FPO/AP addresses?
Yes! Please review your address carefully as you submit your order. Occasionally the service we use that automatically helps us format addresses can update it incorrectly. If you have any issues getting the address submitted correctly, please let customer service know and we are happy to help.
Do I need a paizo.com account to place an order?
At this time, you must have a free paizo.com account to place an order. If you have questions or concerns regarding account creation or order placement, please contact customer service.
Does UPS International ship to PO Boxes?
No. This shipping service is not available to ship to addresses with PO Boxes.
When using UPS International as my shipping method, will I have tracking all the way to my delivery address?
Yes. This shipping service has tracking from door-to-door so you should never lose visibility on your shipment's location.
How will UPS International rates and shipping times compare to the other international options?
The shipping rates and transit times will vary depending on the destination country. For more information, please step through the checkout process to determine the availability and pricing to the destination. Remember that you will not be charged until you've completed the checkout process (for PDFs) or when your order ships (for physical products).
Questions about Payment and Billing
What forms of payment can I use to order online?
We accept Visa, Mastercard and Discover for orders placed online or over the phone.
Can I pay with a check or money order?
We accept checks or money orders in US Dollars for domestic shipments only, and only for physical products. We cannot accept checks or money orders for ongoing subscriptions. There are two methods for calculating the shipping costst:
- Go through the order process online—providing a shipping address so that postage gets calculated—right up to the point where you would enter the credit card information. Then, print off the web page (or write down the pertinent info), and send it with payment to the address below.
- Contact our customer service department by e-mailing customer.service@paizo.com; let us know what you want and where you want it shipped, and we'll calculate the shipping cost for you. Write down the pertinent info, and send it with payment to the address below.
Mail your order to:
Paizo Inc, Attn: Store Orders
7120 185th Ave NE
Ste 120
Redmond, WA 98052-0577
Can I use PayPal?
Not directly, but PayPal does offer a PayPal debit card that functions as a MasterCard and draws from your PayPal account.
• I've been charged twice for my order!
• Why is there a hold on my credit card when the order hasn't shipped yet?
• I saw a charge on my account, but now it's gone. What happened?
We don't charge your card until your order ships. However, when you place an order, we immediately authorize your card to ensure that it can be charged when we ship your order. An authorization is a non-monetary transaction that merely checks with your bank to ensure that the card is valid and has sufficient funds. Again, no money is charged to the card until we ship your order.
However, at the discretion of your bank, an authorization can (and almost always will) put a hold on that amount of your credit. The duration of this hold is entirely up to your bank. If you are checking your balance via online banking, this authorization may show up as a "pending transaction" (or it may not show up at all). We do not have any control over the duration of these holds.
An authorization will only remain open for a set period of time that depends on your bank's policies. For debit cards, an authorization will usually expire in 1–5 days, while a credit card's hold can remain open for up to 30 days (again, the duration of these holds depends upon the card issuer's policy).
If an authorization expires before we ship your order, we must re-authorize the card before we can settle the charge. Since the average order on paizo.com takes anywhere from 2 to 11 business days to fulfill, some orders will necessarily be authorized twice. This is especially true for preorders, backorders and items coming from a distributor.
If, when you place your order, your card is declined because of insufficient funds, and you think this is in error, you should check your balance with your bank and/or contact Paizo's customer service before you attempt to place the order again. There are cases where we will receive a decline notice, yet your bank will accept the authorization and place a hold on your funds. In this instance, if you try to place the order again with the same card, it will probably fail again and put another hold on your account. If you keep resubmitting the order, you can quickly tie up your available credit on multiple authorizations for an order that cannot be completed; instead, you should verify payment information has been entered correctly and/or consider using an alternative payment method.
As a side note, orders for items that are fulfilled immediately (such as PDF and gift certificate purchases) will be authorized and settled immediately.
For more information about authorizations and authorization holds, check out the Wikipedia entry on authorization holds.
I recently placed an order on the website for a PDF and some other items. When I received my emailed invoice, it showed a charge for the PDF but not the other items. What happened to the other items?
Don't worry, the order for the other items is still there. PDFs are charged as they are ordered, but we don't charge for the other merchandise until we are ready to ship it.
Questions about Product Status
• The product page says "Usually ships from our warehouse in X to Y business days." Why?
• My confirmation email says "Should ship from our warehouse within X to Y business days." Why?
We have tens of thousands of products available for sale on paizo.com, but we can only keep a selection of them on-hand in our warehouse. When you place an order for a product that's not in our local inventory, we have to order that item from our distributor, and it takes a few days to arrive from one of their warehouses across the country. The range of dates we provide factors in the shipping time from our distributor in addition to the time it takes us to process the order.
If the range given is "1 to 6 business days," that indicates that we have this product on hand in our local warehouse. If the range is higher than that, it indicates that the product is located in one of our distributor's warehouses.
The range of dates provided in your order confirmation email reflects the estimated ship time for the item with the longest estimated time to ship. That is, if some of the items in your shipment could ship within 1 to 6 days, but one item is expected to ship within 5 to 11 days, we'll estimate 5 to 11 days for the shipment.
What does "Preorder" mean? How do preorders work?
Preorder items have been announced by the manufacturer, but are not yet available. If the manufacturer has provided an expected release date, we pass that date on, but it is not a guaranteed ship date.
We do not charge your credit card for preorder items until we ship them to you, although we do request an authorization on your credit card when you place your order. (See this FAQ question for more information about credit card authorizations.)
If you preorder items that will be published by Paizo along with non-preorder items, you can choose whether or not we hold the other items until the preorder arrives, or whether we ship items as they become available. Preorder items from publishers other than Paizo will be shipped separately.
In the rare circumstance we receive notice from the manufacturer that a preorder product has been cancelled, we will cancel your preorder and let you know. If the manufacturer notifies us that the final product differs substantially from the product as it was initially marketed, we'll let you know, and ask if you'd like to cancel or change your preorder.
Can I combine preorder items from companies other than Paizo into one shipment?
Because release dates of preorder items from other companies may change or be postponed without being updated in the system, we do not combine multiple 3rd party preorders into the same shipment as a delay or cancellation of one could negatively impact the rest of the items.
What does "Backorder" mean?
Backorder items are not currently available in our warehouse, but our suppliers indicate that they will again be available sometime in the future. We usually don't know when backorder items will be restocked. Some items can be on backorder for just a few days; others for many months. Keep in mind that we don't charge your credit card until your item ships, so there's no risk involved in placing a backorder. If you order backorder items along with other items, the backordered items will ship separately.
What does "Special Order" mean?
Special Order products are items that we order from our suppliers on an irregular basis. Orders containing special order items can take notably longer than our usual turnaround times. Keep in mind that we don't charge your credit card until your item ships, so there's no risk involved in placing a special order.
What does "Discontinued" mean?
"Discontinued" means that our primary supplier doesn't expect additional stock of the product. Once any remaining quantities are sold, the product will no longer be available.
What does "Out of Print" mean?
"Out of Print" means that our primary supplier has no more stock of the product, and they don't expect to get more. Sometimes, those items are still actually in print from the manufacturer, but copies are not readily available to us.
Questions about Submitted Orders
How do I view my order history?
Go to your My Account page and click on “Order History” at the top right of the page.
What does "Order Pending" mean?
As soon as your order is placed, its status is "Pending." Once we ship your order it will change to "Complete."
I have a pending order, and it's past the "usually ships from our warehouse in X to Y business days" shown at checkout. Should I be worried?
While we do our best to adhere to our shipping estimates, our inventory is constantly changing based on information we receive directly from our suppliers. Occasionally, unexpected fluctuations in supply, delays during shipping, or changes in release dates for new products will add time to our original delivery estimate. If the expected "should ship from warehouse" date has passed, you can contact customer service to inquire about your order. Please note, all of our estimated time frames are in business days, which does not include weekends or US Post Office holidays.
Can I track my shipment?
Only UPS is currently trackable. Standard Postal Delivery (UPS Mail Innovations) offers domestic delivery confirmation and may include some tracking data. Because Standard Postal Delivery involves a transfer between UPS Mail Innovations and the US Postal Service, we have found that occasionally the parcel will miss a scan along the way and no information will be updated. Even though data is not being updated, we find that the parcel is almost always still on its way. We do not consider these parcels missing until they has exceeded their delivery estimate. USPS First Class and Priority are not currently trackable for orders placed through paizo.com.
Please note, at this time, only UPS International shipping trackable.
My order hasn't arrived and I don't have tracking! What do I do?
The time listed for transit is an estimated window from the postal services. These estimates are given in business days and are estimates only. If your package has not shown up within the estimated window, we would suggest giving it a bit more time to work its way through any delays. Packages are shipping from the Pacific Northwest and weather or other delays in one part of the country may affect shipping times for many destinations, especially if a transit hub is affected.
We have found that packages are rarely lost, and will usually show up at their destination or be returned back to us. In the meantime, you may want to check with your landlord/roommates, local customs or post office to see if they are holding the package. You should also check to make sure that the package has, in fact, been shipped, and has been shipped to the correct address. You can view your order history at https://secure.paizo.com/paizo/account/orders.
How do I change my shipping address for an order I have already submitted?
You can change the address for a pending order by clicking on the individual order in your Order History.
You can change the address on multiple pending orders by going to your My Account page and clicking on My Addresses.
How do I change my payment method for an order I've already submitted?
You can change the payment method for a pending order by clicking on the individual order in your Order History.
You can easily change the payment method on multiple pending orders by going to your My Account page and clicking on My Payment Methods.
I need to make other changes other than the shipping address or payment method for an order I've already placed. Can I do that?
That depends on how far along in processing your order is. You can contact us with the changes you want to make, and we'll do our best to implement them. The sooner you contact us the better, but once you have submitted an order, we can't guarantee we will be able to make changes before an order ships. Please make sure you review and verify your order information before you submit it.
How do I cancel an order?
To cancel an order, please contact customer service as soon as possible at customer.service@paizo.com. While we will try our best to cancel an order, we may not be able to stop or make changes to an order once the order has been submitted.
How do I return an item or an order?
If your order has already been fulfilled, please contact customer service for instructions on returning items.
Forum Questions
What are the forum rules?
Please see our Community Guidelines.
Who owns my comments?
While Paizo Inc does not pre-screen message content, Paizo Inc does reserve the right to edit or remove submitted messages or material at any time. Paizo Inc is not responsible for the content of messages submitted by users of the site. Users posting messages to the site automatically grant Paizo Inc the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, nonexclusive right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, sublicense, copy and distribute such messages throughout the world in any media.
How do I format my forum posts?
Forum posts can be formatted using markup—our implementation of BBCode. This allows you to use bold or italics, link to another Web page or an email address, quote another post, and a few other things.
BBCode tags you can use:
[quote=The PostMonster General] Quoted material here.... [/quote]
This is [b]bold[/b] and [i]italics[/i] and [s]strikethrough[/s].
Go to [url=http://paizo.com]Paizo Inc[/url].
Contact [email]customer.service@paizo.com[/email]
[list][*]one[*]two[/list]
This is [bigger]bigger[/bigger] and this is [smaller]smaller[/smaller].
This is [ooc]out-of-character commentary[/ooc] for play-by-post threads.
[spoiler=Movie plot spoiler]This is a spoiler, such as revealing who really did frame Roger Rabbit.[/spoiler]
[dice=Perception]1d20 + 3; 1d6 + 2[/dice] This is a dice expression.
How do I change my avatar name? Why can't I change my avatar name?
You can change your avatar name on the Forum Settings page. You can change your avatar name at any time until you have posted 10 messages to the forums.
What about avatar icons?
To pick an avatar image, click here, or click on My Account and then Messageboard Settings. Periodically we add new avatar images. At this time, we are not able to take requests for specific new avatars. Custom avatars are not available at this time.
Why can't I edit my post?
You can edit your post only during the first hour after it's posted. This limitation prevents people from "rewriting history" by retroactively changing posts that have already generated discussion. It also helps ensure that regular messageboard readers aren't in a situation where they could miss new information buried in posts they thought they'd already read.
Why can't I include a signature with my posts?
We try to keep the appearance of our messageboards as clean and streamlined as possible. Signatures that get repeated over and over on a page detract from the main conversation, and we'd prefer that you not manually insert them into your messages.
How do I get a title after my avatar name, like "Editor-in-Chief"?
Get a job at Paizo! Seriously, though, Paizo employees are identified on the messageboards by their full name and job title.
If you're a reviewer, illustrator, or another type of contributor to one of our products, please don't include your title in your avatar name. Contact your editor to have a title added to your account.
What are aliases? What are they for?
For those playing in play-by-post games, or just those interested in posting under multiple avatar names, you can create multiple messageboard aliases. To create or modify your aliases, go to your My Account page (link at the top of every page), and click the "Create new messageboard alias" link. If you've already created multiple paizo.com accounts, contact us at customer.service@paizo.com.
What's up with the dots?
They indicate threads you've recently posted to.
What are the triangles for?
If you're signed in, you'll see triangles next to the header for each forum. Clicking the triangle lets you "collapse" that forum so you no longer see its recent posts or subforums. Collapsing a forum also filters recent posts from that forum out of the Messageboards box on the front page.
How does "(x new)" work?
The x is the number of new posts in that thread since you last read the thread, or the number of posts in a thread created since you last visited paizo.com.
What is "focus," where do I find it, and what does it do?
Click the "focus" link to hide all threads in a forum except the ones you're most likely to be interested in—threads with dots, or threads with "(x new)" posts. The focus link is at the top of the main page for each forum, below the "add new thread" link.
Private Messaging Questions
What are private messages?
Private messages are direct text-only messages between individual paizo.com members. You may format your messages using messageboards BBCode. You cannot edit messages after they have been sent. There is no delivery confirmation for private messages, and no guarantee that the recipient will ever see or reply to a message.
Where are my private messages?
Your private messages are on the "Private Messages" tab on your profile page, which you can access by clicking the envelope icon next to your name at the top of the page. If you have unread messages the icon will be highlighted and the number of new messages will be displayed next to it.
How do I send someone a private message?
Find that person's profile page, and click "Send Private Message." You may also click "Add to Address Book" to make it easier to find them later. If you do not see either of these links, that person has either opted out of private messaging or blocked messages from you.
I don't want to receive private messages. How do I opt out?
You can opt out of the private messaging system by unchecking the box labeled "Members of paizo.com may send me private messages" on your My Account page and clicking the "Submit Changes" button. If you opt out you cannot send or receive private messages.
Can I block someone from sending me private messages?
You can block the sender of any private message you receive by clicking "Block This Sender" on that message. Blocking a person prevents them from being able to send you new messages. Any existing messages to or from that person will remain in your inbox or sent messages until you delete those messages. You can unblock people on the Address Book tab of your private messages page.
Should I use private messaging to contact Paizo staff?
If you're asking a rules question, please post it on the messageboards instead. Paizo staff will not respond to rules questions via private messaging. This is because it is more efficient to answer a rules question once in public (where anyone can see it and link to it later in a discussion) than answer it several times in private messages (which can eventually lead to staff members doing nothing but answering individual rules questions in private messages).
Should I use private messaging for customer service questions?
Please either post in the customer service forum or email customer service if you have customer service issues. Paizo customer service may send you private messages to request additional information from you if that's the best way to resolve your issue.
Someone is harassing me via private messaging. What do I do?
If you no longer want to receive private messages from someone, block them. Please contact Paizo Community Managemente to report abuse.
Can I delete my private messages?
Yes. Deleted messages will appear in the "deleted" tab on your private messages page. Clicking the "move to inbox" or "move to sent messages" link next to a message will move it back to your inbox or sent messages. If you click "empty trash" and confirm this action, your messages will be permanently removed from your deleted tab. If you delete a message you sent to someone else, that message will be deleted from your sent messages but will remain in their inbox. You cannot see if someone has deleted a message you sent.
Can I search, sort or file my private messages or contacts into categories? Can I have incoming messages forwarded to my email?
No.
Will Paizo staff read my private messages?
Your private messages are considered private, however messages may be reviewed by Paizo staff or disclosed to appropriate law enforcement agencies if required to do so by law, or in the good faith belief that such action is necessary to investigate abuse or ensure personal safety.
Paizo Product Questions
What is the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game?
The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a backward-compatible fantasy roleplaying game based on the 3.5 Open Game License. See the Pathfinder RPG area for more information.
What if I have questions about rules for a Pathfinder product?
There are additional links to more specific FAQ's at the upper right of this page. You can also visit the product page of specific products to see if that product has an individual FAQ.
Additionally, you can visit the following forums to ask rules questions:
Pathfinder Society
General Pathfinder Advice
General Pathfinder Rules Questions
Pathfinder Compatible Products From Other Publishers
Paizo employees including the development team and customer service are not available to answer rules questions via phone or email. Requests for rules clarifications and other rules inquires must be made via the messageboards.
What system do Pathfinder products use?
Pathfinder products released prior to August 2009 used the 3.5 OGL. In August 2009, we released the Pathfinder RPG, and began using it for all Pathfinder products. Since the Pathfinder RPG is designed to be backward compatible with 3.5, players will find that all Pathfinder products are easy to use with either 3.5 or the Pathfinder RPG.
What are Pathfinder Adventure Paths?
The Pathfinder Adventure Path is a monthly, 96-page, perfect-bound, full-color softcover book printed on high-quality paper. Each volume contains an in-depth Adventure Path scenario, stats for about a half-dozen new monsters, and several support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Adventure Paths are released in six-volume arcs. (For example, the first six volumes of Pathfinder Adventure Path comprise the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, while volumes 7–12 constitute the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path.)
What can I expect in each volume of the Pathfinder Adventure Path?
The primary content of each Pathfinder Adventure Path volume is a lengthy adventure designed to level up a party two to three levels. These adventures connect throughout the Adventure Path to provide a complete campaign. Every volume also features at least two support articles designed to bolster that volume's main adventure, but the contents of these support articles can just as well serve any campaign. These support articles might be in-depth explorations of key cities, descriptions of important deities and their worshipers, ecological discussions of key monsters, explorations of the region in which the Adventure Path takes place, details on new magic items and spells, or even rules for how to handle certain types of in-game situations (such as how to maintain a stronghold).
Each volume also contains an installment of the Pathfinder's Journal, an ongoing exploration of the world in which these Adventure Paths are set. These journals give you a wealth of inspiring background material you can take and use in your own campaign or to expand on the current Adventure Path. Finally, each Pathfinder will feature a bestiary of a half-dozen or so new monsters. Some of these new monsters will feature in the adventure in that volume, while others might just fit the themes of the adventure—they're provided for you, the Game Master, to expand your game. Many of these monsters are drawn from real-world myth, legend, and even cryptozoological sources, further adding a sense of tradition and verisimilitude.
What are Pathfinder Campaign Setting products?
Pathfinder Campaign Setting (formerly Pathfinder Chronicles) sourcebooks and game accessories add detail to the Pathfinder campaign setting—the setting in which Pathfinder Modules and Adventure Paths take place. It's a setting that invokes classic sword-and-sorcery themes sure to appeal to longtime and brand-new gamers alike. Pathfinder Campaign Setting products don't have a regular schedule or a fixed format—they vary from 64-page sourcebooks to a hardcover campaign setting book.
What are Pathfinder Player Companion products?
Pathfinder Player Companion (formerly Pathfinder Companion) is a bimonthly, player-friendly 32-page supplement that focuses on a single aspect of the Pathfinder campaign setting. Whether it's an in-depth look at a geographic region or a race, Pathfinder Player Companion volumes will help immerse your players in the Pathfinder campaign setting.
What are Pathfinder Modules?
Pathfinder Modules (formerly GameMastery Modules) are bimonthly 32-page, high-quality, full-color adventures for use with the Pathfinder RPG (or with the 3.5 edition of the world's oldest roleplaying game). It's an ideal product for GMs looking for short or diverse adventures. (This product line was monthly until August 2008.)
What is GameMastery?
Paizo's GameMastery products are a wide-ranging line of accessories designed to give GMs the tools to make the most of their game sessions. From Item Cards to Maps and other accessories, our goal is to create products that let GMs run more organized and exciting games.
What is Planet Stories?
Planet Stories is a bimonthly line of classic fantasy, science-fiction, and science-fantasy novels and short-story collections chosen with the interests of fantasy and science-fiction enthusiasts and gamers in mind. The Planet Stories line is not currently active.
What is Paizo Games/Titanic Games?
Paizo Games, formerly Titanic Games, is Paizo's family game imprint, offering everything from quick, two-person card games to more involved four-to-seven-player board game showdowns.
Where can I get Paizo products?
Most Paizo products are available at your local game store, in bookstores, and online at paizo.com.
Paizo.com has a Retailer section where retailers carrying Paizo products can opt into a retail locator to help customers find out where to make Pathfinder purchases locally.
What Paizo products are coming out next?
See our Product Schedule page.
Do you have plans to make Pathfinder products for the iPad, Kindle or other portable devices?
We do have some iPad apps! Look here for details.
If you're wondering about eBooks, though, the most common eBook formats were designed for text-heavy books that don't rely heavily on illustrations, and that means those formats just don't work very well with books that have strong graphic elements—like all of our Pathfinder gaming products. For these books, the PDF format remains unmatched, so the best way to view our gaming books on your portable device is to find a good PDF viewer for your device, and purchase our PDFs.
Our Pathfinder Tales fiction line, though, works very well as an eBook; Pathfinder Tales are being released in both ePub and PDF formats.
What is the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game?
The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game is a cooperative game for 1 to 6 players. As you explore and overcome challenges, you'll improve and customize your character deck by acquiring new items, allies, weapons, and more.
Are there any translations of Pathfinder products?
Yes! You can view a list of current, licensed translations at the bottom of our Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License page.
Some, but not all of these translated products are available for sale on paizo.com.
Subscription Questions
How do subscriptions work?
We offer ongoing subscriptions which automatically continue with each release until you choose to cancel. Instead of paying for your subscription all at once, we'll automatically charge your payment method each time a product releases in your subscription as we ship your new volume. You only need to sign up once, and never need to worry about renewal notices or missed issues!
Just choose the product you'd like to subscribe to from the Subscriptions page, add it to your cart, and go through the checkout process. During checkout, you'll be given the option to start with either the current or the next release in the line—just click the "start with this product" button under the volume you'd like us to send first. If you choose the most recent product, you'll be given the option to have us wait to ship it with the next volume, potentially saving shipping costs.
You must have a valid credit card and a valid e-mail address to subscribe.
Shortly before we begin shipping each month's releases, we will create orders and this may generate an authorization on your payment method, however we don't settle against this authorization until the order is processed for shipping.
What advantages are there to subscribing?
Subscribers to any of our lines will receive each subscription product directly from Paizo and need never worry about missing a product.
Many of our Pathfinder & Starfinder products receive a free PDF of each subscription volume purchased as part of their subscription. Some subscriptions include a percentage discount on each new release in the subscription line. See individual subscription pages for more details.
Those who subscribe to four or more qualifying subscription lines receive a special benefit for subscribing. See "What is the Paizo Advantage Discount?" for more information and restrictions.
What is Paizo Advantage?
Paizo Advantage is a 15% discount available to those who subscribe to four or more qualifying subscription lines, available once the first installment of each subscription has shipped. With four qualifying subscriptions, you get the choice of a complimentary subscription to either the Pathfinder Society Scenarios, or Starfinder Society Scenarios. If you subscribe to six or more qualifying subscriptions, you receive both Pathfinder AND Starfinder scenarios.
The qualifying subscriptions include:
- Pathfinder Rulebook (formerly Roleplaying Game)
- Pathfinder Rulebook Special Edition
- Pathfinder Adventure Path
- Pathfinder Adventure (formerly Modules)
- Pathfinder Lost Omens (formerly Campaign Setting)
- Pathfinder Lost Omens Special Edition
- Pathfinder Maps
- Pathfinder Accessories
- Starfinder Roleplaying Game
- Starfinder Adventure Path
- Starfinder Adventures
- Starfinder Maps
- Starfinder Accessories
More details about subscriptions can be found here.
How are subscriptions mailed?
Subscribers may choose their preferred shipping method from a number of options which will be presented at checkout time. Subscribers who choose UPS will have their subscriber copies shipped in a box; subscriptions delivered by postal service will be shipped in a sturdy cardboard mailer (or, in the case of several items shipping together, in a box).
Are international subscriptions available?
Yes—we ship worldwide.
How often do you ship subscriptions?
The timing can vary depending on a variety of variables. Due to the fact that many of our products are printed overseas, and can be delayed in transit, we can generally only estimate future shipping windows within a couple of weeks. You can see our current best estimates for your subscription items on your My Subscriptions page, and you can see all of our upcoming release dates on our product schedule page.
When do you charge for subscription shipments?
A few days before your subscription ships, we'll send you a email letting you know that we expect to ship your subscription in the next week or so. At this time, we may request an authorization from your bank for the amount of the next shipment, and your bank may display this as a pending transaction, but we won't actually charge your card until your subscription ships. When we ship your subscription a few days later, we'll send another email letting you know that we charged your card and that your shipment is on the way. If your subscription includes any PDFs, this email will also tell you that those PDFs are now available from your My Downloads page.
Can I start my subscription with a particular product?
During checkout, you'll be able to choose whether to start your subscription with the most recent product or the next upcoming product.
I just ordered a subscription. Why isn't my first volume shipping?
It may be that the item you chose to start with has not yet been released. Your My Subscriptions page shows the estimated schedule for your upcoming subscription items. (You can see more upcoming releases on our Release Schedule page.)
Another possibility is that when you started your subscription, you chose to ship your first volume with the next subscription shipment, potentially saving on shipping costs. If you did, you'll see it listed in your sidecart on your My Account page. If you want to ship your sidecart immediately, just click the "ship as soon as possible" button; it will ship sooner, with a separate shipping fee.
I just ordered a subscription that includes a free PDF. Where's the PDF?
We add the PDF of each volume to your My Downloads page as soon as we ship your subscription copy of the print edition. If your corresponding print edition hasn't shipped yet, see this FAQ entry.
You do not get free PDFs when purchasing older volumes that that were released prior to your subscription—you only receive PDFs of volumes that are sent as subscriber copies.
I just started a subscription to one of your product lines. Do I get the subscriber benefits (like free PDFs or discounts) on older products in that line?
No. Granting full subscriber benefits retroactively wouldn't be fair to longtime subscribers. The Paizo Advantage discount that's a benefit for qualifying subscribers gives a discount of 15% off of the MSRP of nearly every product on paizo.com, with the exception of non-Paizo downloadable files. Note that in all of these cases, though, people who were subscribers at the time the product shipped received a better deal—it pays to subscribe sooner rather than later!
Does Paizo offer PDF-only subscriptions?
Currently, there are two PDF-only subscriptions: the Pathfinder Society Scenario subscription, and the Starfinder Society Scenario subscription. If you are interested in reading about the reasons we do not offer other PDF-only subscriptions, technical director Vic Wertz made an excellent post on this topic.
Does Paizo offer subscriptions through local gaming stores?
Paizo does not offer subscriptions through local gaming stores. If you are interested in reading about the reasons we don't, technical director Vic Wertz made an excellent post on this topic.
• Can I ship other products with my subscription shipments?
• What is a sidecart?
Your sidecart allows you to potentially save money on shipping by having new orders shipped with future subscription shipments. If you have an active subscription, each time you go through checkout, you'll be be given the option to combine new items with the earliest possible subscription shipment. If you choose to combine them, they'll be placed into your sidecart until that subscription shipment is ready. (This option doesn't apply to backorders, preorders from publishers other than Paizo, and items that do not require shipping.)
You can view the items in your sidecart by going to your My Account page and viewing the Sidecart box on the lower right side—you may have to scroll down a bit to see it.
If you decide you don't want to wait until the next subscription shipment to receive your sidecart items, just click the "ship as soon as possible" button in the Sidecart box. This will take you to an order confirmation page to review the items, payment method, and shipping details before completing the order process.
If any of the items is your sidecart are out of stock when your subscription is ready to ship, your subscription shipment will not be delayed; we'll ship any in-stock items along with the subscription, and any out-of-stock items will remain in your sidecart to ship with a future subscription shipment.
What is the deadline for adding items to a particular subscription shipment?
Items need to be added to the sidecart before we finish processing your subscription order. A few days before we process subscriptions, we send out a confirmation email that says "In the next week or so, we're expecting to ship [the next volume of your subscription]." At that point, we have already added any available items from your sidecart to your subscription shipment. If you still want to add additional items, there may still be time, but the clock is ticking! Just go through the usual checkout process, and you may see an option to ship the new items with the pending order. If you don't see this option, your subscription order is past the point where we are able to add items to it... but you can still choose to ship those items with the following subscription shipment.
I see a number of combined shipping options listed for my subscriptions. What do they mean?
If you have a Pathfinder Battles or Comics subscription in addition to Paizo subscriptions, you can tell us whether we should ship them together or separately. Here are the choices, and what they mean.
- Hold for monthly Paizo shipment.
- If you choose "Hold for monthly Paizo shipment", your non-Paizo subscription releases will be delayed until the next time Paizo subscription products are sent out. While you won't get the non-Paizo subscription products as quickly, this may reduce your overall shipping costs. Choose this option if you want the lowest costs, and are comfortable waiting for your comics or miniatures. Please note, orders may still be sent in multiple packages.
- Never hold anything: Ship items as they become available and I'll pay separate shipping charges for each item.
- If you choose "Never hold anything", we will ship everything as soon as it's released, combining only items that are released at the same time. Depending on the subscriptions you have, you may get one, two, or three subscription shipments in a single month. Choose this option if you want to make sure that you are always getting everything as soon as possible, and are willing to pay for additional shipments.
How do I change my address for my subscriptions?
Click the "My Subscriptions" link at the top of any page to provide a new address for your subscriptions.
How long will it take for an address change to take effect?
The address change will take effect with the next volume we ship.
Can I subscribe for just one Adventure Path story arc?
All of our subscriptions, including the Pathfinder Adventure Path, are ongoing subscriptions, meaning that we'll keep sending volumes until you cancel. If you'd like to cancel your subscription after a particular Adventure Path ends, just let us know shortly after the last volume ships.
How do I cancel a subscription?
Just contact our customer service department by e-mailing customer.service@paizo.com. Please note: if we have already started to process your next shipment, we may not be able to stop it.
I need to stop receiving my subscription for a little while. What should I do?
If you want us to hold your subscription products for a little while, we can temporarily suspend your subscription. We prefer that the suspensions not last much more than 30 days. Just contact our customer service department at customer.service@paizo.com or call us at (425) 250-0800, and let us know that you want to suspend your subscription. Please note: If we have already started to process your next shipment, we may not be able to stop it.
PDF Questions
What is a PDF? How do I purchase and download a PDF?
PDF stands for Portable Document Format—it's essentially a digital book. Most PDF editions contain all of the elements of the printed edition, including graphics and page design. Some PDFs even contain additional features like bookmarks and layered maps.
To purchase a PDF, add it to your shopping cart and purchase it as you would any product. Then click on "My Downloads" in the upper right hand corner of any paizo.com page. Find the PDF you want to download and click on it. The PDF will be encased in a zipped folder, at which point you will need an unzipping utility to unzip the folder and access its contents. You will also need Adobe Reader or another PDF reader to view the file.
I bought a Paizo product from my local game store. Can I get a free PDF of that book? / When I order a Paizo product from paizo.com, do I get a free PDF of that book?
Free PDFs are offered only as a subscriber benefit for many of our product lines. Retail purchases and non-subscription orders do not qualify for free PDFs. Check out our Subscriptions page to learn more.
Why don't you sell PDFs through game stores?
That's a complicated issue. Please read this post on our messageboards for some of the reasons.
Can I print my PDF, or have it professionally printed?
You may print one copy of any Paizo PDF for personal use. Note that this only applies to products that list Paizo Publishing or Paizo Inc as the copyright holder—other publishers may have different policies; you'll need to contact them directly.
I want to modify my PDF, but it says it needs a password. Where do I get this?
All Paizo PDFs downloaded through the My Downloads page are secured and watermarked. Passwords are not provided for these PDFs as the security options available to us do not provide enough granularity to allow customers to modify PDFs and also include our security features. Note that you do not require a password to copy text or extract images from watermarked PDFs; if you are unable to do those things, it may be limitation of your PDF viewer.
My download unzips to an empty folder or gives me an error that it cannot be opened. What should I do?
The default unzip utility in some versions of Windows can cause some issues with files downloaded from paizo.com. Using an alternate unzipping utility should solve the problem. Additionally, some versions of Internet Explorer have a bug that conflicts with the security features from the My Downloads page. You can find Microsoft's official documentation and fix here.
My download does not work on my eReader, iPad/iPhone or Android device. How do I get this to work?
The default browsers for many mobile devices are not built to unpack .zip downloads. In order to download on these devices, a different browser or an unzipping application is necessary to download and unzip files. Customers using iOS have had success using the GoodReader application (which doubles as a PDF reader), but free solutions exist for both platforms. eReaders such as Nook or Kindle may require syncing from a computer, as they do not support .zip downloads.
When I view some of Paizo's PDFs, some of the section headers don't display the letter "A" properly. What can I do?
This is due to a problem in some PDF rendering engines. If you're using a Linux PDF reader, check for updates; it was fixed in many—perhaps even all—applications quite some time ago. The problem also exists in older versions of the PDF renderer used by Apple's iPad, iPhone, and iPod Touch; it was fixed in iOS 4.2 in November 2010. The problem may exist for people using Apple's Preview app under OS X 10.6, but appears to have been corrected in this update.
My download came with an Interactive Map. What is it?
These maps are included as a tool for GMs to use in their games, either to hide secret information from players, or as a tool to help players map areas on their own. They may be very helpful to GMs who run games using virtual tabletop software.
What products come with Interactive Maps?
Interactive Maps are available for the Pathfinder Adventure Path line. Compiled versions of the Interactive Maps are also available as a separate purchase once all volumes for a given Adventure Path are released. You can find the compiled versions here.
What program should I use to view the Interactive Maps?
The Interactive Maps work best with Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat. Foxit Reader for Windows also appears to work well. Apple's PDF renderer doesn't currently support these interactive features, so they don't work with Preview under OS X, or on iOS devices such as iPads and iPhones.
Nothing happens when I click the Interactive Map buttons, or Interactive Map features appear to be missing. What's going on?
Your PDF viewer probably doesn't support the interactive features. Try using Adobe Reader or Acrobat.
Why can't I copy and paste (or extract) certain maps?
Unfortunately, due to a limitation of the software, image extraction doesn't work with the Interactive Maps. You can use image capture utilities on the Interactive Maps, though, and you can still extract the images from the non-interactive PDFs. If you're viewing the maps in Adobe Acrobat, you can also save the pages as JPEGs (go to File->Export->Image->JPEG) and crop them in an image editing program.
ePub Questions
What is an ePub? What can I use to view it?
ePub is a digital book format that can be read on many portable and desktop devices, including Apple's iBooks app for iPad and iPhone; Mobipocket for Blackberry, Windows, and Windows Mobile; Sony Readers; and Barnes & Noble's Nook. For a more thorough explanation, including additional software and hardware options, please see Wikipedia's ePUB page.
Which Pathfinder products are available as ePubs?
The ePub format is ideal for electronic books that are mostly text, but it lacks support for precise layout of images and special textual formatting. Because of this, only the Pathfinder Tales line is available in ePub form at this time. This includes the Short Fiction from the Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes and our weekly Web Fiction.
Pathfinder Tales are available through the iTunes Store. Is there any difference between buying from Apple and buying from paizo.com?
The iTunes Store only carries ePub right now; at paizo.com, the Pathfinder Tales novels are available in PDF form as well as ePub. Also, the iTunes Store edition uses Apple's FairPlay DRM, while the paizo.com editions use watermarks. The content is otherwise identical.
What about Kindle or other formats?
We do not have plans to provide digital versions of our products in additional formats. You can also convert your ePubs using a conversion utility (such as Calibre) for use on other devices. Kindle and other eReaders do support viewing of PDFs, also.
What about Planet Stories?
We don't own the electronic publishing rights to any of the Planet Stories publications at this time, so they're available exclusively in print.
Writing & Illustrating for Paizo
How can I start writing for Paizo?
Paizo does not accept unsolicited submissions. If you are just starting out in the RPG industry consider:
I've written a novel set in the Pathfinder campaign setting! What should I do with it?
Due to legal concerns, we cannot read unsolicited novel submissions. Please note as well that, due to intellectual property laws, fiction featuring Pathfinder content cannot be sold by any publisher other than Paizo. You can, however, share your Pathfinder story for free through our great fan fiction communities like Pathfinder Chronicler or Wayfinder!
Can I send you the Adventure Path/campaign setting/module I wrote to see if Paizo wants to publish it?
Unfortunately, we cannot legally accept unsolicited submissions of content and thus no one at Paizo can even look at the content of such emails. This is to protect ourselves as well as you and your intellectual property from copyright infringement or other potential legal hazards.
I'd like to become a Pathfinder Artist, how do I do that?
To submit your portfolio, please email your best five illustrations to artsubmissions@paizo.com. For better consideration, we'd love to see your take on one of our iconic characters.
General Magazine Questions
What happened to Dragon and Dungeon magazines?
Please visit our Transition FAQ for information regarding Dragon and Dungeon magazines.
What happened to Star Wars Insider?
Paizo Publishing, LLC is no longer publishing Star Wars Insider magazine or handling the Official Star Wars Fan Club. Please visit starwars.com to find out about the current fan club and magazine offerings.
What happened to Amazing Stories and Undefeated?
Please refer to our press release.
I want to order a back issue from one of your magazines. How can I do that?
All of our available back issues may be ordered online; you can find them by going to http://paizo.com/backissues.
You can also order by e-mailing us at customer.service@paizo.com or by sending us a check for the correct amount (including shipping, which can be found on the Order Confirmation Page during checkout) and including a note with your full name and address, and telling us the issue numbers you want for each magazine. Send the check to:
Paizo Publishing, Attn: Back Issues
7120 185th Ave NE
Ste 120
Redmond, WA 98052-0577
I'm interested in buying older issues of Dragon and Dungeon and in PDF form. What issues are available?
PDFs of select Dragon issues are available at http://paizo.com/store/downloads/dragon; select Dungeon issues are at http://paizo.com/store/downloads/dungeon.
Will more issues of Dragon and Dungeon be available in PDF form?
Paizo no longer has the right to create new PDFs of older issues.
General Paizo Questions
What does "Paizo" mean?
Paizo cofounder Johnny Wilson suggested the name, which comes from a biblical Greek word meaning "to play." (The original Greek word is "paiðzw.")
How do you pronounce "Paizo"?
We pronounce it to rhyme with "pie dough."
Do you have high resolution images of a particular illustration you could send me?
We do not send out high resolution images of our artwork. You can find digital download packages of images and artwork here: Community Use Packages. As long as you comply with the Community Use Policy, you may use the materials in these packages.
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