Publisher: Dynamite
Writer: Jim Zub
Artist: Leandro Oliveira
Release Date: 9th July 2014

I sit staring at the Dungeon Master clenching the two 20 sided dice in my hands as the sharp edges dig into my skin.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” The Dungeon Master asks me.

“Yes, it’s the only way. My character’s future depends on it!” He sits back on his chair knowing that nothing he says can change my mind.

“Then do it.” He says waving his hand across the board, giving me the space I need to throw the dice. Still clenched I stare at my hands before loosening the grip letting the dice bounce in my hands before blowing on my hand for good luck. I throw the dice onto the table, the force making them bounce for what seemed like an eternity before finally stopping. I lean in and pause, taking a moment to add up the numbers.

“32.” My head rolls up as I say the words and I look at the Dungeon Master once again. He looks down at his note pad and shakes his head. He looks up with a smile and says.

“Not pregnant!”

“Another round of ale!” my character would say as they all rejoice and celebrate her triumphant victory.

Pathfinder is a tabletop RPG first developed in 2009 by Paizo Publishing. The game is similar to Dungeons and Dragons with a number of classes and characters to create who lead you on your epic adventure. City of Secrets is the first time that the franchise has been adapted into comic book form and it does a fairly good job at bringing the character and settings to life.

City of Secrets so far has introduced us to a new idea that most RPG’s have never really tried before. Ok so we’ve defeated Smaug and given the dwarfs their home land back… Now what we do?

Rather than starting right in the middle of an epic quest, the story instead starts with them returning home and unwinding before their next adventure. This helps us get introduced to the characters as people and not just as stereotypical classes fighting monsters to check off of their quest book. Of course this isn’t the entire story and soon problems start to arise for the group but it is still an effective way of being introduced to the characters.

That being said though, some of these characters fall into the tropes and stereotypes we’re all a little too familiar with, from the short tempered Scottish Dwarf to the grey haired old man Wizard. Though these character traits have been used before, Not Gimli and Not Gandalf still bring new personalities to the characters and all the other classes are given their opportunities to branch out and develop.

If you are a fan of the Pathfinder RPG then you will certainly enjoy this comic. City of Secrets takes characters who you are already familiar with and breathes life into them in a way that opens up whole new ways for you to play the game. It’s not perfect by any means and with the characters just settling in back home the story does take a little time to get going. But if it continues to do well then The Bards will be singing songs of these tales for years to come.

Rating: 3/5.

---

The writer of this piece was: Dean Walsh