Tabletop to Hack and Slash: The Caligni

Hail, fellow Pathfinders!

One of our favourite parts of developing the game is translating Pathfinder 2E’s rich lore and crunchy mechanics from “Tabletop format” to “Action RPG viable”.

We want to take you along this journey to show just how we’re staying true to the beloved source material. Today, we’re starting with the strange and mysterious inhabitants of the Darklands: the Caligni.

- Wyatt, Creative Director at BKOM

Immersion and Understanding

We began by digging into the Caligni's tragic history. Once people of the mighty Azlanti empire who reigned over Golarion, they fled underground millennia ago to survive the cataclysmic Earthfall.

In desperation, they made a pact with malevolent demigods known as the Forsaken, who transformed them into resilient and merciless subterranean dwellers capable of surviving the Darklands.

As part of the deal, when a Caligni dies, they combust in a burst of light and flame, with their soul energy feeding the Forsaken… a cruel irony, as the Forsaken vanished long ago and no longer watch over them, meaning their souls feed no-one!

Caligni combatants are split into distinct societal and battlefield roles, such as Stalkers, Callers, and Vanguards, and many other roles.

The last piece of the Caligni puzzle is the Owbs, strange ancient beings from the Shadow Plane who the Caligni have come to worship and obey. These powerful creatures guide and manipulate the Caligni to their bidding. Whether the Owbs are manifestations of the ancient Forsaken, or simply imposters, is shrouded in mystery.

Building out Battlefield Roles

Once we had a handle on who they were, we started dreaming up how different Caligni types would play out on the battlefield. We didn’t want Caligni to fight like normal foes - we wanted a cohesive but unusual fighting force that will challenge players in new ways.

• Caligni Skulkers: We envision Skulkers as meat-and-potatoes minions of the Caligni. They fight like rogues, zipping in and out of combat and whittling away at the heroes. The heroes will need agility, precision, and teamwork to corner the Skulkers and take them out efficiently.

• Caligni Vanguard: We designed the Vanguard to be slow, powerful juggernauts who shake the battlefield with their heavy great sword strikes. Their presence forces heroes to manoeuvre around the battlefield to avoid devastating blows.

• Caligni Callers: These are the “support types” of the Caligni forces: deadly glass-cannon priests who cripple the heroes with dark magics borrowed from their Owb masters, while empowering their Caligni allies to greater heights of ferocity.

• Owbs: We envision Owbs as powerful elite ranged enemies who use their shadowy “Curse of Darkness” to obliterate heroes from afar. Owbs will reposition when approached, hiding behind Caligni servants. When an Owb is on the battlefield, the heroes must pay attention to its attacks, or be wiped out by its shadow magic instantly.

These designs are certain to evolve as we move forward with implementation and testing, so we look forward to letting you see the final implementation once we’ve tested everything out on the battlefield!

An Explosive Finale

One of the most defining aspects of the Caligni is how they die. Thanks to a nasty pact made ages ago, when a Caligni falls, they explode in a burst of flame and light. This was fun to translate over into gameplay: When a Caligni is defeated, a small AoE preview is displayed which heroes must escape (usually with a dodge) to avoid suffering a burst of damage and crowd control.

But after playtesting, we soon realized that we had