The new Pathfinder Plane of Metal has plenty of ties to music. According to the upcoming book, Rage of Elements, adventurers can make magic by strumming metal guitars, and genies with a love for song and flashy performance inhabit the land. I got an exclusive early look at Rage of Elements, and there’s plenty of material for metal lovers to work with. There was just one thing missing – a rockin’ metal playlist.
As Wargamer’s resident tabletop RPG lover and major metalhead, I was ready to take up the mantle. Here’s the perfect playlist to sum up Pathfinder’s new plane of metal – as well as a preview of what to expect when Rage of Elements releases on August 3.
Ride the Lightning – Metallica
A band with ‘metal’ in their name is an obvious choice, but that’s not the only reason this thrash classic made the cut. Lightning is everywhere in the Plane of Metal. To quote Rage of Elements, “Powerful electrical currents flow through twisting pathways of superconductive metals that sprawl for miles across desolate steppes, and bolts of lightning hundreds of miles in length arc between the distant peaks of the tallest mountains.”
The very air on this plane is suffused with metal and “a taste of power in its purest form”. And nothing says power like a song from when Metallica were at the top of their game.
Flash of the Blade – Iron Maiden
Another no-brainer is Iron Maiden, who have one of the most metal (literally) band names out there. Flash of the Blade represents one of the four philosophies that enable an elementalist to study metal: the way of the Blade.
All over Golarion, adventurers clash swords and craft metal weapons of destruction. The way of the Blade is all about understanding the destruction and violence metal facilitates. If you like your metal less aggressive, we suggest testing out another philosophy – perhaps the way of the Spoke, the way of the Wall, or the way of the Conduit.
Flash of the Blade also perfectly sums up Pathfinder’s plane of metal through its album art. The plane of metal is filled with deserts, but the dunes are made of rust rather than sand. Metal structures are still hidden in the desert with potential dangers and treasures to unearth. The pyramid on the Powerslave album cover felt very fitting.
New Millennium Cyanide Christ – Meshuggah
You only need to listen to the lyrics of this Meshuggah song to understand why I chose this one. Extreme metal band Meshuggah sings of replacing your bones with aluminum bars and filling your mouth with bolts.
Your body becomes the metal – and thanks to the new spells in Rage of Elements, this is something you’ll be able to do in Pathfinder too. Of the 15 new spells linked to the Plane of Metal, four can give your body metallic properties.
Ferrous Form turns your body into iron, so you could become an actual Iron Maiden. Mantle of the Melting Heart covers your skin in liquid metal armor, and Mercurial Stride transforms you into fluid (and toxic) quicksilver. You can also use Shielded Arm to send veins of ore through your body, allowing you to use the limb as a makeshift shield.
Lateralus – Tool
Experiments and innovation are core values for the Plane of Metal. Its pseudo-rule, Laudinmio, is known as the Sovereign of Alchemy, and they have a history of scientific and artistic discoveries. A Pathfinder Cleric looking to embody these experiments can pledge themselves to Laudinmio – they should also give prog metal band Tool a try.
Written to sync with the mathematical Fibonacci sequence, Lateralus might be the perfect song to sum up the Plane of Metal. Like Tool, the inhabitants of this plane strive to create complex and wondrous constructs, building thousands of beautiful cities for the sake of creating perfection.
Keep an eye out for our full Pathfinder Plane of Metal preview. For more from Paizo, here are all the upcoming Pathfinder books to look forward to. We can also help you start playing by suggesting Pathfinder classes, Pathfinder races, and even Pathfinder character sheets.
Source: Wargamer
