Red Blessing : Stars and Shadows

Game Master Nimon

Resources used to construct this campaign:

I relied heavily on Inner Sea world guide for the contruction of this campaign, with the exception of the gun mechanics, for that I used Ultimate Combat. If there are novels or other resources that counterdict what I have came up with it is because of my ignorance of that material and will mostly defer to the Inner Sea World Guide for most background information. The alternate rules for this campaign can be found in the Advanced Player's Guide(Hero Points) and Ultimate Combat(Dueling,Guns).

Timeline:

Timeline of events important to this campaign.

4711-Where the Inner Sea leaves off,"offical" present of Golarion
4721- Grand Duchess Alkenstar dies without an heir. A duel is held between the guilds to determine the next Grand Duke/Duchess. House Reidford pulls wins, barley defeating Alkenstar guild. The Reidford guild begins to greatly expand accomidations for diplomatic envoys.
4730- The Archlord of Nex attempts to reclaim the Manawastes by force. The first wave is completly anhilated by the largest recorded Magic Storm. The Council of Three and Nine sign a treaty after loosing their largest southern city, Ecanus, to Alkenstar forces. Alkenstar agreed to withdrawl from Ecanus and gains a seat in the Council of Nex as well as yearly tithes. This council seat is currently held by the Greystone Guild.
4731-Lord Gyr of house Grix, the Primarch of Absolam creates a low council seat for Alkenstar and formally acknowledges its own nation.This seat is currently held by the Altkin guild.
4733-The Gorrila king makes another attempt to capture the Gunworks and the area of Lake Ustradi. This conflict offically lasts for 10 years. In an attempt to protect themselves the Giant clans of Western Range band together and deal the final blow the the Charu-Ka. The Gorilla King is believed to be slain, though his body is never located. The Charu-Ka seem to go mad and wander off in all directions.
4735-House Inglis begins an exspensive expedition to the north, backed by an unknown benefactor.
4740- A surprising increase in assassinations of high ranking royalty including kings and queens begins in Golarion. This goes largly unnoticed in Alkenstar as it is in conflict with the Charu-Ka. Absolam takes extreme measures and creates a task force to route out assassin guilds and denys nations known to harbor such individuals seats in the council. The Red Mantis take the most exception to this legislation, vowing that it never practices regicide. The council members are not convinced.The Red Mantis begin to inact "The Red Blessing" by order of the Vernai(their leading body) and punish the council members by killing family members that are deemed non-esential as hiers.The low seat from Alkenstar introduces a bill to discuss the matter within the magic free zone of Alkenstar. The bill passes and the Red Mantis agree.
4743- The Second Great Conflict resolves, The Charu-Ka flee. House Inglis clinches the win in the final hours of the war with a surprising new weapon, one that seems to focus sunlight into a solid beam.
4746- Envoy from the Red Mantis meet with Council Members from Absolam and come to an arrangement. In an attempt for some level of regulation, the Red Mantis are given the power, and are held responsible for all assassinations of anyone that holds a key position in a government. Working with the very team that once was tasked to search them out, the Red Mantis and Absolam agents will investigate any assassination deemed to be a threat to the political stability of Golarion.
4755- Alkenstar quadruples in size to accomidate all of the diplomatic activity. It now rivals capitals of most nations in size and wealth.
4756- In Celebration of 10 years of peace a Lord Gyr declares a feastival to be held in absolam and invites all nations. The Red Mantis except and attend the feastival. That night a Chelaxian noble is slain by an Andoran knight. The noble is ressurected, and the knight is stripped of titles and is given to the Red Mantis to be dealt with as is their right by the new legislation. The Red Mantis disembowl the knight on site leaving nothing but a blood stain on the streets of Absolam. Most people are so disgusted by this they hide in their homes and the feastival ends.
4766- Another ten years of realative peace goes by, but is not celebrated, instead Absolam is in morning for the loss of Lord Gyr who passed his power to Lord Nox of house Zaiho.Lord Gyr Retires to a personal dimension for a time of reflection he declares. Lord Nox is half Tian, half Ulfen which does not sit well with many members of the council, but Lord Gyr was so loved that most remain silent.
4770- The First Confirmed Political assassination in ten years, Lord Vyktor Von Zol happens in Alkenstar. Because of the lack of magical ability he can not even be raised.

People of Mana Wastes:

The Mana Wastes are a harsh place to live, but are a sanctuary for those seeking a land without magical influence that embrasses technology. Alkenstar at this time is mostly ran by Dwarves and Humans. There has been a recent rise in Gnome population and many others. The people of the Mana Wastes openly hate Gnolls, Giants and other monsterous humanoids and often discriminate against them. The diplomatic district of Alkenstar is more accepting of other races, but those with obvious waste mutations are still considered outcasts. Guns and tech are very common place, magic however is not. Those with the ability to cast in the Mana Wastes are given a lot of room and are sometimes blamed for the wastes destructive magical storms. Sometimes surviviors of Calikang mistreatment find themselves into Alkenstar from the spellscar desert having experienced unspeakable horrors. These individuals are able to sense the strange magical chaos that surrounds the Mana Wastes. Many scholars question such individuals to uncover the secret of this ability,but most victims respond with open hostility if at all.

Local Government:

The Government of Alkenstar is considered primative by the standards of other nations, but is rather effective in times of crisis. The Grand Duke/Duchess is the figure head of the Government. They hold court and have the ability to overrule legislation of the guilds. The court is seated by members of the 74 guilds. Of these 74, there are 6 Major guilds which represent a political party of 10-13 guilds. In times of crisis the Sheirff and his Marshalls have absolute power to defend the nation. This crisis has to be offically declared by the Grand Duke/Duchess. In such times Marshalls can deputize any citizen of fighting age to fight for no longer than one year without compensation other than food and supplies. Most who have been deputized are proud of having served and often do not resist if asked to do so.

Lethal Campaign:

As you are probably aware, due to the restrictions on magic this campaign has the potential to be very lethal.
I want to make it clear that just because you encounter somthing does not mean you have to kill it or even engage with it.I will often have alternatives to fighting as well, especially when encountering other intelligent races. Diplomacy,Intimidate, and Bluff are all usefull for survival. Also, healing kits are not magical, and in the hands of a trained healer can be surprisingly effective.

Clarification on Magic in the Mana Wastes:

The Mana Wastes are for lack of better term an antimagic zone. Any class abilities listed as SA(Spell-like abilities) or SU(Supernatural Abilities) will be unaccessable. Items,scrolls and potions of a magical nature have no effect.See pg 221 of the core for referance. Exceptions - Alchemy in this campaign is more of a psuedo science by those who experiment on the Mana Waste's many mutants. Victims of Calikang Tortue- have a unique ability to sense or tap into the ebb and flow of the chaotic energy that exsists in the Mana Wastes. This still is difficult for them to achieve and requires a concentration check for every little bit of magical ability they attempt to tap into including Cantrips and Orisons, or other SA/SU abilities.A few of the would-be casters have asked about what kind of DC will the concentration checks be for casting spells. For refferance the basic table for this is pg 207 of the core. For casting spells in the Mana Wastes with no other factors the DC will be 10-12. With the +4 bonus from the trait and your ability mod this should be fairly easy to achive. The nature of the Mana Wastes is not constant though, magic storms can occur and this will greatly increase such checks. Also if you are in any of the comprimising positions listed on pg 207 in addition to casting in the Mana wastes, this too will greatly increase the DC. I will copy/past this in the Magic in the Mana Wastes spoiler for easy referance.