My group has recently migrated from the implied setting of 4th edition D&D to Pathfinder/Golarion and I'm trying to hammer out the best way to go for my first adventure in Golarion.
My design goals:
1) It has to involve larger organizations/nations/groups from the world of Golarion so as to introduce the players to the unique and awesome world that is Golarion.
2) A dungeon crawl is a must. Or rather a dungeon jaunt-- faster paced. So some sort of ticking clock is needed. The group generally dislikes attrition/resource management/level clearing style dungeon crawling-- if the PCs are going to be down in some horrible underground death trap of a locale, it better be for a good reason and the play time be about that reason.
3) The results of the PC's actions need to matter. How it all goes down and the decision they make need to have an impact.
So here's what I've got that I think meets those requirements.
There's a conjunction of certain stars rapidly approaching. It happens very infrequently, like every 173 years or so and only lasts for about a day. As far as constellations go, the motions represent the hand of Pharasma moving to touch was is known as the Mortal star.
There was a temple built just for this conjunction. It was built by followers of Pharasma to take advantage of this rare and special omen. A time when Pharasma's mastery of prophecy and fate is present such that it can be tangibly touched under the right conditions. The priests built an alter and a special chamber to channel the strange effect produced by the conjunction. That's about all that is currently known about it. Other than what city it was built under. Any suggestions about what city?
So that brings us to the organizations. It's been 173 years and those who are aware of this abandoned temple know that it's time to once again pay attention to it. The Pathfinder Society missed the last window and definitely want it looked into. A venture captain will likely approach the PCs with it as some of the PCs have decided their characters will be part of the society.
Then I'm thinking of bringing in the Harbingers. The prophecies of failure have failed. They need to make them work again. :D So this temple with this day where fate and prophecy are especially potent might be a step towards righting everything they see as having gone wrong. This will also bring up stuff about Aroden and the ages of Golarion's history and future that are unique and interesting facets about the setting.
Another group that will likely be involved will be the Hell Knights. Particularly the Order of the Rack. Unlike the other involved parties, they know exactly what's what. They know what the temple contains and what will happen on the conjunction. And the idea that something might come from that which would allow the fates of the ordinary to be transformed into the extraordinary is just too dangerous of a thing to allow.
I'd like to add in another faction or two, just to introduce them to the players and give the players the sense that the world is a big place that is currently in flux with all certainty about the future having died with Aroden.
The conjunction being a fixed date adds a ticking clock to everything. If they're not in the temple's central chambers when the conjunction is happening, they've failed. So there won't be time for a 5 minute adventuring day where they nova with all their spells and then hole up somewhere to rest.
As for what happens during the actual conjunction, I'm thinking that a powerful spell is revealed. Casting it rewrites a person's history, fate and prophetic future. A peasant could become a great hero, the cursed could lose their infliction, the weak be made powerful and the powerful be made weak.
So there's basically going to be bargaining, double crossing, attempts to steal the mcguffin spell, different organizations who all want it or want it destroyed and the PCs are going to be caught in the middle.
Thoughts? Advice?
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I think that this scenario is a great way to introduce the players to the deep fear of the unknown that grips Golarion in the Age of Lost Omens. A fear that was powerful enough to destroy the mighty Chelaxian Empire in a handful of years when Aroden died.
Try to play on the themes of unpredictability, loss of control, but also renewed freedom, free will and responsibility.
Maybe the expected result never happens. Or maybe the conjunction of efforts from so many powerful factions (including the PCs) was the expected result.
In the end, Fate works in mysterious ways.
I think that this scenario is a great way to introduce the players to the deep fear of the unknown that grips Golarion in the Age of Lost Omens. A fear that was powerful enough to destroy the mighty Chelaxian Empire in a handful of years when Aroden died.
The first session went well. The group traveled to Sandpoint via Magnamar (I ended up going with that as I have copies of some of the adventure path stuff) and have 8 days left until the conjunction.
Try to play on the themes of unpredictability, loss of control, but also renewed freedom, free will and responsibility.
They're really the only game in town, so the PCs are quickly realizing that if anyone wants whatever is going to be unveiled by the conjunction, it's up to the PCs.
So far, they've met the reps of the Pathfinder Society as well as a minor Chelaxian noblewoman from the House of Thrune who has aspirations of a larger role within her house. While they are down in the tunnels beneath Sandpoint, other interested parties are going to arrive. The Harbingers and later the Hell Knights-- which are going to be a big problem.
Maybe the expected result never happens. Or maybe the conjunction of efforts from so many powerful factions (including the PCs) was the expected result.
Regardless of what happens, the PCs will likely be the only ones down in the lost temple when the conjunction happens. So whether anything actually happens or not, or the actions of those pursuing the results of the conjunction are the results themselves, no one is going to accept nothing from the PCs. The Chelaxian noblewoman isn't going to take no for an answer. The Hell Knights won't be satisfied that there's no chaotic fate changing ritual/spell to worry about until every one of the PCs has been questioned under torture. If the PCs tell people that nothing happened or that they missed it or were too late, no one is going to believe them.
In the end, Fate works in mysterious ways.
Absolutely.
The next session is going to include some more delving beneath the city (clock's ticking on finding the shrine), meeting the Harbinger agent(s), more delving, the arrival of the Hell Knights and will probably end with the PCs coming back to the surface to find that the Hell Knights have collapsed the entrance they used to get in, trapping them in the tunnels.
In future sessions, they'll have to deal with the fallout of having the reputation of being the only ones to possess fate altering magic knowledge that everyone wants, regardless of what they actually get out of the conjunction-- heck, they might even not make it to the central chamber in time for the conjunction if things go badly.