Evil Paul's page

EDIT:
There has been a number of people clicking through these links recently, and the way Google supports sharing has changed for the better in the last nine (!) years.

So I've put all the material together into the one folder, for easy access.

This also includes Magic Item Handouts and scripts for Ashes At Dawn and Shadows Over Gallowspire, which for some reason aren't included in the above links.

Evil Paul Resources
includes
* Magic Item Handouts
* Scripts
* Various other DM Handouts

--->Mega Sharing Folder<---

Enjoy.

Nice, alternate maps always good.

(as an aside, I’ll be playing him a bit like Billy Butcher from The Boyz. It’s easy to have balls of steel when you are effectively immortal).

I’m not sure I understand how taking over crime solves crime. Lets say he takes control of the drugs trade, a professional burglary racket, and the white collar crime property scams. Does he then… stop these operations? Or does he try and turn them into Robin Hood style outfits? How does that work with drugs?

I agree its supposed to be Punisher + Kingpin. I just don’t understand how those two fit together.

Miogomo - does anyone have any more thoughts on what exactly he is a "crime lord" of.

His overall goal is like the Punisher. He wants to murder evil-doers within the city, as the Watch is incapable of this. To protect himself, he builds a power base of ghouls, and will also murder those who get in his way, like Grimwold. So far, so good.

But... when he's not murdering his enemies he also is a crime-lord. What sort of crime? And why? His overall goals are just murder and vengeance, so running a drugs gang or a racketeering scam doesn't really help him. And why would the other gangs of the city want to ally in any way with someone whose primary goal is basically to kill them.

I'm all down with the Magnificent Bastard trope and the PCs allying themselves with him. I'm just a little confused on his day-to-day activities as an NPC.

The timeline doesn't work for me. And the Radiant Festival is only really relevant for Book 1. This is what I did:

* Book 1: Radiant Festival. Spring Year 0. Normal Weather.
* Book 2: Christmas movie. Midwinter Year 0. Snow and cold weather.
* Book 3: Summer movie. Summer Year 1. Heatwave.
* Book 4: Shortly after Book 3. Autumn Year 1. Rains.
* Book 5 / Book 6: Shadow Absalom. (See other threads on topic)

Literally did this session yesterday. I've added quite a lot of content here, lots of it inspired from Gangs of New York, Peaky Blinders and the 1930s facist movements.

The group are investigating the Washboard Dogs anyway, based on the conclusions to book 2, and they want to arrest them for slaving to the murder cult, among other things. They asked around in a number of pubs, accidentally met Maurissa, who directed them to the alley fight. Giord was later arrested, pretty much as per the book.

In our campaign a huge number of goblin refugees have arrived, following the 2nd burning of the Chitterwood after a failed Isger rebellion. So the Diobel Sweepers has swelled in numbers and Berleth is something of a revolutionary, leading rallys in public about how a "new form of slavery" is sweeping Absalom.

The Washboard Dogs are part of a wider "Teal-shirts" / "Absalom First" movement and gatecrashed a Sweepers rally, with it turning into a huge public brawl, many dead on each side, and most of the watch (except our heroes) taking the side of the Tealshirts, beating down on the Sweepers and other goblins.

The rogue element in all this is the Infector, who has been planting bombs and poison elements all through the city, with the watch and the rest of the public assuming this is the Sweepers due to the alchemical connection.

Anyway, the PCs met Maurissa for the 2nd time, at a copper smelting factory, surrounded by 40 of her goons, and realised that wasn't the time to bring her in. [Pretty much as per the module scene, except minus the bridge. Are there bridges in Absalom?] She gave them the location of the Sweeper's base and now they are arguing about whether they should raid and arrest Berleth or not, or whether that is playing into the hands of their enemies.

The PCs have no interest in allying with Maurisa. She is clearly a villain. Even the promised "information about the murder cultists" holds no weight, if she wants to plead with that after an arrest, fine. But no deals outside of a cell. So I'm going to need a similar base to the Schoolhouse for a Washboard Dogs raid.

I'm thinking of an underground lair, which would tie-in with communication to the Twilight Four cult, but it does double down on the evil-ometer. A smelting factory would also be good, as might be a large pub, or something similar (though we've had a lot of pub fights already). It needs to be working class, memorable, and a little bit dirty.

Anyway... module is good stuff and I'm enjoying it so far... It has a good city feel.

(btw, for those who are looking, the Zoo and Dragonfly Pagoda are both on the Silver Lawn, a bit to the right of the War Dome)

Fantastic Map.

Especially useful as the new Absalom sourcebook has the map for the Precipice quarter pre-gentrification.

Finally got my copy after some delays with UK Distributors, and just finished Agents of Edgewatch Module #2 in the same week.

I’m running Edgewatch long and fat, about 4 months per module, and this book is absolutely fantastic.

There is soo much stuff, plots and NPCs and ideas virtually on every page, that there is more than enough to keep my cupboards stocked for another 4 modules.

For those that are looking to buy the book, I would totally recommend it, wether you are Edgewatching or not. I would describe it as a gazateer of people, locations, factions and plot ideas within Absalom. So if your constructing your own adventure, or bulking up an existing one, you can flick through, grab some ideas and your ready to go. It is much more DM friendly that the previous softcover edition, and all in all, a much better book, not just because it is bigger.

Not to pick a fight, but: you wouldn’t allow Magus and Summoner in a Strength of Thousands game?

(I'd include Magus, Bard and Summoner as full casters, ie, they get new spells every level. At least, I think so, I didn't do the playtest, so I've not actually seen the PF2E implementations of Magus and Summoner, but I'm assuming they are similar to PF1E in concept. It's academic anyway - I'm not running SOT right now).

In book 1, the agents meet the assassin Cass Hamish in the House of the Planes who tells them that she was tracking a mark who vanished into the Dreaming Palace, but that Ralso's gang connections make the place off-limits.

1) There is no further suggestion of who the mark is (eg, amount Pratchett's victims). Any suggestions as to who they were and why there was a hit on them? This is Absalom, not Qadira. I would assume that assassination is a fairly rare thing, and putting a hit on someone is serious business.

2) I'm not sure the gang connections bit makes that much sense. Ralso was a gang member, but she left that life behind to move across the city and join Pratchett. (Indeed, some of her old friends are trying to get her to rejoin her life of crime). Why would a gang declare that the hotel is a "safe zone" and that they would enforce that for Ralso? Which gang is it? (We have a ton of gangs listed in book #3, is it any of them?). Does Pratchett know? Does the gang or gang actually enforce this, eg, are they staking out the hotel looking for dodgy people going in and warning them off?

I agree with all of Deriven Firelion's points. I'd also like to add what other people have said in that completing the heist to get "The Princess is in another castle..." as the reward I think is a terrible payoff. All that work without material award.

Yet the heist is cool. It could be a fun roleplaying activity. It just needs editing.

I've got tons of homebrewed side-quests in my campaign. As well as the murder plot, there are slave gangs, and drug gangs, and watch corruption, and simple thievery jobs. So I'm happy moving the heist into a side-quest with a different reason and different macguffin to get.

Any suggestions on what that could be:
1 - What reasons would the watch have to go undercover when they could get a simple warrant?
2- What else could be in the box?
3- What other villany could Gage be into?

Personally one I would love to see is a three part "mega prison" escape.

We've already got Abomination Vaults as a megadungeon though.

Obviously I'm but one customer, but I prefer APs with variety: roleplaying, investigation, combat, politics, exploration etc. Rather than big dungeon crawls.

Aenigma wrote:

If Paizo will truly make Iron Gods 2 someday, then there are three things I really wish to see.

First is that I really wish Unity to be resurrected. Saying he is actually not dead ...

I don’t know that undercutting the main achievement of the Iron Gods PCs is the way to do it. Let them have that win!

I agree that Unity should stay dead, but as an aside, Unity wasn't a "He" in our campaign, they were a non-binary character. A Father/Mother. I think that works quite well for an evil AI.

I also had Casandalae be the original android on the Divinity that Unity would use to walk around in, whenever the crew needed to take the ship's computer offline. And Helion was a self-bootstrapped process (ie, a "daemon process") that Unity had created and given life.

This gives a nice Holy Trinity vibe to the three. You have God (Unity), Jesus (Casadalee) - both her own person, and originally the avatar of God, and the Holy Spirit (Helion) - both it's own thing, and originally a formless subcomponent of God.

I actually do like the sound of it. I'm running Agents of Edgewatch now, but in a year or so, I'll need a new AP, and having been inside a city for so long, it will be good to have a pure wilderness adventure on offer. Stretch our legs so to speak.

Plus I like the idea of a 3 volume AP. But I want plot rather than a big dungeon crawl, and I prefer 1-10 rather than 11-20, so Vaults and Ruby Phoenix don't do it for me. Frozen Flame gives me a nice way to try the 3 volume approach.

Iron Gods 1 was awesome.

Iron Gods 2 needs:
- more Kellid tribes and their interaction with Settlers (ie, normal folk)
- more dinosaurs
- more high concept technology set-pieces (Scrapwall was awesome)
- more aliens

While still keeping what was good about the first one, eg,

- roaming around the country
- sandbox quest-hub type locations
- consistent themes throughout (eg, for the first one we had accidental death, horror, frontier landscape, morality of sentience, hidden secrets, etc)
- weird and wonderful technology
- the chance for an epic story, to change the destiny of a country or more

Our party redeemed Meyanda as well. I agree that all villains shouldn't be redeemable, but she's def in the "can be saved" camp.

Numeria Map

I like to think of Numeria as the four "zones" in that map, and link them back to real world places to get a feel for flora/fauna.

Felldales is like the red desert in Wyoming, Utah and the Grand Canyon. So coyotes, wolves, goats, and other semi-mountain creatures. This is supposed to be the most dangerous zone, so it's the area I most associate with dinosaurs (all kinds). Hyenas and lions, while not common in Wyoming, seem like a good fit here.

Sovereign's Reach and Numerian Plains are more like the great plains of the midwest. So bison, pronghorn, wolves (again), etc. The Numerian Plains is the most fertile of these two regions, so larger animals such as deer, elk, wild horses, etc. Sovereign's Reach is more of a fallow wasteland, so more small rodents such as voles, ferrets, snakes, etc. Soveriegn's Reach should be pretty gloomy and foreboding, so less birds as well.

Sellen Hills is a fantasy version of the Scottish Highlands (or, I guess, New Zealand, which basically is a fantasy version of Scotland). So deer, bears, grouse, wolves (again again), boar and other game, sheep and goats, etc. Less North American animals.

One of our party is a Lizardfolk from Droon. So I'm planning on briging "Oggy" in early, once per book, as a recurring NPC. I like the "Pontiac Bandit" in Brooklyn 99, who recurs once per season for one episode, then leaves so the PCs can carry on with other quests. It's a good formula.

This is what I have so far:

Book 1: A lizardfolk warrior-princess arrives in town, demanding an escort from the PC and his "minions". Disgusted at the weakness that is displayed (which includes a patrol shift in the Miss Absalom Beauty contest at the Radiant Festival), she leaves to explore the festival on her own, returnining with Oggy as her new boyfriend, saying he will win the Irorium for her. Oggy will cause some minor issue for the PCs and immediately become disliked by them.

-- Book 1 / Book 2 downtime interlude ---
Oggy wins the Irorium as promised

Book 2: ???

Book 3: ???.

Book 3 finale: As written. Ie, it is revealed that Oggy isn't just a douchebag, but actually a terrorist.

Any suggestions for missing appearances for Oggy, preferably with said warrior-princess? Generally escalating the stakes, in both drama and his douchbag-ness, without requiring an actual fight to the death.

One other thing to note, is that Oggy is "just under twice the height of a lizardfolk". Lizardfolk are 6'-7', making Oggy 12' tall. He is totally massive! There is a picture of Sajan (the iconic monk) fighting him, where Sajan looks just a bit smaller, but in reality Sajan wouldn't even reach up to Oggy's waistband. Oggy is intelligence = 8 though so he's not clever, but he's not a monster. Just a REALLY big dude.

I think if Oggy is to be wandering around the city, and not locked in a cage like a monster, the two lizardfolk accompanying him will probably need to look after him. Perhaps one of them is his lawyer, and the other his manager.

Because my players don't like the investigation a lot and don't propose alternative investigation lines but I see it a little difficult to know where to start

I don't understand that. This is the Watch-AP. Does that not imply that there would be lots of investigation, and by choosing this AP, are your players not saying "I like investigation".

I'm totally down with Naurgul - I've been adding a lot more investigation to the AP so far.

So I'm at the House of the Planes, maybe 1/2 done with that part, and the party has NOT picked up on the missing people thread. I keep mentioning missing people and folks who haven't come back home and co-workers who never showed up the next day but...nope. Just going along with the flow. This is gonna be hilarious.

Perhaps...

When they get back to the watch station, Lavarsus has just had a meeting with the Watch Commanders where he's had to present his current crime stats including open cases. He looked terrible in front of his bosses, and has once again been reminded that Edgewatch are one of the worst performing forces, despite significant investment leading up to the Radiant Festival. He's been told that if he, Lavarsus, cannot manage crime in his small district, especially during such an important period, then perhaps his position should be reconsidered.

So Lavarsus is now super pissed. And you know what they say about sh*t flowing downhill.

A call back to Crypt of the Everflame would def tick some boxes regarding sequels, building on existing content, a call back to the heritage of PF1 (Everflame was the the very first published PF1E module).

It would also fill the requests for a Razmir AP. Everflame was Nirmathas + Razmir, so presumably we would start by building on the outcomes of Ironfang Invasion and then migrate over to "do" Razmir.

Interesting hypothesis, even if completely wrong! :-)

Make the watermarked PDF the authorization codes instead, simple as that.

Amen.

As a Foundry VTT user, what I really want are token packs. Bestiary token packs, with a variety of colours/options for each monster. AP Token packs. Module token packs. NPC / GMG Token Packs for when I go off-script.

The PDF2Foundry module already does a great job of allowing import of module PDFs into Foundry, so re-buying all the PDFs in a VTT (especially for AP Subscribers) doesn't seem like a good value proposition.

It does raise some interesting questions. A large temple dedicated to the God of murder, assassination and thievery with people regularly going in to worship. Even in a city of religious tolerance, surely some questions should be asked.

Do the Watch have an open file on the temple? Do need a warrant to enter (presumably). What precautions does the city place to ensure there isn't actual murder or paid for assassinations happening in the temple?

It suggests they have some high level political cover, even with the libertarian attitude of the city laws.

BobTheCoward wrote:

Is it still a Numeria story or is it something different?

It has to be a Numeria story.

OK, cool. That gives us some rails to speculate :-)

For me, the biggest Numeria thing missing in Iron Gods is the Kellid Tribes. They are all detailed quite extensively in Land of Fallen Stars, but really only get walk on cameos in the AP. The exception is Kevoth-Kul of course, but he's not really a tribesman any more, he's more a thrall, despot and city-dweller. There is a whole module's worth of plotline with a "unite the tribes" style story, where the growing rift between the indiginious peoples and the hardy settlers can be healed, before it develops into something worse. (At least 1 module, maybe more).

We also didn't get enough dinosaurs. I'm not sure what the plot of dinosaurs are (do they need a plot?), but, yeah, more dinos. Preferably ones that you can ride and have laser guns fitted to them.

I agree - Numeria is done. I think an Iron Gods sequel would be the planet-hopping one. Casandalee and technology would be involved, as would Eox, but not so much Numeria.

(As an aside, I've always wondered what the relationship is between Eox and the Whispering Tyrant. In my head-canon, Tar-Baphon made contact with Eox early in his career, and has learned a lot of his secrets from them. I've been meaning to run a high-level Mythic standalone for ages, where the PCs go to Eox to prevent the rise of a second Tar-Baphon).

Maybe doesn't count as a direct sequel, but a full on Tian Xia campaign could continue the plotline of Jade Regent.

My top choice would def be an "Impossible Lands" AP set across Nex + Geb + Mana Wastes.

For 1st Edition APs, there seemed to be a good balance between "traditional" APs with dungeon bashing and "high concept" APs. I'm definitely in the latter camp.

An Impossible Lands AP could combine themes of magic, politics, a bit of technology, and general weirdness. Geb would be an obvious bad guy, but that could just as easily be subverted. Both Nex and Geb present an alternate vision of human society, both how we live and who we are, you've got elements of transhumanism. Both regions have a stratefied society with have's vs have-nots and there is an ideological battle, with shades of the cold war as well (not to mention the fallout for that in the mana wastes).

I quite like the "Tour of the Region" format that was used in Carrion Crown, Iron Gods and others, where we explore different parts of a region using a plotline that keeps us moving. There is easily enough content across those three zones to do that.

I agree, that doesn't make sense. Guilds are not just price-fixing schemes, nor are they just labour unions. Guilds set standards across their trade, which benefits buyers (knowing a level of quality) and sellers (as a central hub for buyers).

You're importing 500 tons of Jalmerayan spices to sell across the Inner Sea region. Do you buy from random ship captains selling boxes of Abadar-knows-what (probably laced with sawdust) or do you buy from the Absalom Spicing Guild?

If guilds don't exist, then who sets standards? It could be the state, but Absalom tacks towards Libertarianism not Statism. The state is small and largely gets out of the way. And if standards don't exist, then why buy in Absalom? You'll just get ripped off.

It feels like the spirit of the idea is that Absalom has laws to prevent monopolies and price-fixing. As long as these activities are not occurring in a way the is damaging to trade and city revenue, these laws may be lightly enforced.

I think this is the best approach. I'm not interested in understanding the minuatae of business law within Absalom. That doesn't help us tell stories (usually). But I think that something like whether a person can own two shops or businesses, or whether a shop or business can be owned by two people is significant and high-level enough that it needs to be understood (especially in an AP where the PCs are all policeman).

My take is that is not the case. (In particular Mudfoot points out how it wouldn't work anyway, as ownership can be edited at point of sale). Absalom is a city of trade. Its real-world influences are a mix of London, New York, Amsterdam and Istanbul. Companies, Banking, Markets (and Stock Markets), Services, Commodities and Goods - all these are essential in creating a 'trade goliath' which is what Absalom is. The city is likely to have all of these elements, and it's laws (by it's oligarchy rulers) will be designed to ensure the trade engine continues to spin.

Therefore corporations / companies / trade agreements are all possible, and all exist in Absalom. There are just some price-fixing and anti-monopoly laws that can be brought to bear if needed, to ensure the engine doesn't stall.

Just a +1 to say that Meyanda was redeemed in our campaign as well. I liked her as an NPC.

I even did a cool script with her as a prologue to the mod.

I'm a bit worried about the heist here.

It's a cool set piece, I get it. Ocean's 11, Mission Impossible, cue funky music, a plan within a plan and nervous tension on those skill checks. In any other module, that would be great.

But the PCs are Cops here, and being told to break into a legitimate business without a warrant, because they suspect that a warrant will be refused (either due to corruption or lack of supporting evidence), to steal property. Essentially they are being told by the quest giver to go rogue and break the law. They aren't secret agents, they have to abide by the law.

What if they just say "No?". That seems quite likely, especially if some of them are Lawful coppers. Even if they were to recover the evidence, the nature of how they got it could collapse any case they make, and that's pretty obvious.

For those that have run it, how did the setup go?

Why are maurissa and the washboard dogs working with the skinsaw cultists? Is it just because they're evil?

Yes, I think this part needs some editing as a DM. They have been supplying people to a murder-cult to be killed. It's fairly obvious that the murder cult is into murder. Have they been kidnapping these people? Are they innocents or rival gang members? Why were they doing this? I think if Maurissa is to be the Magnificant Bastard trope, and be like "No worries mate, let bygones be bygones, eh?", then the DM will need a strong angle on why this should be OK.

How about this?

Eyes Over Absalom, volume 1

I'm going to do a few of these per AP, I think.

Some small changes and edits. I've renamed it to "Eyes Over Absalom" (which sits better on the British tongue, than the very American "Eyes On.."). Rather than purely a rumour-rag, I see it more as an actual newspaper, which is used by it's owners to stir up their own agenda. The name is slightly fascist, so I've cast it as a right-wing rag, like the UK Daily Mail. I've also added a reporter character, the gnome Cherry Cogsworth, as it doesn't really make sense just to have Reginald doing all the leg-work. Oh, and the Dreaming Palace is renamed in my universe to the Delightful Daiquiri Hotel. (If we're going to valence-swap Terry Pratchett, may as well throw in another Pratchett reference while we're at it). Other Easter Eggs = Olansa Terimor is the "Building Lord" which is the commonly used name of a character in the Lords of Waterdeep Board Game. The icons at the top are Starstone Catherdral and Azlanti Fort. Thorgrim Hastily's buildings are all stamped as "Hastily Made...", etc.

In regard to the long term plot:

One of the advantages of doing this is that Ralso can probably be saved now.

She's a bit of a confusing NPC. She has all this backstory of being a troubled kid, taking a few hard knocks and making some bad choices, ultimately ending up as a side-kick to Pratchett. So when I first read though, I was like, "Oh, this is interesting. Is there a possible redemption arc here?". But no, as the module is written, she is totally broken and evil beyond any level of saving, which seems like a waste. In fact, as she fights to the death and doesn't really want to negotiate, without edits, I would expect that most parties deal with her as another random monster, with her backstory going to waste.

By toning down the rest of the crimes, this opens her up to being a more interesting NPC, perhaps one that could be turned against her master.

I'm starting Agents of Edgewatch next week and have been reading through all the mods, doing the usual pre-campaign uber-prep. I'm pretty pumped, it looks like a great AP full of good set-pieces, interesting dungeons, a great setting/concept and lots of opportunities for players to riff off their characters.

That said, for a Watch-themed AP, it seems to be missing a few key elements that I'd want to see. I favour a maximilist printed-AP-as-the-skeleton approach, so I'm already working on new content to weave these elements into my campaign. I'm curious to see what other DMs are doing, and what ideas people might have for having these elements.

Investigations and Actual Police Work
For a Watch-themed AP, there isn't a whole lot of true case-work investigations (where you can get the answer wrong). I'm thinking of the likes of your "mystery of the week" crime show, or LA Noire, or other such thing where you have a crime being committed, a bunch of suspects and clues, and the heroes have to filter through the noise to determine the real killer. I would have expected a bunch of these, even if they were side-quests at the back of the AP. I'm writing up some of my own, have people already been doing these? Something like Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective creates a group of interesting NPCs that the PCs can go to for help with their cases (the mortician, the occultist, the cab-driver etc). Having recurring characters like that, as well as the cases get progressively more difficult (including magic, etc) would really explore the Detective aspects.

Police Corruption
Having twelve watch divisions, three of which are at openly corrupt (almost to the level of common knowledge in the city) grants a great background for internecine feuds. Cop shows are almost always full of conspiracies that go up the police chain. But we don't really explore this as part of the AP. Chapters 2+3 are set in districts with significant corruption, and chapters 4+5 have the watch being turned against the PCs, but without any cop-on-cop action. I would like to see elements of at least one (preferably 2 or 3) criminal conspiracies within the Watch that the PCs can solve. Chapter 4 is based on "Assault on Precinct 13", the remake of which sees corrupt cops attack a precinct, but the threat from inside the force seems to be missing. We are also missing detail on the leadership of the Watch. Presumably the Watch as a whole reports to the Council and the Force Captains are mid-level management. So there will be a Watch commander + deputies of some sort overseing, which seems an excellent place for the corruption to seep up to.

Politics, Legailities, Bureaucratic conflict.
No police procedural is missing elements of buerocracy. From "You'll need more evidence to get a warrant" (Search warrants date back to the Middle Ages, and would certainly be present in Absalom), from "I've got jusidiction here, I'm taking over this case!", from interference from the council over high-class subjects, etc, we need to feel like the city is a breathing organism of laws and procedures, with the Watch caught up in that. The fact that a city council member is the ultimate villain means we really want to bring the politics into the story frequently. There isn't really any great oppertunities for a "Give me your badge and your sword, you're off the force!" moments where the PCs realise they need to step outside the system to get something done.

Difficult Decisions
From finding out that the bread-stealer was doing so to feed his family, or catching the killer only to find they were protecting their wife against a brutal enemy, police stories are full of issues where the Law and Morality come into conflict, forcing the hero to decide between the two in various shades of grey. We don't get so much of that here, generally the bad guys are the bad guys and that is that. Ap 5 has the nice elements of working with evil, but that's a long way off from the start of the campaign.

I guess a lot of the above four categories spill into each other. Some side-quests that are cases with difficult decisions are totally possible, and political issues can be caused by police corruption. So they aren't too hard to create. But I'm also interested in more structural changes to the AP, like moving Hunting Lodge 7 to the Starwatch HQ and having the Token Guard be in league with Flakflatter (and the ones assaulting the precinct), as well as bringing in more high level corrupt NPCs to head up the conspiracies.

A lot to discuss certainly. Any thoughts, friends?

Dominion of the Black makes sense. And they are also in Iron Gods, which is our other Sword and Planet AP. So, some kind of sequel to Iron Gods would make sense. Something involving Casandalae/Androids or maybe first contact with the Kasatha's. Eziah, the mage who lives on the sun, would be a great character to use as he is more fantasy than sci-fi. There is also the liches of Eox who are, in the Pathfinder time, presumably not full on spacefarers yet.

I like the idea of an existential threat to Golarion. Having it frozen in a ball of ice is cool. Although we already have "The Gap" in Starfinder, and presumably the plan is that is, like Aroden's death and the 2nd and 11th Space Marine legions, a "THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK" in the lore.

I think there is definitely room for another Sword and Planet AP that doesn't tread on the toes of Starfinder, but is more Sci-Fi than Iron Gods. There is a big enough gap there.

Thanks for the suggestions.

I think I'll give "Fall of Plaguestone" a go. It looks fun.

I like the 9 alignments; in many ways they are an iconic feature of the D&D gene and it would be sad to see them go. I've very rarely had alignment issues at the table.

You could also run Carrion Crown book 4, Wake of the Watcher. It is arguably more suited to Strange Aeons than Carrion Crown. Its set in Illmarsh, just nextdoor to Thrushmoor, is 100% lovecraftian and has direct ties into some of the events in Thrushmoor Terror.

You would obviously need to tweak a few things. It probably makes sense to insert it between Thrushmoor Terror and Dreams of the Yellow King, so you’d need to adjust the CR downwards significantly.

There is probably an argument to be made that removing half of Strange Aeons book 4 and Book 5, inserting WotW, before Yellow King and adjusting all CRs appropriately would be a stronger narrative with the same length.

Shivering in the cold, what appears to be a dirty and hooded beggar steps out from the shadows, casting aside its ragged cloak. What looks out is a horribly withered face, flesh sagging with sores and infection. Two inky black eyes leer from sunken cavities and where its mouth would be is a long curling tube puffing with smoke.

Living Drug, Shiver CR 2
XP 600
CE Medium aberration
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +3

----- Defense -----
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 13 (3d8);
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +4
Immune fear

----- Offense -----
Speed 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +4 (1d4+1)
Special Attacks breath weapon, hallucinogenic dreams

----- Statistics -----
Str 13, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 12
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 14
Feats Improved Initative, Combat Reflexes
Skills Disguise +8, Perception +3; Stealth +6; Racial Modifiers +4 Disguise
Languages telepathy (60 ft., see below)

----- Ecology -----
Environment urban
Organization solitary or den (2-6)
Treasure incidental

----- Special Abilities -----

Shiver Cloud (Su) As a standard action once every 1d4 rounds, a living shiver can exhale a 10-foot cone of gaseous shiver through it’s hideous maw. Any creature that fails its save is immediately affected by shiver, as if ingested. The affected character will have to make an addiction check, as normal (see GameMastery Guide, page 236 ), however the wide dispersal of vapors provides a +4 bonus on this save.

Breath weapon—inhaled; 10-ft. cone; save Reflex DC 12; frequency usable every 1d4 rounds; effect special. The save DC is Charisma based.

Hallucinogenic Dreams (Su) A living shiver can communicate via telepathy but can only do so using vivid images which are plucked from the recipient’s memory. A living shiver can use it’s telepathy to attempt to bend the will of a sleeping subject within its telepathic range. This functions as a charm person spell (DC 12), except with a 24 hour duration. A target that succeeds at the save cannot be affected by that same living shiver’s hallucinogenic dreams for 24 hours. The save DC is Charisma based.

Unnatural Courage (Ex) A living shiver is immune to fear.

Since their discovery in Korvosa 4708 AR, scholars have theorized on what caused the creation of living drugs. Some believe them to be magical experiments gone awry, perhaps the results of illicit research at the Acadamae. Others believe them to be a self-evolving phenomenon, born as a manifestation of the corruption and vice within a city.

In combat, a living shiver prefers to ambush its prey, sending the unwary to sleep with its shiver cloud ability before finishing off those that remain using its claws. Once it has sent one or more people to sleep, it uses its hallucinogenic dreams ability to convince them to submit to future clouds of shiver, delighting in the spread of addiction and suffering.

Living shivers prey on the weak and the poor. They have few motives, other than to spread shiver dependence, hardship and ill.

Living shivers have been known to be manipulated by others, generally in promise of more victims. Ultimately though, they are capricious, with no sense of loyalty or consequences, and such agreements usually end in disaster.

Living shivers are but one form of living drug. There have been reported sightings of others such as living pesh, and the much more deadly living scour.

Goblet of Liquefied Cognition
Aura moderate divination and transmutation; CL 9th
Slot none; Price 18,000 gp; Weight 5 lbs.
Description

This ornate oversized silver goblet is wrought with runes and letters in a profusion of languages. When written words are placed in the goblet, for example through a letter, parchment, or runic carvings, the text detaches itself, liquefying into a sweet wine. This liquid can be drunk, granting the imbiber knowledge of the text itself.
This has the following uses:

• Pages from a spellbook representing a single spell can be drunk, allowing an arcane spontaneous caster to add that spell to their spells known list for a short time (see below). The spell must be on the imbiber’s spell list.
  
• An arcane scroll can be drunk, allowing the immediate memorization of the contents of the scroll by an arcane caster who prepares spells. The spell must be on the imbiber’s spell list and still requires a spell slot, though a used spell slot can be refilled in this manner. The caster level of the scroll is not used; the imbiber will use their own caster level and stat modifier (as normal) when they cast the spell.
  
• Non-magical writing can also be drunk, granting a complete understanding of the text’s contents. This does not require an understanding of the language of the text. The goblet can consume up to 10 average-sized pages of text at once.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, comprehend languages, create water, enhance water, mage’s perusal, mnemonic enhancer; Cost 9,000 gp

Also, why does this not have regeneration as the cap-stone ability? Regeneration is the fundamental ability that The Green Knight from mythology has.

Probably my favourite item from my (500+) votes. It's just so cool.

I disagree a little bit with the judges (and others) comments that it is a one-use item. DC 40 Perception is far from difficult at the level where PCs can drop 30K on a non-combat magic item. Yes, it means that in a low or mid level game, it is likely to be one shot, but for 10th level or above (which lets remind ourselves is 1/3 of an Adventure Path), I can see groups saving up to get this for their nautical based campaign. Obviously Skull and Shackles is a fit here but other campaigns as appropriate.

It's a party-bought item rather than an individual one, and we don't see enough of those.

So, I am debating between a Barbarian who specializes in making balloon animals and a Ranger who specializes in hunting Barbarians who specialize in making balloon animals...

This made me laugh! Simple things for simple minds...

You guys are not seeing the bottom 25% over and over. There are just that many mediocre items. Its the same every year. It is not too hard to sort the submitted items into a keep and reject folder. I dont think the keep folder has ever been more than 100 items, usually about 60-80 or so. The potentially really good ones are pretty easy to sort from all the rest, as you folks are seeing. So if you have 48 or 50 keepers, and you likely havent seen all the items, thats about right. Then from the keep pile we pick the top 32. Seriously, it has always been pretty easy to pick the 60-80 really good potential winners from the batch of submissions. That's why I have always said this first round is not about finding the best item, its about finding the 32 contestants for RPG Superstar. From among the 60-80 keepers we find the 32 items by the 32 authors who have the mojo to win even if their submission is not perfect, because the submissions are not perfect.

I'm sure that you guys are discussing next year already, but it seems that this approach could also be reflected in the public voting. As you say, the goal is not to rank ~1000 items in order, it is to find the top 32. And as you say, that is hard, but selecting the top ~100 is easier.

The public voting has been great fun, but in terms of man hours for the greater good, it hasn't been very efficient. Perhaps a two stage vote next year where you can vote "Keep/Reject" on every item once, and those with enough votes progress to a Condorcet style second stage vote.

Given that the public has shown it is prepared to put huge amounts of man-hours into this process, making those man-hours more efficient opens up other options for you. For instance you could have the "design a monster" stage as the open round 1. Each read and vote will take much longer, but with an initial Keep/Reject, the public will only be doing the Condorcet paired-voting on the really interesting and cool monsters.

Dan Jones wrote:

I rather like the charged items. One of my favorite items from the 3.5 Magic Item Compendium was the belt of battle. It gave a constant +2 bonus to initiative, and had 3 daily charges. As a swift action, you could spend 1 or more charges: 1 gave you an extra move action, 2 an extra standard action, and 3 an extra full-round action. I DMed for a ranger archer with one, and he made lots of great tactical decisions using that item.

EDIT: This is actually the standard I judge all wondrous items by. I compare them to this item.

The belt of battle was overpowered, especially at high level. The 3 charge use was essentially a minimised timestop (9th level spell) where you rolled 1 on the 1d4, usable once/day, for only 12K, with half of a (stackable) Improved Initiative thrown in as icing on the cake.

I played in many Living Greyhawk games where people were equipped with 3 belts of battle, one for each combat of the day. When your item is being bought like that, and is a cookie-cutter solution to almost any fight, something has gone wrong.

I've seen my item three times now. I don't really know how many items I've voted on, but I've done so for hours and hours over the last week, to the point that there are some entries I've literally seen more than twenty times. I haven't seen a new item in days. I think I might be done, honestly.

You have a rather appropriate avatar then...