So the countdown clocks of Osirion are the basis of this adventure? Very cool; that plot hook from The Pact Stone Pyramid was just begging to be expanded on. OMG! Is it really the countdown clocks?! So stoked! Love the 10-year angle especially!
A farewell from Wes overlaid with both the cool and classy templates - I am not surprised. All the best! "Seven Days to the Grave" is a legend in adventure design and broke barriers in its day. But I was glad to see "Shut In' also mentioned, because that's always been one of my fav's. Also Wes' map design is stupendous and its specific style has probably influenced Paizo and Golarion over the years in ways many of us don't appreciate. But he's not dying, so maybe now isn't the right time to start flagging favs. I suspect Wes will always be writing something somewhere and I look forward to what comes next. Paizo: give that man an amazing send-off!
The University of Toronto Roleplaying Club is hosting an RPG convention on March 17-19. It will feature lots of Pathfinder games, both PFS and non-PFS. New players welcome! The venue is top drawer: Hart House, which is an absolutely atmospheric place to game (downtown Toronto at the University). Special guests include Ed Greenwood and Robin Laws.
Way to go Uri! I am thrilled to learn your longstanding gaming exploits are being memorialized in web comic form.
One more post to add love for the Rope Trick mini. I remember abusing that life saving spell as early as 2nd edition. Back when it occurred to our table that you could cast the various monster summoning spells from inside the extra-dimensional space and then unload them en mass. Not at all sure if that really worked, but I'm not sure exactly how much of anything worked in 2E, except that we had lots of fun. Rope Trick? Rope Awesome! (... And now an awesome mini.)
Another solution I've seen where the character art depicts an inappropriately attired PC, but the player wants something more practical, is to spring for the cost of the glamered armor quality. Suddenly you've got your platemail or what have you but it now looks exactly like your character sketch. The cost makes it impractical at low levels, but with the flat cost, at higher levels, it's workable.
How cool would it be if Eando Kline were placed in stasis and revived in Starfinder, appearing in a module or something. Perhaps as a pregen or an NPC. I mean there is such a spell, right?
An end of an era! Thank you for honoring it with this cool blog post instead of silently sweeping it away. I too remember Eric Mona's first overview article and didn't fully appreciate at the time how significantly it would impact our game for years to come. For some of us, Eando Kline is our Han Solo. I don't collect minis, but I had to get the Eando Kline mini. He stays in his fancy package. Also "Hand of the Handless", the story mentioned in the blog, brought us trolls-that-read-portents-in-their-regenerating-guts. Even today that still stands up as one of the most twisted awesome things in all of Pathfinder. ...And over the years it's become a pretty big field of twisted awesome.
Each past life profile is a secret backstory - a description of your PC's former life, how they died, and what mysteries are left unresolved. All of this begins unknown to the PC, something they gradually uncover as the game progresses, if they explore the clues provided by the profile (or the GM). Each profile has multiple specific crunch elements too. As the PC uncovers details about their former life, aspects of it manifest, granting bonus abilities - and occasionally drawbacks - trace echoes reverberating from the past. Each profile has suggestions for campaign plotlines and how they might resolve - though we all know no storyline survives contact with the players... which is one of the things which makes this game great.
This is a great idea, by the perfect teacher. I remember long ago attending my first Gen Con in a pre-Pathfinder era. Completely lost, I asked a veteran by the name of Tim Hitchock what I should be doing. He said (though I paraphrase, it was a long time ago): "...do whatever you have to do to attend a game run by Nick Logue. It'll raise your game." I had read the name Nicolas Logue before and seen him posting, but never met the guy in person. Tim did not steer me wrong. Later at the same con, I attended an event called Iron GM, an entertaining GMing competition. One of the volunteers told me: "The reason they have Nick Logue act as the Master of Ceremonies is so he can't enter. It would be wrong if he won it every year." That later quote was a bit false though. As I dimly understand, Nick Logue, (along with Lou Agresta of course), was actually one of the event's co-creators, so of course he should not enter. But you get the idea. And as I finish my post, I realize technically nothing I said actually speaks to whether the guy has any skill as a designer of gaming material -- meaning, I failed to support my original point which was that this course sounds like an excellent opportunity. So in lieu of actually being persuasive, I will instead refer you to "The Winding Way" (Dungeon #117) a classic adventure by Nicolas Logue which many have been seeking to duplicate ever since.
---------- The player does not know if (a) there are no orcs in the bushes; or (b) the GM rolled poorly. Alternatively, if the player makes the die roll and he rolls low, he's pretty much in the same situation. But if the player rolls high, the player is in a markedly different situation - he now knows with a flexible degree of certainty that there's actually no orcs in the bushes. That player will either control their character differently, or be forced to police themselves. Advantage of off-screen rolls: the player is in the same position as their character. They no longer have to do the mental gymnastics of divorcing what they know from their character in order to avoid the universal infraction of metagaming. While it is certainly true that responsible and experienced players can do this, in my view you can remove the pressure and enhance the roleplaying experience, by shifting Perception checks off-screen. It is particularly useful for novice players who struggle with the concept of metagaming or veterans with a competitive spirit. I recognize though that you have to balance this against the countervailing factor: Players just outright plain love rolling dice. I know I do. Where possible, you want them to do it. It's how we have fun. Open rolled Sense Motive checks are another example which really pit the player against their character unnecessarily. It is 'unfun' pretending your PC does not suspect an NPC when in fact you as the player do.
Lazzero's a dick! Objective achieved. A great iconic write up. It almost has a plausibility, with the effects of bullying gradually snowballing into something terrible. Who wrote this backstory? Mr. Moreland?
A Brookes scenario. Looking forward to this one!
Congrats Liz!! Liz's role in this community's history cannot be understated. She was also one the directing minds behind the weeknight Pathfinder Chat as well. P.S. Awesome Illo. P.P.S. And congrats to Chris as well!
Yes! It's back again! Adam and Brandon rule!
"Green Blood..."
Our group has passed on the much cooler names “The Canopic Jar Heads” and “The Sarcopha-Guys” and has tentatively gone with “Millennia”. Their membership includes: 1. The Enigmatic “Mister Sra” “Mister Sra” is a sentient hive-minded swarm of scarab beetles. The beetles are capable of combining together to disguise themselves as the enigmatic “Mister Sra”, a figure whose non-existent face is hidden behind a cloak and dark bandages. Meeester Sra is very tight-lipped about his own agenda, but it involves anxiously exploring the ruins of Wati. He’s searching for something…
2. Eshep the Ibis , Mummified Warrior Eshep was once betrothed to an Osirion nobleman of high standing, millennia ago. But tragedy struck and she instead swore vengeance against the Forgotten Pharaoh after his minions had her new family executed over an imagined slight. In a fit of despair she called upon the sacred Ibis bird to grant her the power to take her revenge. But after Hakotep I suddenly died on his own accord before she could take action and there was nothing left for her to do but commit ritual suicide in grief. Now that Hakotep is flirting with ‘re-birth’ millennium later, Eshep is suddenly back to take care of business. She’s sort of a female version of ‘Crow’, but more mummy wrap than goth.
3. Hanjet the Embalmer Hanjet is a student of mummification who laments the declining art of his people. He’s fascinated by anything ancient or ancestral. His necromantic bolster ability has a half-decent synergy with Eshep, at least until he can start animating his own undead servitors to make the GM's life difficult.
4. Septhys, Worshipper of Black Cats The enchanting and unpredictable Septhys cannot be trusted, yet the party must depend on her. As the party cleric, Septhys is stiffed with the unfortunate task of trying to figure out how to handle the healing for the party’s mummy (negative energy only) and swarm (channels only) and has had to burn her first two feats on dual channeling and selective channeling. The party promises to make it up to her.
There you have it: a "cat", a "bird", a "beetle" and an embalmer. What could go wrong?
It's kinda a toss up for me as to what's cooler here - a story with Jasilia and Ojan in it or the chance for fiction by Chris Carey! Loved this: "She would never forgive herself if she got him killed." "Again."
I am very happy to be digging into Jim Grove’s “The Half-Dead City”. One thing that has just jumped out at me is the footnote to “Twilight of the Phoenix”, the adventure proposal from 2008, which was from the final round of the original RPG Superstar competition. Anybody else remember the camel chase, the collapsing tower of glass? Or the eclipse event? That brings back great memories. If you happen to be an Osirion junkie who came into Pathfinder post-08, I would look it up. It might be among the ‘awesomest’ of adventures to remain in concept form and you can already see its formative influence in "Mummy's Mask".
I never go anywhere near Osirion without my trusted copy of Sekmekh Binwari's Most Reputable and Honest Truthful Guide. (That was awesome) P.S. Many folks just don't appreciate how good an ab workout summoning actually is.
I appreciate the Player's Guide has some marketing value, but seriously, this is an insanely nice guide for free. I would add this to my downloads even if I wasn't going to run this campaign.
And a thank you to both Liz and Adam for letting me know this thread was here. But now the pressure is on as "Slave Trenches" better turn out to be worthy of your support!
. . . stuff about scorpions and baking products And this from the guy who expertly kicks off the "Mummy's Mask" series and knows more about Osirion than pretty much any other freelancer I know. (Though his ability to recognize chocolate cake was recently called in to question. . .)
Very much looking forward to this volume and the kick-off of this series. Jim Groves will be exceptional as always. I especially look forward to an adventuring party (preferably all-Shoanti) making sure the Half-Dead city stays only half-dead.
Well here’s an oldie! Perhaps with the advent of Sharknado, tieflings riding flying sharks will be back in vogue? Yes, the Rider is not much more than a statblock, and far from a properly developed NPC. Thank you for blaming word count instead of neglect. It is possible word count was the reason, I think that adventure came at a time when the lion's share of the magazine was devoted to the adventure path concept. Like a lot of its small companions, it’s a short adventure packed in tight – one of the reasons Dungeon was so awesome in those days, lots of ideas tightly compressed. Course, maybe he just didn’t get the attention he deserved. The Rider strikes me as a never-surrender-type of guy, who would require a lot of skill and perseverance to actually capture. Once captured, he'd likely start out by refusing to speak. But I've seen that PCs will do to their captives (Yikes!). I think he should be a bad-assed, strong silent type on the hunt. He hates humans and he’s drank the fanatic cool aid. That’s how I’d play him. You gotta be pretty grim to ride a fiendish shark through the tunnels of the Underdark. But develop him anyway that works for your campaign. I think giving him proper foreshadowing is awesome, by the way.
I just wanted to give props for the subtle use of the number 56 in the Adventure Background in this fun mod.
All money goes to Wayfinder? How surprised am I that Paizo is doing something swell for the fans who do great stuff for Paizo? Not very. Nice synergy guys - or should I say stacking bonus.
This premise just sounds weird. I can't wait to play it! :-) I dunno, sounds to me like a bit of a snoozer. [/cymbal crash]
I agree. Not only do I not mind the ads, I typically read them all. It's been said before but back in the pre-internet days of Dragon and Dungeon that was a key way to learn about new products. They're not selling me toasters, they're typically advertising the very types of things I'd be interested in as a KQ reader. Some of the ad art is really high quality - it's almost like bonus content. Well maybe that's pushing it, but I expect a healthy industry magazine to carry at least some ads for me to peruse.
So is this supposed to be before or after Entombed with the Pharaohs? - Cool! I didn’t expect people to actually make the connection with Xaven and Rhokon, who first appeared as NPC’s in “Entombed” – I thought it was a pretty obscure reference. But you (and others) spotted it right out of the gate.Yes, this story is about an earlier time in the pair’s history. Xaven’s unusual hobby will further wear away at his personality. He will even change his appearance, shaving off his hair and tattooing his bald head. At some point he will also start collecting souvenirs from the various traps he disables over the years and become the Xaven in “Entombed”. The complex on-and-off partnership between Xaven and Rhokon will develop and they will eventually, for a time, both join up with an outfit called Her Majestrix’s Expeditionary. But none of that has to be known to follow or enjoy this particular tale. I just have a soft spot for these two guys and I was happy for the chance to work them into a short story. Thanks for reading!
Man! Seems like it was just yesterday that those two were teaming up to co-author "Shut In" in Dungeon #128: "Not all evil spawns in ancient ruins or on fiendish planes. Sometimes all corruption needs to take root is a jealous memory, cultivated bitterness, and a lonely place to bloom. . ." Still awesome. Congrats to you both!
It is of course a real coup to have Rich Pett come over to the US, but the return of Steve Greer is also a big deal, in my view. He worked on some of the very earliest Pathfinder modules and it would be great to hear from him on his experiences.
With less than a week to go before this expires, I am upping the ante. If you hit that like button I will: 1. Psychically send you an imaginary klar, personally autographed by the jothka of every major Shoanti tribe. 2. Jump a hell knight and dispense with him in an exotic fashion, while dedicating it to you. Many thanks, --Ask
Dear Paizonians, There is a company that donates a dollar to a charity each time someone hits the “like” button on its charitable facebook page . < ---- that’s the link! Currently, the featured charity is one that is very near and dear to me: Bond Child and Family Development. Could you please take a half second and hit that “like” button? Bond Child and Family Development (AKA Bond Street by us old timers) is a charity that targets two very poor neighbourhoods in Toronto, Canada by focussing on the youngest of children. The crown jewels of the charity is an award winning day care program which is teamed by specialists trained to work with kids with special needs, particularly autism. They also have a park with actual grass in the middle of the concrete jungle and something called a Snoezelin room. The kids are adorably cute and totally worth an electronic click. Like everywhere these days, money is tight. In fact Bond almost had to close shop recently and so every fundraising drive matters. Over the years I’ve learned that gamers are unusually charitable and typically above the curve on tech savvy. Please prove me right and hit that button. But I’d love it if you could do more – if everyone just alerts one other person to this, we could really set that like button on fire. (DC 22 Will save against chain letter - no need to go crazy!) Lastly, for the sake of disclosure, I should mention I am well familiar with both Bond as well as the company doing the donating, but those are both good things. Now in order to satisfy the traditions of a truly off topic posting and to add some Paizo-inspired content, here’s a collection some of my favourite old Paizo threads that I got to play around in over the years (sniff, sniff). This one pertains to one of my favourite gaming sessions during the 3.5 Paizo Dungeon era arising from an old Paizo contest, from a time long before rpg Superstar. This one is about what happens if the Were Cabbages foolishly attempt to conquer True Dungeon. This one is the chronicle of the first Green Blood on a Black Rock tournament, an event which thanks to Adam Daigle and Brandon Hodge has since become a really awesome event. I hope it will continue to rock houses at PaizoCon to come. And of course, as long as I am reminiscing, here is the thread where Ask a Shoanti finally got his start as an advice columnist (thanks Liz!). Where has the time gone?
CONGRATULATIONS! This is awesome. Enjoy your newest adventure.
Thanks for the hard-hitting info all, When I see a thread that starts with concerns that a mod is too easy and ends that it’s too hard, it makes me wonder if maybe it hasn’t hit that mythical target range. More importantly, for me though, I am actually rather keen about the idea of a prolonged fight. I’m rather old school I suppose, but some of the most memorable fights I ever participated in were drawn out – combat is one of my favorite parts of the game. I love it when you have time to develop some respect for your opponent and have to question whether you would be wiser to call it a day while you still can; but you just barely eek it out, and the table cheers. These days it seems if you haven’t dropped the BBEG by round 4, he’s probably dropped you – particularly at the higher levels. (Though I do appreciate that at a con you typically have big tables and artificial time restraints to be mindful of.) In any event, this is all to say I am rather interested in the idea of a low-offence/high-defense style of opponent. (That and 'Torture-Sage'? That is a great name. Who came up with that?) Anyways, I haven’t had a chance to pick up a scenario to GM for a while now and I thank you guys for giving me an idea as to which one. I probably shouldn’t comment more until I’ve actually read the thing.
The baron’s arrival is preceded by a 47-piece string concerto blasting Taldor’s anthem – all 14 verses. And then all 14 again. As he arrives, a throng of cheers erupts from the crowd below. DC 10 Spot Check Spoiler:
The baron’s eyes have slightly misted over. His patriotism has gotten to him once again. DC 25 Sense Motive Spoiler:
More likely the baron has been dabbing his eyes with flask water again. . .
Dear Barely Audible Despot, I see that while most undead can’t ‘get it up’, you also, ‘can’t get it out’. But worry not. In my experience, women simply frequently confuse their need for romance with the urge to travel to exotic locales. What you really need to rekindle your necromantic flame is a shared peril – have you tried getting turned together? Consider luring a band of adventures to your tower using cryptic riddles recently discovered after several centuries of obscurity. As the two of you layer negative levels on intruders together, take a moment to reflect on all the good times you’ve shared in the past. Then as things slowly start to come together perhaps discreetly suggest that its been too long since the two of you have cast wail of the banshee. Yours very truly, Ask a Shoanti
Dear Ask a Shoanti: A caravan of Varisians is squatting in my hunting grounds. Should I eradicate them myself or just wait for the neighboring tribe of bugbears to do it? Sincere Regards, Confused on the Storval
Telepathy: Pseudodragons can communicate with other creatures using telepathy. A favorite tactic of individual pseudodragons is to sing annoying songs into an imp's head while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. There are a ton of clever ideas in this thread already, but this one above is one of my particular favourites thus far. It really fits a more classical pseudodragon's personality. (Not to stereo-type. . .) Imagine a half-dozen off-key songs ringing in someone head. I think the OP's original observation will inspire some of the uber strategists out there. C'mon guys, suppose you are in charge of pseudodragon tactics in Korvosa, you're outgunned: how are you going to win this one? Not to brag but my people have been taking down giants for generations. Stronger doesn't always equate victory.
Actually, what Wes missed is that Hellknights are closely related to crustaceans: once you crack open their hard shells there's nothing but gooey pulpy meat inside! -Ask P.S. I can't wait to spit barbarian chew on your corrupted altar after I've smashed it in half. |
