Miraj's page

Goblin Squad Member. Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber. 21 posts. 1 review. No lists. 1 wishlist.



1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I realize this AP isn't getting a lot of attention, but just in case someone wants to work with the old... I mean 'classic'! AP's I thought I'd share what I'm thinking ;)

Based on some of the other ideas in the forum, including Tangent's on why Elvanna wants to freeze the world, I'm planning on making Rasputin play a larger role. In addition to convincing Elvanna that this is the path to immortality, I plan to make his history more complicated.

In essence, Rasputin was born over a 1000 years ago, and Baba Yaga found his ambition interesting. She took him a long on her travels and gave him a taste for power and magic. He also was touched by the Norns. However instead of true immortality, he is continually re-incarnated. Some incarnations retain more memory than others. Somewhere along the way he became interested in clockwork machines, and has left himself notes throughout his lives. His grand plan was to construct a clockwork "Soul mill". Instead of harnessing the power of wind, it harnesses the power of souls departing the plane. Over time he built many clockwork collectors in preparation. He is already collecting power with every death on Golarion, but it's slow going and drains away over time. The huge burst of souls from the planet-wide winter will be enough to push him over the edge into true immortality. After that, he really doesn't care what happens in Golarion.

I'm only on book 1, but I've inserted a notebook with notes around alchemical immortality, as well as drawings of clockworks. Some notes in Draconic, some in Infernal, and some in an unknown language while I'll have the party discover is Russian.

In book 2, the search party headed for Waldsby will have orders to repair the clock tower - this is because Rasputin has let Elvanna know that the clock works are important for "their" plans. I'm planning on adding clockwork creatures to the external enemy of book 3. I'm debating whether or not the hag or Kostchtchie have any relationship to Rasputin. If he's aiding in keeping his mother out of the way until his plans are complete, it keeps the end game in sight through the module.

I'm not sure what I'll do with books 4-6, although I'm thinking that Rasputin may be close enough to immortality that his reincarnation is faster. Possibly even because of a deal with Kostchtchie. So I'd incorporate him into the end fight, either with Elvanna, or perhaps some sort of clockwork cocoon that births the end boss.

If anyone has suggestions / critiques / etc. and is still reading these boards, I appreciate feedback :)


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

Thanks for the suggestion to have the Black Rider for Hommelstaub! I used that idea last night - especially since I had a player with time constraints we were about to run into. It kept us out of a really tedious fight, and was a nice and impressive introduction to the Black Rider. It also made for an excellent stopping point for the game, leaving the players wondering what was coming next! Way more fun than a protracted game of 'try to find the atomie in the mist'.


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

One of my regrets about the first time I ran ROW was that Heldren had so much backstory, but if the players just jump into going into the woods (like mine did) they will never know how much depth was there. So based on some ideas from this forum, I decided to modify 'Hollow' from Tales of the Old Margreve to get the players more engaged with Heldren before the actual snow travel began. https://paizo.com/products/btpy8hp6?Tales-of-the-Old-Margreve

The backstory
1000 years past, a Jadwiga dallied with an elven druid and gave birth to twin girls. One was pale as snow like her mother, the other bore the colors of the forest, like her father. Migori went to live with her father, while Jenevra stayed behind in the lands of Irrisen. Both of them felt the call of the woods, but where it was indulged in Migori who became a Druid, in Jenevra it was twisted by the cruelty of the Jadwiga who did not believe a half-elf could truly be noble.

This led Jenevra to make a deal with a devil, traveling to the Border Wood, she built golems of wood and used them to help her collect souls that she used to increase her power. The most powerful of her constructs wielded a vorpal scythe and was known as the Hollow Man. For years, those around her lived in terror and tried to band together to resist. During this time Jenevra found the location of her sister in the forest, and sent many of her minions after her. But Migori had become powerful in her own right, and instead of ending her, Migori vowed to bring Jenevra to justice, leading a coalition of villagers and the denizens of the forests to bring an end to Jenevra and her wooden soldiers.

Those who fought in the battles referred to them as 'The Hollow Wars' and many lives - and sometimes souls - were lost in the fighting. The town that became Heldren constructed a statue to 'General Migori' and every year on the date the Hollow Man was finnally defeated, burned a wooden figure in effigy, a tradition that is still remembered, though not practiced in current times. Jenevra herself was defeated and vanished into the forest, and was not heard from again for a millenium.

Jenevra had attempted to merge her consciousness into that of a treant, but in the process drove the treant into torpor. It was the opening of the portal and the energy through the ley lines that awoke one of her wooden guardians. It returned to its mistress and began to collect the life force of small animals, begging to awaken Jenevra. She did not return to consciousness, but instead began a mournful, wordless keening that drove animals near to madness. She felt want... she needed something bigger, something with more soul... and that led the pale shadow of the Hollow Man into the town of Heldren late one afternoon...


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I think what had me curious is in Pathfinder, what's enough gold to keep you comfortable for life?

I'm running for 7 PCs, so even with 20-30 points of plunder, and PC share is... not very much. Especially if we exclude the value of the magic items.

Is 3k enough to retire comfortably on? I ended up going with 6k - enough that the party felt it, but not so much that they felt like he was worth killing over.


3 people marked this as a favorite.
Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

I'm running this AP for my group, most of whom have little or no exposure to Golarion. So I've added a Chelish sailor with a colorful turn of phrase to add in some 'local' references. I'm not really a 'swears like a sailor' person myself so I thought I'd share some of the phrases that have been thrown about and see what other suggetions people have.

  • Hanging from Mammon's golden teats.
  • By the leathery sack of Asmodeus.
  • I'd rather be in Fierna's pleasure gardens.
  • Dryer than Urgathoa's box.
  • By the salty nips of Gozreh!
  • Buried in Besmara's Bosom.

Any other ideas, especially that refer to local governments/cities/deities?