baron arem heshvaun's page

Check out Perram's Spellbook perhaps?

Not being critical at all, but can anyone more knowledgeable tell me why Ifrit's have horns? They're half fire elementals right? Do fire elementals have horns? Again, just curious.

Think, 'less half-fire elemental' and 'more half-efreeti.'

Efreeti do have horns, and would be appropriate (and that's assuming she isn't a tiefling or something even funkier).

Plus, 'half-fire-elemental?' Ouchie. Where would you, um, you know... There's not enough burn ointment in the world...

You should all try to find a copy of A1 "Slave Pits of the Undercity" and pay attention to the pre-generated tournament characters, and associated artwork.

Those who practice 'Pesh Magic' will someday be the sightless mad high (oh, so very high) 'priests' of the new religion that will sweep Garund and points north and east...

Any suggestion that pesh users have 'blue within blue' eyes is, of course, crazytalk.

And the funny thing about the second instance is that it can easily be the first instance if the DM chooses.

Which was sort of my point - it doesn't matter what skill system you use when the DM controls the outcome. It's not an indictment of either system...

It really is about group expectations and keeping everyone on the same page. I'm still trying to find my style on skill checks. I don't use the social skills as often as I should, and worry that the players who invest in them feel cheated.

...which is where we kind of agree. It should always be about consistency and fairness within the groups expectations.

I like allowing players to use the social skills to haggle with merchants - almost every group ends up buying and selling, so it makes sense to allow the player with Diplomacy and Sense Motive to put them to use to help the whole party regularly.

By the way, I hope it doesn't seem like I'm always harping on you TOZ - I just find your points interesting and good for generating discussion!

Love me some 2nd Edition; I was late to roleplaying, but it's what I started with!

The difference I see, is that with the skill system the player can actually make choices to affect the outcome.

I would still argue it's the illusion of choice. The DM still has control of the environment, so you have to trust them.

There is no practical difference between:

DM: You stand at the edge of a river, you hear the faint sound of a waterfall off in the distance but there are no rapids. You cannot see the bottom of the river. Your quarry has made it to the other side.
Player: I swim across the river.
DM: You get to the other side after about a minute. The rest of the party follows behind with no problem.

Or:

DM: You stand at the edge of a river. *Rolls Spot and Listen in secret, player fails because they don't have any ranks* You hear the faint sound of roaring water from downstream, but see no sign of your quarry. Perhaps they crossed here, but you can't be sure. You cannot see the bottom of the river.
Player: I have +2 to Swim, so I can take 10 and get across. How far was it?
DM: 100 feet.
Player: Okay, that's about 2 minutes at 5ft/round. I'll swim for it.
DM: Halfway across you're attacked by an eel. Roll a Swim check.
Player: 5! Dangit, now I'm going to drown!

Or:

DM: You stand at the edge of a river. *Rolls Spot and Listen in secret, player fails but the DM fudges the roll to keep things moving* You hear the faint sound of roaring water from downstream, and can see signs your quarry has already crossed. You cannot see the bottom of the river.
Player: I have +2 to Swim, so I can take 10 and get across. How far was it?
DM: 100 feet.
Player: Okay, that's about 2 minutes at 5ft/round. I'll swim for it.
DM: Okay, you make it to the other side. The rest of the party is stranded, but you could probably work out some sort of rope system. Do you have Use Rope?
Player: Nope.
DM: Screw it. You can improvise well enough.

Illusion of control. Notice how the 2e version was faster (and there was nothing stopping the DM from having an eel fight there as well, and just calling for a Str check to fight while in the river).

The less there is codified, the more chance the DM has to create a world without obscure corner-cases. Like a dolphin needing an arbitrary +8 bonus to Swim checks just to act like a normal specimen. So much wasted space just to say "dolphins can do jumping flips out of the water".

When I win the lottery/and or have a secretly filthy rich relative leave me billions of dollars in his/her will, can I hire Paizo to update and release Curse of the Crimson Throne with PFRPG rules?

On the same note, excluding Runelords (as it's already being done), what 3.5 AP would you like to see updated to PFRPG rules?

The first one's a Lisa question.

That said... I'd actually rather update Second Darkness, personally—I still quite like that AP, but there ARE a few "issues" with it that I'd like to address... or perhaps completely rewrite.

Hasbro is Milking the Cash Cow again, and the customers will either
A: buy the new version,
B: Stick with a version they like,
C: Drop D&D and find another RPG system that does not get a new revision every 3-4 years that is incompatible with previous versions, or
D: a combination of the above

I got a lot of this from a website out there that sort of has a D&D meets the Dresden files feel and decided to steal and alter some of it to fit my low magic E6 game.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Common Defenses Versus the Supernatural or Magical
All sorts of horrible monsters stalk the average fantasy world. Against many of these creatures, the common people have little defense. How do the common folk manage to stay alive when a single mob of shadows could lay waste to the average hamlet?
Adventurers are a big help but Adventurers aren’t supposed to be a dime a dozen. They can’t be everywhere all the time. What common means of defense against supernatural monsters exist? Knowing these could range from a DC10 to DC20 roll depending on whether the information sought is general, specific to a class of supernatural threat or specific to a particular individual type of threat.

Fire

Holy Symbols

Iron

Running Water

Salt

Silver

Sunlight/Sunrise

Thresholds

Putting these Common Defenses into play
Since these are the commoner’s methods of defense against the supernatural, it stands to reason that the various methods are well-known. Knowledge of when these defenses are appropriate is generally a DC 10 or 15 check.
If the PCs suspect that they will be facing evil fey, then they may be well advised to stock up on iron weapons and to bring along a sack of iron nails and horsehoes to affix near building entrances. If its known that a monster sighted in the area is one that can also be held at bay by a boldly presented holy symbol, this can be critical to the groups safety , when in desperate situations, even the devout fighter can whip out a holy symbol and have a chance to daze the monster before it can gut the party’s wizard.

I can't agree that Ustalav is undefended.

A major reason you hear about the warlike aspects of its bordering countries is because we’ve said little more about them. Take away the military of Lastwall, the savagery of the orcs, and the invasiveness of the demons of the Worldwound and there's not much left to those regions. I hope someday we get to explore any of these regions in greater detail and make that not the case, but for not, there's not much hyperbole in this statement. That's not the case with Ustalav, though. In Ustalav, the shades of gothic horror are important and the thousands of terrifying plots waiting to be run there. Their relationships with neighbors they generally don't like, less so.

But does that mean Ustalav is defenseless? No way. Is its military focused on in Rule of Fear, no - generally because even if I had had another 64 pages to go on I still wouldn't have enough room to fill the book with all the gothic horror plots and characters and ideas I wanted to. But does that mean there's no details on the country's military? Not the case. Lets start at the top:

Prince Aduard Ordranti III himself is a military ruler, even if any rank he attained before his coronation was ceremonial, his heart is with the nation's soldiers. Page 17 references his "appreciation for military life," "touring the forts of the northern and western borders," and his favor with the "country's fighting men."

So there's at least proof that the military exists, now lets see what they can do.

The county of Ordranto stands as a vulnerable point in the nation's northern defenses, only a thin strip of river guarding a border defended - with few gaps - elsewhere by deadly forests, high mountains, broad rivers, or an inland sea. Page 22 and 23 go on at length about the castles in the region and Ustalav's defense against barbarian raiders, but the merciless efficacy of the nation's military (not to mention their hatred for their ancient foes can be seen in the description of the Ground of Lost Tears, and on page 6 with an overview of the Demonskin War in 1611. This war was only 100 years ago, and Princess Maraet is the current ruler's mother.

Of note, at least one of these descriptions refers to the princess commanding "Odranto's defenders." This is an interesting point. In this case, I'm actually referring to the country's military - headquartered in Caliphas - but every count has the freedom to raise and hold his own martial forces. These forces are meant to defend and police the count's lands, but are also to be committed to the service of the crown when called upon. While this allows the larger military to concern itself with operations besides patrolling roads and borders, it has also allowed some counts to style themselves as warlords.

Nowhere is this better seen than in the county of Barstoi and the conflict remembered as the War without Rivals, which reduced the fertile Ardealin region of Furcina to the scorched land known as the Furrows. Page 60 presents many of the details of this internal war, noting both Ardeal's "unprepared nobles" and "conscripted peasants" and Barstoi's well-trained knights. This isn't implicit here, but in my mind having nobles is synonymous with having knights, especially in a land as feudal as Ustalav. In that case, Ardeals "unprepared nobles" are knights who inherited their titles, but have never had any reason to wield a sword. This softness of the Ustalavic heartland is obviously not representative of the whole nation, though, as Barstoi proves.

But not all martial forces are as splintered, as we see in Tamrivena, Ustalav's miniature police state. This is the seat of Canterwall's twin military forces, the Wallguard and the Foreguard, which, respectively, are the city's standing army of defenders - assuring that, if orc invasion comes, the people of Canterwall have a redoubt to flee to - and the troops guarding of the borders. As the Palatinates have a more unified relationship than other counties, the Foreguard is a welcome sight not just in Canterwall, but also in Vieland to the north. Although not mentioned in Rule of Fear, this is carried through in Pathfinder #44: Trial of the Beast, with the details on border guards on page 83. I can't say that all such guardians are noble knights, in especially in Vieland where mercenaries are more likely to be hired as defenders, but even human bullies are better than orc raiders - usually.

This would also be a good place to not Canterwall’s Bleakwall, the country’s westernmost border that, for centuries, has marked the line between Ustalav and Belkzen. While dozens of fortresses, watch posts, and battlements have been raised upon this border, ages, wars, raids, and disuse have seen castles rise and fall along this stretch of land for centuries, leaving a clear marker of where Ustalav ends and Belkzen begins. While at least two infamous fortresses can be found along this run, there are still a number of surviving turrets that serve as watch posts for the county’s martial forces. Is the “wall” an effective barrier, absolutely not—we’re not trying to make the Great Wall of Ustalav here—but is it a useful front allowing the nation’s defenders to alert those who need to know in case of impending attack. Absolutely. (Though the nation has other agents and allies that would likely alert them to an orc army of significant size forming months before it reached the border.)

We also get notes on Ustalav's defenders on page 10 with the riders of Amaans and their swift fell ponies, the duelists of Lepidstadt (renowned across Avistan for the Lepidstadt Scar; also mentioned in Prince of Wolves) on page 46, and even on page 6 in the year 4669 what might be read as a single count holding back the tide of invasion. And that's to say nothing of the various power groups that make their homes in the nation and the regions that seem more than capable of defending themselves.

Speaking to the concern about Lepidstadt’s safety, the city is largely surrounded by swampland, with forests and mountains to the north and west, so don’t fear much beyond orc raiding parties largely dealt with by militia and mercenary troops. The city, though, is a city of scholars and, over centuries of disuse, have let their walls lapse (even turning Fort Cindercain over in part to the local university). Interesting that this might be the case in a city featuring themes of scholarly arrogance.

But if all this isn't enough for folks to think that Ustalav can hold its own, lets look to the copy of Pathfinder Adventure Path #44 that just landed on my desk, and the article on Caliphas. Here we get more details on the four military fortresses of the Ustalavic capital, Castle Balatz, Castle Borgoffi, Castle Golbanze, and Castle Mashir. Castle Balatz is described as the headquarters of General Drannon Ulvodos, the head of the Ustalavic army, while Castle Golbanze details the admiralty and several famed and infamous captains of Ustalav's twilight-sailed navy. There's more than that, but I'll let you all check that out when it hits your mailboxes.

So that’s my thoughts on the Ustalav military situation. All of that being said, I think the idea of the Royal Bounders is a cool one. With all the threats on the country’s borders, forewarning and preparedness, especially on the part of the royalty that is so distant from contentious borders, would be vital. While we know the king’s adviser Diauden keeps a network of spies and informants in addition to the Bureau of Special Affairs (PF#41 p 64), he might be a good character to have a cagy, fast moving, and autonomous military force serving the will of the throne. Could be pretty neat. Ultimately, though, how much you want to read between the lines into the details of Ustalav’s martial forces and however you want to square this in your game is totally up to you, but I hope this gave folks a few ideas and prepared some GMs to fend off a few pesky player question.

That would be Terra-ble.

The forum in which Baron posts is ALWAYS the right forum.

M'lord Baron, as a highly-esteemed member of Chelaxian aristocracy, is indeed infallible.

While I don't much like ninjas (crafty, soulless b******* who are resistant to my Asmodean mind tricks), Liz is an exception! Go Liz!

(and now I'd like to have my share of your fiendish cookies, please!)

John Benbo wrote:

Does Greg get paid per word or per PC killed? I think per word would be cheaper.

So, so, so excited to see this out in its entirety. When I first met Greg, we played a gag on him. He didn't know I was a newly minted freelancer, just starting my excursion into game design, or that we had many mutual friends.

So when I cornered him on an escalator, it looked like I had just attached myself to his group. "You're Greg Vaughan!" I glowered, waved my hands. "I want to punch you in the #%^@! You're responsible for killing more of my characters than any other writer! You and Istvin! Damn you Greg Vaughan!"

Then I followed him off the escalator.

It took a bit to convince him this was a gag and that I wasn't the worst sort of rabid anti-fan-boi-stalker.

I'm still not convinced.

Spells Copied from Another's Spellbook or a Scroll:... In most cases, wizards charge a fee for the privilege of copying spells from their spellbooks. This fee is usually equal to half the cost to write the spell into a spellbook (see Writing a New Spell into a Spellbook)...

Selling a Spellbook
Captured spellbooks can be sold for an amount equal to half the cost of purchasing and inscribing the spells within.

According to the text above, the "market price" for spells in a spellbook is 1.5 x cost to write the spell and the "sale price" is half that:

0: 7.5 gp -> 3.75 gp
1st: 15 gp -> 7.5 gp
2nd: 60 gp -> 30 gp
3rd: 135 gp -> 67.5 gp
4th: 240 gp -> 120 gp
5th: 325 gp -> 162.5 gp
6th: 540 gp -> 270 gp
7th: 735 gp -> 367.5 gp
8th: 960 gp -> 480 gp
9th: 1215 gp -> 607.5 gp

A spellbook with 20 0-level spells and 7 1st-level spells would sell for: 7.5 gp (spell book) + (20 x 3.75) + (7 x 7.5) = 7.5 + 75 + 52.5 = 135 gp.

The Drow (created by Gygax as I remember, no insult Lazar) do deserve a mention IMO, if only because I could never figure out why the elves who lived above ground would be the pale ones.

My fanwank for that is that elves don't have melanin like humans, but instead adapt to the light levels around them. The elves who live on the highest mountain peaks, the grey or gold elves, are the palest of the pale. Those who live among humans, the high or silver elves, are mostly human in skin tone. Those who live in the shadowy forests, the wood or wild elves, tend to be darker skinned, with the grugach, from Greyhawk, the darkest of all, described as 'nut-brown' in color. In the depths of the seas, aquatic elf skin tones run from blue to green, and finally, in the lightless warrens beneath the earth, dark shades of blue, brown or black, depending on the artistic depiction, among the drow.

So, since 1st edition, really, elves have been paler when exposed to the most sunlight, and darker when living in darker areas.

But that's elves. Svirfneblin and Duergar are very much not elves, and it would be completely appropriate for them both to be pale white in color (like Derro already are), while the surface Gnomes and Dwarves run to darker more human-like complexions.

The forum in which Baron posts is ALWAYS the right forum.

Dear Paizo Fans,

First off let me apologize for my long absence from the Internet. I don’t use it for anything beyond work email these days and I am about as far out of the electronic loop as is humanly possible – my own fault, and my undoing on many levels.

I deeply apologize for the debacle that was Sinister Adventures – I can honestly say there has been nothing in my life I regret more than attempting to run my own publishing company. I have done severe damage to my own finances over the past several years, ruined my reputation as a game designer, and transformed a hobby that used to be the most enjoyable part of my life into my own personal mire of misery and shame. But most importantly I have alienated a host of lovely people who love RPGS. I used to take great joy in communicating with my former fans, and felt a growing camaraderie with several of the people who enjoyed my work, or even hated my work, but just downright enjoyed this great hobby. I let those people down, betrayed them, and damaged their enthusiasm for the game, not to mention lost the hard-earned money they entrusted to me through pre-orders.

I dealt with the avalanche of problems Sinister experienced ineptly to say the least. The failure of this company combined with crushing stress from my 90 hour-a-week day job of the last three years shook the foundation of my sense of self. This led to a downward spiral of alcoholism and depression.

My recent move back to Hawaii has restored a great deal of the vitality and psychological well-being I lost over the last few years and I am finally in a place to take serious action against the start-up gaming company that has become my personal nemesis.

I have lost over $15,000 personally on this endeavor through my gross ineptitude as a publisher. I paid for a great deal of top quality art, web design and other start up costs and then as problems arose that siphoned off more funds, I found the company wallowing in destitution. As the problems piled up, I eventually lost any ability to deal with them and kept attempting to tell myself I would “get around to it soon” once I was able to save up more funds and free up more time. I grappled with the idea of bankruptcy, but didn’t want to end up not giving those who trusted me their money back.

Fortunately I have been able to shift some funds around recently and replenish Sinister’s coffers enough to get everyone their money back. To ensure this happens in a timely fashion I will not trust my own dire worthlessness with the task. Instead the heroic Lou is once again stepping up to bat.

Through the invaluable assistance of Louis Agresta – one of the truest friends a man could ask for – I am now in a position to refund all and sundry for their pre-orders to Sinister. Lou has very kindly offered to assist me yet again, this time pooling through my mangled attempts at record keeping to ensure all of you who have not yet been refunded get your money returned.

Lou has posted instructions and details above.

Now allow me to move off my own dire failures as a businessman and human being and move on to a more salient point.

Paizo Publishing is a true gem - A company full of caring individuals who are entirely the opposite of Sinister Adventures. They care deeply about their fans, their authors, and the hobby. From my close contact with them for years, first as a rabid fan and aspiring writer, then as a go-to freelancer, then as a brief employee I have a unique view of the fine people of Paizo inside and out. They are compassionate, professional, creative, enthusiastic, and possessed of a deep well of forgiveness and generosity. They don’t just uphold high standards of how companies should operate – they set the standards as far as I’m concerned.

It hurts me deeply that their remarkable feat of kindness and an attempt to rehabilitate the degenerate hobbyist and writer I have become over the last few years could result in any sort of backlash. These fine upstanding people pour their love, blood and sweat into their company daily.

To those of you hurt by the Sinister fiasco: I implore you to keep the sights of your (righteous) anger focused entirely on me. I will happily give ample opportunity for those of you slighted (or worse) by my mistakes and failures a chance to redress the wrongs you suffered at Sinister (and my) hands. I will gladly listen to your anger, apologize, and try to make amends as best I can at Paizocon. I will attempt to run games for those of you who suffered from Sinister’s flop, languishing in limbo while awaiting news or refunds from me.

I humbly apologize for the long and resounding silence and for thinking I could get things back on the rails.

Thank you for your time and patience. Please follow the instructions and details Lou posted above on how to FINALLY get your money back.

Yours,

Nicolas Logue

Here are a few goodies to help you out. Didn't get word back, but I'm pretty sure I'm alright here.

I'm assuming your Adivion has already consumed the Carrion Crown elixir, and is just persisting in that state around Gallowspire?

The cinematics of my original encounter didn't really allow for that. In fact, it didn't really allow for Adivion's survival at all. Of course, that could have been tricky ("Hold on, guys! He's self-destructing! Let's just hang back and let nature kill him for us!"), which is undoubtedly why it was changed.

So this addition wouldn't work as well for you cinematically if he's already transformed, because in this version, he sees the PCs, drinks the potion, begins his change, and then flares in incredible power before burning himself out like a 4th of July sparkler.

I think I mentioned it upthread, but there was a round-by-round mechanic that intended to display the terrible might of Adivion's transformation, allow him to slap PCs around for a few rounds where everything seemed hopeless, then suddenly show everything going wrong as his own body -as it is not the proper subject for the elixir, starts crumbling under the weight of the Tyrant's soul.

Round 1-2: Adivion's shadow takes animate form and gains density as it clambers over his shoulders like a corpse clawing away from the grave. Treat all of Adivion's spells as Empowered with no change in spell level.

Round 3-4: Adivion's physical decay continues as the shadowy form hovering above him takes on more substance and independent action, gaining a withered humanoid shape that superimposes over the magus' body. Treat all spells cast by Adivion as maximized as though using the Maximize Spell feat with no change in spell level.

Round 5-6: Adivion's body takes on the familiar withdrawn, parched appearance of a lich. The disembodied, shadowy soul takes on a frightening aspect of a similarly lich-like creature sheathed in iron armor and a bladed helm with massive curving horns. Spells cast by Adivion remain maximized, and he benefits from a haste spell.

Round 7-8: Adivion's eyes widen as the Tyrant usurps his disembodied soul, which remains incorporeal and attached to the forsaken lich, but gains the distinctive form recalling the Whispering Tyrant's appearance from legend, and seems to act with more independence. Adivion's flesh begins cracking further and crumbling off in sloughs, revealing rotten, yellow bone beneath. Spells remain maximized, but Adivion loses the benefits of haste, and he gains the confused condition.

Round 9-10: Adivion's form is now little more than a crumbling skeleton encased in armor, his flesh littering the battleground around him. His disembodied soul has now taken on the black, shadowy form of the Whispering Tyrant, the red pinpoints of light that previously peered from Adivion's eyes now firmly glowing from the incorporeal form of Tar-Baphon. Spells cast by Adivion are empowered, but he gains the staggered condition.

So, yeah -you could do something like this, if you could justify the cinematics of it. Maybe even do away with the bad conditions he gets, just to show this surge of power. It certainly gives him a boost if you feel he's just going to be mincemeat. The daughters of Urgathoa addition is a nice one as well. You also got the minor deaths (CR 10) from the back Bestiary that might help.

Another intriguing thing I played around with was the possibility of this dark shard of the Tyrant's soul escaping even after Adivion died. I was kind of going for a Sauron-when-his-spirit-fled-to-Dol Guldur-in-Mirkwood kind of thing, and this little escaped spark had the possibility of becoming full-fledged Tar-Baphon given enough time to recoup and feed. Could have interesting campaign ramifications post-CC, and its appearance also makes for a neat little "gotcha" moment that I love when PCs are in victorious "loot" mode:

Death of Adivion: Despite the timing of Adivion's demise, his disembodied soul lingers, carrying with it the spark of the Whispering Tyrant's soul drawn forth from Gallowspire. A round after the fatal blow that crumbles Adivion's body to dust, the infected remains of the disembodied soul animate as a greater shadow. This now-independent creature may maliciously attack PCs in revenge for their interference, or it may try to flee downward through the sarcophagus to preserve the freed essence of Tar-Baphon. If it escapes, this seed may prosper and grow in some dark place in the world, germinating like a malignant growth that may yet threaten Golarion with the Whispering Tyrant's resurrection if not sought out and destroyed.

Beyond that, I don't have much to offer mechanically. My version of Adivion, which isn't nearly as tweaked as some of the versions you guys produced, was more of an too-smart-for-his-own-good swordsman that relied on the Reposition feat, telekinesis, and a ring of the ram to try to maneuver people toward the edge and push them over, but I have a feeling that might be a little sedate for you guys, and certainly not of much use if too many folks are flying. =-)

I'll put some more thought into a few things you can do. Even without Marrowgarth, you've got this!

B.

Well Aldori Dueling only really helps 1 weapon Finesse fighters if you make it available to all.

For Gothic? Step it up to the early 1800's era.

Firearms are common (25% cost) but not yet advanced - let the players know that NPCs will have them. Make Heavy (not Medium) armours more expensive and rare. Firearms do not work well on Zombies/Skeletons or ghosties so thats Chapter 1. :)

Look at starting the PC's with NPC classes (gives access to healing spells to arcane casters)

Encourage the Alchemist (Crypt Breaker replaces Trapfinding need for a rogue), Inquisitor and Witch classes. A fighter or Gunslinger (I'd go with fighter) rounds out the group. A Bard is a pretty good addition too or a magus.

Maybe get ritual magic involved for the good spells.

Make magic strange and otherworldly (tell characters they'll face a negative circumstance modifier)- add in flavour text for that (heck, even have the players help with their own flavour text).

Have the NPCs be like the guys from Sleepy Hollow.

Bring in Science as a Theme (great for TotB)

Oh... and this

Okay, I think it would be profitable to discuss the nature of building magic systems for fantasy worlds. There will likely be some anthropology jargon thrown in here with the metaphysics, but since the ideas have been around for a while, they're worth discussing.

In a well thought out and constructed world, magic is more than handwaving. Which is not to say that a wizard can't just wave his hand and throw a fireball, but there's a reason for why this happens and why this works, even if the wizard himself may not precisely understand it.

The reasons for why a few gestures, a few words and a ball of bat poo may create a fireball include, but are not limited to, the following:

1. Natural Magic
In this magical system, certain things have intrinsic power. It's the basis of much lesser alchemy. In the same way that a cup of willow bark tea can cure a headache or a a death's cap mushroom can melt someone's liver, a ball of bat poo of precise dimensions flicked at a precise trajectory, along with various words chosen for their sonic resonance and various gestures and poses which modify the sonic patterns, can be reproducibly shown to create a huge explosion of fire.

2. Sympathetic Magic
In this magical system, "like produces like." A few scraps of poetry about fire, a few literally flamboyant, and a ball of bat guano and sulfur (which can be observed to burn very nicely) together pull on the force of sympathy and draw actual fire to the location of the bat guano.

3. Propitiation/Coercion
Termed "sorcery" in folklore studies, this style of magic has the magic user beg, threaten, bribe or otherwise coerce gods, devils, elementals, or other spiritual beings to use their powers on his behalf for some desired end. In this system, for example, the ball of bat poop might be considered a delicacy by fire elementals and tossing them one might create a pleased belch in response, with the resulting fireball.

4. Force of Will
In this system, it is the magician's will alone which alters reality. All words, gestures, and assorted paraphernalia are at best mnemonic devices and concentration aids.

5. Arcane Hacking
This system presupposes that some of the other systems are already in place but is an elaboration. A god or gods may have used a magical language to create the world and some of the words have been discovered or revealed and may be used in the same manner, or a great wizard may have created mighty spells by his will alone but then set up a way for them to be accessed which requires precise pronunciation of some nonsense verse, various embarrassing gestures, and a ball of bat poo, because that's something no one would ever hit on randomly. In this system, spells are basically command words to magic items which can be accessed from anywhere.

6. Mana or "Limited Good"
In this system, magic and/or luck is a quantifiable resource, much like water or lamp oil. It can be used up or replenished, and all things are usually considered to have some, though some more than others. This energy is usually depicted as having some interrelation with thought, as thought can give it formed, and when there are high enough concentrations of mana, anyone can direct it with a thought, not just magicians.

6. "Unlimited Good"
In this system, magic is not a resource which can be hoarded or squandered like oil but rather a universal constant like gravity. Like gravity, magic may have a dramatic effect, but also like gravity, it is not something that generally goes away.

This isn't an exhaustive list, but touches on some of the more common systems from folklore and fantasy.

When creating a world, it's useful to consider what the logic of each magic is, why it works, and when it does not work.

I've always been a fan of cantrips, back since they were introduced in Unearthed Arcana in 1st ed. I generally like the Pathfinder at-will power for them, but a few more slots would be nice. I played around with unlimited cantrips back in my 1st ed game, and generally speaking, they were a hit.

Here's a few houserules I'm planning for my own campaign which others may find useful for theirs.

Houserule #1: The various feats, such as the ones in Complete Arcane, that allow a suite of 3 cantrips a day, instead operate as Pathfinder Cantrips. Your fighter or rogue can now have a little extra daily magic without taking a spellcasting level. And your wizard or cleric can do the same if they want more cantrip slots and are willing to blow a feat. Note that these extra slots are dedicated, rather than swappable.

Houserule #2: Having high Intelligence, Wisdom or Charisma will give you bonus 0-level spells. Look at Table 1-3 in the PRPGCR and extend the chart to apply. This means you get one bonus 0-level spell with a stat of 10 and two with a stat of 18.

Houserule #3: Specialist Wizards get extra cantrips of their schools, the same as they do spells of higher level.

Houserule #4: Clerical Domains have Orisons attached to them too, and yes, you get bonus Domain Orisons.

Houserule #5: Create Water is a little too powerful for an unlimited 0-level spell, but it's fine as a 1st level spell. However, the 0-level Dowsing spell from Relics & Rituals is a fine replacement.

Note: I'd recommend adding in all the cantrips from Relics & Rituals.

Alright, doing my medieval fairytale-style game last Saturday. Part of the plot was that an ancient and powerful witch had been locked in a crypt ages ago by a bunch of priests before the great war, and one PC had been killed the week before by a mandrake root and wanted to bring in a new character and wanted to do a witch. So he made up an Irish Celtic sort of witch and his witchy henchling who were fleeing some variety of witch hunts back in the isles, and oh yes, he was lawful good.

Okay, this all sounded reasonable, and I'm assuming the "otherworldly power" he made a pact with was the goddess Airmid or some similar lawful-goodish Irish divinity. This was left nebulous so we could get on with the game and backfill the story later as it became important to the plot.

Next thing that happens, said lawful good witch wants use of a forge for ring forging, and since there's no "Anvils R Us!" in the little mountain village and the local blacksmith has regular customers he has to keep happy despite offers of reasonable pay for use of his forge, the witch simply charms him and sets to work in the forge while wearing a pointy hat and black robes that look like they came from a Halloween superstore. (The player insisted that this is what they wore, so I just penciled it in as them having fled in their ritual robes and left their street clothes back at the isles.) Consequently the local Inquisitor--who is not terribly high level, and is using the "blind squirrel" approach to witchfinding, accusing everyone of witchcraft in the hopes of actually eventually finding one--well, let's just say that the blind squirrel finally finds his nut: The blacksmith is acting obviously charmed, there are two people in pointy black hats and black robes in the shop, and the Inquisitor points his finger and starts screaming "Witch! Witch!" and is promptly turned to stone by the actual witch he's finally found. This of course breaks the charm on the blacksmith, who is living in a Germanic country and paid attention to the story of Hansel and Gretel: When you encounter a psycho witch, push them into a convenient oven. And since there's a roaring forge currently in the shop, the blacksmith had little trouble bullrushing the witch into the forge.

In the end, the blacksmith was feebleminded and put to sleep, and then once incapacitated, cursed to have his wisdom blighted along with his intelligence. The witches then flew off on their broomsticks, leaving behind a PR disaster for any good and/or lawful witches out there, as well as leaving behind their "lawful" and "good" alignment tags, since the deeds were certainly chaotic, and cursing the unconscious blacksmith definitely goes in the evil camp too.

Meanwhile, the other PCs had succeeded in freeing the ancient witch from the crypt where she'd been imprisoned, and while it turned out she was both chaotic and evil, she wasn't stupid, and was quite grateful to all these nice people who'd let her out due to a combination of the goodness of their hearts and a desire for kewl ancient magikal sekritz (TM). It turned out the new PC witch and his henchling were looking for a third for their coven, and while the ancient witch might be lowering her standards to pick up with them, it's kind of like having a jam session, she needed to get her cat back anyway, and besides which, with their help she could cast Commune and touch base with the Queen of the Witches, that being Hecate, and introduce Her to her new friends.

And that's where we left it until next game session.

Now, here are my troubles as GM. Obviously if a paladin were to pull a stunt like this, they'd lose their paladinhood, and any priest or priestess of some lawful good god or goddess would likewise have some serious 'splainin' to do. But a witch? All the flavor text for the class mentions is "otherworldly power" and "pact" without specifying anything further. Is switching who you have your pact with no more consequential than switching cell phone service? Are there any penalties for early termination? Roaming charges? What?

I realize that some things are being left nebulous so the GM can pencil them in as they like, and I appreciate that, but it's also useful for a GM to have specific penalties set up in the rules so the players won't feel overly screwed over if something like this happens. And having unnamed "otherworldly powers" only works until you have someone get "Commune" and have them step on stage and tell the characters what They actually want.

Here's the relevant text:

the witch gains power from
her communion with the unknown. Generally feared and
misunderstood, the witch draws her magic from a pact
made with an otherworldly power. Communing with that
source, using her familiar as a conduit, the witch gains
not only a host of spells, but a number of strange abilities
known as hexes. As a witch grows in power, she might
learn about the source of her magic, but some remain
blissfully unaware. Some are even afraid of that source,
fearful of what it might be or where its true purposes lie.

Admittedly this all leaves the door open for Devils, Faerie Queens, "Dreams in the Witch House" style Lovecraftian Elder Gods and whatnot who all apparently offer free cell phone service with no apparent payments necessary (at least up front), but can three witches with three different "otherworldly powers" operate in the same coven without the otherworldly powers possibly objecting? And will they still not object if the witches Commune with any other otherworldly power?

The "pact" would also feel more pact-like if there were something the witch actually had to do apart from buy catfood to get her free cell phone service.

Here's a situation from my Pathfinder game this past weekend. I use a (fairly common) house rule that a 1 is an automatic failure and a 20 is an automatic success. I then usually roll percentiles to see the degree of magnitude of the failure or success. Admittedly house rules, yes, but this question is about the scenario that they led to, and a question about that, not the house rules themselves.

Anyway, to explain the adventure, the party was up in a little Alpen kingdom and the king had to make nice with his new subjects and points with his very tired old chamberlain by going to the town to judge the annual cheese festival and pageant for the loveliest milkmaid. You know, usual stuff until the Miller who was an evil conjurer on the side contracted an evil red dragon to go ruin the cheesemaking festival, terrify the villagers, and basically make his ruse a bit more credible that the virgins he'd been sacrificing over the years were in fact eaten by a picky red dragon, rather than sacrificed to devils and then having their charred corpses torn apart by hellhounds. You know, typical.

So the dragon flew down and landed dramatically atop a tower in full view of the villagers, the adventurers, and everyone else attending the cheesemaking festival, and then lit off a huge gout of dragonfire into the air to get everyone's attention and give him an even better bonus on his Intimidate check than making a dramatic entrance and the plain fact of being an adult red dragon. And then I roll for the dragon and he gets a 1.

Now, I then consult a few more dice and realize it was a pretty bad botch, the dragon terror is going to be so not happening that day, and in the hushed silence of the terrified villagers, the littlest milkmaid is heard to say, "Look, mama! The dragon's got the weathervane up his bum!"

Yes indeed, he had. One of those horrible social faux pas that the bards would be singing about in bawdy tavern ballads for centuries. A weathervane with a decoration atop in shape of a prancing stag had become rectally inserted and the fact had been pointed out by a small child in a dramatic moment rather blatantly lifted from "The Emperor's New Clothes." It was probably a kindness that the adventurers pressed their rather miraculous advantage and proceeded to make short work of the dragon due to good rolls on their party and a bit more awful luck on his, including flying into the clocktower after being blinded by the mage.

To gild the lily on the situation, it had earlier been set up that the mage had done stuff to attract the attention of Thor, and I rolled and indeed, the Norse god of thunder was looking down at the moment and watching the proceedings like someone had just sent him a link to the most hilarious YouTube video ever. Thunder that sounded suspiciously like laughter rolled across the sky, and two characters with extremely good perception checks noticed a bearded face in the clouds right over a rainbow that had rather spontaneously appeared. And there the game session ended, with the littlest milkmaid saying the fateful words, "Mama, I hope every cheese festival is this exciting!"

Now the question comes here, is the weathervane now magical? I'm pretty certain by the RAW it is still just a mundane weathervane, and in fact one snapped off at the base and more than a bit bent. However, by the rules of storytelling, it was bathed in dragonsblood, struck the first and last blow in the death of a dragon, and was witnessed by a god as the punchline of the shaggy dog story version of a dragonslaying. How can it not be magical now, even a little bit?

My question here is, does anyone know any rules for this, either in Pathfinder sources, or else in 3.X sources or other 3rd party sources? Do I just make it magical by DM fiat, or saying that the god watching performed a Miracle, or at very least make it now some quasi-magical substance on the order of dragonhide, since the dragon died with it lodged in his body and it's now gained the same properties as the rest of the corpse?

And if I do pull a DM fiat, any suggestions for what powers to give the dragonsbane weathervane?

A few years ago I was looking for extra miniatures for gaming and came across lots of miniatures from old 19th century paper theatres. These were very cool, though the theatres all looked a bit too 19th century to fit with the 16th-century game I was running. Of course they didn't have paper theatrers in the 16th century, even though they could have, given the state of printing technology.

Being a typography and printers ornament fan, however, I had collections of appropriate ornaments, so using a 20th century diagram of how to make a 19th century accordion pleated variant, I was actually able to design anachronistic paper theatres that could date back to even late 15th century, based on a book from Paris from 1498. I also made the pattern of the stage in squares so it could double as a grid map for rpg miniatures.

Roll forward to the present where I got the Gamemastery theater map which had everything I'd need for a theater battle for my players except for the sad lack of the proscenium arch or the ability to drop down scenery. So I decided to dust off my old paper theatres and reconstruct one of them, as the originals were packed away and it's easier to remake them than find them.

I then realized that other gamers might enjoy these, especially if they have the theater map or are going to be doing the "Six-Fold Trial" or any of the other theatrical adventures from Pathfinder.

Here they are, free to download, and fairly easy to construct. Added bonus: This design packs up flat when not in use, and can have scenery printed out on regular copy paper. I used pictures by Albrecht Durer.

Alphyn Press Penny Plain Theatre #1

Alphyn Press Penny Plain Theatre #2

Other added bonus is that all the character illustrations from the Pathfinder webfiction make excellent paper theatre miniatures as well and already come colored.

If I were a baker in Golarion, I would give thanks to Abadar for steady customers, Cayden for the simple pleasures in a slice of pie, Desna for the baking turned out right, Erastil and Gozreh for the wheat, Sarenrae for the warm sun, Shelyn for the skill, Torag and Brigh for the anvil upon which I craft my works.

I would leave offerings to the Eldest's children (the fey) on my doorstep at night, along with fresh milk, so as to gain their favor, as I would leave out sesame cakes for the crows so they can watch over my home for the Empyreal Lord Andoletta. If my bread is burnt, I would be humbled and make an offering to Ymeri, Queen of the Inferno, and in the long nights of winter, I would make loaves of dark rye to give away to the needy so they do not become one of Urgathoa's hungry dead in the cold night.

...If I were a baker in Golarion, that is. :D

I thought I'd add a bit more.

World building: While I do think there needs to be a team incentive, 'kicking them when they're down' also needs to be kept in mind. Squeezing Cheliax (or Taldor) because their prestige sucks* makes sense in the game, but it is a game not real life. If Taldor suffers a reversal of fortune, then TPTB should 'stack the odds' in the next season for Taldor to climb back into the ring. If the faction can't even do that right... then yes, unfortunately they need to go. (In the Society, not in the game world)

Rewards: I'd like to see the 'winner' of a season get some kind of boon as a reward. Preferably something thematic. Andoran winning, their characters get a one time use of break enchantment Cheliax gets commune etc etc. Not something game breaking, but a nice one shot oomph.

*

Aameul has always been the more calculating and, IMO, less chaotic of the two personalities. Hethradiah is more visceral and ragey.

I guess that chaotic alignment sometimes implies, but doesn't necessitate, a lack of planning or calculation or patience. Despite being chaotic, he's still INT 30ish which puts him beyond Einstein, beyond Moriarty, beyond any human mastermind. Maybe since he's chaotic that comes from flashes of intuitive brilliance rather than a more methodical rational process. But think about elves--they're generally chaotic, but they definitely have a patient, thoughtful approach to intellectual pursuits.

I think the two approaches are compatible in a being of chaotic alignment. Aameul is patience, calculation, cold seething hate. Hethradiah is immediacy, instinct, flaring rage. Aameul broods like Dagon; Hethradiah rampages like Kostchtchie. Aameul ponders, plans, and refines, but Hethradiah comes up with the epiphanies that Aameul never could.

10:17, Gozran 28th, Ravengro
The booming roar of the rain drowns out any other noise. Water mats your hair, drips from your nose, collects uncomfortably in the small of your back, and plasters your clothes to your body like an overzealous embrace. Spatters of mud mar everyone’s clothing after the lengthy journey from the Temple in town. And yet, despite the chill and the discomfort, you stand steadfast, brought together by grief and friendship.

The Professor’s body—even in the casket—is lighter than you thought it would be. At the front of the procession, a Pharasmin acolyte named Besmer walks alongside Lem, the halfling’s extravagant raiment seeming none the worse for wear despite the downpour. Lem’s armour seems to pick up every minuscule gleam of sunlight from the leaden skies, refracting it through the water droplets into a scintillating panoply. Next to Lem, the grey-robed Pharasmin seems almost like a shadow.

At the rear, a group of only seven Ravengrians have come to pay their respects, walking behind the Professor’s daughter Kendra. Kendra made a few introductions, but her mind was on other things, as you might imagine. Keeping pace with Kendra is the samsaran Rose, whose ethereal appearance has occasioned comment several times already this morning. Together, she and Kendra make for a forlorn tableau amid the torrent, as Kendra’s silent tears mix with the raindrops on her face to trickle into the mud.

In between the huddled mourners and the resplendent halfling, six other new arrivals are carrying the Professor to his final resting place. At the front, Dragomir and Karrik make an impressive bulwark against the rain, the water almost parting around them like a bow wave. In the middle, Walter walks unsteadily on one side while Rajuna stares stoically ahead on the other. Flori and Theron bring up the rear, anger and sadness chasing themselves repeatedly across the half-orc’s face while Theron seems lost in his own melancholy.

The procession makes measured progress into the Restlands, at last reaching the gravel path that leads from the gate to the Professor’s gravesite, where Father Grimburrow waits to deliver the service and last rites. Everyone walks with bowed heads, weighed down with sorrow.

The path rounds a corner, turning right as it passes a small mausoleum. With rain this heavy, it’s no surprise that Lem almost bumps right into the group of men arrayed in front of him.

Close to a score of Ravengrians block the procession’s path. Farmers, fishermen or elderly all, the eldest amongst them stands at the front of the group, his eyes wide and his teeth clenched in a rictus grin as the men behind him mill around, seemingly possessed of varying levels of commitment. And while they may not be soldiers, it’s quite clear that some of them are all too enamoured of violence, with every man amongst them them carrying farm implements of some description—sickles, threshers, hoes, pitchforks, and even a scythe.

Getting closer to running Carrion Crown, and thought some music would be in order.

This thread http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz3qrp&page=1?Carrion-Crown-Soundtrack goes a bit more in detail than I intend to though.

I've selected the following characters/scenes that seem to need a theme. Suggestions sought:

Funeral of Professor Lorrimor - the music from the Halo ODST commercials
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WN7MJISCA2A&feature=related
or Song of the Volga Boatmen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55KNMMGcLaw

The Skipping Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLwW745WJ2Y the Freddy Krueger counting song in German

Stirges in Ravengro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSoITBvyC48

Fire in the Town Hall
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qYPFwEbC91k

First view of Harrowstone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekLuKK7e9kQ

Vesorianna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIBdpFJyFkc&ob=av2n or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04_rDXjQuoQ&feature=related

The Illmarsh Piper
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gIHbAyBhWqc Not really satisfied with this but can't find better - evil and/or ghostly flute music is kind of hard to search for

Father Charlatan
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJGIJn24Nrk&feature=related OK, probably not...Gregorian chants were my only other thought, but they don't seem quite right either

The Mosswater Marauder
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpCV2wgoxC8 Ok, no, but
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4_zaZ3utUY it's even about dwarves!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L07Ur1M9PRY&feature=fvst Everything sounds twice as evil in German! Other suggestions?

The Splatter Man
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08hwxkEQiCQ Not sure here, the words are actually shockingly appropriate, but the music itself doesn't

So I've created some magic item handouts for all the items in Carrion Crown. These include item backstories for all of the magic items, as appropriate. DMs - you can print these items out and hand them to your players, they will love it.

Haunting of Harrowstone, pack 1
Haunting of Harrowstone, pack 2
Trial of the Beast, pack 1
Trial of the Beast, pack 2
Broken Moon, pack 1
Broken Moon, pack 2
Broken Moon, pack 3
Broken Moon, pack 4
Broken Moon, cultists and curates
Broken Moon, Boon of Desna
Broken Moon, Boon of Desna DLC

I've created a few extra magic items not in the module. These are marked as "DLC" items and brings up the wealth per level to match that for 5 PCs (rather than the 4 from the module). The Harrowstone one is based on the Additional Harrowstone Quests at this Link, which is a fabulous resource for Haunting of Harrowstone. Check it out.

Anyway, let me know what you think. Still a bit of work to get through the remaining three modules.

Comments welcome...

PS: Some *SPOILERS* if you read the packs (obviously). Spoilers are limited to that module only.

Completly reworked the HoH material and its now in the same from as all the other GM Material.

Have fun

http://langenhan.info/RPG/HoH_GM_Material.pdf

Hi all,
I just finally had some time to sync my online storage with my work for my CC campaign.

If you have look around in langenhan.info/RPG you will find some new and some old (updated) items.
I introduced Version numbers for all Docs so it easy to see if you have the current version.

Anyways...here the NEW stuff

• 4712.pdf = a complete Calendar of the yar 4712 (done with MSWord2010 Template)
  
• Ustalav_Climat.pdf = a discussion about how to introduce some weather into ones campaign
  
• Windspirits_Campain_Calendar_player.pdf = The calendar for my campaign (over Winter)
  
• Windspirits_Campaign_weather-forecast.pdf = Weather Forecast for my CC campaign (over Winter)
  

Right so here now the old Stuff:

• HoH_GM_Material.pdf = Haunting of Harrowstone GM Material
  
• TotB_GM_Material.pdf = Trial of the Beast GM Material
  
• BM_GM_Material.pdf = Broken Moon GM Material
  
• Ustalav_Roads.jpg = Roads in Ustalav (New version)
  
• Sleep_and_Rest-GM_Material.pdf = Summery of Sleep and Rest rules + some homebrew
  
• BuyTable.pdf = Pre calculated Buy Tables for 20 ,15 and 10 points
  
• BaseCharacter.pdf = my own version of the Character templates (New version)
  

I want to bring up a few interesting problems I am having, perhaps you have ideas from your campaign how to address these:

CHALLENGE:

PACING:

SPACING:

MOTIVATION:

Ideas? Thoughts?

Fun and challenging start to the castle. Definitely a nice change after the intense role playing of the past few (in-game-time) days.

We removed the XP costs because we thought they were unfair. Wizards, in particular, were tripple taxed for doing their thing—in 3.5 they had to pay gold, time, AND XP in order to take advantage of their class features (scribing scrolls and crafting magic items).

Furthermore... it always felt nonsensical to me that you would "spend XP" (and thus grow LESS experienced) for successfully building a magic item, which to me feels like something that you should actually become MORE experienced at. It's non-intuitive and wonky to say "I spent all my life building magic items, and as a result I am less experienced than all those spellcasters who never built a single thing in their entire lives!"

The GM, in any case, gets to say when and where and how often players get to craft magic items; he also gets to decide whether Item Creation feats are in the game at all. So if the concept of PCs building their own magic worries you... I would do one of the following:

1) Remove Item Crafting from the game entirely.

2) Regulate Item Crafting—let crafters build items on a case by case basis.

3) Require items to utilize rare and difficult to find components. Maybe that helm of teleportation needs to be soaked in a marilith's blood before it becomes magic. Perhaps that +3 flaming burst falchion needs to have its blade tempered by an ancient red dragon's breath? And so on.

I've had this problem with haunts which I think I've solved satisfactorily for me. I'm sure this was the initial intention with haunts but I find/found it hard to conjure up flavor stories around haunts. Not that I've used it yet, but for instance:

Enter, the haunt cards! These are cards which are intended to be printed out and handed to your players when they roll appropriate Knowledge rolls about the haunts. I have taken some of the rulings from the Haunts thread where there are 2 rolls - (1) to find out it's a haunt and what it's going to do, how do defend against it and (2) a lore-centric roll (local or history) related to how to actually destroy the haunt.

Each haunt presented in the Haunting of Harrowstone (though I intend to add the other adventures in if they have haunts - I haven't checked yet, still DMing Haunting) has 2 cards - one for each of the rolls.

I have added a fair amount of flavorful text around the legends to actually construct legends that I can hand to players. I suspect the players will read the card and then ad lib the legend themselves. If you glance at the first few and don't find them particularly flavorful, scroll down. I think it gets better.

Take a look, see if you like. If you find any grammar or spelling errors, let me know. Also if you have some better ideas, let me know too (reply here) and I might add in the changes if I like. If you want your own copy (you can just print it in the link) you can copy it yourself and edit it to your heart's content.

Hope you guys enjoy. There are currently 18 pages of cards.

And a final warning, PLAYERS STAY OUT! Haunt destruction conditions are extremely detailed and are not for players to know about!

HERE ARE THE HAUNT CARDS

Note that I largely punt on the Harrowstone-specific haunts as I find it a huge leap of logic to believe anyone would know what the effect of

Enjoy.

Using the great ideas in this thread I'm building up Caromarc and his wife. However, instead of a wand of speak with dead I'm going to be setting up the glass bell jar as being partially mechanized with strange knobs and pressurized, fluid-filled tubes. When used correctly, wires send stimulate Ceryse's brain and it answer questions through an audio box that transmits the answers she makes.

The guy is a hugely accomplished scientist, why should he necessarily have to rely on wands?

Ah, of course. It's just like blood biography.

So, given that he is trying to have a relationship of sorts with his wife, this will be difficult. Like memento, she will have no ability to gain memory of their conversations, even short-term.

"Do you know who I am?", he asked.
"You sound a bit like my husband", she said. "But your voice is older, sadder. No, I don't know who you are."
"I am your husband. It has been 40 years since you died my love".
She said nothing, for she only replied to questions.
"Do you remember that time we used to go for picnics on the bank of the river?"
"I'm sorry" she said. "I can't answer that question. I don't know who you are".
He sighed, and single tear began to form in his eyes. "Do you remember the time that you and your husband used to go for picnics on the bank of the river?".
"Yes" she said. "I remember that. Alpon and I would count the butterflies as they flew past. He knew every species in Vieland he once said. I would have liked to have had more picnics, but Alpon was always busy with his work".
"Did you enjoy the picnics? How did they make you feel?"
"I enjoyed them very much. They made me feel alive, free from the burden of the royal life, and our duty. It was always duty with Alpon and his family. The picnics were our only break."
"And how do you feel about that now?"
"Now?" she said. "Now I feel nothing. I'm dead."
"I'm so sorry... so sorry... do you forgive me my dear?"
But she said nothing. For his spell had run out of questions for the day and all that looked back at him was lifeless eyes.

I really like that! Sorry, but I'll have to copy that shamelessly!!! =D

No need to be sorry, I'm glad you liked it :)

kvalca sain is a woman, other then that sounds awesome. good job.

D'oh. So that means

I've rewritten Professor Lorrimor's journal as I felt the clues it provided were far too direct and obvious. In doing so, I've managed to work mention of Professor Crowl into it (I won't be using the plot hook of Petros's Tomes in order to get the PCs to go to Lepidstadt). Here is my version of the journal:

Using this as a hint, clever PCs should be able to work out most of the references as the adventure path continues, giving them a larger sense of an overall arc to the adventure path.

I did like that I could give the PCs yet another name of an NPC that they'll meet in a later book. By the time the campaign actually starts, I might have every major and minor NPC referenced in the very first adventure ;)

What NPCs from the future books could also be brought to the funeral as friends of the professor? I like the idea of having this influx of strangers all come into town for the funeral, and then all vanish just as quickly.

I'm thinking:

• Acting Seargeant Dun - The son of a mere basketweaver whose husband had died many years earlier, Dun didn't have very many prospects in life. However his departed father, Edward, was a good friend of the Professors. He died at the hands of some restless natives during an expedition led by the professor into some ruins in the Mwangi Expanse.

  Professor Lorrimor returned to Lepidstadt and gave Edward's share of the bounty to his widow. When the time came for Edward's son to gain a job, Professor Lorrimor wrote a letter of recommendation which got Dun a job as a courthouse guard.
  

• Zvraskav Hora - He had sold many goods to the good Professor over the years, and also kept an ear out for news that might interest the professor. He comes to pay his respects of not only a good customer, but someone who had grown into something of a friend.
  
• Duristan Silbio Ariesir - An aristocrat inspired by the professor's many tales and dealings with creatures of the night. He has come to the funeral and has vowed to continue on in the good professor's step. His first goal is to go into the Shudderwood which the viscious creature s of the night call home.
  
• Kvalca Sain - Professor Lorrimor first met Kvalca when the professor was studying various diseases that could be spread throughout the lycanthropic community in order to destroy this plague on humanity once and for all. Kvalca proved an invaluable aid for his understanding and knowledge of lycanthropes.

  They became good friends, which was Kvalca's goal. Kvalca revealed himself to be a natural werewolf and sympathised with Professor Lorrimor's fears of the average lycanthrope. Kvalca pointed to werebears as a benevolent example of his race, and told the professor of his ultimate goal to one day unite the werewolf tribes.

  Through these discussions Kvalca managed to convince the professor to cease his studies for now and to continue it one day in the far future if Kvalca failed in his goals.
  

• Horace Croon - An eccentric inventor that the professor met and even acted as patron for some of his designs. He comes with an overly complicated invention that takes a rather simple affair (setting fire to some kindling) and turns it into a great ordeal. He has a gigantic barrel with pumps to pump out oil and then knobs and wheels to have this oil catch alight as it sprays into the fireplace. Horace calls this a "lighter" but still has a few kinks to work out (he explains as he quickly stamps out a rug that also happened to catch fire).
  
• Abraun Chalest - Professor Lorrimor certainly had his fair share of expeditions into the lost tombs of Ancient Orision. Always keen to aid in identifying and interpreting these ancient relics was Abraun Chalest. The PCs have an opportunity to befriend Abraun with a diplomacy DC 17. If they succeed he offers to show them a good time in Caliphas should they ever be out that way.
  

I want to thank Spacelard and F. Wesley Schneider for their inspiration. I'm even more excited about this AP now and I'm finding a much better way to link the different APs together with this bit of foreshadowing.

Ah sorry.... 3x3x3 is a method in which a player can add some background NPC's into the game. Ones they create, and gives me as a DM more opportunities for RP with said character via these NPC's.

3 Allies
3 Contacts
3 Rivals

With a format like this:
3x3x3
Friends/Allies/Contact/Rival/Enemies:
Name:
Quirk/Personality:
Ties / Background:
Notes:

Here's one from a Dresden game-
Contacts:
Name: Heather Baxley
Quirk/Personality: Huge eyes behind Coke bottle glasses. Reminiscent of an owl.
Ties/Background: Runs Baxley Books. Collectables and curios up front, magick shop and herbalist supply in back. Helps Marty out with all sorts of miscellaneous stuff.
Notes: In the know.

Noting super detailed but enough to get the player involved and allow me to use them as a foil, a source of info, what-not.

I have one player with heavy ties to Magnimar. He was/is a student at the magic academy there and has his family as allies(mom, dad and brother), 2 teachers and a shop keeper as contacts, and for rivals 3 students. 2 are LE and one is a CG gnome.

So in when in Magnimar if he needed help deciphering an ancient script or id'ing an item he was unfamiliar with he could turn to any of his contacts and they may or may help him. They're contacts - neutral, but can help if needed.
So if goes to the contact Larz Cavrindros, a Varisian scholar who he admires to get help with the ancient script he's found. One of his rivals over hears that he has returned to Magnimar and was seeking out the scholar. Now the npc might harass our hero, or stall the contact or even bribe the contact to keep the script so he(the rival) could see it or even steal it.

Just rattling now, sorry.

Basically in a group of 5 players it gives me 45 prebuilt NPC's to use as needed and inject into the story. Plus the players tend to have bigger buy-in's with the game if they're NPC in involved.

Hi,

to add some more deepth (or is it death) to my campain I added weather. check out the docs:

Ustalav Climat how to do it
Weather foracst for over winter campain

I compiled the GM Material for TotB and it can be found HERE

Ps: Harrowstone GM Material and other stuff can be found HERE

I would like to request a sticky thread be created (not this one because I can't edit it after an hour), that would, in the first post, give a list of guides in this sub-forum.

In the thread we'll discuss which guides to include and which category they should be in - it would be a community project.

This is my no means a complete list...its just a start.

Also, if you are going to post a guide for this list, please have a discussion thread for said guide in the Advice forum so we can link to it. The guide can be off-site, but we need a discussion thread for it, please. Also somewhere in your guide please reference which books you use (Core, APG, UM, UC, etc...).

Guides in Alphabetical Order by Class Name

Alchemist

• Ogre's RPG Stuff - Alchemist’s Guide (Core, APG, UM) [Discussion]

Antipaladin

• Bodhi's Guide to the Optimal Paladin & Antipaladin (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Barbarian

• Elewan's Pathfinder Barbarian Guide (Core, APG) [Discussion]

Bard

• Treantmonk's Guide to Bards: Pathfinder Core Rules (Core only) [Discussion]

Cavalier

• The Cavalier's Code (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Cleric

• Tark's Big Holy Book of Clerical Optimization (Core, APG) [Discussion]
  
• Axe’s Guide to Finding Divinity (Core only) [Discussion]
  
• Rogue Eidolon’s Guide to Clerics (Core only) [Discussion]

Druid

• Treantmonk's Guide to Druids Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 (Core only) [Discussion]
  
• Peterrco's guide to Druids (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Fighter

• Rogue Eidolon's Guide to Fighters (Core only) [Discussion]
  
• Bladestorm: "STR Ranger"'s Guide to TWF for Fighters (Core, APG, UM, UC, SoS) [Discussion]

Gunslinger

• Drake_Rocket's Guide to Grand Gunslinginger Greatness (Core, APG, UC) [Discussion]

Inquisitor

• Nobody expects a guide to the Inquisitor (Core, APG, UM) [Discussion]

Magus

• Walter’s Guide to the Magus (Core, APG, UM) [Discussion]

Monk

• Treantmonk's Guide to Monks (Core only) [Discussion]
  
• Revel's Guide to the Monk (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Ninja

• Death from the Shadow: A Guide to the Ninja by Joseph Bucceri (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Oracle

• Channeling the Cosmos: A guide to the Oracle (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Paladin

• Thallin's Guide To Paladins (Optimization) (Core, APG) [Discussion]
  
• Cryptic's Guide to the Pathfinder Paladin: Being a God's Wrecking Hammer (Core) [Discussion]
  
• Bodhi's Guide to the Optimal Paladin & Antipaladin (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Ranger

• Treantmonk's Guide to Rangers in Pathfinder (Core only) [Discussion]
  
• Lastoths Guide to Archery Rangers (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Rogue

• Rogue Eidolon's Guide to Rogues (Core, APG) [Discussion]

Samurai

• //TODO: Need reference

Sorcerer

• The (almost) Complete Guide to Sorcerers- a practical handbook (Core only) [Discussion]
  
• The Inner Power. A Guide for Sorcerers (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Summoner

• The Summoner's Handbook (Core, APG) [Discussion]

Witch

• Hubble, bubble, toil and trouble. Fire burn and cauldron bubble (Core, APG) [Discussion]
  
• The Viking Irishman's Witch Guide (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Wizard

• Treantmonk's Guide to Pathfinder Wizards: Being a God (Core only) [Discussion]
  
• Professor Q's Guide to the Core+ Wizard (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

--

Guides in Alphabetical Order by Core Prestige Class Name

Arcane Archer

• //TODO: Need content

Arcane Trickster

• A Highly Regarded Expert's Guide to the Arcane Trickster (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Assassin

• //TODO: Need content

Dragon Disciple

• Oterisk’s Guide to the Dragon Disciple - A “How To” for the Living Myth (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Duelist

• //TODO: Need content

Eldritch Knight

• Zolthux's Guide to the Gish (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Loremaster

• //TODO: Need content

Mystic Theurge

• //TODO: Need content

Pathfinder Chronicler

• Oterisk’s guide to Optimizing the Pathfinder Chronicler?!?! (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

Shadowdancer

• //TODO: Need content

--

Other Useful Guides in Alphabetical Order

• Abraham Spalding's Guide to the Holy Vindicator (or more specifically channeling) (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

• Ashiel's Guide to Adventure: Preparation, Tricks, and Strategies (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

• Guide To Spells (Core, APG, UM, UC) [Discussion]

• So you want to play Pathfinder RPG: A comprehensive guide for Dungeon Masters and Players [Discussion]

• The Viking Irishman’s Guide to Weaponry (Core, APG, UC) [Discussion]

This guide is also mirrored at:

• D20 Min-Max Wiki

James I just asked this question in the main campaign forum, but if you would please indulge me I would like to ask if I can post this here for your input.

Thanks for your time and any advise you may have.

My players please keep out!
** spoiler omitted **...

Alas... I cannot give advice about this particular plot line at this time. All will become clear eventually.

So I'm 100% at killing at least one character when GM'ing this scenario and 33% at TPK. This might be a candidate for adjusting the BBEG's tactics.

Yeah...I just can't get too worked up about this mod.

I think there *SHOULD* be some scenarios that are notoriously difficult or hard or deadly. Heck, I *like* that there are some encounters that can be dangerous.

Some scenarios will be easy...and some should be hard.

+1 for the difficult encounter in this scenario.

I hope to see more like it.

-Pain

I haven't ever stopped playing 2e since it came out. In fact, I'm proud to say I have never played any other version (except 1e in its day). I have been converting modules and adventure paths all along the way. Was an original pathfinder subscriber and only quit because I have so much more material than I can ever use.
I don't find the books confusing at all or poorly organized especially in comparison to 3e or 3.5. (I do buy the new edition books to help with conversions although I have nothing 4e).
I've heard numerous complaints over the years that 2e requires too many house rules but that is not true from my experience. I have very few house rules.
One house rule that I do have though addresses the problems with NWP (what newer editions call skills). In my game, proficiencies start at 20%. Every time a character attempts to use the skill he improves by 1% regardless if he succeeds or fails. He gets 100 xp if he succeeds or his current percentage chance with a failure. I think my system is far superior to the marketed mechanics. Why should your character be a better swimmer just because he's 10th level and I'm 3rd? Maybe I live next to a lake or have been engaged in lots of water scenarios and you've been exploring in a desert. The experience point bonuses encourage PCs to use their NWPs as much as possible, especially at low levels when chances of success are low. The new and inventive ways PCs use their skills adds great flavor and depth to the game, especially the role-playing aspects. In addition, any character has a 5% chance to succeed at any skill (even if untrained you might get lucky) and no character has better than a 95% chance of success in any skill (nobody's perfect)
I know 2e isn't everybody's cup of tea but my group has always had great fun. I think the class restrictions and other strict rules maintain a sense of variety in the game and tend to limit min-maxing. The streamlined rules make it easy to learn and easy to play, imo. Also, since I am usually the DM, I appreciate the cinematic, story-telling flow of the game versus laborious mechanical drudgery of later editions.
Go 2nd Edition!!

It appears 3.5e/d20 format in the Maure Castle issue #23 of the Oerth Journal @ http://oerthjournal.blogspot.com/p/oerth-journal-downloads.html

Rob had the 1e version on the Pied Piper site and you can access that @ http://web.archive.org/web/20110220184513/http://site.pied-piper-publishing .com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog& amp;id=44&Itemid=47

Allan.

I was actually talking with a friend about something similar to this today, and I had to keep this in mind** when discussing my idea. Basically, instead of playing Aragorn, or Boromir, or Legolas etc. you create your regular adventuring party, make it a low magic campaign, so while there are sorcerors and wizards, not much in the way of magic items. Gandalf, Aragorn, the Hobbits, and possibly Boromir, would be NPC allies.

From there, my thought was to run as close to LotR as possible, but using the new characters. I'd have to handle some things differently; for instance, when Frodo is stabbed by the Witch King, he's got a level drain ability. That's why Frodo could never heal from the attack, he lost a level and as a first level character, he died, but Elrond brought him back and he lost points in con. It would have to play out a little differently, maybe Aragorn managed to temporarily ward off the level drain, but he did indeed die. However, Miracle Max did say there is a difference between mostly dead and dead dead.

**About 3/4 way down the page is Analyzing Aragorn, but to keep the whole thing in context, you should read the whole page.

Options;

1) The real world has ecosystems that function in absence of light, such as deep sea tube vents, and the crazy critters that spring up around them, using chemosynthesis to thrive. Assuming that, in a fantasy world, such things might exist as well, perhaps in the 'underdark oceans,' in particular, the lakes and seas and rivers of the darklands might have thriving ecosystems, with tiny chemosynthetic flora feeding brine feeding larger blind cave eels, etc. forming a chain of life that functions without light-dependent plankton.

A diet of eels, or tiny shrimp, or similar life from the deep lakes and cisterns and rivers of the darklands, would make for plenty of protein for the dwarves, supplemented by 'seaweed' or fish eggs or bats or whatever. Insects would likely be just as tasty and acceptable as sources of food as lobsters and shrimp are to us, and a steady diet of centipedes, considered by the dwarves to 'taste like chicken,' could explain dwarven children having a better than average resistance to toxins.

2) Magical or otherwise not-natural-to-earth sources of energy could also exist, like the 'mysterious underdark radiations' of Greyhawk and the Realms, which could sustain all sorts of plant-like life, that is then fed upon by herbivorous or omnivorous life, which is in turn fed upon by carnivores. If these radiations exist in certain types of ore, and are not dangerous to animal life, the dwarves could mine up chunks of them, pulverize them to cause them to 'radiate' faster, and spread them on underground crops of fungal or plant life, which they then harvest to make beer, bread, etc. A slower and more sustainable form of agriculture could involve dragging the rocks into position and just leaving them in the 'fields,' glowing their pale glow, and sustaining the crops (at the cost of slower growth and harvests). The 'smash and burn' agriculture that smashed up the rocks might have led to dwarves constantly moving around to find new mineral, or plants that had adapted to thrive on less potent mineral (as they exhausted 'the good stuff'), and eventually fueled the Quest for Sky, as the dwarves were finding it harder and harder to sustain their populations with the ever dwindling supplies of 'grow-rock' to smash up and maintain their crop-rotations, leading them to the divination-led quest for crops that could thrive without the mineral (fueled by the sun, instead).

Perhaps the radiation of these rocks *is* slighty harmful to animal life, and acts like a magical toxin to those who spend too much time in proximity to it, explaining the dwarves developing over millenia a resistance to magic and poison, and a higher than average Constitution score.

3) There's gotta be a hollow earth. Hollow earth's just rock. Somewhere, in a deep vault, a fake sun hangs in the sky over a jungle teeming with dinosaurs. Perhaps dwarves originated in such a place, and the 'ancient builders' who left ruins in these places were, in fact, the dwarven version of the Azlanti, an ancient race that modern dwarves stubbornly insist doesn't exist, since they don't accept the notion that they were once the lowly worker caste of a more advanced and developed 'high dwarf' culture that either left for other planes (perhaps to become the Azer?) or was overthrown by their flunkies, who proved incapable of maintaining their subterranean paradise (or holding off their serpentfolk rivals for control of the deeps) and were driven into a 'Quest for Sky' *to escape their own destruction.*

Vast rice paddies lie overgrown and now inhabited by mega-crocodiles, outside the vast temple-palaces the 'high dwarves' once occupied, while their brutish 'low dwarf' workers labored outside under the red crystal 'sun.'

If the dwarves of the surface world were returned to these vaults, they would pretend not to recognize the architecture of their more evolved forebears, and the similarities between themselves and the long abandoned demon-worshipping sub-dwarven degenerates that now haunt those ruins.

H'okay, Azlant. As far as the defunct civilizations of Golarion go, we've probably been given the most information, but it's scattered around various sources, and in nowhere are we given a clear picture what life was like or a clear extent of the empire.
So on that note, this is my attempt to congeal useful and interesting factoids on Azlant and the Azlanti, and provide sources, since the PathfinderWiki is more than a bit outdated and incomplete on the matter. From this, I hope to be able to make non-canonical but logical extensions, hypotheses, and perhaps even a supposition or two. Spoilers, to about the level of actually reading the campaign setting books, exist below, along with more specific spoilers for the Serpent’s Skull adventure path.

The Azlanti People
—Physically tended towards dark, slightly receded hair (red, brown, black), olive to pale skin, and odd eye colors, including violet. (HG, ISWG, PCCS)
—Favored colors in clothing included crimson and deep green. (ISWG, PCCS)
—Names often started with vowels, and did not use surnames. (ISWG, PCCS)
—Once the majority human ethnicity by population. (ISWG, PCCS)
—Thassilonians, their civilization an offshoot of Azlant, were ethnically Azlanti (James Jacobs)
—Those Azlanti fleeing the Earthfall intermarried with local human tribes in Avistan, forming the Chelaxian and Taldan ethnicities. They also fled to the southern coast of Avistan and the northern coast of Garund. (HG)
—No pure High Azlanti remain; some Chelaxians and Taldans with seemingly-Azlanti physical features sometimes take up the known trappings of the Azlanti and call themselves such. (HG, ISWG, PCCS)
—Aroden, due to his agelessness brought on by deific ascension, was considered “The Last (pureblooded) Azlanti” (HG, ISWG, PCCS)
—Other Azlanti-descended peoples include the aquatic Gillmen (a.k.a. “The Low Azlanti”), and the dark folk, mongrelmen, and morlocks descended from those who fled into the Darklands. Skum were originally created from Azlanti humans. (ID, ISWG, PCCS)

Azlanti Culture/Relations
—Kept slaves. (ISWG, PCCS)
—Looked down on nonhumans. (PCCS)
—Warred with the elves. (PCCS)
—Fought with the Serpentfolk, exterminating them from the surface of Golarion, and driving them back to Sekamina. (ID, ISWG, SSA)
—The Azlanti hero Savith personally slew the avatar of the serpentfolk deity of Ydersius in the Darklands city of Ilmurea, but died in the attempt. The city of Saventh-Yhi was founded in her honor above the site of Ilmurea to guard against further Serpentfolk incursions. (ID, SSA)
—Taught/mentored by the aboleth, who eventually became prideful; the aboleth responded pre-emptively by performing a Colony Drop on Golarion, thus creating Eathfall. (HG, ISWG, PCCS)
—High Azlanti mages were haughty, and generally avoided getting their hands dirty/directly touching things if possible. (CP09, FSS)

Azlanti Architecture
—Includes cupolas, interlaced designs (ISWG)
—Includes marble columns, and the Pleasure Salon of Calistria in the columned style of classic Azlanti temples. (GA)
—Favored circular and square layouts, often nested or inscribed within one another. (CP09, FSS)
—Azlanti architecture on Garund incorporated stepped stones ziggurats. (SSAP)
—Included self-opening doors in some sites. (CP09, FSS)
—Inspired much of the architecture in Absalom and Andoran; the former’s Azlanti Era of architecture was largely designed by Aroden himself. (GA, ISWG, PCCS).
—The architecture of Ilvarandin, while a hodge-podge, contains some Azlanti elements. (ID)

The Azlanti Language
—Some to much of the actual language has been lost, though there’s enough for scholars to translate from, and it remains something of a liturgical language. (ISWG, PCCS)
—High Chelaxian Opera features librettos in Azlanti. (PCCS)
—The Mordant Spire elves are probably the last society to fluently speak Azlanti. (ISWG, PCCS)
—One of the most-spoken languages of its day, and influenced such languages as Hallit, Polyglot, Taldane (Common), and Varisian. (ISWG, PCCS)
—Absalom’s motto “Ex Prothex” (“From the First”) is Azlanti. (GA)
— Saventh-Yhi = “Savith’s Grave” (SSA)

Azlanti Magic/Studies/Technology
—Ioun stones were originally Azlanti, though the Thassilonians and the Pathfinder Society would later study and advance them. (CP09, SS)
—The Azlanti were obsessed with orbits (including those of celestial bodies), and not only made orreries and models of the Dark Tapestry, but entire floating buildings revolving around a central point. (CP09, FSS)
—Certain High Azlanti forewent traditional books for auto-levitating copper-leafed codices. (CP09, FSS)
—Some Azlanti magic items were in the form of metallic plates that when activated, would disassemble themselves and reposition themselves on or floating around a person, as if an article of jewelry or clothing. (FSS)
—Most Azlanti sites bear auras of extensive preservative magics, often reducing 10,000+ years of wear down to the equivalent of a few thousand. (ISWG, SSAP)
—The Azlanti possessed advanced knowledge of optics and lenses. (CP09, FSS, ISWG, LCG)
—Under the aboleths, the Azlanti developed “unparalleled art, philosophy, and science” in addition to magic. (ISWG)
—Entrapped/imprisoned/cultivated will-o’-wisps for lighting “like tulips” in glass cylinders. (CP09, FSS, LCG)

Known Azlanti Sites/Ruins
—Most Azlanti colonies were on the borders of the Inner Sea, and generally fall into three categories: the literal foundations for modern cities, ruined/little historical significance, or undiscovered and presumably valuable. (PCCS)
—What’s left of the continent of Azlant is a continent-sized archipelago of hazardous tors, mountains, reefs, and towers, jutting up from the Arcadian Ocean, and patrolled by the Mordant Spire Elves. (ISWG, PCCS).
—Escadar on the Isle of Kortos was built on an older Azlanti site, and houses an embassy for the gillmen. (GA)
—The Sightless Sea, the largest Orvian vault of the Darklands and one of the largest holds of the aboleth, is more or less directly underneath the continent of Azlant. (ID)
—Saventh-Yhi (“Savith’s Grave”) was an inland colony in the Mwangi on Garund, above the site of the serpentfolk city of Ilmurea, and survived Earthfall. (SSA)
—The Sun Temple Colony was a semi-recent attempt by Andoran to establish a colony on the ruined continent of Azlant itself. It Got Worse™. (ISWG, LCG, PCCS)

Azlanti Religion
—The Azlanti often had seemingly bizarre interpretations of the gods, by modern standards. (CP09, SSAP)
—Abadar was seen as a god of cities and wealth moreso than a deity of law. (SSAP)
—Acavna was a goddess of battle and the moon, who vanished/died shortly before Earthfall. (SSAP)
—Achaekek was seen as a god of monsters and natural disasters than as a god of assassinations. (SSAP)
—Amaznen was a pre-Nethys(?) god of magic, whose worship (and name!) was forbidden in Thassilon; he perished during Earthfall. (SSAP)
—Curchanus, a deity of travel, beasts, and endurance and mentor to Desna, survived Earthfall to be slain by Lamashtu. (GM, SSAP)
—Desna was seen primarily as a goddess of the stars/astronomy. (SSAP)
—Groetus was a late addition to the pantheon, added close to Earthfall. (SSAP)
—The demon lord Nurgal was considered the “vengeful aspect” of the sun, and placated. (LCG, SSAP)
—Pharasma was seen as a patron of prophecy moreso than as judge of the dead. (SSAP)
—Shelyn was seen as the muse and patron of the arts, and not of beauty. (SSAP)
—The demon lord Zura was originally an Azlanti queen whose thirst for immortality led to her dark ascension. Cults of Zura were infiltrating Azlant at the time of Earthfall, and might have undermined the civilization had Earthfall not happened. (LC, SSAP)

Sources
CP09: Chronicles: Pathfinder podcast #9, with Brandon Hodge
FSS: From Shore to Sea
GA: Guide to Absalom
GM: Gods and Magic
HG: Humans of Golarion
ID: Into the Darklands
ISWG: Inner Sea World Guide
James Jacobs: The word of the Creative Dinosaur himself, i.e. from a Paizo website or forum post.
LC: Book of the Damned vol. 2: Lords of Chaos
LCG: Lost Cities of Golarion
PCCS: Pathfinder Chronicles Campaign Setting
SSAP: Serpent’s Skull Adventure Path
SS: Seekers of Secrets