Pathfinder Companion: Osirion, Land of Pharaohs (OGL)

3.60/5 (based on 13 ratings)
Pathfinder Companion: Osirion, Land of Pharaohs (OGL)
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The race is on to discover the lost treasures of ancient Osirion, seat of the Pharaohs of antiquity. Scoundrels, archaeologists, Pathfinders, and foreigners scour the sand-choked pyramids and temples of this once mighty kingdom. Pathfinder Companion: Osirion, Land of Pharaohs provides a comprehensive overview of Osirion from its star-crossed ancient history, to its treacherous modern politics. A complete gazetteer of the nation’s teeming, monument-laden capital of Sothis provides a great resource for player characters from—and for Game Masters running campaigns set in—the pulp-inspired nation of Osirion.

Pathfinder Companion is an invaluable resource for players and Game Masters. Each 32-page bimonthly installment explores a major theme in the Pathfinder Chronicles campaign setting, with expanded regional gazetteers, new player character options, and organizational overviews to help players flesh out their character backgrounds and to provide Game Masters with new sources for campaign intrigue that can be shared with players.

By Jason Nelson and Todd Stewart

ISBN-13: 978-1-60125-144-2

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Hero Lab Online
Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

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3.60/5 (based on 13 ratings)

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A Product of its Era

3/5

I love running and playing adventures in Osirion. You just can't go wrong with ancient Egyptian-themed drama: thousand-year old pyramids, devious riddles, competing archaeologists/tomb robbers, and much, much more. It's a downright interesting and intriguing setting, and speaks to me more than traditional "castles and jousting" motifs. I've now run a couple of classic modules set in Osirion (Entombed with the Pharaohs and The Pact Stone Pyramid) as well as some shorter PFS scenarios, and I can't wait to someday run or play in Mummy's Mask. All that's a lead up to saying I was looking forward to reading Osirion, Land of Pharaohs.

This 32-page entry in the Player Companion line definitely gets one's attention with a great cover (reproduced sans text as the inside back cover). I love how shocked Sajan is as the mummy arises, plus the creepy giant-head statue in the background. The inside front cover is a useful, player-friendly map of Osirion that notes the most important cities and ruins. There's one page for the table of contents, and then the book proper starts, divided into seven sections. It's worth noting a couple of things: this was one of the earlier books in the line (meaning it's far more lore/flavour heavy than game option crunch--a good thing, in my opinion) and it's from the 3.5-era, so some rules options would need to be updated for the PFRPG.

"Osirion" (14 pages) provides a brief introduction to the country and then a gazetteer of notable locations. The writing's a bit cumbersome, unfortunately. Still, it contains some good story seeds. I found myself interested in the Lost Fortress of Mekshir (an entire fortress--and regiment of troops--buried alive by a sandstorm) and the Pyramid of An Hepsu XI (containing the Incorruptible Pharaoh, who could not be destroyed but only contained). From a GM's perspective, there's a lot of information to draw upon. However, I can see that from a player's perspective it's just a lot of setting lore that they can't really interact with unless the GM specifically wants them to by setting an adventure in a particular location.

"Sothis" (6 pages) is an overview of Osirion's capital city, one of the largest metropolises in the setting. It features a good description of the city's bazaar, its slave market, and the memorable Black Dome--a truly massive hollow shell of . . . something . . . that dominates the city's skyline. For a GM, setting info like this is invaluable. For players, it'll give them a good feel for what Osirion is like (so they could make characters from the country), but it's probably more detail than they need.

We now move to a series of two-page-long sections that provide new character options.

"Combat: The Living Monolith" (2 pages) introduces a new prestige class. The Living Monolith is a warrior who seeks to emulate the legendary stone sentinels of the land. An interesting idea that needs a bit more flavour and development, in my opinion. It has some cool abilities, but I'd worry they're a bit unbalancing.

"Faith: Cults of Osirion" (2 pages) discusses worshippers of Apep, Wadjet, and Khepri--secret cults with deep roots in Osirian history. The section introduces three new magic items (one related to each of the three).

"Magic: Spells of the Dead" (2 pages) has, of course, necromancy themed spells. I really like canopic conversion, which literally eviscerates the target and places their internal organs into different canopic jars while the body arises as a mummy! Pity it's a Level 9 spell, so probably only an end-of-campaign boss would get a chance to use it . . . There's also a couple of important metamagic feats that allow death spells to pierce common protections like death ward and mind-affecting spells to affect undead creatures.

"Social: Dark Dealings" (2 pages) has new feats for black market dealings and more. I love "swarm dodger", which gives a PC a chance to avoid the damage and related effects from those peskiest of Pathfinder threats, swarms! (and in Osirion, one can find all manner of swarms--scorpions, spiders, snakes, beetles, and more) Because these feats were written for 3.5, some minor adjustments would be necessary to update them.

We finish with "Persona: Ruby Prince Khemet III, the Forthbringer" (2 pages), a full stat block and write-up for Osirion's ruler. The entry includes two of his unique magic items. Interesting, though probably not something even most GMs running adventures in Osirion are likely to need.

All in all, Osirion, Land of Pharaohs suffers from the problem that many of the early Player Companions did: it's sort of all over the place. Players looking for cool character options will find over have of the book is material that should be in the Campaign Setting line. GMs will find a useful overview to the setting but probably wish it were more in-depth. Modern Pathfinder gamers will find the 3.5-era rules require some fine-tuning. Still, with those flaws acknowledged, it's a relatively inexpensive introduction to a cool area to adventure in.


Portuguese - Br

4/5

Este livro não vale a pena para jogadores. Mesmo jogadores interessados na cultura Osiriana tem melhor sorte em outros livros, a informação aqui é realmente muito densa e voltada para mestres. O conteúdo de regra apesar de ter seus pontos interessantes, já foi atualizado em outras fontes. Já para mestres interessados em campanhas se passando em um cenário egípcio, esse livro é uma grande fonte de idéias e conteúdo. A informação não esta muito bem organizada, mas até que uma nova versão desse livro seja lançada, é o único que nós temos.


Osirion is MYSTERIIOUS

2/5

I bought this looking for Osirion-themed hooks. Unfortunately, almost all the book is only half-hooks. A location will be half-described, along the line of:

"There is this very interesting mountain with [unusual geographic features]. What's going on at this mountain? It's a MYSTERY!"

Why do I have to pay $10 for a book to tell me "something interesting is happening here, but you'll have to make it up yourself." Making things up myself is fun, but I can do that for free. When I buy a book like this, I'm looking for cool story ideas, not [[insert cool story idea here]].

The other function of a setting book, local flavor, is also rather weak. My friend bought the Qadira book and I was struck by how much better that book described local people, city life, cultural beliefs, etc. This Osirion book just isn't that big an aid in designing interesting NPC interactions.


Great Resource on Osirion

4/5

The book includes a nice overview of the Land of Pharaohs.

The PROS:
*Great map of Osirion
*Each area or location it covers has a great plot hook that you could build a session or even a whole campaign around.
*Adds great flavor to the Pathfinder world
*I enjoyed the necromancy spells in the book
*Great details on Khemet III and his two otherworldly servants.

The CONS:
*3 new gods without domains attached to them, booo!
*Some of the areas on the map aren't covered, but honestly Osirion needs a bigger book to flesh out everything in it
*No map of Sothis :(
*With a nation this ancient you would think adding a time line would be helpful

This is a great to give out to players of Osirion characters to get feel of the nation and plenty of awesome plot hooks for the GM to make this worth 4 stars despite it's shortcomings.

Favorite Part: Alashra, a Were-Hyena Cleric of Lamashtu, who is a respectable merchant in the Shai-Nefer and leads the Gnolls in ambushing caravans(even her own as to not rouse suspicion).


Excellent resource

4/5

Owning several of the companion supplements, Osirion is easily one of the best ones so far - the areas that are covered are evocative, imaginative, and interesting. A variety of additional areas on the map are left to the reader's imagination, thus providing a GM the opportunity to add his or her own influences on this interesting setting.


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The Exchange

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Lanx wrote:

But ... he is the ruling pharao, just as Grand Prince Stavian III is the ruling emperor of Taldor (and Charles is the Prince of Wales as sovereign over this county, not as son of Queen Elizabeth). "The Ruby Prince" is something like a titular name, just as his father was the Crocodile King.

Edit: I just scrolled up and saw that I just answered a post before. But it's true none the less.

Thanks Lanx, for the clarification on the title. It still bothers me though. I understand the Prince of Wales is a sovereign over Wales, but in the future he will be king of England and his title as Prince of Wales won't be as important as his greater-scope sovereignty. I just find it odd that, in Golarion, the Pharaoh would choose to go by his "lesser" title rather than the more-expansive title of Pharaoh. Stavian may have political reasons for doing so, because he needs to unify fractious Taldor (the same reason Prince of Wales is such a "hot" title for heirs apparent in England, to quell Welsh nationalism), but Khemet doesn't seem to have those problems.

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