Illustration by Roberto Pitturru

Do Not Underestimate the Sneakiness!

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Working on Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Intrigue brought out our inner deviousness—this book has so many ways to inject a little craftiness into your Golarion games, especially for players and GMs who are using the recently released Ultimate Intrigue. Now that Inner Sea Intrigue is about to hit the streets, we thought we’d show you some of our favorite toys from the book!

Illustration by Konstantin Vavilov

Inner Sea Intrigue riffs seamlessly off of Ultimate Intrigue in that much of its content showcases these new rules as they affect and exist in Golarion. One of many examples is the specific archives presented. Using the research rules found on pages 148–153 of Ultimate Intrigue, the book presents four places of research that feature prominently in the setting. They are Forae Logos, located in the Wise Quarter in Absalom; the Jeggare Museum, located in Korvosa in Varisia; the Magaambya, located in Nantambu in the Mwangi Expanse; and the Quarterfaux Archives, located in Caliphas in Ustalav.

Illustration by Konstantin Vavilov

By making Research checks and reducing the archives’ knowledge points, players can discover many of the fascinating truths kept in these libraries. Many such discoveries are in-world details that pertain to the history of the archives’ locations, the magic that has thrived there, and other key elements. Some of the most difficult-to-unearth discoveries, though, are adventure seeds in and of themselves.

Take this gem, found in the depths of the Jeggare Museum, for example.

"A small island in Lake Skotha on the Storval Plateau is known as Chorak’s Tomb, and is rumored to be the home of an ancient weapon that belonged to a runelord rival of Karzoug. However, no one has been able to get close enough to verify this story, as all trespassers are driven away by bombardments of boulders and rune-covered ballista bolts."

As with other "Inner Sea" hardcover tie-ins we’ve done in the past (including Inner Sea Magic and Inner Sea Combat), we also had the opportunity to present dozens of new character options, from new talents for investigators, rogues, and vigilantes, to new archetypes and prestige classes directly tied to the intriguing elements of the Inner Sea region. The prestige classes included are the Lion Blade of Taldor (updated from its 3.5 iteration) and the enchanting courtesan (inspired by the character Vreva Jhafae in the Pathfinder Tales novel "Pirate’s Promise"), while the new archetypes include the Anaphexia thought-killer, the bonded investigator (who gets a familiar to aid him in his research), the Nexian spell-spy, the tinkerer (who learns to craft a clockwork familiar that she can adapt to an increasing number of situations as she levels up), and many more!

Whether you’re a GM running a campaign with intriguing elements, or a player whose PC prides herself on her sneaky, duplicitous ways, there’s no better supplement to an Inner Sea campaign than Inner Sea Intrigue!

Amanda Hamon Kunz and Mark Moreland
Developers