Courts of the Shadow Fey - Brainstorming Thread (Inactive)

Game Master Grimmy

Some say the world is white and blank. Others say the world is a black abyss.
Half black, half white. Half sorrow, half joy. Half living, half a ghost.

The Realm of Shadows is neither one thing nor another; it is a place of halves. One may think of it as half regret, half done, half dead. But it is just as fair to say half rich, half cured, half won.

The shadows are a place of neither pure evil nor pure good but only that muddle where true balance lies, where lives are rich and sad and complicated. Half villains and half heroes who strive but never win. But who never quite lose.

Artwork 1 | Artwork 2 | Artwork 3 | Artwork 4


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This adventure really caught my eye when it was 4e only. The artwork was amazing. I always wanted to convert it, and then the original publisher did the work for me! (partially, see below)

This is an intrigue heavy adventure with lots of social and investigation elements. I don't want to give away too much but it has been a fantastic read so far. The writing is so evocative for an RPG adventure! I would be looking for players who really want to get immersed in a story for this one.

This module goes from levels 6-10. I think that's a nice chunk of time for a PbP, and a nice chance to play at a level that can take ages to reach normally.

Now a bit about me. I've started quite a few games on here and some ended before their time should have been up, but I always gave it my all. PbP is tricky and I made some mistakes and burned out. I used to be quite obsessed with forcing PF to emulate the nostalgic feel of the AD&D I plaid as a 12 yr old, but 5e has scratched that itch somewhat and I realized it's better to embrace PF for what it is, in terms of options.

This would be a 20 pt buy game, using all the hardcovers, and case by case for the splats. Probably ban a couple things like slumber hex and antagonize feat but that's about it. Allow lots of races. Even dream scarred press classes if you can explain how they work to me, I just haven't got my head around them yet.

I do still enjoy seeking different styles of games within PF though, to break away from what you find in AP's and Society. Sandboxes and dungeon crawls are still favorites of mine. In this case it is a social and intrigue heavy game which is outside the norm in it's own right I think.

I would not rush recruitment for this. I'd keep recruitment open for a while looking for people who are passionate and want to consistently take time to make thoughtful well written posts. By that, I don't mean that I want to recruit only english majors, just people who will get involved and stay involved. So I would be looking strongly at backstories for this, and probably making some kind of "tavern" thread for applicants to interact.

To get some idea what I mean in terms of good posting, check out doomed hero's and painlord's guides to PbP. They are stickies in the online campaigns general discussion forum here. I would want this game to be a haven for people who strive for that kind of quality and want to play with others who do.

Anyway this is only a interest check, not a recruitment thread, because i've only read a third of it yet and already there are a lot of conversion errors. Between that and the unusual freeform social and intrigue nature of large sections, I have a feeling this prep would take me a long time. I have to read it thoroughly, maybe run it in a home game even, before I decide if it's well suited to PbP. A big factor will be the players who turn up though so let me know if this appeals.


This seems interesting.


The cover art is a beauty.

This one is a joy to read. Doesn't seem there's much interest though, I'm surprised.


I would be interested


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This sounds fascinating.

Liberty's Edge

Pretty nice, yeah. I have a few feyish ideas brewing around, I'll just have to check my workload in the next weeks.


Right from the first paragraph I was hooked.

Courts of the Shadow Fey" wrote:


Some say the world is white and blank. Others say the world is a black abyss.
Half black, half white. Half sorrow, half joy. Half living, half a ghost. The Realm of Shadows is neither one thing nor another; it is a place of halves. One may think of it as half regret, half done, half dead. But it is just as fair to say half rich, half cured, half won. The shadows are a place of neither pure evil nor pure good but only that muddle where true balance lies, where lives are rich and sad and complicated. Half villains and half heroes who strive but never win. But who never quite lose.


I would be interested...looking for something to get back into PBP...


I would be interested.


I was actually just looking to create a conman halfling mesmerist who could talk you into anything, then convince you it was your idea. If this is big on social RP, with lots of chances to mess with people through bluff, I would most definitely be interested. That being said, I do have a few applications in on other PBPs, so depending on how well I do there, I couldn't take this one. But overall, I do like the idea of this.


I'm reading up on the setting right now. This wouldn't be on Golarion. It's Midgard. Very flavorful setting, loving reading it. Kobold, Gearforged and Minitaur PC's! The city of Zobeck looks somewhat Steampunk.

The deities seem to draw from real world pantheons somewhat, but not in a cheesy way.

This world is flat! It's coin shaped. I love that.

the whole thing feels like a dark fairy tale.


I am attaching a campaign to this thread so I can compile publicly viewable notes in the campaign info tab without artificially bumping this thread.

If I ever decide to run this, there will be a whole new thread. This is still just an interest check.


This sounds very cool and I am interested.


I'm interested too!


So interested! :D


Good to see the interest is there.

Since this is not on golarion I started adding info about races, regions and deities to the campaign info tab, so folks can get a feel for the setting.

I didn't think I was going to like a pantheon that uses real world deities but this one is amazing. They are not plucked from earth cultures out of laziness they are woven into the lore and outfitted completely with domains and favored weapons.

Many of them have alignments on only one axis, i.e. just Chaotic, with followers on both sides of the good/evil spectrum.

These deities also wear masks, so they are known by different names in different regions and no one really knows for sure who is who.

Fascinating stuff.

Edit: added Gods of the Crossroads

added Dragon Gods


Dotting for interest - Midgard is a great settling and very unique.

Mulling a Minotaur Cavalier - a brokenhorn mercenary likely hailing from one of the Seven Cities.

I have the Midgard campaign setting so will have a gander at what comes together...


Speaking of which, they have a free preview of the setting.


Here is a Dragonkin Bloodrager I made for another Midgard campaign that never got off the ground. I'd be interested in running this character again.


Do gearforged have no racial ability adjustments? I can't spot them in the race description.


@Scranford: I really enjoyed reading that backstory. FYI though I'm a long way off from taking character submissions (not that I mind you posting that here, I don't mind at all, I'm just focusing on prep for now).

@Daedalus: I don't see them either. It must be a copy paste error on my part. I think I remember seeing gear forged stat adjustments in the book. I'm on mobile right now so I can't check.


Pretty artwork! I'm interested.


Indeed! The artwork is what originally attracted me to this.


Daedalus the Dungeon Builder wrote:
Do gearforged have no racial ability adjustments? I can't spot them in the race description.

I found this thread on the matter.

Kind of funky. Will cross that bridge another day. I might have to buy the pdf all about gear forged and see what it has to say. It looks like they've given them a con score, a floating +2 like humans, and a +1 natural armor. That sounds much preferable to me.


Do Rangers not get a status adjustment?


Looks like they break even.


I would submit a character if the recruitment gets open.


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Quote:

Some say the world is white and blank. Others say the world is a black abyss.

Half black, half white. Half sorrow, half joy. Half living, half a ghost.

The Realm of Shadows is neither one thing nor another; it is a place of halves. One may think of it as half regret, half done, half dead. But it is just as fair to say half rich, half cured, half won.

The shadows are a place of neither pure evil nor pure good but only that muddle where true balance lies, where lives are rich and sad and complicated. Half villains and half heroes who strive but never win. But who never quite lose.

Such a wonderful and inspiring introduction! I quite enjoy Baur's setting and its adventures are often spectacular. I'd work on a suiting character should you choose to go from interest checking to recruitment.


I would apply for this if you choose to run it.


interested


A little update, since the interest seems to be here.

Stumbling blocks so far:

Combat Maps: The module doesn't have player friendly versions included. I was able to purchase a package with some but they are meant for virtual table top and some will not be useable for us in PbP due to the way they are formatted with odd graphics peculiar to the software they're intended for. Some will, but I still have a lot of prep work facing me with combat maps.

possible solution: some of the combats could be run in "theater of the mind", without a grid and tokens. I personally find combat can be quite enjoyable that way, but it does tend to impact the usefulness of some feats and abilities that are sensitive to positioning. For now I will keep working on adapting as many of the maps as possible to a PbP friendly state (or making some crude ones from scratch).

Duels: I have encountered some scenes in the adventure that call for one on one dueling. This would be a drag in PbP with everyone waiting while one player was in the action.

solutions: If any one on one duels prove to be unavoidable to the story, we could continue posting RP interactions between PC's and NPC's observing the duel. Since this is a social heavy adventure and we will be in the habit of very interactive posting this should work well enough, but I have another idea as well. Team duels. I could give an NPC duelist minions and the whole party can participate in the duel, with one being designated as the champion. Very doable but again it adds some prep.


Hi DM, there are pdf image extractors that sometimes pull the images without add-ons such as grids or keys. I know that's what happened for me with some pdfs where player unfriendly maps became friendly. Might be worth a try.


Thanks DW, I am familiar with that process but according to a discussion on these boards, the maps in this adventure will not yield label free versions when extracted that way. Wolfgang Baur chimed in on that thread to say he has learned his lesson about maps since publishing this. But I will work with what I have and find a way. This adventure is worth it.


In re: maps could you just do screenshots and put it on roll20?


Yes, that's the idea (although I tend to use google docs instead of roll20 because it seems to be more accessible for folks checking in from mobile or work computers ;)

Unfortunately the maps in this pdf are not "player friendly" meaning they have, for example, traps and other secret information labeled.

Not to worry, these are normal things to be dealing with in prep. I only mean to give a small update that I am moving forward but I'm not ready to look at character submissions yet until I get everything ironed out.


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I sometimes run old modules sometimes and know what a pain it can be to clean up maps. Do a google image search for the module, encounter and map information. Sometimes you'll find a map posted that's already cleaned up. Spending 20 minutes searching can save hours of work.

For simpler layouts, theater of the mind is okay. Just remember that your skills at that might be rusty if you usually use maps. I found out how bad I was when I started running for somebody legally blind.

As for dueling, the best way would be to find a time when both people can be on at the same time and whip it out quickly. Obviously this won't always be possible, but it's something to ask about.


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Philo Pharynx wrote:

I sometimes run old modules sometimes and know what a pain it can be to clean up maps. Do a google image search for the module, encounter and map information. Sometimes you'll find a map posted that's already cleaned up. Spending 20 minutes searching can save hours of work.

For simpler layouts, theater of the mind is okay. Just remember that your skills at that might be rusty if you usually use maps. I found out how bad I was when I started running for somebody legally blind.

As for dueling, the best way would be to find a time when both people can be on at the same time and whip it out quickly. Obviously this won't always be possible, but it's something to ask about.

To add to those good points, I've sometimes also simply drawn opaque rectangles over each room. That takes but a few minutes and removes all the information, whether useful or harmful.


Thanks for sharing your thoughts guys. It shows me there's enthusiasm for this to take place.


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And empathy for your pains ;)


Dotting for interest. It's been a while since I've played in anything other than Golarion, so I'll need to spend some time getting properly acquainted with the setting, but I'm definitely intrigued.


I am getting acquainted with the setting myself. I have run some of the short adventures at home, but I only acquired the full setting book recently. I have to say it's one of the best setting books I've seen. This place is just awesome.

I've sent a message to Wolfgang Baur to make sure all this copy pasting from his book to my campaign info tab is appropriate, and how far I can go with it.

I'ts going to be fun learning about the setting myself by answering questions from the potential players. If you want to know something like "what are relations like between humans and dwarves" I'll look it up and reply. There is so much detail in this book. I really recommend downloading the free preview.

In addition there are tons of gazetteers and players guides available to purchase.


I have the setting book. Is there an area in particular we should be reading a bit more on?


Definitely the Crossroads, as well as any place you think you might like to be from. This story begins in the City of Zobeck, and I'm considering connecting introductory vignettes there and in the nearby Margreve Forest to cement the characters into the setting before the main fey plot line begins.

Thoughts on that idea?


Sounds good. I think it would be a good thing to build based on the characters you'll be bringing together. the players can probably help with that.


Actually I am feeling more and more tempted to run some short midgard adventures in front of this.

Let me know what you think folks. Were you excited to start at 6th level or would you enjoy some lead-in so that the place feels like your home and you have some relationship to one another before diving into the main storyline?


I have to admit that I'm interested in making a 6th level character, I want to do some convoluted build or so.


Dotting for interest. Have a cool character concept for this free from the Golarion setting. Level 6 is a nice place to start for some cool character concepts, as well.


Yeah nothing to be ashamed of there, and I agree a lot of things start to come together around 6th.


I'm open to either way.


My preference is to start as close as possible to the start of the module.

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