What tool did you use for the trees/mountains? A pattern, like I did with the Shackles' Hexes?
I have photoshop myself, but I'm quite rusty at it.. still re-gaining the hang of it. Nor have I really tried making my own outdoors map before.
I've been meaning to get in the know with photoshop for about 10 years now. I'm not sure it's ever going to happen.
Same here. xD
Well, good news is that I've been working a lot more on getting this campaign up and running.
Bad news is.. I get distracted too easily. Heh XD
Weeeeee!
I'll see if I can get the official character build rules up soon though.. to make sure you guys can be ready when me arse is.
Also note, you won't be the only Hellknights sent down here. :p
Oh dear.
A teaser, so as to not leave you guys hangin'. I have much Fun planned for you!
I'll let you guys do the research on the Map of the Shackles and see if you can't find out a little bit of info on your soon-to-be destination ;)
With all this time to imagine, I've a new character concept to bounce off you guys:
Lawful neutral druid (menhir savant) with Aquatic Domain
- Order of the Nail serving in the Chelish Navy to supply Korvosa
- Worshiping Barbatos
I was thinking about Half-elf to get water child and almost swim speed. What do you think about the concept and race choice?
cheers
With all this time to imagine, I've a new character concept to bounce off you guys:
Lawful neutral druid (menhir savant) with Aquatic Domain
- Order of the Nail serving in the Chelish Navy to supply Korvosa
- Worshiping BarbatosI was thinking about Half-elf to get water child and almost swim speed. What do you think about the concept and race choice?
cheers
Wow. My mother always told me not to say anything if I didn't have something good to say, so I'll take your collective silence as a vote of no confidence for that character concept.
cheers
Actually, I had been giving it some thought, and would have rathered waited until I fully decided on what to say about it :P
As mentioned in the messages, I liked the overall idea of an Aquaman-type character. (And you were right about the Corsair bit, not the Buccaneer bit - I got the two mixed up) I think this group would greatly benefit from someone with naval knowledge.. so far I don't think anyone in particular had planned on such skills, let alone focusing on it. I'm not sure how I feel about Barbatos.. but he's an archdevil I'm not too familiar with, so its not that I don't like him, its that I don't know much about him.
With me still working on the details anyways, I'm trying not to get too focused on critiquing everyone's character concepts, anyways - at least not yet.
Plus.. I know it isn't stated anywhere that they can't be Hellknights, but a Druid just doesn't feel very Hellknighty. I kind of liked your Fighter concept better, to be honest - the Eldritch Heritage Feat is a neat feat. I had used it in Rob's Ascension campaign - or planned on doing so - in order to get my Cleric a Familiar, which he planned on eventually upgrading to a Clockwork familiar.
I'm just lazy :p Haven't really worked on my own character much more since I last posted about him let alone thinking about anyone else's :p
OK I have a relatively high post frequency.
I'll plan both the concepts out and review. Any ideas are greatly welcome.
cheers
Also was being lazy.
Hey guys.. been talking to Rob about stuffs... aaand:
What would you all say to running Ruins of Pathfinder: Shattered Star, instead of Beneath the Black Flag?
Rob's into the idea, but I'm curious as to all of your thoughts. Since this campaign is already made (Just needing some adjustments), I could get it up and running MUCH faster - within two weeks, tops - I just need to do some preliminary runs, but considering I got through Book 1 of WotR in less than a week, it won't take long.
You guys would be working under an Pathfinder Society-like organization under Karzoug, which specializes in researching and retrieving ancient Thassilionian and Azlanti Artifacts. Basically the.. Thassilion Society. No thats not the final name of it, but I'll come up with something.
....also, as Rob pointed out to me.. the Advanced Class Guide Playtest starts Tuesday. I might allow you guys to run with those classes, if they don't look totally broken. (Er mah gurd, Swashbuckler!)
What say you all?
I don't know anything about Shattered Star. Need to read, but I'm entirely open and probably prefer it. I'm already in a Skulls game and really like the idea of starting sooner.
cheers
Shattered Star is the spiritual sequel to Rise of the Runelords - you are sent on an epic quest to reassemble an ancient, Thassilonian Artifact linked to each of the seven sins. You are Pathfinders in the newly created Varisian Pathfinder Lodge in Magnimar.
Its basically a series of massive dungeon crawls that take you all over Varisia - including Magnimar and Kaer Maga!
Only, in this timeline, you will be working for Karzoug, much as Fenyx and Ar'Zarrcal are! In fact.. I'm thinking that the Temple of Lissala might be a major organization that you work for - or a branch of it, possibly. At the very least, her religion will be blossoming in Shalast.
Its going to be set right in the middle of the Reign of Winter, as well.. so that'll be an added difficulty. And, as a plus, your group of mostly-spellcasters will work quite well! It might be interesting to see even :3
My 'playtest' group, which I will be modifying the campaign around while also running it to get a feel for it, consist of:
- CN Human Gunslinger (Younger Brother of #2)
- LN Human Monk (Older Sister of #1)
- LE Human Cleric of Lissala (Older sister of #4)
- LN Human Sin-Specialist Wizard (Younger Brother of #3)
- N Human Fighter
- LE Human Inquisitor of Lissala
Randomly rolled their classes and personalities and boy, they're an interesting group! #1 mass murdered a group of children for 'justice' in his youth, though regretted it later.
Hm... That sounds interesting. I like it! :D
I may actually go with my witch again in that case. The urge to go all winter witch has crept up on me it seems.
Well, being all spellcasters would be pretty hilarious... Since you are all Cyphermages. Lets just say.. they've been happy with Karzoug's return, and have blossomed underneath Karzoug. They are now the leading experts at retrieving ancient Thassilionian Artifacts.
But, not all Cyphermages now are spellcasters - just many.
I could keep my bloodmarked alchemist too! :p Hmm, working under Karzoug. Could be interesting... May look at changing to a full wizard too though and look at the Thassilonian schools and such.
Just as a heads up, I have been listening to an Actual Play podcast of a group playing the original Shattered Star, so am familiar with most of the original book 1. I also spoiled the end of it by peeking/minis :p Considering you're going to have to make some significant changes anyway it shouldn't be too big a deal.
The overarching questline will remain the same.. but I'll be adding my own touches, just as Rob is doing with Reign of Winter (I mean, were any of us REALLY expecting a mythic Troll with that one? Rob threw a fast one on us there :P)
So don't worry about that!
Also, where be this podcast on that? I'd love to listen to a group run through Shattered Star. Or is it live only?
Not actually reading Reign of Winter myself, so not sure what you're talking about, but fair enough :p
http://www.rpgmp3.com/, it features a number of groups that play all sorts of games, and a lot of different systems; though a lot of them have a tendency not to follow through all the way on campaigns. I suppose that can be said of any group though :p I think a number of them have started playing Shattered Star, but the one I am referring to is a game involving the creator of the website, his wife/partner, the GM of one of the other groups, and a third player from another group again :p There's some really good stuff buried in the archives, but a lot of mediocre stuff too :p Anyway, the one I am referring to is here. I'm only up to episode 13 of 27, so they're probably near the end of book two or start of 3 by now. Also available on iTunes
One group I can heartily recommend, especially for an awesome Kingmaker campaign is the Strand Gamers. They used to post on RPGMP3 but then moved to their own website and did an awesome game called Inquisition of Blood using a system called Burning Wheel. Sadly they have been in an extended hiatus after the runner of the site and main GM had some personal issues, but I'm still hoping they come back.
Ah nice, thanks!
And now the hurdle of transplanting a winter witch to Varisia. Would the idea of a Jadwiga who opposes Elvanna jive? I can PM you more if required. I don't want to get too carried away and risk spoiling any Reign of Winter plots, but I'm sure the implications of a winter witch ally/thrall during the threat of an impending ice age would not be something Karzoug or his agents would risk overlooking.
* Thron and I are playing RoW in our weekly IRL game; have almost concluded the first book (which sheds a lot of light on how much work Rob has put into his Ruins version: and may I say, bravo sir!). I love me some Irrisen witches. I had initially resolved to avoid another winter witch as I had played one previously, but... they so fun. Going to go back on that self imposition.
And they just killed me to boot. How rude. Not like I did anything to deserve it.
I had nothing to do with your racist elf getting murder-killed by Super Devil and Captain Conniving. In fact, I'm pretty sure I'm the only person in the party with anything remotely resembling a moral compass.
>_>
Hah well, this'll be an interesting group I think.
...I fully plan on keeping an up-to-date Obituary for this group once we get started. >:P And considering I nearly TPK'd MYSELF once while running my WotR campaign.. mercy is for the weak!
Right now I'm mainly trying to decide if I want to give you 15 or 25 point builds.. my original run through with PCs will be 15-point builds.. but this IS Ruins of Pathfinder.
That means high-powered shenanigans. What are your thoughts on this, guys?
Do note that.. if we go 25 point builds.. I will not be going easy on ye! Heck I won't be doing that anyways though.. MUAHAHAHAHA. o_o
I've already built my character with 25 points, I think... o_o
I'm not a fan of low point-buys, speaking for myself. I think it's obscenely punishing on MAD characters, and can result in heroes that feel not very heroic. More points to spread also alleviates getting carried away with stat dumps, lets characters put points into something other than what their class itself demands, etc.
To be fair, though, I'm not a big fan of point buys in general. I see the appeal, and understand why very plainly; I grew up playing random rolls, however. Ultimately, I'll roll with whatever is decided upon without complaint, but if I have a vote to be counted, it will always be Random Roll > 25-pt > 20-pt > 15-pt.
Yeah after giving it some thought, I'll just stick with 25 point buys. Though you guys will be starting at level 1.
Do note, though, that these APs are designed around the idea of 4 PCs, each built with 15 point builds - so I'll be beefing up the encounters as appropriate, using this as a guide. Do note that there are spoilers for the Kingmaker campaign in that link. Obviously, due to the setting changes, not everything will remain the same.. ;)
I am aiming for this to be a difficult campaign.. though not backbreakingly difficult. :P
Though, my first playthrough to get a feel for the campaign is going to be using 15 point buys.. but thats mainly to get a feel for whats what, so I can adjust it as appropriate while also giving you guys a challenge.
So which section of the ruins of pathfinder write up should I read up on that would be most pertinent to this campaign?
Theres not much on Varisia in detail yet, actually - I'm going to be getting that up within the next few days. Rob is giving me a fair bit of creative freedom regarding it.. :3
However, since you guys start in Magnimar, know that the city is controlled by Karzoug's forces, and the city itself was spared devastation thanks to Lord-Mayor Haldmeer Grobaras. In an effort to spare his city the Runelord's wrath, (Not really, more like to spare his own portly ass), he surrendered immediately to Karzoug once he heard the Runelord was on the way. Though he did it more to save his own skin than his city's, the city remained 'relatively' autonomous and he was allowed to stay in charge of the settlement - though he is 'advised' by none other than Karzoug's greatest champion, a former Mercenary Guildmaster from Riddleport known as Viorian Dekanti, wielder of the Sword of Greed, Chellan. She herself is aided by numerous Rune Giants, who are often seen wandering around the city's outskirts or within the city itself, a sight that helps remind the city's denizens who they now serve.
You are all part of the newest branch of the Cyphermage's guild in Magnimar - their headquarters, previously in Riddleport, has since migrated to Xin-Shalast itself. The Cyphermages are the leading experts on retrieving ancient Thassilonian and Azlanti artifacts from the pre-Earthfall era. In that regards, they provide a similar role as the Pathfinders - though, unlike the Pathfinders, they serve Karzoug. Most of their number are arcane spellcasters - Wizards in particular, though with their expanding order, they have come to allow nonspellcasters into their ranks, if only as bodyguards at the least, for recovering ancient artifacts is no child's play.
While the city is still relatively autonomous, poverty levels have grown due to rising taxes - taxes that are used to appease Runelord Karzoug. Those who cannot pay are forced into slavery, to be sold at Sandpoint - which itself has been turned into a massive slave market.
Sandpoint, one of Magnimar's holdings and the starting point of both the Rise of the Runelords and Jade Regents AP, fared far worse. Most of the settlement's population were enslaved. With the discovery of a Minor Runewell of Wrath beneath the town, Karzoug's forces have converted it into a Minor Runewell of Greed - fueled by the greedy souls above who work the slave markets. In addition, Karzoug is attempting to rebuild the Old Light - once a powerful weapon controlled by his ancient rival, Runelord Azlanist. The Cyphermages are on the forefront of the reconstruction efforts - and they look forward to making the weapon operational again.
In addition, (I'm basically writing the entire history piece by piece in this post, haha!), all of Varisia is suffering beneath food shortages due to the Reign of Winter. Food prices have skyrocketed as a result - the Aspis Consortium, who have negotiated a trade agreement with Karzoug (Runelord of GREED? As in filthy rich? The Aspis Consortium is all over that), and as a result, they have been making a pretty penny off of the Runelord.
Might make me a bodyguard type character then. If anybody wants to work with me on something, just shout it out. Any alignment restrictions/suggestions?
Any alignment except Chaotic Evil. Most good-aligned souls have either been enslaved, sacrificed, or have fled the region - so Neutral / Evil are the most common, especially Lawful ones. The church of Lissala is LE - and her cult has been rapidly growing with Karzoug's return.
Thinking a Lawful Evil fighter. Rough n tumble kinda type, always out for number one, but, at the moment, the best way to do that (in his mind) is to throw in with the winning side as opposed to being made a slave. So he sold his services off to the Cyphermages as a bodyguard.
VERY rough sketch at this point, and definitely willing to work with anybody on it still.
Do note that I *might* be allowing the new classes when the playtest is released - so if you want to take a look at those, feel free to. I'm personally excited for the Swashbuckler :3
Man that sounds super awesome. My guy would fit right in I think :) Unfortunately I may be absent for a while, likely a couple weeks and perhaps more depending on how things work out, so I may have to withdraw from this game. At the least you guy will probably have to start with out me. Basically if you don't hear from me after monday go ahead without me and have fun!
I was probably going to be starting us up around the 25th, in fact - maybe a little earlier, depending on how fast I go through this :x
It probably will not be difficult to get you into the group at a later date should you still want to join Peanuts - so we'll start without you should you not be available, then work you in when we can, should you still want to join us.
Cool. I hope I make it back in time to participate then! :)
The Shattered Star campaign thread is up!
For now, refrain from posting in the gameplay thread EXCEPT to dot it. I also have the character creation rules up on the campaign tab. Consider the description/personality/background requirements the same as was for other Ruins of Pathfinder campaigns.
Should you want an added bonus, give the random background generator in Ultimate Campaign a try! Rolling for things like where you were born, your parents current status, siblings, and childhood events add a surprisingly interesting level of flavor to your character. If you randomly roll these things, you will gain an additional bonus in the form of a free story feat or two bonus traits! Either of which must be from the story feats/traits you rolled, however.
Also note the changes to both food and coins in this campaign. If you have any questions, hollar at me in the discussion thread over there. I will be working on getting more specific info up on what has happened to Varisia soon!
Do note that I *might* be allowing the new classes when the playtest is released - so if you want to take a look at those, feel free to. I'm personally excited for the Swashbuckler :3
Where are these new classes you to which refer?
Not out yet - Rob mentioned to me that the playtest for them will be released.. Tuesday?
Can't wait :x
A list of them thus far are as follows:
- Arcanist - Mix of Sorcerer and Wizard
- Bloodrager - Mix of Barbarian and Sorcerer
- Hunter - Mix of Druid and Ranger
- Shaman - Mix of Oracle and Witch
- Slayer - Mix of Ranger and Rogue
- Swashbuckler - Mix of Fighter and Gunslinger
- Warpriest - Mix of Fighter and Cleric
- Investigator - Mix of Alchemist and Rogue
There are two more as of yet unreleased. These are all hybrids, as you can tell - the Magus could be considered the basis for all of these, combining two classes with a twist. Supposedly, however, these are all ALTERNATE classes - If, for example, you are an Arcanist, you cannot take levels in Wizard or Sorcerer - much like you cannot take levels in Ninja and Rogue or Cavalier and Samurai.
That may have changed, though.. we'll see.
The other two are Skald (Barbarian and Bard) and Brawler (Fighter and Monk) I believe.
We'll see tuesday! Needless to say, I look forward to checking them out. Unless they look horribly broken, I would not be against you guys trying them out in this campaign!
What a better way to introduce new classes and new races than a Ruins of Pathfinder campaign set in a brand new empire!
;)
Btw, Brimley, go get your butt over to the Shattered Star discussion thread. I've also gotten portions of the alternate history down in the Campaign tab - this is, afterall, the region that Fenyx is from!
...maybe his family in Magnimar will make a cameo? :P (On that note, you should send me some info through a message about Fenyx's family, if you have any idea about them. Feel free to even make a sibling of Fenyx be your character!)
Magnimar will be the primary city we'll be in, after all. I'd love to include cameos of other campaigns' characters if at all possible! :D