Ruins of Pathfinder: The Tower of K’rthos
Welcome, one and all, to the recruitment for The Tower of K’rthos, a Pathfinder adventure set in the post-apocalyptic Ruins of Pathfinder alternate reality. In this variant of the Pathfinder setting, numerous apocalyptic events have occurred due to the failure of heroes to stave off disaster as presented in Pathfinder's published adventure paths, up to (but not including) Shattered Star.
For full information on Robert Brookes' Ruins of Pathfinder alternate reality, please follow this
link. A wiki for the setting is a work in progress and can be found here. (He seems to have abandoned working on the wiki, however)
The Tower of K’rthos centers itself around an expedition of adventurers hired by Professor Dr. Henric Archibald Pinkerton - more commonly known simply as ‘Dr. Pinkerton’, one of the last remaining members of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye - to delve and explore an old, decrepit tower off the coast of what used to be the Kingdom of Lirgen - now known as the Sodden Lands.
You are the very same adventurers that Dr. Pinkerton hired for this expedition. Eager for whatever awaits within the enigmatic tower, Dr. Pinkerton has organized the group to delve ruins and uncover whatever eldritch artifacts they can uncover. What none realize, however, is exactly what horrors await them in the Deepest Dungeon.
Where in the Apocalypse are we?
The campaign takes place entirely upon an island off the coast of what used to be the Kingdom of Lirgen, now known as the Sodden Lands thanks to the Eye of Abendego. The expedition will be dropped off onto the island by a ship which will return once every two weeks to resupply said expedition.
Thankfully, the Sodden Lands have seen little in the way of change with the various apocalypses that have rained down upon the Inner Sea as of late; If anything, this already apocalyptic land has seen little more than an increase in violence in an already violent region.
Into the Depths..
Please pay close attention to the character creation guidelines below.
CHARACTER CREATION
Your character in The Tower of K’rthos will belong to Dr. Pinkerton’s expedition which comprises nothing more than the four brave and foolish souls who signed up for the endeavour. The campaign begins immediately upon embarking onto the Island of K’rthos, aptly named for the lighthouse that is the main attraction of the island. Characters in Ruins of Pathfinder come from a harder, more cut-throat world than normal. Character creation options help outline this:
Starting Level: PCs will start at 2nd level.
Alignment: Any
Ability Scores: 15 point buy.
HP: Max HP rolls at 1st and 2nd level. Players will roll for HP or take Average from level 3 onward.
Traits: 2 traits
Drawback: Drawbacks and their bonus traits are allowed for those who wish to take them.
Base Starting Money: 500 gp
Races: Any Core, with others allowed on a case by case basis.
Classes: All classes from Paizo products, including Occult Classes. Unchained classes replace their non-unchained versions.
Firearms: Firearms operate under the "commonplace guns" rule* (See Below for Exception)
(see Ultimate Combat for more details).
Crafted Items: Any character able to craft items through a feat may do so at the reduced prices. Characters with craft skills may craft items ahead of time at the reduced price if they can craft the item by taking a 10 and succeed.
Automatic Bonus Progression: As per Pathfinder Unchained, we’ll be using the Automatic Bonus Progression optional rule; As a result, there are no +# Magic weapons/armor available, nor Cloaks of Resistance, Belts/Headbands of Stats, Amulets of Natural Armor, or Rings of Deflection. Magic Weapons/Armor may be purchased/crafted as per the rules. Automatic Bonus Progression
Background Skills Players start with 2 bonus skill ranks per level in a PC class to used ONLY for Background skills.
Sanity: Ripped right out of Call of Cthulhu D20, players will be affected by the horrors that will affect their minds; Each player has a starting Sanity Score of their Wisdom Score x 5; Further information on Sanity/Insanity can be found at Sanity; Note that not everything on that page will be used, and I’ll explain everything in further detail later.
When you create a submission, please create a character alias and include your character information in the form of a bestiary stat block like Dr. Logem's Profile.
Also, include the following information in your profile:
1) Appearance
2) Personality
3) Background
Campaign Theme
The Tower of K’rthos will be a Lovecraftian-horror inspired campaign set within the Super Dungeon that is of the same name. Players will face off against eldritch horrors, undead abominations, and anything else that strikes my fancy as I design the campaign. I will be making the campaign and storyline up as we go, and although the campaign will be story-light (And possibly roleplaying light, we’ll see), there will be a bit of both.
In addition, the players will be effectively cut off from civilization as they delve into this dungeon; Every two weeks, the ship that brought them here will return for resupply. Any loot the players may have discovered can be sold to the ship for supplies, while simultaneously allowing them to place custom orders for magic items or goods.
As a result, there are numerous major themes to Tower of K’rthos:
Survival, both in normal terms and sanity
Lovecraftian Horrors
Eldritch Relic Hunting
OPTIONAL RULES USED
Though not everyone will be required to use these as part of their character design, certain optional rules will be used or allowed in The Tower of K’rthos. These are as follows:
Words of Power: Players may choose to use Words of Power if they wish to do so. The feats based around them are available as well.
Called Shots: Both players and enemies may use Called Shots if they wish to do so – the feats based around these called shots are also allowed.
Spell Changes: The two cantrips/orisons, Light and Dancing Lights are now 1st level spells for those who have them as 0-level. This is due to the infinite-light that anyone with a cantrip can make, and I wanted to remove that ability for thematic purposes.
