[Non-PFS] [3PP Class Only] Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands (Inactive)

Game Master djpika

@Storm Dragon -

Known NPC's

Beryan Teague (female half‐elf): Once an
adventurer, Beryan takes her role as village protector very
seriously. If not loved by the villagers, she has earned their
respect many times over.

Maban Tangye (male human)

Welcoming to all, the innkeeper is obsessed with cleanliness and rents his rooms to anyone with coin.

Sir Talek Annear (male human)

Commander of Kerensa’s Hold and son of a minor nobleman, Sir Talek is
obsessed with duty and honour. He resents being stuck in
Swallowfeld.

Melor Keast (male human)

The village reeve. Much of the populace dislikes him.

Let me know if this is what you had in mind. I wasn't sure what you decided for the final details of which militia, etc., so I avoided that for now.

Oddly enough, that was not really the case ... until shortly after your post, when I found out my missing friend had died of COVID.

It was a pretty tough night for me :(

My condolences. Please prioritize anything for real life needs before this.

Nathan "Cable" Grey wrote:

Oddly enough, that was not really the case ... until shortly after your post, when I found out my missing friend had died of COVID.

It was a pretty tough night for me :(

My condolences. Please prioritize anything for real life needs before this.

Many thanks - this is a welcome distraction. Using adjustments and playing around in Herolab also. The new sheet is really tight.

@Storm Dragon -

Known NPC's

Beryan Teague (female half‐elf): Once an
adventurer, Beryan takes her role as village protector very
seriously. If not loved by the villagers, she has earned their
respect many times over.

Maban Tangye (male human)

Welcoming to all, the innkeeper is obsessed with cleanliness and rents his rooms to anyone with coin.

Sir Talek Annear (male human)

Commander of Kerensa’s Hold and son of a minor nobleman, Sir Talek is
obsessed with duty and honour. He resents being stuck in
Swallowfeld.

Melor Keast (male human)

The village reeve. Much of the populace dislikes him.

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

Let me know if this is what you had in mind. I wasn't sure what you decided for the final details of which militia, etc., so I avoided that for now.

I meant more in terms of the plot.

DM rel20 wrote:

@Storm Dragon -

Known NPC's

Beryan Teague (female half‐elf): Once an
adventurer, Beryan takes her role as village protector very
seriously. If not loved by the villagers, she has earned their
respect many times over.

Maban Tangye (male human)

Welcoming to all, the innkeeper is obsessed with cleanliness and rents his rooms to anyone with coin.

Sir Talek Annear (male human)

Commander of Kerensa’s Hold and son of a minor nobleman, Sir Talek is
obsessed with duty and honour. He resents being stuck in
Swallowfeld.

Melor Keast (male human)

The village reeve. Much of the populace dislikes him.

** spoiler omitted **

** spoiler omitted **

Let me know if this is what you had in mind. I wasn't sure what you decided for the final details of which militia, etc., so I avoided that for now.

I meant more in terms of the plot.

Not that I can think of at the moment. This is a homage to 1E adventures, so the core of it is really sandbox with the expectations that players will want to go check it out.

The story elements that I've added in to drive the quest(s) originated from Olfden.

You could be aware of local threats, such as the bandits that have been raiding travelers, i.e., the "red-headed devil" that the party defeated.
Maybe you're holding a reward for them of some sort... although it would be odd not coming from the local militia, perhaps there were offenses in other locations?

Please feel free to post into the game-play thread though, when you're feeling up to it. :)

This is also my expectation at the moment...

DM rel20 wrote:

Nathan "Cable" Grey wrote:

Oddly enough, that was not really the case ... until shortly after your post, when I found out my missing friend had died of COVID.

It was a pretty tough night for me :(

My condolences. Please prioritize anything for real life needs before this.

Many thanks - this is a welcome distraction. Using adjustments and playing around in Herolab also. The new sheet is really tight.

Sorry to hear that about your friend as well. :(

Mebbe if you're feeling up to it, you could always put up some minor homage to your friend if they was into TTRPG's as well.

Can I get a quick and dirty breakdown of what it is my character likely knows about anything important going on at the moment?

DM rel20 wrote:

@Storm Dragon -

Known NPC's

Beryan Teague (female half‐elf)

Sir Talek Annear (male human)

** spoiler omitted **

Let me know if this is what you had in mind. I wasn't sure what you decided for the final details of which militia, etc., so I avoided that for now.

Storm Dragon wrote:

I meant more in terms of the plot.

DM rel20 wrote:

Not that I can think of at the moment. This is a homage to 1E adventures, so the core of it is really sandbox with the expectations that players will want to go check it out.

The story elements that I've added in to drive the quest(s) originated from Olfden.

You could be aware of local threats, such as the bandits that have been raiding travelers, i.e., the "red-headed devil" that the party defeated.
Maybe you're holding a reward for them of some sort... although it would be odd not coming from the local militia, perhaps there were offenses in other locations?

If you don't have any real objections towards having connections to either Beryan or Sir Talek [possibly even via your friend, Ellis?], Storm Dragon/Randall, those two seem the least likeliest to raise any issues from their possible involvement, positive or otherwise[?]. ;)

As another alternative, mebbe something involving a probable goblin attack on Bandits over at the Shadowed Keep [aka. how we got ourselves that goblin prisoner that we took back to town]? Apart from the deceased She-Devil of Gorum, whom we never got her actual name at all; the only specific names we got from the bandits was Fang [dog] and Bareli [Half-Orc cook]- both also quite dead. There's two escaped bandits out there in addition to all the orcs and other goblins.

As another FYI, although it doesn't get anywhere near emphasized enough via the Inner Sea World Guide or the Andoran Setting book, there are a lot of attacks by werewolves [Andru himself survived a werewolf raid thru extraordinary circumstances]/hostile Druids/hobgoblins mentioned in the Pathfinder 3.5 Setting Guide for Darkmoon Vale.

Also, Olfden itself was the center of an organized attack by an alliance of dark Druids, hobgoblins, and some specially-bred silver resistant lycanthropes a few decades back. That and there's dark fey about and the entire locality is just lousy with kobolds out and about [convenient for Chigao's studies about trap-disabling].

The Shadowed Keep, itself a 3pp adventure that got placed into Darkmoon Vale via DM rel20, might just be a good place for having some caves dedicated to chaoticness, just like it's spiritual predecessor, Keep on the Borderlands. ;)

As another FYI, although it doesn't get anywhere near emphasized enough via the Inner Sea World Guide or the Andoran Setting book, there are a lot of attacks by werewolves [Andru himself survived a werewolf raid thru extraordinary circumstances]/hostile Druids/hobgoblins mentioned in the Pathfinder 3.5 Setting Guide for Darkmoon Vale.

Also, Olfden itself was the center of an organized attack by an alliance of dark Druids, hobgoblins, and some specially-bred silver resistant lycanthropes a few decades back. That and there's dark fey about and the entire locality is just lousy with kobolds out and about [convenient for Chigao's studies about trap-disabling].

Which is why I made sure to mention being assigned to aid the Fangwatch on a few occasions. =)

I've played a few games that started in Olfden.

LOL maybe part of Nate's retcon could be speaking Goblin - matched with his focus on intimidation, he could interrogate for the group also.

Apologies if Randall's dialogue seems subtly antagonistic and you're not sure if it's intentional or not, BTW. He's a soldier but I'm playing him a bit like I would a cop. The roles kinda overlap in this case.

Was really more of a tune-up retcon question than anything, but that's an awesome amount of background, wow, thank you.

I really just could not remember the name of the town, sorry about that.

You're welcome, Nathan, and no worries about not remembering that town's name. Since your character's a comparative local to Swallowfeld, some of the possible ties to the various named, local npcs might also apply as well besides just your Aunt, Uncle, and Reithic. ;)

Apologies if Randall's dialogue seems subtly antagonistic and you're not sure if it's intentional or not, BTW. He's a soldier but I'm playing him a bit like I would a cop. The roles kinda overlap in this case.

No worries at all over Randall's tone of dialogue, Storm Dragon; it was quite a fun challenge to creatively incorporate both his and Zupon's dialog within the context of the previous postings. :)

Since I tend to post somewhat irregularly, it's always fun to place things into a relatively sensible context for Chigao to react to.

Just for transparency, 3rd party psionic talents (cantrips) are NOT at-will ... so the intro cost Nathan a power point

Just for transparency, 3rd party psionic talents (cantrips) are NOT at-will ... so the intro cost Nathan a power point

That's not correct. They're at-will so long as you maintain Psionic Focus.

The old Discipline Talents system was replaced by the above rules in Ultimate Psionics, but even Discipline Talents could be cast as long as you had Psionic focus; the difference is they were treated as weaker versions of existing level 1 Powers before true Cantrip equivalents were created.

Feel free to swirl and eddy to your heart's content. =p

Edit: Though now I'm thinking of it, there's no Talent that lets you clean things like this to my knowledge. Which are you using?

Nathan "Cable" Grey wrote:

Just for transparency, 3rd party psionic talents (cantrips) are NOT at-will ... so the intro cost Nathan a power point

That's not correct. They're at-will so long as you maintain Psionic Focus.

The old Discipline Talents system was replaced by the above rules in Ultimate Psionics, but even Discipline Talents could be cast as long as you had Psionic focus; the difference is they were treated as weaker versions of existing level 1 Powers before true Cantrip equivalents were created.

Feel free to swirl and eddy to your heart's content. =p

Edit: Though now I'm thinking of it, there's no Talent that lets you clean things like this to my knowledge. Which are you using?

Ugh - I have Unleashed, I have Expanded, but I never picked up Ultimate.

Is the Diamond Legion just Olfden's army branch, or is it their private military? I know Olfden is a bit weird with how it has a mix of its own shit, mercenaries (like the Fangwatch) and government aid. Trying to figure out how well Randall might know Jorgenson (some info would be welcome, if only just a quick directory to which page he's introduced).

@Nathan: The SRD has all the Psionics content on it, so you can check up on stuff there. Or if you prefer I can send you my Ultimate Psionics PDF when I get home.

Is the Diamond Legion just Olfden's army branch, or is it their private military? I know Olfden is a bit weird with how it has a mix of its own s&*%, mercenaries (like the Fangwatch) and government aid. Trying to figure out how well Randall might know Jorgenson (some info would be welcome, if only just a quick directory to which page he's introduced).

@Nathan: The SRD has all the Psionics content on it, so you can check up on stuff there. Or if you prefer I can send you my Ultimate Psionics PDF when I get home.

DUDE - would love the PDF, that would be amazing.

yes. according to the guide on Darkmoon Vale, the Diamond Watch are Olfdens official guards

Here's the snippet from the Guide to Darkmoon Vale:

Diamond Regiment: Although a backwoods on the edge of civilization, Darkmoon Vale provides a resource vital to the Andoran Navy. Thus, in order to protect the region’s inhabitants, the Golden Aerie—headquarters of the Eagle Knights—sent a regiment of 12 Eagle Knights and 388 army regulars to guard the vital trade road out of the vale.

Operating out of Adamas, the Diamond Regiment patrols all of Darkmoon Vale south of the River Foam (although it rarely visits Arthfell Forest, trusting to the Fangwatch to guard that area), with infrequent visits north of the river into Falcon’s Hollow. Neither Ingrid Odeber— the regiment’s commander—nor the leaders of Falcon’s Hollow enjoy these visits, however, so the order only goes there to escort convoys of darkwood to Olfden or when commanded by the Golden Aerie.

Sooooooooooo I just lost someone else back in the States; a really wonderful man who used to work for me at the reastaurant & the club
it's devastating

pls take care of yourselves friends :(

Sooooooooooo I just lost someone else back in the States; a really wonderful man who used to work for me at the reastaurant & the club

it's devastating

pls take care of yourselves friends :(

Sorry to hear that about your former employee. :(

"Really though, thank you, it would be an honour."

Spelling honour and colour with 'u's? You must be a british man. Or maybe French. European, at least. Cool!

jajajajajajaja, wow, yes, I grew up during part of middle school in Germany and went to International School as a kid too. I still cross my 7s when I am writing too. Just a bunch of weird stuff.

So with the inclusion of the party fund, the split is done 7 ways then?

Also, if either or both the gem and silverware is sold, how much can we get for them?

Plus if we goto the guards about the She-devil, what reward can we expect from the town?

Also got a party loot 'toon'/alt up to help handle all that treasurey stuff in the game. ;p

In terms of coinage for everyone...

Split seven ways, everyone in the party gets:

79 copper pieces each. [4 copper pieces left over]

23 silver pieces each. [4 silver pieces left over]

2 gold pieces each. [5 gold pieces left over]

The 7th member split, being the party funds, also benefits from the extra change so it gets instead:

83 copper pieces.

27 silver pieces.

7 gold pieces. [actually enough to split evenly once again, if needed; that net everyone a total of 1 extra gp with the party fund left at just 1 gp total]

So keep things as 79cp/23sp/2gp each [except the party fund] or 79cp/23sp/3gp each [except the party fund]. Would either of these be okay with everyone?

If we're only looking at something on the order of 20 or so gp to split, I'm not sure it's worth sweating all that much lol.

I would completey agree with Storm on this one ...

BUT (not that I worked at a bank for years)
I would also not rule out cashing down either:
540CP (5gp + 4sp) splits by 7 pretty nicely with only 1 cp left over.

That said, I mean when we get to a final accounting; like with the gem & the silver sold. TBH, this is something we could use Nathan's family for also. Like versus other sources who it might be safer to deal in coin with, Uncle Ben & Aunt May and the Elven Mafia could be used to ensure that the party always got a fair price on things (or in some cases, like the silver, could simply buy them directly). Just a thought.

Also, folks might want to rethink the party order in the slides:

Character Order

Zupon' pretty happy being in the middle-ish area.

I think Nathan would be closer to the back

@ gm. Do you remember long ago when I brought up soft changing a few character choices before. Due to annoying upkeep for both of us of penalties as well changing his formula.
Did we ever decide if he was going to be allowed the soft changes. Or were we waiting to level 2 to figure that out?

Spending a night in town is a pretty easy way to switch a few things or formula.

I'm fine either way. I just remembered

Xephkiel would be near the front.

Randall wants to be in the front as well, with his polearm. If there's a true close quarters fighter he can be side by side with, perfect.

@ gm. Do you remember long ago when I brought up soft changing a few character choices before. Due to annoying upkeep for both of us of penalties as well changing his formula.

Did we ever decide if he was going to be allowed the soft changes. Or were we waiting to level 2 to figure that out?

Spending a night in town is a pretty easy way to switch a few things or formula.

I'm fine either way. I just remembered

Go ahead and re-spec. Might as well play/test the character that you want. I don't think there's any harm in a "downtime" scenario.

Default marching order slides updated. Please confirm the order and perception/init data.

Done.

Looks good and correct on Zupon's end.
I'll respec his sphere choice, and his formula then. I'll either dig up the old notes and do that tonight, or switch him on my day off. Either way probably before we get into meaningfulcombat anyway.

Just in case, people can carry on in the main thread while waiting for the slide updates as well.

Just checked in myself; looks all good from my end as well. :)

If we're only looking at something on the order of 20 or so gp to split, I'm not sure it's worth sweating all that much lol.

I would completey agree with Storm on this one ...

BUT (not that I worked at a bank for years)
I would also not rule out cashing down either:
540CP (5gp + 4sp) splits by 7 pretty nicely with only 1 cp left over.

That said, I mean when we get to a final accounting; like with the gem & the silver sold. TBH, this is something we could use Nathan's family for also. Like versus other sources who it might be safer to deal in coin with, Uncle Ben & Aunt May and the Elven Mafia could be used to ensure that the party always got a fair price on things (or in some cases, like the silver, could simply buy them directly). Just a thought.

Didn't think of cashing down with the coins at the time; just went with using the allotted coin amounts as is, but exchanging coins to better divvy things up sounds fine by me as well. :)

If keeping things to just the coins, with the additional conversion to more copper pieces, that will net the party with:

2 gp, 23 sp, 79+77=156 cp divided evenly into 7 with 5 cp left over [that goes to party fund?]. :)

The light blue are the unexplored parts?

The light blue are the unexplored parts?

Pretty much, Storm Dragon, other than the portcullis opening and [burnt-down?] door to the west tower.

yeah, the door was burnt down and busted. then upstairs the door to the room that leads to the wall and the stairway was more or less blown open. May still be close-able but was quite busted a bit open. At least enough for folks to dash out directly.
on the 2nd floor of the tower.

Happy holidays all!

Happy holidays all!

Happy & Safe Holidays Team Shadowkeep!

Happy Holidays. Time to storm a castle

Happy Holidays to all, as well. ;)

Might wanna GMPC Andru, maybe send him a PM, he hasn't posted in over 2 months.

Might wanna GMPC Andru, maybe send him a PM, he hasn't posted in over 2 months.

Andru does have those games that he was running [three or more?] keeping him busy, I'm guessing. But yeah, he hasn't posted since the party's return to the keep. :(

No response yet from the PM, so maybe it's best to put his character in limbo for a bit.

Up to the group if a replacement is desired.