Once every 10 years, the cosmopolitan city of Goka on the western coastline of Tian Xia hosts the Ruby Phoenix Tournament on an island off the coast. Infamous for its strange spectacles and exciting mix of fighting styles, the contest draws combatants and spectators from all over the world. The tournament’s winning team gets their choice of a single item from the legendary treasury of an ancient spellcaster and earns a reputation beyond imagining.
Having earned a sponsorship and made it through the qualifying exhibitions, your team of warriors is ready to fight in the Grand Pavilion arena against the mightiest combatants and cleverest battle mages on Golarion. Can you prove your mettle in tests of mind and body? Step into the arena to find out!
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Welcome to my recruitment for the Pathfinder 1E Ruby Phoenix Tournament module! I have been enjoying Paizo’s 2E sequel, Fists of the Ruby Phoenix, and wanted to relive the original module. The focus of the module is most certainly on competing in the tournament, but there is plenty more to explore on Xielan Island. Characters will start at 11th level. You should reach 12th level by the end of the tournament.
This is a fighting tournament with rules and judges. You will mostly be fighting other humanoids, though exhibition matches could put you against other creatures and in strange environments. There will also be opportunities for roleplaying and some exploration. If you ever wanted to take on a professional wrestling persona or live your best shonen life, this is the module for it!
I plan to take 4 players through this adventure. Recruitment will run for the next 2 and a half weeks, ending at 11:59pm ET on July 2. I expect that we will complete the adventure by late 2023 or early 2024. If there is interest in continuing the table for additional jaunts, we can discuss that at the end of the module.
Character Creation Summary System: Pathfinder 1E
Level: 11
Ability Scores: 20 point buy
Races: Preference for Core Races plus aasimar, catfolk, grippli, hobgoblin, kitsune, lizardfolk, nagaji, ratfolk, samsaran, tengu, and wayang
Alignment: No restrictions
Class: Any Paizo Skills: Background skills Feats: Non-combat feats at every even level; Combat Stamina free for fighters, brawlers, swashbucklers, and warpriests; No, we’re not using Elephant in the Room feat tax Traits: 2 traits from different categories; no campaign traits
Wealth: 82,000 gp; no single item worth more than 41,000 gp
Hit Points: Max at each level
Languages: No secret languages. In this game, the Common tongue refers to Tien rather than Taldane.
Favored Class Bonuses: You will gain an extra Hit point, an extra Skill point, and your racial favored class option each level.
Background: 2-3 paragraphs. Most important: Why—other than competing for the prize—are you entering the Ruby Phoenix Tournament?
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Resources: I plan to use Roll20 for combat maps. I have a Discord server that will be optional, but which I encourage people to join for table cohesion, notices, etc.
I have three general preferences for this game.
1) I’d like to give priority to people who are not already involved in multiple campaigns.
2) I'd like to give priority to people who have not played the module before.
2) I would prefer not to deal with 3rd party content. I am tentatively open to hearing pitches for certain content on a case-by-case basis.
If you want to try to put together a team here in recruitment, feel free to do so! I make no promises about taking all members of a team, but a well-crafted team could very well influence my decisions!
If making a team with others, consider thematic niches, common motivations, shared dispositions, a particular sponsor, an origin, a strength, a weakness, and a quirk. I have lists (from the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Player Guide) to facilitate this discussion once we have our players, but I’d love to see what you come up with on your own.
Character Creation Details:
Starting Level: 1
Ability Scores: 20-point buy; no starting (i.e., Lv1) scores below 8 or above 18 after racial adjustments.
Races: Since the contest is held in the largest city in Tian Xia, humans of Tian heritage—particularly people of Tian-Shu ethnicity, who predominate most of Tian Xia thanks to the expansionist efforts of the now-defunct Lung Wa Empire—represent most of the entrants to the Ruby Phoenix Tournament. Humanoids of other ancestries more common in Tian Xia, such as kitsune and tengus, also make up a fair share of the competition’s entrants. This pattern is largely due to proximity and convenience; it’s simply easier for fighters from Tian countries to secure travel to Goka. Likewise, stories of worthy Tian fighters have a greater chance of reaching the ears of the tournament’s organizers, which also impacts who receives an invitation to the event.
Other than the core races, the most likely races to appear in the tournament are: aasimar, catfolk, grippli, hobgoblin, kitsune, lizardfolk, nagaji, ratfolk, samsaran, tengu, and wayang.
You may choose any alternate racial traits within your ancestry’s page as listed on AoNPRD.
Explicitly Not Permitted: Adaro, Being of Ib, Drow Noble, Duergar Tyrant, Green Martian, Kasatha, Lashunta, Merfolk, Munavri, Svirfneblin, Triaxian, and Trox.
Alignment: For the most part your character’s moral leanings aren’t crucial for the purposes of the story. Aspiring Ruby Phoenix Champions come to the tournament with all kinds of reputations, agendas, and social attitudes, some benevolent, some malignant. As long as teams don’t break the tournament’s rules, the means by which you overcome your rivals can run the gamut between honorable and chivalrous to underhanded and dastardly. Even chaotic, unrepentantly evil contestants might find a way to put aside their predilections long enough to cooperate with a team for a shot at the championship’s grand prize. Perhaps the unpredictable and violent nature of the fights is enough of a release valve for such competitors.
Classes: Any class or archetype published by Paizo, including unchained.
The Ruby Phoenix Tournament draws contenders from all walks of life, from spell-slinging magic practitioners to sword-wielding knights errant to mercenary-minded scoundrels. That said, some classes of competitor are seen in the ring more often than others. Chief among the most common tournament entrants are, perhaps unsurprisingly, fighters, monks, barbarians, and swashbucklers. All of these martial masters practice close-range mortal combat as a way of life and are expertly suited to fights in the arena. The tournament’s team-on-team format also favors rangers and rogues, who boast numerous talents and specialties that create openings for their teammates or otherwise exploit the chaos typical to the fighting ring. Among the magic-wielding classes, wizards, witches, and other spellcasters who prepare their spells daily (as opposed to tapping into some innate power) have an advantage here. Because of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament’s predictable schedule and frequent opportunities to rest (often an entire night) between bouts, these spellcasters can change their spell repertoire frequently and zero in on just the right selection of spells for the arena
Skills: We will be using Background Skills rules from Pathfinder Unchained.
Feats: At every even level (2, 4, 6, 8, 10) you can take a non-combat feat. These should be feats that have no or minimal impact in typical combat and are instead more for flavor (e.g., not Spell Focus or Spell Penetration). Story feats, skill-based feats, or racial feats are all appropriate for these even-level feats. The exception to the non-combat feats is that you can take any of the performance feats as even-level feats.
Combat Stamina is free for fighters, brawlers, swashbucklers, and warpriests, and available by feat access to everyone else. Similarly, Unchained Rogues gain class access to skill unlocks, which other characters can access by choosing the Signature Skill feat. Psychic classes automatically gain access to occult skill unlocks, which other characters can access by choosing the Psychic Sensitivity feat.
Traits: Choose two traits from different categories other than campaign traits. You may not choose a drawback to gain a third trait.
Wealth: You will start off with 82,000 gp; you may have no single item worth more than 41,000 gp.
Hit Points: Max at each level. (Note: enemies will have max hit points as well.) When you rest overnight, you will naturally heal level + Con hit points.
Languages: No secret languages. In this game, the Common tongue refers to Tien rather than Taldane. If you want to speak both, you need to choose them separately.
Favored Class Bonuses: At each level, you get your race’s unique favored class bonus in addition to both a bonus skill point and a bonus hit point. If your race doesn’t have a favored class bonus, you can choose from either this list (the second batch) or this one.
Player Expectations:
I would like to encourage one substantive post per player per weekday (and one on the weekends), but I understand the realities of life. I care more about quality than quantity or frequency, but I want to keep the story (and game momentum) moving.
Please engage with the scene, the NPCs, and with each other.
Bad
Grog nods.
Why? It’s boring and doesn’t add much to the scene.
Good
Grog looks at the skeleton now lying splintered and still on the cave floor, and his rage slowly subsides. “Well that was embarrassing,” he says sheepishly, his tall frame shrinking as he hopes that his friends won’t think less of him for getting so angry.”
Why? It’s more appropriate, providing sensory details and adding something that another character can respond to.
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When combat begins, I will roll Initiative for everyone and combat will proceed in block initiative. When your character is up in initiative, you will have 24 hours to post your combat turn. If you don’t post by that point, then I will either have your character delay or (if you have a typical action), I can bot you. I plan to use Roll20 for maps.
I prefer a roleplay-forward style of play. What is your character thinking? What are they feeling? Roleplaying, especially PbP, is a collaborative environment where we are all telling a story together. I would love to be able to tell each character’s story in addition to the overarching narrative. Even though this is a fighting tournament, there are and should be roleplaying opportunities. Work the crowd! Encourage your teammates! Trash talk your opponents! Be larger than life! This is the perfect opportunity to take on a professional wrestling persona or to live your best shonen-inspired life (a la One Piece, Hunter x Hunter, Dragon Ball, Naruto, or Yu Yu Hakusho).
About me as a GM:
I am currently running four tables here on the Paizo boards: two run-throughs of the Price of Immortality trilogy (currently each in the second module), an Iron Gods campaign, and a Rise of the Runelords campaign. I have been roleplaying and GMing for about 25 years with a near-even mixture of in-person and play-by-post.
I like to think of myself as a very roleplay-forward GM with a heavy investment in Golarion's lore. You can find the other four campaigns I'm currently running on the Paizo boards here, here, here, and here. I have a couple narrative samples here, here, here, and here. Some combat samples can be found here, here, and here. You are welcome to check out my profile page for a snapshot and some samples of my non-GM roleplayinng.
I prefer a roleplay-forward style of play, though I enjoy the tactical, combat-oriented parts as well. I will follow my players’ leads and let you explore towns and NPCs as much or little as you want, nudging you back to the rails only if it seems like people are losing interest in the game.
I will try to post at least once per day and will find an optimal schedule so that you can expect to reliably move forward. But my current players can attest that sometimes it takes me more than a few days to craft something worthwhile if I’m being a little obsessive. I will do my best to provide notices ahead of time for work, illness, travel, writer’s block, etc. so that you are not blindsided by a prospective absence or gap.
Application:
Please post a character sheet organized like the typical stat block of a character. I have provided a template in the next spoiler.
You do not need to create an alias unless you want to.
Please provide a sense of your character’s background. You don’t need to have a big, long story. But what are your likes, dislikes, quirks, phobias, etc.? What are your goals? Most importantly—why are you entering the Ruby Phoenix Tournament, other than to compete for the prize? Maybe you need the prize money to pay for a relative’s expensive operation or to free your family from debt to Golden League gangsters. Or maybe there’s a particular prize in Hao Jin’s vault that could literally save your life. Please get creative. 2-3 paragraphs should be sufficient, though you’re welcome to provide more.
You can also write about your character’s appearance and personality, but this is not required.
Character Sheet Template:
I have put a space in front of the formatting text, so you can do a find a replace of all "[ b]" and "[ i]" without the space to quickly fix it.
Q1: For background purposes, is there an existing list of possible available prizes from the vault? Or are we free to make up our own? If the latter, is there some price limit to keep in mind? E.g. no Ring of Infinite Wishes?A: There is no specified list of available prizes, but the module does give some guidelines: "countless artifacts both minor and major, and nonmagical items of incredible beauty and value from throughout history. For the most part, anything the PCs want can be found here, except wholly unique items known to exist elsewhere than in this collection." So if that inspires a character concept: awesome! You're free to make up your own. Infinite would be pushing it, but a Ring of Three Wishes would be perfectly in line.
Q2: Are the player submissions supposed to be a cohesive team? With a common sponsor? Or are we independent contestants?A: The player submissions will eventually form a team. How cohesive it is will be up to you. You may even start on the boat to the island as independent contestants looking for teammates. But ideally the PCs can come up with some sort of cohesion driving them to compete together.
Q3: If we are a team, are we looking at a traditional party mix? I.e. beatstick, skillmonkey, healbot, arcane?A: A traditional party is very unnecessary. You could even have four members of all the same class (e.g., four monks) and enter the tournament. That being said, such a party could struggle with certain events, but it's a fighting tournament above all else. (Some healing will be useful, otherwise you might get bedraggled over the course of the tournament.)
Q4: How will item creation feats be handled?A: Item Creation feats are allowed under the even-level skill feats. Per the guidelines in Ultimate Campaign, you can exceed the character wealth by level guidelines by 25% if you have an appropriate magic item creation feat (and the required skill modifiers to back them up). If you have invested significantly in the magic item creation feats (tentatively four or more), then you can exceed the CWBL guidelines by 50%.
Q5: Is reflavoring without mechanical changes ok?A: I am perfectly happy with reflavoring feats without mechanical changes.
Q6: Having some limitation/guideline but being able to approach the subject independently would imho allow people a more efficient creative process.A: I appreciate the desire for limitations or guidelines, but that goes against the spirit of the module.(More here.)
Q7: Regarding non-combat feats, are things like Iron Will applicable? What about Additional Traits? I mean, most feats (yeah, even Skill Focus) could potentially have a use in combat, and traits as well.A: My goal with these extra feats is more to promote flavor for each character than to increase their combat prowess, following 2E's design philosophy. As I said in the original post: "These should be feats that have no or minimal impact in typical combat and are instead more for flavor." So for this purpose, Iron Will counts as a combat feat because it increases a save and could therefore have a significant impact in combat situations. Additional Traits is tentatively a non-combat feat, but no combat traits or traits that increase or augment attacks, damage, or saves can be chosen.
Q8: You mentioned the possibility of considering certain 3rd party options in a case-by-case basis. I understand opening the can of worms can be the beginning of the end, but would you consider the feat Deadly Agility? The reason behind this petition is to allow a Dex-based build other than the overused Scimitar-Dervish Dance one. It doesn't save me a feat slot or makes something overperform.A: Approved!
Q9: I'd just like to get an okay on taking Apotheosis as one of my non-combat bonus feats.A: Approved!(Bonuses to stabilize while dying are unlikely to come up in the formal tournament, so I consider this much more flavor than combat.)
Q10: As for Story Feats, do we get the completion bonus?A: Not yet. But if you take a story feat, then I will do my best to weave it into the plot/action of the tournament so that you have access to the completion benefit by the final combat.
Q11: Racial feats are considered non-combat even if they do combat things? I mean, elves can get Weapon Focus, for example.A: No, combat feats are still combat feats even if they're gated behind a racial prerequisite. For Elves, non-combat racial feats would include Arcane Talent, Attuned to the Wild, Breadth of Experience, and Eagle Eyes. Mage of the Wild and Light Step would be edge cases. Ancestral Weapon Mastery, Guardian of the Wild, Spirit of the Wild, Elven Accuracy, Elven Battle Training, Elven Battle Style, Elven Battle Focus, Elven Battle Torrent, Leaf Singer, and Stabbing Shot would all need to be taken in regular (odd) feat slots.
Q13: Mnemonic Vestments and Versatile Spontaneity both allow a Sorcerer to cast from a spellbook, but do not actually grant the Sorcerer a spellbook to cast from. If we hire NPCs to copy a spellbook on our behalf, how much would it cost?A: Since someone else is doing the work of scribing, we'll use the rules for the Spellcasting Service of caster level x spell level x 10 gp for each spell scribed. Lv0: 5 gp, Lv1: 10 gp, Lv2: 60 gp, Lv3: 150 gp, Lv4: 280 gp, Lv5: 450 gp, Lv6: 660 gp. This is a bit more than scribing it yourself to account for the cost of ink, labor, and overhead.
Q14: Would you allow an Imperious Sorcerer to qualify for a Bloodline Familiar? I don't need the familiar to have any additional powers based on bloodline. Just the Familiar.A: Yes. If selected, the PC would follow the rules as given in the Familiar Folio, replacing the 1st-level bloodline power and delaying bonus spell acquisition by one level. (Unless multiclassing, this is not likely to have a notable impact.) I would also work with you to come up with an appropriate familiar ability, probably something similar to the Destined bloodline.
Q15: If 1 item crafting feat grants 25% extra WBL, and 4 item crafting feats grant 50% extra WBL, how much extra WBL do we get in between these 2 numbers?A: None. You can either have a minor investment in item creation or a major investment. I would expect to see this investment borne out in the character's backstory as well.
Q16: For stacking multiple enchantments in the same slot, do we assume that secondary enchantments beyond the first cost 50% more?A: Yes, per the Adding New Abilities section in the CRB.
Q17: Can we buy standard items as Magic Tattoos at twice the price, as per slotless items?A: The costs for magical tattoos were delineated in Inner Sea Magic and should use the costs listed there. For instance, Spell Tattoos cost 4x as much as an equivalent scroll. I can't find specific text in any source I have available that says anything about slotless items costing 2x the cost of another item. All I can find is the following quote from the Gamemastery Guide:
GameMastery Guide (3rd printing) p. 117 wrote:
The Pathfinder RPG is designed with assumptions about how many magic items a character can reasonably use at the same time, requiring players to make hard choices about which magic items their PCs acquire. Slotless items like ioun stones are usually either relatively low-powered or specialized in purpose. Think carefully before allowing a new magic that essentially duplicates an old one, but without using up an item slot.
Follow-up Comment: It may be less cost effective, but for certain things like the Mnemonic Vestment with a 24hr attunement, it allows a character to say, take a bath without losing the items benefit.A: Wait, do GMs really say that if a PC takes a bath that they lose their magic item's benefit? The point of the 24hr attunement is supposed to be so that PCs don't just swap items around with each other to accomplish tasks, not to prevent bathing. If that's the reason for the concern, then don't worry about it. Overall, if you can link me to published text or errata, then I'll consider it, but I'm inclined to say no.
Q18: I am also wondering about the Free Non-Combat Feats. Prior to choosing those, would any other Feat Not in the Combat section fill that requirement?A: See the answers to Q7 and Q11. Q19: Do Shadow Spells which replicate spells with expensive material components still require said components?A: No, the shadow spells are mimicking the spells on which they are based, but do not themselves have any additional material components. The trade for this is that you're using a 4th-level spell slot to cast a 3rd-level spell with a reasonable chance of disbelief and reduced effects of disbelieved. So that seems like a fair enough trade.
Q20: What are the contest rules regarding minions such as Familiars, Animal Companions, Animated Undead and long duration summoned creatures (like Mount and Draconic Ally)? Are they allowed?A: The tournament's six rules are below:
Before they are allowed to enter the Grand Pavilion, the PCs must sign an entrance contract before an Abadaran cleric. On the contract, the PCs must write their team name, and the name of each member of the team. They must also each sign their names to the contests’ six simple rules, which are:
1) The commands of the Emissary and his agents are to be obeyed at all times, and the Emissary's word is final. None shall take violent action against the Emissary or his agents.
2) No contestant may leave Xielan Island until the conclusion of the tournament for any reason.
3) Once a round has begun, no contestant may receive any aid, be it magical or mundane, from anyone not participating in the round as a contestant.
4) Should any contestant yield to a foe and forfeit the battle, failure of other contestants to honor that forfeit will result in immediate disqualification.
5) No contestant shall loot the body of a fallen foe.
6) All contestants agree that there shall be no ties; only one team may be named the champions.
Familiars and Animal Companions are allowed without reservation and are regarded as part of the registered team. Long-term summons are a tricky spot. If they are defeated, dismissed, and/or banished, then they leave Xielan island and are in violation of Rule 2. Short-term summons may constitute a violation of Rule 3.
Even if the Emissary accepts the tactic as not a rules violation, the crowd generally wants to watch fighters fight each other, so summons might draw boos from people in the crowd who dislike the tactic.
