GM JaceDK's Mummy's Mask: The Half-Dead City

Game Master Jacob Trier

In the mean time, go ahead and describe your arrivals in Wati. All of you are approched by city guards or similar asking if you are here to participate in the exploration of the necropolis and if so, the owner of the Tooth and Hookah Inn is looking for unaffiliated adventurers to put together a sponsored team of his own.

Here or elsewhere?

Character background added

I expect to be able to kick off gameplay tomorrow evening with a custom intro text for each of you. After that, we’re officially open for business.

Alright! We have Diorio and Luek! Love the characters!

Alright! We have Diorio and Luek! Love the characters!

Indeed. We have an amazing cast of both players and characters. Really looking forward to getting the actual gameplay underway.

"I hereby declare this bazaar open!

WE'RE OFF AND RUNNING!

See the introductory post in the gameplay thread and note the links and player info at the top of the screen.

Go ahead and react to Farhaan's offer, describe what your character is doing etc. You all know the drill.

Once everyone are nice and settled, I'll advance the action to the lottory where you will be assigned your first tomb to raid.

Heroes, be mindful of your actions - the Old Gods are watching!

Okay, so...writing those intro stories, I realized something. Something significant, that while not part of the original Adventure Path will play a significant role in this game:

Each and every one of you has, either unwittingly or by choice, attracted the attention of at least one of the Old Gods of Osirion. Yep, that's right - the Gods are literally watching! And as the GM and ultimate master of your fate, I can't ignore that. It would both be rude and blasphemous.

We already know about Seben-en-Ra (Thoth), Sobekhotep (Anubis) and Lueck (Sekhmet). So, what about our two remaining heroes?

Well, first we have Indus, an archeologist who relies mainly on his luck and have currently misplaced his father, with whom he has a strained relationship. And guess who’s the God of both luck AND family (and a big hit with bards) in old Osirion? That’s right: Bes! (Which means the odds of meeting Lueck’s cleric-buddy Tihn again just went from highly likely to almost guaranteed, by the way).

And what about Diorio, our emo swashbuckler wrongfully accused of murder? Sounds like a job for Maat, daughter of Ra, wife of Thoth and one seriously judgmental ol’ lady. You know, the kind who just has to stick her nose all up in your business and deny you entry to the afterlife, just because a couple of undisclosed sins cause your otherwise pure heart to outweigh her darned feather! As the goddess of justice, law, order and truth (rumor has it she’s slated for her own Law & Order-spinoff), you can be quite sure she has opinions about someone getting framed for slaying their beloved maestro.

So, there you have it: The direct attention of at least five ancient deities and by extension the whole pantheon. And your actions have the potential to directly impact their presence and power in Golarion.

At present, the whole gang is mostly kicking it on another world, watching the Kingdom of Kemet on a little blue dot the natives like to call…Earth. But those natives are getting quite full of themselves and their technology, and if they get enough love back in good ol’ Osirion, who knows if the whole pack of animal-headed gods and goddesses won’t just end up deciding that there’s no place like home after all.

But Jace! What about the crunch!? That’s a neat story and all, but PC’s gotta have their XP and shiny toys.

Of course! In game terms, I will be tracking how your actions align with the edicts and anathema of your respective deity and their extended family. Please them, and you get rewarded with custom items, feats, spells and the like. In addition, the gods will help your progress towards your desired goal. Displease them and…well, you get the idea.

Keep in mind that the gods are always watching. Downtime and social activities are just as important as what happens during exploration and adventure.

I won’t be nitpicking, but there will be a direct correlation between the significance of your actions and the subsequent reactions of the gods. Returning a major artifact to a temple (or founding a temple in the first place) counts for more than singing a song in a tavern, slaying a single undead or making a lucky dice roll.

Throughout the game, you will be able to roll Knowledge (religion), study ancient writings and interact with NPCs to learn more about what the gods like and dislike. Attract enough attention, and you may find yourself on the receiving end of one of those direct phone calls from beyond that Seben-en-Ra and Lueck have already experienced.

So, tread carefully out there. Every choice matters.

Love the added backgrounds! Great way to use our back stories. Thanks for the awesome beginning. Let's see what we can all do together (and here's hoping the dice gods show favor on our attempts).

Glad you like it, Phrip! I have had a blast so far and all your input has my creative engine firing on all cylinders. Speaking of which...

Look, Ma! Pictures

In additon to the slides with campaign info, I've made a slideshow solely dedicated to illustrating some of the scenes as they unfold. Feel free to add images of your own. Hopefully, by the end of the adventure it will be a long, spectacular view down memory lane.

Image gallery

Sweet pictures!!!

What program are you using to make them?

It sounds like one of our tasks is to come up with a name for the party, one that meets the needs of Farhaan.

Just brainstorming here... and very open to something better!

"The Smoke-Scale Five"... would fit the requirements.

Though later we may learn from Sobekhotep and Neith that we are actually six.

"Plume of the Fang"?

"The Fang-Fog-Five"

"Fellowship of the Foggy Fang"?

Sweet pictures!!!

What program are you using to make them?

ChatGPT 4 with Plus subscription. It also lends a hand in much of the copywriting, item design, NPC design and custom rules for this campaign.

For example, the prolog with Pharaoh Djederet II, your individual intros and Farhaan’s offer are all written as a joint effort between me and ChatGPT.

I also built a custom GPT to help me design items, complete with image and BB-format tags. I have trained it with content from the online srd, example items, and advice from the RPG Superstar judges and former RPGSS participants. I’m planning to make one for monsters too. I’ll share a link in the campaign info.

Seriously, if you are not already experimenting with AI, both in your professional and personal lives, I recommend beginning now. We just had an AI training session at work where the advice from a university AI researcher was “think of AI as a horse. Don’t try to outrun it, get on top and ride it. And like a horse, AI needs human guidance to go in the right direction.”

Right now, Paizo has a very sensible stance which does not allow AI-generated content in official products. Fortunately, that does not apply to fan-made content for personal games. And AI is already being integrated in the tools professional writers and artists use every day, like Word and Photoshop.

The future is here, fellas.

It sounds like one of our tasks is to come up with a name for the party, one that meets the needs of Farhaan.

Just brainstorming here... and very open to something better!

"The Smoke-Scale Five"... would fit the requirements.

Though later we may learn from Sobekhotep and Neith that we are actually six.

"Plume of the Fang"?

"The Fang-Fog-Five"

"Fellowship of the Foggy Fang"?

Correct. I suggest “The Dune Squad” for sentimental reasons, although it does not quite meet Farhaan’s requirements.

Here are ten AI-generated team name suggestions that align with Farhaan’s requirements (GM note: #6 does not):

If it weren't for the requirement of tying it into Farhaan, I'd suggest Fate's Favored or something...

Farhaan's Fateful Five?

If it weren't for the requirement of tying it into Farhaan, I'd suggest Fate's Favored or something...

Farhaan's Fateful Five?

I like it! I could totally get behind that.

I also really like Luke's idea to use the word "Bask", it's thematically perfect.

Better than what I came up with:

"You Can't Handle the Tooth"

"Hoo-Kahn Stop Us?"

"Wati-Ya Mean You don't Like em?"

Indus Ionaeus wrote:

If it weren't for the requirement of tying it into Farhaan, I'd suggest Fate's Favored or something...

Farhaan's Fateful Five?

I like it! I could totally get behind that.

I also really like Luke's idea to use the word "Bask", it's thematically perfect.

Better than what I came up with:

"You Can't Handle the Tooth"

"Hoo-Kahn Stop Us?"

"Wati-Ya Mean You don't Like em?"

There's some real gems hidden in your suggestions :D

Seriously, if you are not already experimenting with AI, both in your professional and personal lives, I recommend beginning now. We just had an AI training session at work where the advice from a university AI researcher was “think of AI as a horse. Don’t try to outrun it, get on top and ride it. And like a horse, AI needs human guidance to go in the right direction.”

I've messed around with it, but I do not yet have a rank in Ride skill.

Your AI photos turned out way more on point than anything I've managed. Just terrific.

Getting the AI to produce anything useful, both visual and text, requires both patience and practice.

There is a reason why only some of the intro scenes are illustrated.

For what it is worth, I have put together a basic loot spreadsheet (linked on my profile, but reproduced here for convenience):

Loot Sheet

For what it is worth, I have put together a basic loot spreadsheet (linked on my profile, but reproduced here for convenience):

Loot Sheet

You, sir, are a gentleman and a scholar

Well, first we have Indus, an archeologist who relies mainly on his luck and have currently misplaced his father, with whom he has a strained relationship. And guess who’s the God of both luck AND family (and a big hit with bards) in old Osirion? That’s right: Bes! (Which means the odds of meeting Lueck’s cleric-buddy Tihn again just went from highly likely to almost guaranteed, by the way).

If that is a helpful NPC for you to use, by all means, go ahead! For me, that was just a way to build in a backup character in case something goes wrong with a grippli prone to charging into battles...

More (house) rule clarifications

- For recognizing monsters and their abilities, I’m taking a page from Pathfinder 2e. Recall Knowledge is now a standard action, which includes a free speech action to share what you know with the rest of the team.

- Shopping: Wati is a fairly big city, so all common gear, potions scrolls and basic magic items are awailable (I’ll post the gp limit in the campaign info tab). For special items or if you just want to haggle, you can use a relevant skill (appraise, diplomacy, sense motive, intimidate or a knowledge or crafting skill, for example). I’ll present a fixed price, which you can either try to raise and lower. Based on how much, I’ll set a DC for you to beat.

Understood, but just so you know, if it is a Standard to ID monsters, most of the time, I will not bother making such a check - since it means giving up your action for the round (and I would rather cast Guidance on someone), and it would just be more effective to beat them to death :-P

I haven't really played 2e since the playtest, but wasn't Recall Knowledge based around the idea that it took 1 action out of the three you had available? Effectively, by making it a standard, that is the equivalent of making Recall Knowledge a 2 action activity, or am I missing something?

If you want to make Recall Knowledge cost an action (rather than being a free action), would a Move action be more appropriate? That would make it more in keeping with a '1 action' cost from 2e, without making it feel punitive (since, for the most part, monsters aren't going to waste their actions making Recall Knowledge checks about us!).

------------------

On the other subject, I'll look forward to doing some haggling ;-)

Fair argument, which I had also considered myself. After all, it requires some concentration, but I also want you to use those knowledge skills.

Move action it is. Both for you and your opponents.

—

Regarding haggling, to streamline things further, I’ll make a secret appraise check whenever you find something unusual. I’ll have whichever PC has the highest Appraise score take the lead, with all others trained in appraise (or other relevant skills) rolling to aid another. The price I’ll list for each item will reflect this roll.

Heh. I'm fine with that - we have enough different races that it would take three move actions to ID us all, and more to ID our deity-affiliations :-P

For what it is worth, I will pick up another Knowledge skill from 4th level (I think either Arcana or Planes would be appropriate, given Sobekhotep's backstory); I just needed to take three ranks in Acrobatics, so that Neith would qualify for Dragon Style...

Thank-you for your consideration!

At to our quest to find a name for the party…

The more I think on it the more I like Luke’s suggestion of working in “Bask”

Personally, I’d even be ok with just calling us “The Bask” and keeping it at that. It’s got a ring to it.

Then I’d like to also vote for Bruno’s “Farhaan’s Fateful Five”.

“Farhaan’s Menagerie” ain’t bad either. And I’m not closed to anything I've seen so far.

What are people leaning towards?

A couple of observations from your ever helpful GM:

- In his conditions, Farhaan indicated that the name should be tied to the Tooth and Hookah, not him personally. Just like a modern sponsored sports team don't have the name of the sponsoring company's CEO on their jerseys.

- Referencing the number of team members gets tricky if we have to adjust the number of players or characters for some reason (and what about Neith and the Ibis - don't they count?)

Awesome - Once we land on a name, I'm getting it printed on a giant foam-finger for cheering purposes.

I always found team names with a head-count amusing as it changes. I was once in a party that first formed at Gen Con called "The Ten Strong". The final roster was three. We had a lot of death.

Can't speak for Neith, but the Sacred Ibis disavows any official affiliation. He's pretty snobby that way.

P.S. Appreciate the pass on the untrained skill check!

P.P.S. The frog-cuisine jokes have been awesome.

We still need Lueck and Diorio to weigh in on the name. Then we can put it to a vote if there is no clear winner.

In the mean time, I’ll advance the game and move everyone back downstairs, where you can meet some of the locals and learn more about what you can do at the Tooth and Hookah during downtime.

Question: Would you like a quick opportunity to test your teamwork skills before you head into the necropolis? Basically a one-encounter sidequest that’s likely to involve a few skill checks and a brief combat? Or would you rather advance to the lottery and get your first tomb assignment ASAP?

I would be fine with a 'teamwork building' exercise :-)

Fate's Favored Fang?
Hooked Tooth?

As a cleric of battle, I do tend to lean towards something with teeth in. :)

Lots of good suggestions though.

A little team builder would be good, I think. A chance to get an idea of what each other can do before lives depend on it.

Baskin' Glory?

I'm cool with any of the names but could see the fun in having a number that has to be changed like a population sign on a western town sign.

Bring some teambuilding :)

That's a majority for the quick teambuilding expedition. Comin' right up, as soon as you are done getting acquainted with the T&H crowd.

I've dropped the link to the loot sheet into the campaign info.

Feels like we're slowly zeroing in on a name. "Bask", Tooth" and something with a number seems to be leading. "The Bask Tooth Brigade" or "The Bask Fang Five" perhaps?

If we don't have consensus just now, perhaps we'll become inspired with a name after the team-building exercise?* I'm guessing we don't have to have one until we officially sign up for the exploration lotto thingie?
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*team-building exercise of death!

If we don't have consensus just now, perhaps we'll become inspired with a name after the team-building exercise?* I'm guessing we don't have to have one until we officially sign up for the exploration lotto thingie?

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*team-building exercise of death!

You are quite right, Beetle. It’s perfectly fine for you to table the naming discussion until after the Teambuilding Exercise of Death*. I’ll advance us shortly

*Or should that be the Teambuilding Exercise of Doom? Teambuilding Exercise of Woe and Misfortune. Teambuilding Exercise of the Angry Spirits? Ack, the naming conundrum continues…

The Bask Tooth Brigade sounds good to me. The only thing I can think of is to modify this one a bit to The Smokin' Bask Brigade

The Bask-ilisk Tooth Brigade? What, no Potterheads here?

Image gallery updated with the key NPCs from the Tooth and Hookah.

I'll add a brief writeup of the NPC's and available services and in-game actions availabe at the Tooth and Hookah when I get the chance.

As you can probably guess, the Inn is not just a home base, but also a source of supplies, downtime activities such as gambling or gather information and a place to shop. In time, more NPCs will may show up to expand the options even further.

I encourage you to keep interacting with the NPCs (and each other) between adventures, as several of them may provide special boons if you manage to befriend them. Of course, diplomacy is one way to do this, but each NPC has their own distinct personality, likes and dislikes.

Nice deduction on what's wrong with the farm, Luke!

(Though I guess it's still conceivable we're being mislead here. I don't have trust issues, nope, not me.)

As long as it isn't quasi-sentient swarms of honey bees, we'll be fine!

As long as it isn't quasi-sentient swarms of honey bees, we'll be fine!

*scribbles furiously*

*consults custom ChatGPT Monster Maker*

*doublechecks stat block for sentient pugwampi swarm with poison attack*

*evil GM laugh*

Oh no, not again ...

While we wait for the action to start, can you agree on a standard marching order? Both single file and double file. See slide 4 in the Campaign info deck

I don't mind taking point or close to point, since I'm mainly a melee type

Oh dear, it seems I have unwittingly subjected poor Luke to a most unpleasant experience. I’m genuinely sorry about that, Luke – thank you for being up-front about it.

At this point, I can confirm that you are indeed dealing with a pugwampi infestation and that is directly inspired by the encounters from Legacy of Fire that appears to have permanently traumatized Luke (and many other Pathfinder players, I’m certain).

This encounter was always intended to be a brief side trek that gave you the opportunity to showcase your abilities and get a bit of combat experience before the real tomb raiding begins. I PROMISE I won’t let it drag on for weeks or months, while you struggle through an unholy array of failed dice rolls.

To minimize the suffering of Sobekhotep and his real-life puppet-master, I’ll share the following info and advice:

- As already mentioned, Pugwampi have DR2/Cold iron. They also have spell resistance. But their worst mechanic is their unluck aura, which forces players to reroll all dice rolls and take the worst result. This can be a truly frustrating and un-fun experience. Which is a good time to remind everyone of Rule Number 1 for this game.

- Fortunately (no pun intended), a character who gains any sort of luck bonus (such as Indus’ Archeologist Luck ability or the divine favor spell) is immune to the pugwampi unluck aura. It also has a 20 ft radius, so ranged attacks beyond that range are not affected. And finally, it does not work on animals, so Neith and the Ibis are also in the clear.

- I’ll allow (and encourage) Lueck to include divine favor in his daily spell selection.

- Pugwampi are craven creatures, both individually and as a group. Damage a couple of them, and the rest are likely to flee.

- And finally, if any of you should still find yourself thinking “this is not fun for me” say so, and I’ll end or alter the encounter instantly. This applies to any situation you may encounter throughout the game, both in and out of character. I once again refer to the Big Two rules for this game: The Rule of Cool is in effect at all times, only superceeded by the Rule of Everyone Should Have Fun. When in doubt, refer to these rules.

Drat! I was hoping to spring that whole 'animals are not affected by the aura' thing on you when it came up.

Shoulda known you'd be ahead of me.

Ooops. I missed the post on marching orders.

We are a bit unique in that we don't have that obvious a tank, so we may need to rotate that position based on injuries.

I would think Sobek is the only clear choice for the middle. We want to protect that caster.

Just to get the ball rolling, feel free to tweak:

[Single File]

Luek
Diorio
Indus
Sobek
(Neith)
Seben
(Sacred Ibis)

Luek has the best AC and it's a callback to the 1E days when the standard operating procedure was to put the armored dwarf in front because you could shoot or stab over his head in tight corridors. He does though have comparatively lower HP, so I could easily see putting Diorio in front instead. He arguably has the best combo of AC and HP among us. And BAB too.

Indus works too, especially as we might want our rogue-equivalent in front to be able to check for traps when we're in tombs. Now that I think on that, that does make good sense.

I stuffed Seben in the back because she is going to be a ranged attacker anyways, and has poorer AC and HP, but I'd be happy to have someone behind her.

[Double-File]

Indus-Diorio
Seben-Sobek
Luek

What do people think? It's an art not a science.

FWIW, sadly, familiars count as magical beasts...

A familiar is an animal chosen by a spellcaster to aid him in his study of magic. It retains the appearance, Hit Dice, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, skills, and feats of the normal animal it once was, but is now a magical beast for the purpose of effects that depend on its type. Only a normal, unmodified animal may become a familiar. An animal companion cannot also function as a familiar.

...so Neith would not be immune (not that it matters much, at this stage; level 3 is when she would start participating in combat).

To respond to The_Beetle:

Actually, when exploring dungeons, and we have space for a two-person front, it might make sense for Sobekhotep to be up front.

Despite the name of the ability ('Trapfinding', Indus' equivalent of which is 'Clever Explorer'), anyone can find both magical and non-magical traps; you just need the ability to disable them.

Because of that, it would make sense for Indus and Sobekhotep (who has the best Perception in the party) to go up front - that way, our 'Take 10' to *find* traps (when Indus assists Sobekhotep) is 22.

[Single File]

Luek
Diorio
Indus
Sobek
(Neith)
Seben
(Sacred Ibis)

[Double-File]

Indus-Diorio
Seben-Sobek
Luek

What do people think? It's an art not a science.

These orders make sense to me, and I am fine with swapping with Luek in front if needed.