You Are What You Choose to Be

Monday, January 18, 2016

I find that every time I take time off to visit family at the end of the year, I bring a project to work on in my spare time. As I packed my bags and finished my last minute Christmas shopping, the Adventure Path section of my Pathfinder bookshelf begged my attention. There huddled Iron Gods and Giantslayer between a support group of other volumes, staring out at me with what I surely imagined were the tear-streaked puppy dog eyes of misfit toys positively quivering with sadness. This hallucinatory guilt trip continued, even as I tried to show that I had downloaded all twelve PDFs for review as though it were some sci-fi version of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Even while I watched the latest Star Wars installment with my family, I had the premonition that some Ghost of Christmas Past were hovering over my shoulder asking, "Rey gets a spaceship. Why can't we have spaceships in Pathfinder Society?" By the end of it, I was running through the rain-flooded streets of the southeast United States, shouting holiday well wishes, hefting Tiny Tim on my shoulders, and telling him how to be one of Hell's Rebels.

At least that's how I'd rather remember it. Ultimately, it comes down to telling a fun story, and today we add two more fun stories to the list of sanctioned Adventure Paths: Iron Gods and Giantslayer. I recognize that it's been quite a while since I first acknowledged that I would sanction these adventures for the organized play campaign, and I know that some of you already started playing them. In the past, we've prohibited retroactive credit for adventures played before the Chronicle sheets were available. This time we're doing something a little different. If you are still in the middle of playing one of these Adventure Paths but have not yet concluded it, you can receive retroactive credit for all of that Adventure Path's earlier volumes the next time you earn a Chronicle sheet for that campaign. For example, if you're just about to finish #93 of Giantslayer, when you receive that Chronicle sheet, you can also earn the Chronicle sheets for #91 and #92.

Download the Iron Gods Sanctioning Document — (1.1 MB zip/PDF)

Download the Giantslayer Sanctioning Document — (1.5 MB zip/PDF)

Currently, I'm be in Columbia, South Carolina as a guest of SCARAB, where I'm overseeing some interactive specials, running some of the recent scenarios, and herding kobolds through one of this year's exclusive adventures.

John Compton
Developer

Quick Housekeeping Note: You'll be able to find both of these sanctioning documents on the Additional Resources page/PDF and respective product pages later this week.

Giantslayer Marathon: Part 6!

Saturday, August 29, 2015

The folks over at Order of the Amber Die just got me the report from their final marathon session as they tackle the sixth Giantslayer adventure—Pathfinder Adventure Path #96: Shadow of the Storm Tyrant! If you haven’t read the previous reports check here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, and Part 5. Now I’ll turn this blog over to the Order of the Amber Die and let you hear how it all went down, but beware—spoilers abound!

Order of the Amber Die is back with the sixth update on our ambitious endeavor to complete the Giantslayer Adventure Path in just 6 months!

We had made it to the finals—the Super Bowl of Giantslayer—and we all felt it. We fully expected a hard adventure, and author Tito Leati delivered. Emotions soared when we began preparation for the final marathon of this 6-month gaming odyssey of our lives. We did what we could to look for some icing on the endeavor when it came to immersing ourselves in the Storm Tyrant's cloud castle. To start, we tapped into smell this time by using some Adventure Scents entitled "Flying Airship." We also couldn't resist breaking out two fog machines for the long climb through the clouds. To go further, one of our members constructed a unique lamp that simulated some of the bizarre lighting we encountered in the castle. Lastly, we even received some mid-marathon support from one of our fans in the form of an Edible Arrangements!

Highlights From our Experience With "Shadow of the Storm Tyrant"

• Boarding the castle almost didn't happen: the party was left dangling from massive chains as the ground kept getting further and further away—and then the guardians launched their attack.
• An epic feel was captured perfectly in this adventure, as we squared off against more colossal and gargantuan foes than any other module we have played.
• We worked our way through chamber after chamber of the biggest cloud castle we could ever have hoped for. A 15-foot scale? Thank you Paizo!

How it Ended

Despite our best efforts, our clash with Volstus the Storm Tyrant went downhill fast. We employed a haste spell and rushed him, only to watch the giant leap onto the back of his gargantuan red dragon and take to the air. We attempted to engage, but the tyrant/dragon combination was too overwhelming, and two rounds later we were beating a retreat into an adjoining tower. It was decided that we would regroup by running down the stairs into the levels below. Eventually we ran into Liniratis, the naga companion of Volstus, who helped convince our party of where our true allegiance lay. When it was over, Crowe and Quinn were dead, Zadim and Oloch were in service to the Storm Tyrant, and Jagrin Grath remained hidden inside Ironcloud Keep. Only Thoon the doppleganger escaped. TPK? Pretty much.

Character Deaths

• After a timely wall of force by the naga sorcerer, Crowe found himself facing this wicked foe alone. The Shoanti chased her around the chamber, only to watch the serpent disappear into one of many wicker baskets and reappear in another. While the bloodrager turned his focus to destroying the baskets, the naga proceeded to rain down 6 maximized fireballs in a row.
• Zadim stared deep into the naga's eyes. Yes, it was all so clear to him now: his slayer talents were best used for the giants, not against them. He turned to face Quinn the investigator, who had been his companion. Quinn the untrustworthy. Quinn the enemy. With six swift attacks from the slayer's kukris—including 3 critical hits—Zadim put the traitor down.

Best Quote From Marathon 6

Mike (playing Quinn): "This is what I was born to do." (about to disarm the most enormous bomb we had ever seen)

The Giantslayer Adventure Path by the Numbers

• Giants slain: 133
• Total marathon hours: 464 hours, 5 minutes
• Actual session hours played: 292 hours, 15 minutes
• GM prep hours: inestimable
• Real-life months passed: 6
• Days passed on Golarion: 233
• Character deaths: 16
• Most amount of damage in a single round: 316 (Zadim)
• Most amount of damage in a single hit: 194 (Crowe)
• Highest DC reached on a skill check: 60 (Quinn)
• Attacks of opportunity prevented with Escape Route teamwork feat: 182
• Uses of Swing About teamwork feat: 25
• Group-consensus on most valuable skill in Giantslayer: Craft (Alchemy)
• Approximate mg of caffeine consumed from Monster per marathon: c. 4,500
• Approximate mg of caffeine consumed from Starbucks per marathon: unknown

Final Thoughts

Certain problems plagued our team throughout the early parts of the AP, and those same things came back to defeat us in the finale. Still, we reached the end and accomplished our goal of playing through an entire adventure path in the shortest amount of time ever recorded—yet another world record! We also clocked the largest number of documented session hours of Pathfinder (played and GMed) within a 6-month period. It is our hope that the work we leave here will have contributed something new and lasting to the RPG community, and that others will follow in our footsteps in the days to come.

The footsteps of giants.

More Content

Read through the entirety of The Giantslayer Endeavor, and for more pictures, campaigns, and other content check out: Order of the Amber Die Facebook and Order of the Amber Die Instagram.

Painting for miniatures provided by Blue Table Painting.

The crew is going to take a break from marathons for a bit and then return with a new project. Hopefully I’ll get to bring all of you the reports from the next endeavor. I’ll keep you posted.

Adam Daigle
Developer

Giantslayer Marathon: Part 5!

Sunday, August 9, 2015

I just got back into the office mid-week from crazy whirlwind of GenCon, and one of my highlights was getting to meet the Order of the Amber Die in person at the show. I first met the guys outside of the dealer hall on the day the show opened and then they sat in the front row of the Pathfinder Adventure Path Q&A panel we had on Friday. Later that day, I spent one of my breaks from the booth talking with them in a quiet environment outside of the bustle of the convention center. They shared some more stories about their Giantslayer project and we talked a bit about what they want to do for their next big endeavor. I even got a chance to game with Sterling on Saturday night! They are truly enthusiastic about the game and great ambassadors of fun.

Enough about my stories from last weekend, let's get into the meat of this thing. What follows is the fifth report from the Order of the Amber Die as they took on Pathfinder Adventure Path #95: Anvil of Fire. As always, this blog is going to contain some spoilers, so proceed with caution if that kind of thing affects you.

Order of the Amber Die is back with the fifth update on our ambitious endeavor to complete the Giantslayer Adventure Path in just 6 months.

Coming off of our enormous success in marathon 4, there was a bit of nostalgia knowing that we were entering the last third of our journey. With this in mind, we wanted to make sure and set the right mood for delving the fire giant stronghold and dormant volcano known as Ashpeak. We set up a few lava lamps around our play area and decided they would remain our only lights during the nighttime hours of this 75-hour marathon. We also tapped two additional members of our Order to play the live-NPC roles of Thoon the doppleganger and Jagrin Grath during this adventure, with one flying from Maine to NJ for the chance to fight a fire giant king.

Strong builds with our ACG classes helped us put on a display of high-level power to be etched into the annals of Pathfinder lore. Zadim delivered an incredible 316 points of damage with a full attack. Quinn put up a DC 59 perception check. Oloch tripped 4 giants with Gorum's Thorn overall, and managed to dish out 190 points of damage in one round. Crowe reached a new high with 143 points of damage in a single hit. Should we mention that we were one level underpowered for the adventure?

Highlights From our Experience With Anvil of Fire

• The giants played a sturdy defense and used better tactics than we have seen so far. Our foes set ambushes, employed hell hounds to scent through invisibility, and grouped up to try and overwhelm us. It didn't matter. We carved through more than 60 of the big folk as we pushed into the steaming caverns of Ashpeak.
• We faced our first Gargantuan foe: an extraplanar giant known as a gigas, born from the footsteps of titans. The gigas also faced our slayer, and it fell like the rest.
• We kicked so much butt in this adventure that we even had several giants cowering from Oloch's Dazzling Display and Disheartening Display combined with fear and aura of doom spells to escalate their conditions.
• Our GM gave the Amber Die a rest after throwing down 16 natural 20s with it, but we shook the house when not long afterwards he tossed a 20-20-20 for the second time in this Adventure Path.
• It's only fair to note that Pathfinder still has ways of putting the overconfident party in its place. We found out that even though we slay giants very well, we still run from dragons—especially a rookery of them.
• Thanks to author Sean K Reynolds, we got to shake hands with a fire giant queen as she offered us an ending that we never saw coming: single combat against King Tytarian and his retinue—one for one. We held a team meeting at the same time that our GM prepared his strategy, and tensions peaked when we found out that we would fight the monarch in front of a court that included some of Golarion's most infamous giants. Crowe took on the fire giant king himself, and Tytarian landed a blow that should have finished the bloodrager—were it not for his defy death bloodline ability. With only one round to down the king and secure the win, the Shoanti made it happen.

Character Deaths

• Skirkatla the graveknight queen from "Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen" made a deadly return in the beginning of this marathon. She was accompanied by her most powerful lieutenant, a unique svathurim dullahan known as the Decapitant Lord. Kurst Grath tried to slow the charge of the undead, but fell at the end of a lance powered by eight hooves.
• As the fight against Skirkatla dragged on, the graveknight cornered Zadim and swung down with a full attack that packed more than enough damage to avenge her first loss against the party.

Current Situation

The Champions of Trunau proved the stronger team time and time again in this adventure, and we are now headed into the finals of this AP. Despite the excitement, anxious thoughts of confronting Volstus the Storm Tyrant are in the back of everyone's mind. We are still under-level, but our equipment has held up well, and we are now in possession of the most powerful artifact discovered thus far: the Hammer of Thunderbolts. It's time to write some stories around it.

Best Quote From Marathon 5

Louisa (Thoon): "Do you think it would confuse the giant if I dopplegang into Crowe? I just want to dopplegang something!"

More Content

Read through the entirety of The Giantslayer Endeavor. For more pictures, campaigns, and information on the Order of the Amber Die, you can find them on Facebook and Instagram. The miniatures used are again painted by Blue Table Painting.

Stay tuned for the the conclusion of the Order of the Amber Die's Giantslayer conclusion in "Shadow of the Storm Tyrant."

Adam Daigle
Developer

Giantslayer Marathon: Part 4!

Sunday, July 12, 2015

I just got the newest report from the Order of the Amber Die after their experience with Pathfinder Adventure Path #94: Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen and those guys are still alive! (Mostly.) Remember, this blog is full of spoilers for the Giantslayer Adventure Path, so read at your own risk! And now I turn this blog over to the Order of the Amber Die.

Order of the Amber Die is back with the fourth update on our ambitious endeavor to complete Giantslayer in just 6 months!

The party found itself in bad shape following the third marathon session, and we knew that this could very well be our last report—so if it was, we needed to go out knowing we had given ourselves every best chance to succeed. First, to encourage cohesion, we chose to play with only the four main players present for this marathon, no live NPCs, and our GM played the role of Kurst Grath as would normally happen in most groups. Second, even though we are spread across the east coast, an emergency player meeting was called via Skype to try and figure out what needed to be done to turn things around in-game. The conference was complete with an agenda and new approach to utilizing our ACG hybrid classes to better effect in combat. Lastly, with permission from reluctant elders of our GM's family, we returned to the sacred birthplace of our Order and played this marathon in the room where it all began in '87.

This 83-hour marathon was also record setting for the RPG community, as one of our members and our GM both surpassed 500 documented session hours of Pathfinder in a single year (GMed and played respectively). According to our research and to the best of our knowledge, this is the new world record!

For this adventure we were headed well above the snow line in the Mindspin Mountains, so to better immerse ourselves we looked for wintry effects. The obvious was the thermostat, and it was set low enough to feel like December in the peaks. We also purchased plenty of polymer snow to go 3 inches deep around our play area. For glacial winds, we fired up fans that kept most of us wearing our long sleeve uniforms and winter hats at times—despite being late June in NJ.

Highlights From our Experience With Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen

• As the giants in the training camp of Skirgaard were too numerous to count, we had to resort to repeated guerrilla actions to disband the camp. Much of the weekend was spent planning raids on a unique 20" x 30" isomorphic map of Skirgaard. Thanks to author Jim Groves for his support with this!
• We made another powerful ally in Naximarra, the majestic and yet terrifying red dragon of an ancient bloodline. We'll never forget her first appearance, with the dragon's head rising from the snow just five feet away from us—but she didn't breathe.
• Pumped up to fight big Vikings, we rocked out to Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song" and "No Quarter" while putting up a body count that now totals 57 giants slain throughout the AP.
• An aerial duel over boiling vats began while confronting Rohkinirr, a frost giant witch and accomplished brewmaster. Quinn chased the witch around the brewery in a vicious dogfight, firing off inspiration points to activate his studied combat twice per round. The investigator eventually found an opening and drove home his longspear, plunging the giant to a gruesome death in a vat of his own ale.
• The Amber Die itself was alive and well, delivering 6 natural 20s throughout the weekend, and of course: a signature 20-20.

Character Deaths

While camped in deep snow, the party's night watch team heard something very large in the darkness beyond their sight. Coming into view was a 20-foot tall undead giant known as an indarugant, which strode from the pages of the Pathfinder #94 bestiary directly into our camp, determined to make a strong debut on Golarion. It dropped two PCs in one round with its frozen axe, and left another near death. Kurst Grath never rose from the hit, and the ranger would remain under gentle repose for the rest of the adventure.

Current Situation

We had an incredible performance, with our shortest completion time and fewest character deaths of any module in Giantslayer thus far. Skirkatla the undead queen was laid low, a giant training camp dispersed, and our ACG classes kicked into high gear. Our reforms worked, we made the semi-finals of this AP, and we can now take some small measure of inspiration from Churchill into the last two adventures:

"If the Order of the Amber Die and its members last for a thousand years, adventurers will still say, 'This, was their finest hour!'"

Best Quote From Marathon 4

Sterling (Crowe): "I actually feel sick to my stomach right now." (with a TPK looming in the final battle)

More Content

Read through the entirety of The Giantslayer Endeavor. For more pictures, campaigns, and information on the Order of the Amber Die, you can find them on Facebook and Instagram. The miniatures used are again painted by Blue Table Painting.

Be sure to stay on the lookout for the next report from the Giantslayer marathoners!

Adam Daigle
Developer

I Smell the Blood of a Player Character

Thursday, June 11, 2015

The first three volumes of the Giantslayer Adventure Path are out in the wild, and in a short time the fourth volume, Pathfinder Adventure Path #94: Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen will be hitting stores and subscribers' doorsteps (and downloads). Hopefully, if you're not playing though this campaign, some of you have been living vicariously through the Order of the Amber Die by reading along and looking at all the amazing pictures they have been sharing with us all from their marathon sessions. (If not, go check it out now: Giantslayer Marathon: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.)

Download Standard | Download Widescreen | Download Mobile
Illustrations by Johan Grenier and Miguel Regodon Harkness.

It's been a wild and dangerous ride so far filled with towering odds and heavy hitters, and that's not about to stop. In fact, things are just going to get harder for your PCs as we step up the ranks of the giants.

Illustrations by Johan Grenier and Ekaterina Maximovich

Here are some of the things you'll encounter in the second half of the campaign. In Pathfinder Adventure Path #94: Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen the PCs have to take on a frost giant village and later on they come across one of the more rare types of giants in the Inner Sea.

Illustrations by Johan Grenier and Eric Belisle

Then, in Pathfinder Adventure Path #95: Anvil of Fire, the PCs assault an elite fire giant training facility in their way to finding the Storm Tyrant. The PCs also get a chance to put a hellhound in a headlock.

Illustrations by Aleksey Bayura and Yigit Koroglu

Wrapping things up (assuming everyone is still alive) Pathfinder Adventure Path #96: Shadow of the Storm Tyrant gives the PCs a chance to finally put an end to the Storm Tyrant's ambitious push at starting a new giant empire and subjugating the smaller folk of Avistan. Along the way the PCs encounter evil cloud giants and some new strange creatures, and hopefully emerge alive and victorious.

Illustration by Roberto Pitturru

Oh, remember when we said that there were more than just giants in this Adventure Path? Yeah, there are dragons too.

Adam Daigle
Developer

Giantslayer Marathon: Part 3!

Saturday, June 6, 2015

I just got the third report back from the Order of the Amber Die folks, and I'm excited to share it with everyone! As a recap, here are links to Part 1 and Part 2. As usual, I must warn everyone reading that there are spoilers in this blog post, so if you're playing in the Giantslayer Adventure Path read at your own peril.

Order of the Amber Die is back with the third update on our ambitious endeavor to complete Giantslayer in just 6 months!

Once again, both players and GM set about trying to build on the momentum of the previous marathon. We knew we were headed into the Mindspin Mountains, so we acquired a massive backdrop of the peaks in all their glory. Our GM stopped returning calls for a couple of days, then surfaced with a map from the adventure that we're not sure Paizo intended anyone to draw—nearly 70 square feet—the biggest yet. Finally, in a risky move to help improve the roster, we also drafted a young but promising rookie to play the role of NPC Kurst Grath for this module.

No two marathons are the same, and when we close the doors on reality and begin a 4-day run of Pathfinder, we're never exactly sure how it will all go down. This marathon was massive—totally overwhelming—and clocked in at 82 hours, with 57 hours of play culminating in a single 25-hour run to complete the adventure just before some careers had to resume on Monday morning. We even skipped breaks, which took its toll. Four months passed on Golarion. Two of us had real-life birthdays in there somewhere.

It was AWESOME.

Highlights From our Experience With Forge of the Giant God:

• While the adventure was diverse, author Tim Hitchcock still delivered one of the single best fighting modules in our history. He turned our GM loose to drop us into at least 15 different battle maps during our long trek through the Valley of Minderhal.
• Negotiating with giants is not always as easy as a die roll. In a case of Quinn's diplomacy gone astray, it was determined by several dozen hill giants that Crowe should have to defeat their champion, Kragmuld, for the right to stand before the great Cathedral of Minderhal. Not exactly what we had in mind. In a fighting pit surrounded by a crowd of cheering giants, Crowe not only survived Kragmuld's spiked chain, but put the champion down in 6 rounds—and we woke the neighbors.
• Giantslayer is officially living up to its name: the big folk were abundant throughout the adventure, and thanks in part to our Escape Route teamwork feat, we slew more than a score of them.
• During this marathon we had a chance to experience something special: an exhilarating 20-20-20 from the Amber Die, which is what makes it our namesake.

Character Deaths

• While exploring the tomb of a giantslayer, Crowe and Ingrahild (whose ancestor was buried there) became separated from the party and locked in the sepulcher. Trapped inside with them was the broken soul who had betrayed the ancient giantslayer 700 years before. An epic struggle ensued, which saw our heroes fight dearly for their lives before being forced to share the tomb with its former occupants.
• Player-fatigue is a factor in marathons, and can be lethal for a character. In a brave but incomprehensible move, Kurst Grath spurred his mount into battle against two stone giant sentinels—alone.
• Kurst and Ingrahild were scouting ahead of the party when they spotted something very, very big. With one eye, it noticed them too. Gsurak the huge cyclops stalker moved to erase the rangers from Golarion. Kurst sprinted back to get help; as fate would have it, Ingrahild was wearing the armor of her ancestor and legendary giantslayer—which compelled her to attack.
• In the final battle above the great forge, Zadim engaged Urathash, a stone giant inquisitor of the god Minderhal. The slayer brought Sarenrae's will to bear with a flurry of critical hits, but it wasn't enough to save him from Urathash's human-bane warhammer.

Current Situation

Our party is surviving this AP, and we've had our moments—but not much more. Character deaths have at least been well timed, which has avoided TPK, but an absence of about 210,000gp proves we have sacrificed dearly. The party is also missing some precious artifacts after an encounter with a venerable slag giant. An in-game relationship has fractured, causing one of our NPCs to quit the party. Morale is at a low point. What's compounding everything is that we have learned where we're headed next: above the snow line as autumn descends on the region.

This is what it takes to slay giants.

Best Quote From Marathon 3:

Tyler (Kurst): "Sure man, I'd love to chop your hand off." (Alluding to Steelhand's artifact.)

More Content

Read through the entirety of The Giantslayer Endeavor. For more pictures, campaigns, and information on the Order of the Amber Die, you can find them on Facebook and Instagram. The miniatures used are again painted by Blue Table Painting.

Looks like the Order of the Amber Die crew are fighting for their lives in this Adventure Path. They're at the midpoint and things are only going to get more dangerous. Wish them luck in Pathfinder Adventure Path #94: Ice Tomb of the Giant Queen and stay tuned next month when we get to hear how they fared.

Adam Daigle
Developer

Giantslayer Marathon: Part 2!

Saturday, May 9, 2015

If you read last month’s Giantslayer Marathon blog and were eager for part 2, your wait is over! Before I let those guys get to their highlights from their second marathon session, I wanted to warn people playing through the Giantslayer Adventure Path that this blog post contains some spoilers. Read at your own risk!

The Order of the Amber Die is back with the second update on our ambitious record-breaking endeavor to complete the Giantslayer Adventure Path in just 6 months!

Let's dig right in:

After a bloody nose in the first round of the Giantslayer AP, our players set about making improvements for a better showing in "The Hill Giant's Pledge". These included extreme measures such as holding Pathfinder combat training sessions at one player's apartment, as well as reaching out to an old member and retired giant slayer from G1-2-3 (Against the Giants) that we last played with 16 years ago. From the frozen wastes of North Dakota, this grizzled veteran answered the call and flew to NJ to play the role of NPC Kurst Grath for this 72-hour marathon. On the other side of the screen, our GM locked himself away for a Spring Break to prep an entire module at once, emerging with adventure accouterments that included an exact three-dimensional replica of the riverboat from the module and a massive map of Redlake Fort.

Highlights From our Experience With "The Hill Giant's Pledge"

• The authors continued to surprise us: in a chosen mission to locate magic weapons, we spent nearly 20 hours inside a druidic demiplane complete with high stakes lily pad hopping and flowers that were deadly to stop and smell, along with unique opportunities to gain familiars or animal companions possessing traits not found anywhere else. We used a fog machine for the greenhouse mist (as pictured), which helped make the Vault of Thorns a place we shall not soon forget.
• During a riverboat journey through Belkzen that was not for tourists, an ambush by a group of wicked merrow forced Crowe the bloodrager to leap from the crow's nest (we just had to put him there) and deliver a mid-air natural 20 with Agrimmosh, the Hammer of Unmaking, to put one of the ogres face down on the deck.
• Our players spent precious marathon time coming up with a detailed plan to assassinate Grenseldek the hill giant chieftain. To pull it off, they would have to lead an incursion against a nearly impregnable fort controlled by hill giants, overseen by ogres, and surrounded by orcs. After dozens of modules where plans like this have gone awry, props to the players of strike teams Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie for their rendition of Zero Dark Thirty that gave us a brilliant victory and proved wrong the adage: "Never split the party."
• Every now and then a character finds an item suited perfectly for them. A nod to author Larry Wilhelm for Oloch's discovery of the legendary greatsword known as Gorum's Thorn. Giants will fear it.

Character Deaths

• With one character disabled and two others near death, the party found themselves deep in the Ghostlight Marsh. Daylight was fading, and soon the wisps would come. Rather than take their chances with the marsh at night, a tense party vote resulted in a decision to penetrate the Vault of Thorns and then rest. A few moments after entering, two twigjack defenders of the druidic sanctum laid waste to the party with a barrage of brambles. When the leaves settled, Oloch and Kurst were dead.
• Quinn's encounters with dangerous heights weren't over after the first module. In a precarious struggle against a giant dragonfly from the First World, the investigator was bitten, pulled from a ledge, and dropped 100 feet into a compost pile that wasn't quite thick enough.
• Melira the vengeful human-slaying ranger took up an advantageous position in the forecastle during a multi-deck riverboat battle. Overlooking our party of 5 human-premium targets, she selected our warpriest. For the second time in this AP, our GM threw down a 20-20 and sent Oloch to Gorum.

Current Situation

This AP continues to challenge our team of Iconics, but with the help of two of Giantslayer's capable NPCs they managed to secure along the way, our heroes did triumph over the hill giant chieftain—in 3 rounds. The party has now taken down its first few giants in single combat and continues to prove itself capable of surviving Giantslayer, but entering "Forge of the Giant God"with low resources and three characters under-level is daunting. We play a tight game to create intensity, and as always, CRs will not be adjusted down. We will just have to step up

Best Quote from Marathon 2

Adam (GM): "Guys, don't feel so bad about the deaths. What if Giantslayer is supposed to be Paizo's 'tough' AP?"

More Content

Read through the entirety of The Giantslayer Endeavor. For more pictures, campaigns, and information on the Order of the Amber Die, you can find them on Facebook and Instagram. The miniatures used are again painted by Blue Table Painting.

I hope everyone is enjoying reading this super campaign journal as much as I am! Keep your eyes peeled for next month when we invite the Order of the Amber Die back to let everyone know how they fared in the Giantslayer Marathon Part 3! Until then, confirm those crits!

Adam Daigle
Developer

Giantslayer Marathon: Part 1!

Saturday, April 4, 2015

Not too long after we announced the Giantslayer Adventure Path, Wes was contacted by a group of maniacs who had plans to run marathon sessions of the Adventure Path and do a full and thorough report. Since I work on the Adventure Paths, I took over coordinating with those hardcore gamers, and I'm happy to be able to present the first of six reports we'll feature here on the blog.

The Giantslayer Endeavor

Pathfinder fans: How far have you taken your devotion to the game? What's the longest session you have ever played? We are Order of the Amber Die, an association of Pathfinder players, and for nearly 3 decades we have been playing marathon sessions of 48 hours, 72—even one 96-er. Last summer, we documented our journey through the The Emerald Spire Superdungeon, which was completed in just 35 days (195 hours). Now we're going for something much bigger. In fact, we're trying to do something so grand that we haven't been able to find documentation for anything this ambitious since the founding of the world's oldest fantasy roleplaying game.

Welcome to The Giantslayer Endeavor!

From March through August, 2015, we are attempting to play all six volumes of the Giantslayer Adventure Path. Each volume will be played in a marathon of roughly 48-72 hours, and maybe we'll throw in another 96-er to close out. Better yet: we're documenting the whole thing as a contribution to the RPG community. We don't know if we will succeed; we don't even know if our lives, careers, and loved ones can handle this.

To add extra challenge over the years, we have evolved our game into what we now call "Xtreme Pathfinder." Playing only published adventures, we use the rules, our GM brings the adventures to life as written, and we try our best to beat what the authors throw at us. Character death is accepted as part of the game, and we don't ask for leniency from Paizo's authors. If Pathfinder could be made into a competitive sport between a party and a module, our game would be it.

Why Giantslayer? It's as courageous of an adventure path as has ever been published. You don't have to be a veteran to understand the nigh-irreproachable aura that surrounds the name Gary Gygax. It takes the heroism of Iomedae herself to even tread near the sacred ground that was G1-2-3, Against the Giants, and yet that's exactly what Paizo has done. We have played through Gygax's series twice in serious form, and from the very first moments of "Battle of Bloodmarch Hill", Paizo has made it clear that this will be no rehash—they will carve their own path through the halls of the big folk.

Highlights from our Experience with "The Battle of Bloodmarch Hill"

The maps were as unique and detailed as we had hoped. We spent an entire Saturday exploring a map that was literally (and figuratively) a sandbox at 9 ft. x 5 ft (with some amazing miniatures painted by Blue Table Painting). During a climactic battle for a barricade played on this depiction of Trunau's inner quarter, Zadim the slayer hurled back an unexploded grenade just in time for it to detonate at the feet of the surprised orc who threw it.

Though we spent nearly half of the marathon roleplaying our way through an intricate investigation (props to the author for opening Giantslayer with a curveball), the rest of the module was packed with tough fights. With TPK looming in a tactically complex encounter, a 4th-level Crowe the bloodrager took on—and took down—two dire wolves by himself to put the other members in position for the win. Clutch.

Author Patrick Renie provided our group with something that despite having more than 140 years of combined experience at the table, we had never been a part of: a tug of war.

Character Deaths

At the close of a frenzy that is being called "the 19-rounder," a final orc shield-breaker wielding a shotel stood his ground against Oloch the warpriest. The Amber Die that is our namesake delivered back-to-back 20s, killing Oloch and earning the orc a place beside his lord Nulgreth.

During a special operation to destroy a siege engine, Quinn the investigator found himself grappled by orc bombardiers, forced into a catapult, and then launched 50 ft. in the air—well over the walls of Trunau. A hard landing marked his death as one of our most unforgettable.

Current Situation

The adventure proved difficult, and the party is in rough shape. They had to sell almost everything earned (a significant haul) to bring their slain companions back to life. They are entering "The Hill Giant's Pledge" with two characters that are under-level, and only three possessions of importance. We play a tight game to create intensity, and CRs will not be adjusted down. Luckily, one of these items is an artifact.

Best Quote from Marathon Part 1

Aerick (Oloch): "I slept in the same 5-foot square that I roleplayed for 77 hours."

For more pictures, campaigns, and information on the Order of the Amber Die, you can find them on Facebook and Instagram.

Be sure to stay on the lookout for the next report from the Giantslayer marathoners!

Adam Daigle
Developer

Bring on the Giants!

Thursday, January 29, 2015

In the next few weeks, subscribers will lead the charge in getting their hands on the first volume of the Giantslayer Adventure Path. To help get people ready for this exciting campaign, we’ve released the Giantslayer Player’s Guide. This free download provides a wealth of hints, tips, and advice to help players make the best decisions possible for their characters. In addition to this character advice, this guide includes information about the town of Trunau where the action begins, as well as a number of campaign traits perfectly suited to this Adventure Path.

Don't waste any time! Download the Giantslayer Player's Guide now! Grab your gear and get ready to take on some giants!

Adam Daigle
Developer

The Giants Are Coming!

Thursday, January 22, 2015

It's nearly February, which means it's almost time for the next Pathfinder Adventure Path, Giantslayer! And it all kicks off with Pathfinder Adventure Path #91: Battle of Bloodmarch Hill. Fans of the orc hold of Belkzen should get kick out of this first installment, which starts in the human town of Trunau in Belkzen, and while you'll see plenty of orcs at the beginning of this Adventure Path, we move into giantslaying territory pretty quickly. In fact, the PCs will have to face their first giant before the Battle of Bloodmarch Hill is finished!

The Giantslayer Adventure Path features an almost bewildering variety of Brobdingnagian foes for your PCs to battle and slay, from old favorites like hill giants, stone giants, frost giants, fire giants, cloud giants, and storm giants, to less common colossi like cave giants, marsh giants, slag giants, and ash giants, not to mention cyclopes, ettins, ogres, trolls, and more. We've even got a couple of all new giants—the mongrel giant and the tomb giant—making appearances in Giantslayer, so be sure to take a look at the bestiaries for this AP.

Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

Illustrations by Dmitry Burmak, Miguel Regodon Harkness, Maichol Quinto

So get ready! In just a few short weeks, the Giantslayer Adventure Path arrives! And keep an eye on this blog for the Giantslayer Player's Guide, which will be here soon, featuring a gazetteer of the town of Trunau (previously featured in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Towns of the Inner Sea) and all sorts of tips and tricks to make the best giantslaying character out there! Until then, check out some of the art that will appear in the Giantslayer Adventure Path.

Rob McCreary
Senior Developer