Guide to Darkmoon Vale Preview

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

We're getting ready to send Guide to Darkmoon Vale off to the printer. Here's a brief excerpt about the hated Lumber Consortium to whet your appetites until the book hits the shelves.

Lumber Consortium

A holdover from the days when Andoran existed as a province of Cheliax, the Lumber Consortium has watched its fortunes and influence wane with the rise of democracy. Although a mere shadow of what it was at its height, the Lumber Consortium nonetheless continues to exert incredible influence over certain regions and communities, particularly in the wild corners of Andoran. Nowhere is this continued power more obvious than in Darkmoon Vale, where the consortium's major tree-felling operation occurs.

Management: No one man controls the consortium. A board of directors, all of whom share a controlling interest in the endeavor, oversees the operations of the collective, forming long-term and large-scale strategies and leaving the day-to-day operations to on-site foremen (known as gavels). The powerful and unscrupulous men who sit on the board of directors include lumber barons and timber magnates, all of whom made their fortunes on the backs of lumberjacks and at the expense of the forests. Never a group possessing high moral standards, members of the board have become increasingly sadistic and cruel as their power has eroded. Whispers tie a few of the directors to the mysteriously sinister Aspis Consortium.

Two gavels—down from the heyday of the consortium's power, when more than a dozen of such men existed—maintain absolute control over the last of the consortium's holdings. In Darkmoon Vale, the gavel is Thaldrin Kreed, a hateful and hate-filled man whose sadistic and cruel ways keep the town pinned under his callused thumb. As a gavel, Thaldrin Kreed has absolute control over the consortium's presence in Darkmoon Vale, including its employees and hard assets. As long as he squeezes out a larger profit each year, Thaldrin Kreed can do no wrong in the eyes of the consortium (whose barristers have saved the gavel from the gallows on at least four occasions). With the passage of each year, though, it becomes ever more difficult for Kreed to increase his profits, resulting in ever-more horrific displays of exploitation and greed.

Mike McArtor
Editor

You Can't Keep a Good Kobold Down

Monday, May 5, 2008

In Revenge of the Kobold King the PCs once again find themselves facing perilous death in Darkmoon Vale, but this time they are working for a man as dangerous as any monster prowling the shadowy forest.

Thuldrin Kreed, by far the most powerful of Darkmoon Vale's lumber barons has long ruled Falcon's Hollow with a clenched fist, feeding on the misery of its common folk. When some undetermined and insidious force menaces his interests in the vale and leaves a camp of lumberjacks slaughtered in the night, Kreed requires a band of brave fools to deal with the threat.

Interested in the job? Have a little chat with Thuldrin Kreed, Gavel of the Lumber Consortium:

"We all know I'm a mean ol' bastard. I bleed these men and women for all they've got, but I pay them square, and there ain't no chains on their wrists. You think I don't care about these men? Then you're a fool. I need them. Sure I may grind these men to paste with years of back-breaking toil, but whatever's out there now is killing em. Nobody's puts a knife to my men but me. You go out there and get what did this. I'll not have my men slaughtered like pigs.

"Boss Teedum's going with you to make sure you succeed. I do not trust a task like this to outsiders alone. Those men deserve justice that's for certain, but more importantly I'm not about to let anything threaten my interests in the Vale. If you fail, get your bowels opened on a blade, find yourself between a monster's jaws, or just plain loose the steel in your spine, Pay Day's there to pick up what you drop and see it through. I'm not laying down for monsters, stumpy dwarf ghosts or the prancing fey. This Vale is mine, and I'll keep it. I'll burn the whole gods-be-damned forest to ash before I let someone take it from me."

Revenge of the Kobold King is a 16-page full-color Pathfinder Module that will be Paizo's offering at Free RPG Day on June 21. Revenge is the sequel to Paizo's first-ever module, Crown of the Kobold King. To see if your local store is a participating retailer, visit freerpgday.com.

Shortly after Free RPG Day, Revenge of the Kobold King will be available for sale in print and as a free PDF, exclusively at paizo.com.

Nicolas Logue
Organized Play Coordinator & author of Revenge of the Kobold King

Joshua J. Frost
Director of Sales & Marketing

The Riders of the North

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The fey of Darkmoon Vale were not always evil. For decades they lived and played under the spreading branches of the forest, content to remain close to the land that sustained them. But recently, things have changed within the forest. The establishment of the lumber mill in Falcon's Hollow has given rise to a veritable army of woodsmen bent on leveling the forest and plundering its wealth of darkwood. Hunters and trappers have descended into the forest, seeking furs and trophies to take back to the markets of Andoran. Slowly but surely, the creatures within the forest began to change. Anger and fear replaced the capricious playfulness of its fey guardians, and the icy grip of hate descended on the land. Far away, in her frozen palace in Irrisen, the Witch Queen sensed opportunity, and dispatched a cold rider to Darkmoon Vale.

With the first breath of winter's frost he arrived in the forest, and as ice and snow descended upon the land, his corrupting presence wormed its way into the hearts of the fey, transforming them into creatures of nightmare.

In E1: Carnival of Tears, the PCs must face off against this implacable foe who seeks to drive the humans from Falcon's Hollow, and in so doing, gain an unbreakable hold over the fey creatures that live there. Cold Riders are terrifying armored majesties, clad in sable cloaks of frost, a pair of almost ridiculously large crystal-blue antlers cresting their dread helms of ice and steel. These dark monsters were once princes of the forest. Brought living before the Witch Queen, she stole their songs and their love of green and beauty and replaced them with cold hate. The riders are her knights gallant and her favored minions in her war on the sun, the green, and all things that recoil from her frigid touch. They delight in perversion, slaughter, and the corruption of other fey. It is their solemn duty to bring fresh souls and candidates for transformation into cold riders back to their queen's court, and they relish this charge. The paired mini-whirlwinds of effervescent frost swirling in their visors can chill the hearts of the most stalwart with a frigid glance, and the vapor-fog floating from them often takes the shape of their former fair features, screaming in silent agony and twisting into malformed wisps in the rising wind.

Jeremy Walker
Assistant Editor, GameMastery

I Am Afraid of Clowns

Monday, November 19, 2007

No, seriously, they kinda creep me out. This is not some sort of abject terror that makes me run screaming anytime I happen upon the "spokesclown" of a certain famous fast food restaurant, but it does make me shudder. Suffice to say, when we started planning out adventures, I knew that having one populated by horrible carnival folk would be a winner (or if you prefer... a "wieenahh"). Anyway, GameMastery Module E1: Carnival of Tears is scheduled to hit our warehouse soon, so now seemed like a great time to show you some of the horrors this festival has to offer. Let's see: Horrible sideshow freaks, check. People slaughtered by the dozens, check. Carnival games that get more than a bit deadly, check. And of course, evil little clowns (well, sort of), check. To top it off, the entire adventure is set in Falcon's Hollow, the starting point for D0: Hollow's Last Hope and D1: Crown of the Kobold King. While these adventures are not necessary for play, they do add a great bit of continuity and background to the area.

Need a bit more convincing? Here's the back cover copy from E1.

IT'S ALL FUN AND GAMES UNTIL SOMEONE LOSES HIS SOUL

On the eve of a terrible winter, the carnival comes to Falcon's Hollow, bringing with it one last chance for fun before the long cold nights to come. But when mirth turns to murderous mayhem, only the heroes can stop the terror-filled ride.

Carnival of Tears is an event-based adventure for 5th-level characters compatible with the world's most popular fantasy roleplaying game. This adventure includes details on all of the carnival's many attractions, both playful and deadly, as well as the shadowy assailants bent on slaughtering the townsfolk.

This adventure is set in Falcon's Hollow, a small town nestled near the boughs of the Darkmoon Vale. This area is also the site of GameMastery Module D1: Crown of the Kobold King, available online or from your favorite local game store.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager

Falcon's Hollow

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

In celebration of the release of the free PDF of GameMastery Module D0: Hollow's Last Hope, the start of our Module Subscription Service, and the eminent release of D1: Crown of the Kobold King, we thought it was high time that we gave you some information about the small town featured in both modules: Falcon's Hollow. For more information, make sure to check out the appendix in Crown of the Kobold King.

Falcon's Hollow makes an excellent base of operations for a party of PCs seeking adventure in Darkmoon Vale and the dungeons beneath Droskar's Crag. In addition, the schemes of crooked politicians, lumber tycoons, and flesh-peddling crime bosses in Falcon's Hollow offer a breadth of opportunities for conflict and action. The party may become embroiled in local politics as this fledgling settlement grows and factions arise who seek a formal government in hopes of throwing off the crushing yoke of the Lumber Consortium. Additionally, the party may become involved in religious struggles between various sects devoted to all manner of strange deities, some merely against the grain of common theocracy, others downright evil and bent on corrupting the souls of the simple folk who call the Hollow home. Finally, crime is one of the largest sources of revenue in town, and gangs of organized thugs engage in every illicit activity imaginable. Good heroes residing in Falcon's Hollow won't go long without rubbing these syndicates the wrong way, and the PCs may be swept up in street wars with local criminals before they even have the chance to venture into the Vale and seek their fortunes.

Places of Note:

Church of Iomedae: With all the downtrodden to preach to in Falcon's Hollow, missionaries of Iomedae, Goddess of Valor and Justice, have established a foothold in town. Many other religious sects who fled to the Hollow to escape the Church of Light's persecution resent Iomedae's followers, and tensions run high between congregations, often resulting in less-than-holy brawls on the muddy thoroughfares of Worship Way.

Goose'n'Gander: The local general store in Falcon's Hollow is run by the only gnome resident, named Brickasnurd Hildrinsocks, who sells everything from standard amenities such as grain, lamp oil, ink, and mining supplies to such rare oddities as alchemist's fire, antitoxin, a fat petrified pseudo-dragon, and stuffed nixies (all the rage this season).

Hollow Tribunal: This is where the diminutive halfling Magistrate Vamros Harg dispenses merchant licenses, stamps mining and lumber claims, and passes judgment on criminal and civil cases. Most Falconers enjoy the irony of the Hollow Tribunal's name, since the justice meted out there is rarely equitable. The fact that Harg is firmly in Gavel Thuldrin's pocket is well known, but rarely uttered in public by those who value their lives.

The Sitting Duck: Located a little too close to the town palisade for many folks' comfort, the Duck is the local hotspot for adventurers, explorers, and other rapscallions looking for adventure. The tavern serves a potent local brew of fermented darkwood leaf that can floor an ogre in a few tankards. Raucous games of "knivesies" and "mig-a-mug-tug," two dangerous local recreational activities, both with a high rate of maiming injury, often rage late into the night. Many adventurers share tales of Darkmoon Vale and information on Droskar's Crag, and other surrounding locations can be gleaned here for the price of a mug of ale.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager

Free RPG Day is Tomorrow!

Friday, June 22, 2007

Tomorrow, June 23rd, is the first annual Free RPG Day, where you can stop by your local game store and pick up a free product. As mentioned in the post from April 24th, you can pick up the very first GameMastery Module, D0: Hollow's Last Hope tomorrow as part of this exciting event.

Hollow's Last Hope is a prequel to D1: Crown of the Kobold King and covers much of the lead-up to that adventure, taking brand-new 1st-level characters up to 2nd level and getting them ready for the challenges the kobold king has in store. The adventure also features a plot that allows it to be run as a stand-alone event. Here is some of the text from the back cover:

The Town of Falcon's Hollow Needs a Miracle
The plague has come to the town of Falcon's Hollow, and not even the town's priest can abate its wretched course. With the coughs of the sick and the wails of the dying echoing through town, the local herbalist uncovers a cure, but she needs some brave heroes to retrieve the ingredients. Finding the cure means risking the dangerous Darkmoon Vale, infiltrating a witch's haunted hut, and delving the ruins of an abandoned dwarven monastery.

Due to its smaller size, Hollow's Last Hope does not include pregenerated characters. We wanted to make sure you could run the adventure as part of Free RPG Day festivities, though, so to help on that end, we've put together four ready-to-play PCs. You can download a PDF of these PCs right here.

To find a game store near you that is sponsoring the event, go to freeRPGday.com. If you miss out on Free RPG Day, but still want to get your hands on the module, you can order a physical copy through our store (for a small fee) or you can download it as a free pdf starting Monday.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager

The First One's On Us

What's better than a high-quality, full-color, 16-page adventure? A free one, of course!

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

On June 23rd, gamers celebrate a whole new holiday just for us: Free RPG Day. On that Saturday, gamers across the country can stop by their friendly local game shops and pick up free roleplaying products. Seeing how much we love free stuff here at Paizo, we couldn't help but get involved. Come the 23rd, the first GameMastery Module, D0: Hollow's Last Hope, will be available for free at these stores.

When we first heard about this event, we were pretty excited, but pulling it together in time turned out to be a real challenge. While we kicked around several ideas, we quickly decided that, since D1: Crown of the Kobold King is for 2nd-level parties, it only made sense for us to get players to that level with an introductory adventure. In fact, the plot of Crown seemed to beg for it, as the adventure takes place in a forbidding forest and a ruined dwarven monastery but doesn't spend a lot of time getting the PCs there. But therein lay a new roadblock—we didn't want the free adventure to be mandatory for full Crown enjoyment, and vice versa. So we thought hard, and hit upon a unique plotline for Hollow's Last Hope—the quest for a plague cure—that could stand alone and still allow DMs of Crown to strip out the free adventure's plot and tack the extra encounters seamlessly onto the beginning of D1.

Once that was figured out, the biggest hurdle became the time crunch. Because we found out about Free RPG Day late in the game, we all—particularly Wes Schneider and me, who teamed up to write it—had to pull together and work hard to get the writing, art, layout, etc. finished in half the time normally allotted for such a project. (And believe me, the work difference between a 16-page module and a 32-pager isn't as large as you'd think.) But in the end, we didn't cut any corners, and managed to put together a product that looks as great as it reads—cartographer Chris West and the artists over at UDON continue to astound us with their work, particularly on such short notice.

As for what you can expect to find in the module itself, I won't spoil things too much, but manipulative worgs and animated cauldrons that dance around and swallow people whole sound like fun to me. We also made a concerted effort to sprinkle the module liberally with details tying in with Crown of the Kobold King, as well as tidbits that'll go farther toward building up our game world. For instance, though the hut you search in Hollow's Last Hope belongs to a relatively low-level witch, rumor has it that she actually studied under a much more notorious hag from the north... someone whose name you might just recognize...

For more information on Free RPG Day, go to www.freerpgday.com. If you somehow miss out, check back here soon for more information on how to score your own copy of the module.

Jason Bulmahn
GameMastery Brand Manager