Greetings from the Deep!

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Hey, remember Pathfinder Adventure Path? What? Oh yeah, that thing. That thing we're always working on and we never blog about. We should write something up about that sometime. Yeah, we should. Okay!

This time around on our totally weekly preview of what's coming up in Pathfinder Adventure Path, we're talking interior covers! As you've all seen, in our endless battle against boredom and stagnation we mix up what's on the interior covers of Pathfinder from Adventure Path to Adventure Path. To play up the exotic exploration elements of the Serpent Skull Adventure Path, this time around we're coving these pages with descriptions and sketches taken from the field book of one of Golarion's most esteemed naturalists, detailing some of the wildest and weirdest flora and fauna of the Mwangi Expanse. Chuck Lukacs tackles the task of sketching out these strange life forms month after month, providing GMs with just a little extra when it comes to describing the incredible variety, strangeness, and deadliness of Garund's most dangerous jungles. Check out just one of the beasties detailed right behind the covers of Pathfinder Adventure Path #37—a creature PCs might have a very personal confrontation with in the first adventure of the Serpent Skull Adventure Path: "Souls for Smuggler's Shiv."

"Common Eurpterid"
"The waters around Smuggler's Shiv are thick with predators like sharks, giant crabs, and hungry eels, but the most pervasive may be the sea scorpions, more properly known as eurypterids. With a poisonous sting and the ability to chase prey out of the waves and onto land, these aggressive vermin should be avoided at all costs."
Illustration by Chuck Lukacs

F. Wesley Schneider
Managing Editor

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Chuck Lukacs Monsters Pathfinder Adventure Path Serpent's Skull Vermin

Sweet!

Shadow Lodge

Pathfinder Lost Omens, Rulebook, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

Omg, omg, omg! My favorite prehistoric "arachnid" gets some sweet Pathfinder loving!!


Yes...avoid them at all costs...unless of course you'd like some juicy experience points...if so...then by all means fire up the grill and have plenty of tar-tar sauce ready to go. ^_^

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut

And so it begins!

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

NSpicer wrote:
And so it begins!

And given the dark nature of this adventure path ... will any of use survive it?

Sovereign Court

Wow, awesome drawing.

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut

Lord Fyre wrote:
And given the dark nature of this adventure path ... will any of use survive it?

Not if I have anything to say about it!

Spoiler:

And...I...DO!

Mwahahahahahaaaa!

Scarab Sages Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games

Those guys are mean. Poor Sorsha almost got GOTTEN by em!


I remember seeing a documentary about the first scorpions (can't recall if it was Discovery Channel or History Channel at this point), but this is much creepier than what I recall from the show. These things look MEAN.

Good job guys!

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

NSpicer wrote:
Lord Fyre wrote:
And given the dark nature of this adventure path ... will any of use survive it?

Not if I have anything to say about it!

** spoiler omitted **

What?? You are not listed as the Author of any of the adventures reveled ... yet.


NSpicer wrote:
Lord Fyre wrote:
And given the dark nature of this adventure path ... will any of use survive it?

Not if I have anything to say about it!

** spoiler omitted **

I like the way you think. :^D

I can't wait to run this on my poor unsuspecting players..

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut

Lord Fyre wrote:
What?? You are not listed as the Author of any of the adventures reaveled ... yet.

Why, no. No, I haven't been.

Spoiler:

Yet. ;-D

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

NSpicer wrote:
Lord Fyre wrote:
What?? You are not listed as the Author of any of the adventures reaveled ... yet.

Why, no. No, I haven't.

** spoiler omitted **

Oh my ...


OH yes ..that means Spicer gets to put his evil mind to the capstone..boy am I glad I'm running this one not playing in it

Contributor

Lazaro wrote:
Omg, omg, omg! My favorite prehistoric "arachnid" gets some sweet Pathfinder loving!!

Huh. That's the most Jacobsian thing I've ever seen someone (who's not James) say on these board. Fricken' weirdos. :P


Wonderful !!! and for the first time in 15 years I am *playing*..... It had to be Spicer writing the capstone adventure.... At least it wasn't Pett.

-- david
Papa.DRB

DM Wellard wrote:
OH yes ..that means Spicer gets to put his evil mind to the capstone..boy am I glad I'm running this one not playing in it


LOL. The DM for this AP, currently one of my players, just forwarded me the quoted post and has banned me from the Serpent's Skull sub-forum. Only fair, since I told my guys to not go into the Legacy of Fire sub-forum.

So this is my last post here. Have fun y'all. Can't wait for March 2011 to start!

-- david
Papa.DRB

ps. Richie, I have three characters stat'd up. Ranger, Druid and Summoner. Now to see what the APG has to offer for additional options before deciding, but I *really* like Rangers.

Papa-DRB wrote:

Wonderful !!! and for the first time in 15 years I am *playing*..... It had to be Spicer writing the capstone adventure.... At least it wasn't Pett.

-- david
Papa.DRB

DM Wellard wrote:
OH yes ..that means Spicer gets to put his evil mind to the capstone..boy am I glad I'm running this one not playing in it

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut

Papa-DRB wrote:
So this is my last post here. Have fun y'all. Can't wait for March 2011 to start!

Oh. That's too bad. I was just going to start spoilering all kinds of really fantastic stuff about the campaign.

Oh well...

Spoiler:

...I'll just stuff those spoilers back into the bag. ;-)

Dark Archive

F. Wesley Schneider wrote:
Lazaro wrote:
Omg, omg, omg! My favorite prehistoric "arachnid" gets some sweet Pathfinder loving!!
Huh. That's the most Jacobsian thing I've ever seen someone (who's not James) say on these board. Fricken' weirdos. :P

Ha! To me 'Jacobsian' sounds like a new monster type!

"Among the abyssal lakes of lava and brimstone swim the Elder Jacobsians -- dreadful and horrifying in their otherwordly appearance" ;P


NSpicer, as the DM running the Serpent's Skull AP for you, I would like to formally request you to not read your own posts. Thank you. That is all.

;)

The Exchange

I know these are actually different creatures, but I am getting a very powerful "The drawing of the three" hype from this art. or in short, for all you Dark Tower fans out there, I do certainly know how to vocalize these beasties. or, in even shorter, "Did a chick? Dud a chuck?". man, GMing this would be awesome.


Berwick wrote:

NSpicer, as the DM running the Serpent's Skull AP for you, I would like to formally request you to not read your own posts. Thank you. That is all.

;)

It must suck to be the guy who writes one of these adventures... because then you can't play in them! He already knows what's going to happen! Penalize him for reading the module he wrote! :P

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Lord Snow wrote:
I know these are actually different creatures, but I am getting a very powerful "The drawing of the three" hype from this art. or in short, for all you Dark Tower fans out there, I do certainly know how to vocalize these beasties. or, in even shorter, "Did a chick? Dud a chuck?". man, GMing this would be awesome.

We at Paizo are confirmed fans of the lobstrosoties.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Ice Titan wrote:
Berwick wrote:

NSpicer, as the DM running the Serpent's Skull AP for you, I would like to formally request you to not read your own posts. Thank you. That is all.

;)

It must suck to be the guy who writes one of these adventures... because then you can't play in them! He already knows what's going to happen! Penalize him for reading the module he wrote! :P

On one level, yeah... but on another level, playing through adventure you either wrote or developed/edited (which in many cases means you're almost more familiar with the adventure than the author) is pretty interesting. When I played in Erik Mona's Age of Worms campaign, I was playing in adventures that I helped concept, create, develop, edit, and in a few cases, write. While I knew EXACTLY what was coming up in the adventures, I didn't know what was coming up in the game because of two things:

1) I didn't know how the other players would react to the adventures. I let them make all the major decisions and played off of that. It was actually really neat to be involved in the discovery of an adventure's plot and surprises from inside the adventure in that way.

2) Erik did an absolutely INCREDIBLE job in changing things and adding in new content and rolling with the party when we went and did something else that the adventure didn't plan for. There were whole plotlines added in to Diamond Lake and the swamp and the surrounding lands that were brand new to me as a result.

Contributor, RPG Superstar 2009, RPG Superstar Judgernaut

I would also add that sometimes it's very useful for a GM to have an "ally" within the game through a player who has knowledge of not only the adventure, but the overall campaign, as well. Without seeming to, he can help ensure the campaign stays on track by exerting an influence within the party...rather than a GM having to appear heavy-handed with steering players back to plot.

I've done this a number of times, both as the player within a campaign where I had knowledge of the storyline and as a GM where I had such a player helping me in a homegrown campaign he joined midstream after I kept bouncing ideas off him. In every case, as long as the GM and player have an upfront agreement they're there to support one another and make the game's story come off as believably as possible, it works out really, really well.

But that's just been my experience,
--Neil

P.S. None of that, however, invalidates the fact that a GM should still look for ways to surprise a knowledgeable player with a few changes to the plotline to keep him entertained. Or, that the player should agree to let the others take the lead most of the time and keep his own knowledge separate from that of his or her character.

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