@Grumbaki, Not gonna lie, I'm a little jealous that you got to be involved in a Broken Golarion game. I was super interested in that premise back in the day but never had time to apply. :-( It's neat that you got to use the Godbound rules. I was a Kickstarter backer.
Been monitoring the thread, and this is pretty sweet to see.
I am actually working on remaking Broken Golarion into a fully fleshed out homebrew setting, since all PF1 APs are out, and finished.
I have a rather awesome discord server that has a channel dedicated to working on BG. I can send Whack and Grumbaki an invite, if they'd like.
Also, if Whack ever opens another AP game, I would totally be interested in playing! I've never actually completed a full AP before, so would definitely be down to play!
One question you need to settle is which Runelords AP won out - Rise (Karzoug owning Varisia) or Return (Sorshen owning Varisia)...Either way, a runelord empire would be a big player in your setting.
Another thought, if Jatembe came back, what about Nex?
I'm actually thinking of possibly having multiple Runelords+Xin split up Varisia(and some land around it) much like Thassilon was originally.
And yeah, I'm thinking of also having Nex come back, or he possibly gets brought back by the PCs.
A couple years back, I stumbled across an *awesome* threat that discussed what happens should each of the APs fail.
This inspired me to create Broken Golarion as a setting(name inspired by Broken Matt Hardy, who is delightful!). I ran a game within here on the boards for awhile, but it sadly died out for a few reasons.
However, now that PF1 has come to a close, I'm looking into the setting once more. When I first worked on it, I stopped at Wrath of the Righteous, as that was pretty pivotal AP as far how Golarion changed should it fail. This time around, I'm going to look through each of the APs all the way through Tyrant's Grasp and see if I can't include some of the ones after Wrath as well.
Another reason I've decided to come back to this setting is to co-GM(rotating) a game started by brother and I in real life. Our PCs are epic level, gestalt, mythic heroes, so a world that's basically overrun by incredibly powerful evils is a dang good playground for us.
Quick note: I decided to not have Reign of Winter fail for a couple reasons. One, I really rather like Baba Yaga and Elvanna as NPCs, and two, I didn't wanna deal with endless winter on top of everything else.
Anyways, I need some help!
Firstly, I'm looking to see if any of the APs might be ported over to Tian Xia to help give that continent some love. Aside from Jade Regent, I think I'm going to have Ironfang Invasion take place over there, as I feel Kaoling makes a good replacement. Any other suggestions would be rather helpful!
Secondly, I'm looking for other things, beyond the changes made via each AP, to be added to the setting. Some of what I've done can be found below, additional ideas are most welcome! Mostly, I'm looking for things to happen in nations with either no AP taken place within, or not covered below(or as part of another AP).
Broken Golarion:
All of Mendev has been overrun by the demonic horde, and everything east of Starfall in Numeria as well. Surprisingly, the bizarre inhabitants and even stranger technology of the Silver Mount was able to turn back the vile demons. There's whispered rumors of things known as 'Iron Giants' decimating vast swaths of the Abyssal horrors that poured out of the Worldwound.
Sadly, the same could not be said for Brevoy, as that entire nation was also destroyed by the forces of Deskari. I'm thinking of having Choral the Conqueror return, and reveal he's a red dragon great wrym.
The unending horde marched straight into the River Kingdoms, easily crushing any and all resistance among the fractured states. There's rumors of a hold out in what used to be the Stolen Lands, and is now supposedly a section of the First World. However, nobody has been able to confirm said rumors. Areelu Vorlesh rules the former River Kingdoms and what was once northern Galt, and it is whispered she is now the new Demon Lord of Succubi.
Meanwhile, Treerazer has take over the remains of Kyonin, southern Galt, as well as the northern portions of the Five Kings Mountains and northeastern Druma.
Thanks to the efforts of the group of adventurers who braved the Worldwound, as well as the aid of a small host of angels, Nocticula, the former Demon Lord has ascended to godhood, and interestingly is apparently no longer evil.
Likewise, while they were unable to actually defeat her, a party of heroes was able to at least halt the insane machinations of Elvanna, 'daughter' of Baba Yaga. The usurper to the throne of the Witch Queen sough to blanket all of Golarion in endless winter. You're pretty sure that with everything else going on, that would have likely been the death knell of pretty much all sentient life on the planet, or close enough.
Also, while the Serpent God Ydersius has been brought back from torpor and is once again active in the Mwangi Expanse, it is caught in a war with the Demon Lord Angazhan whose cultists were able to summon The Ravener King to the mortal realm.
Thankfully, Old-Mage Jatembe returned from his self-imposed exile to the planes, and he and the Ten Magic Warriors have erected a powerful mystical barrier around the whole of the Expanse, trapping both themselves and the powerful evils inside.
Undying Sun: This is a rather mysterious alliance, formed of Qadira and Jalmeray. Backed by the incredible magickal might of both nations, they have formed a strong coalition that seeks to take the fight to the many perils that have befallen Garund. Thanks to it's extraordinary wealth, it's also able to provide considerable support to the ISA and WEC alliances, often in the form of elite mercenaries, many of whom are of an otherworldly origin.
Sorry this game has died out. I've been kinda sickly and rather busy when well enough.
Been spending the last week or so catching up on all my games, getting back in the swing of things, and trying to post at least semi regularly when possible.
Not making any excuses. I've had trouble coming up with interesting plot for this game, and the loss of players even when things were moving along nicely really affected my desire to run this.
All of this said, I'll leave it up to you all if we should keep this going.
Should you all want to continue, I've found a perfect adventure via one of my campaign setting books that lines up perfectly with what's currently going on in game.
Because it's in a published product, I won't have to struggle coming up with plot/encounters for you guys.
However, I also fully understand if you guys are tired of my crap, and just want to let the game die.
I'm sorry I haven't been the best with running this game, but whichever way this game goes from here on out, I do want to thank you all for playing in my crazy setting.
A thousand apologizes folks, I have had massive writer's block regarding moving the game forward. I knew where I wanted you to end up, but I didn't know how to get you there, or what to do with you once there.
I had some vague ideas, but nothing I was sold on.
Until this morning, as I was laying in bed, thinking about taking an 'official' break from this game, and seeing if Choon wanted to take over with some direction from me again.
Suddenly inspiration hit like a train, good enough for me to give ya'll something to work with.
That said, I realize it's been over a month since my last IG post, and several weeks since I posted here period, so I totally understand if everyone has moved on.
Ametist, this was a rather helpful response I got on FB for ya:
Earthbending:
If he's got the Pushing, Bowling, and Entangle Infusions, he can knock people down, push them away, or tie them up, all pretty much once per round. Once he's got those, the range extension infusions are a good idea, so he doesn't have to be right up in people's grille; while Kineticists CAN tank, if he wants to be able to take or avoid Burn at *his* option rather than theirs, he'll want to stay out of melee.
For Utility Talents, Earth Glide and Earth Climb are useful for moving around. Shift Earth gives him a really heavy-duty combat usable Geokinesis, and Kinetic Form is useful if he wants to get into melee without the enemy being able to respond. Combining Kinetic Form, Shift Earth, and Earth Glide basically means he's now playing Minecraft as an Enderman...
Just because of how Kineticists work, he's going to want high Dex and higher Con. If you're using point-buy of stats, those should account for just about all of his points, with any other raised stats coming from dumping something else. Honestly, just about anything else *can* be dumped; Kineticists do NOT suffer from M.A.D.; if they have their two stats they can be effective.
Also he'll want Point Blank Shot and Precise Shot to be able to avoid that -4 firing into melee penalty, and he'll want Toughness and every other HP enhancer (favored class, Finding Your Kin, everything) to help offset Burn fragility.
For the numbers - it helps to have a 'cheat sheet' of your Infusions and how much Burn each one costs, which ones you can combine and which ones you can't, and quick reminders on your burn-related abilities (Honestly, that last is most of the Kineticist recordkeeping; keeping track of how much Burn you have and what that means).
Heh, I was ready to move ya'll on yesterday, but I lost power for several hours due to a massive wind storm(still rather bad). While it came back early enough, I just wasn't really in the mood to do much posting last night.
An impressive character, I'll take notes since I always wanted to replicate a WoW Enhancement Shaman. Thank you.
I still want to keep the core of the character, though. Once I decide to abandon the original idea, I could do anything, but I really don't want to because Ametist looks cool to me. So, I'm reading through all the options avaliable to a Geokineticist and see if there's a way I can make it a bit more comfortable for me to play (damn all these Burn and extra things to keep record of).
You gave me a good idea, though. Is VMC allowed?
Okay, so if you're gonna stick with the general overall theme of Ametist, are you definitely keeping Geokineticist, or just the general overall theme of Earth Mage? Or are you considering branching out into the other elements as well??
If your gonna stick with Geo, I can ask around to see if there's any suggestions people might have to make your character a bit more optimized or how to get the most bang for your buck.
If you're more interested in general Earth Mage, let me know if there's a better class that fits this theme. You mentioned above that some of the earth related options use Cha, but if there's one you like, we can totally switch that to a different stat. Even a physical one. I really don't care, lol.
Finally, if you're looking being just a general Elementalist, the Elemental Oracle is pretty cool. Again, we can totally make it's primary stat something else, if that's the only thing stopping you from taking it.
I can't believe I never asked you guys this before, and I feel kinda dumb for having only just thought of it, however:
Can I get an outline for each of your characters similar to sidebar for Desna?
Obviously, titles aren't super important currently, but if you have any in mind for your PC to eventually be known by feel free to provide them.
You also don't have any form of home plane at the moment, so don't worry about that. However, much like with titles, if you have a particular plane or even a place on Golarion you would like to make your home, include that as well.
Alignment should be super simple.
Areas of concern are one of the more important sections. Don't worry about overlapping with existing deities, or outsiders, as they may or may not be alive or active.
While worshipers could eventually be important, you don't have to list them right now, unless you definitely plan on attracting them/establishing a church/cult.
Domains and subdomains are also rather key, as they'll help me get a better idea about your PCs and what they hold near and dear.
Favored weapon should likewise be kinda easy.
Symbol, scared animal and scared color(s) are also optional, unless again you have ideas already in mind for them :)
*********************
All of this info will go a long way towards helping me craft better and more personal story arcs for each of you. The more info you can give me, the better :)
Completely forgot to mention this before. Lots on my mind lately, as I'm struggling with trying to make a living(can't really work on my feet due to injuries), as well as various other things going on in my life right(mostly good, but some not so much). This is also why I have yet to post in game. Been a bit of a busy/rough(ish) week.
Anyways, due to the excellent RP you all gave me for the week off, plus the general awesome RP you've all displayed throughout the game,
You each may gain either one lesser or greater gift in one of your current words
Site has been giving me severe issues since last night. As such, I'm just going to ask if everybody is ready to move on. Don't wanna risk losing a big post, or it not going through. Hopefully the site will be much more stable tomorrow.
"Did your paladin friend not just say you 'really have to be away'? The people will not be able to rely on you, because you will not be here. Perhaps you did not notice this, but while it is a noble cause to want to help these refugees become self-sufficient, the land is dead. It is too close too the rot spreading down from Kyonin to sustain farming. Even if you were able to heal the immediate area around Fort Invictus, without stopping the demonic taint infusing the former elven kingdom, your efforts will not last long."
Ametist would have realized this while out on his week of downtime exploration, but I haven't gotten to his recap post yet. Apologies.
The young man grins a bit playfully. "Money is not what I am talking about or rather not just money. Allow me to demonstrate."
He takes a silver coin out one of the pouches on his belt, and flips into the air, where it promptly disappears mid flip. You each feel a slight rush of power, and suddenly there's a cow standing next to Phaedrix.
He places his hand on the cow's shoulder and concentrates, and there's another rush of power. A full minute later, a second cow appears. Another minute, and there's a third cow. He removes his hand. "I believe they can help with your food issues?"
The young man listens intently as Lian ticks off all of the things they need help with. "You lot are in luck. I'm the eldest son of a rather wealthy family of merchants in Taldor, who trace our lineage to a powerful Star Archon in service to Abadar. I can not do much about your lack of defenses, but the rest I can take care of."
Phaedrix smiles faintly "Sir Uthar sent word that you needed a steward, remember? And so here I am. Why don't you fill me on what's going on, how many refugees you have, and what exactly you're lacking." He says in brisk business like manner.
The following takes place one week after your individual 'adventures. It is the tomorrow following your discovery of some divinely touched refugees.
A finely dressed young man arrives at the gate of the keep, and is permitted entry. He meets you all in the central hall. He bows respectfully to you all. "Greetings ladies and gentlefolk, my name is Phaedrix of Taldor. I am here on behalf of the Bellflowers of the Dawn, as I have heard you were in need of steward to assist you in running this keep."
Each of you senses within him the same divine 'spark' you all sense within each other.
In PF, there's not strictly 3 roles(tank, healer, dps).
You have skill based roles like face(somebody with a high Cha, and focused on the social skills of bluff, diplomacy, intimidate, sense motive, etc), the more general skill monkey(One of the classes like rogue or bard who have tons of skill points all over the place), and stealth/trap finders(bluff, disable device, disguise, stealth, etc).
You also have battlefield controllers, which can be casters or melee classes. If they are casters, they focus on the wall spells, pit spells, cloud spells, various entangle spells, etc.
If it's a melee class, they focus on maneuvers like trip, bull rush, reposition, and other things that let them control their enemies position on the battlefield.
There's other roles but those 4 are the one that sprang to mind.
I'll be working on getting up a post later today for this. I still plan on finishing the recap posts for Ametist and Drystan, but I have something in mind to give you all something to do in the meantime.
Still here. The game is awesome. Not so happy with my PC, but it's really worthy. Would be sad to not advance through the story more.
Ametist, you joined later, right?
Which means you missed one of initial posts about people's characters:
*IF* you're not having *fun* or not happy with your PC, you can absolutely re-work it.
In fact, due to the main concept of each PC dying and being brought back to life, it makes even more sense of such a re-work to happen in this game than others.
If you're 'not so happy with your pc', let's work on that. If ya want a full rebuild(brand new class, race, godbound selections, the whole works) we can totally make that work.
If ya just need to 're-train' some choices that ya made, but are more or less happy with the core concept/build, we can totally make that happen too.
Do not keep playing a PC that you are unhappy with, just cuz. We can rebuild him, we have the technology.
With the loss of Karen, and Drystan being MIA, we're down to 3 players. Wanted to give Drystan time to chime in, but they may have gotten sick of my lack of regular posting, which is absolutely understandable.
If every one is still around, we can either try and recruit some replacement players or sadly we can end the game.
Which would suck, as I just stumbled upon a really awesome subplot.
I am terribly sorry for the incredible delay in posting here. The holidays were a little crazy, including my 95 yr old grandmother who I live with going to the hospital Christmas night(she's okay, just had some weird issue with swallowing her food, plus a cold that was kicking her butt).
However, I've also been distracted by recruitments for other games(including an awesome RotRL, which is a game I've been dying and trying to play to completion for years now. Also been playing the new Kingmaker comp game, which is freaking awesome and starting streaming that game on Twitch this week, hoping to hit affiliate and hopefully begin making some money.
Long story short, I suck, and kinda forgot about this game, especially since there's been no posts here in discussion since the 26th.
I am still very much here, but I would totally understand if ya'll are done with this game, and my disappearing act.
Recap post. This all takes place before the conversation about sensing 'divine power' in the refugees and each other. Feel free to read each others' spoilers if ya want. Just using them to make it easier to read.
Karen:
Karen spends the first couple of days creating shelters for the refugees, easily reshaping the earth and stone into small buildings. As there is such a large number to house, with the potential for more, she decides the best idea is to make each home multi-familial. The half-orc easily accomplishes this by erecting interior walls to split each house into three 'mini homes'. She leaves an open space for everyone to congregate which is where she puts the fireplace. Door are provided from a few carpenters among the refugees, and wood from nearby trees.
Once she finishes creating housing, Karen turns her attention to fortifying Fort Invictus. Aside from the simple tasks of adding cover over the walkway, and modifying the walls to allow patrols better visibility, she also adds several large, tall towers to the outer defenses. Finally, she digs a deep moat with stone spikes at the bottom, along with creating a bridge over it.
After Uthar used his emergency scrolls the first night to provide food and drink for the refugees, Karen takes over feeding them, using her divine powers to create food and water each day. Interestingly, after she uses up her initial four castings of the day for breakfast that second morning, she feels the energy of that spel is still within her. Attempting to cast it again, she finds the ability to cast it never leaves her. Thus, she’s easily able to feed all the refugees several times each day.
Finally, when she’s not busy building houses or reinforcing the keep, Karen tends to the refugees as best she can. While she easily cured those who were infected the very first day they encountered them, many still had various injuries. Some were obviously battle wounds, while others were of a more pedestrian nature. Regardless, she moved among the wounded like an angel of mercy, restoring them all to full health and vigor.
Godwyn Blaecwulf:
The mighty paladin explores the nearby lands, putting down small pockets of spontaneous risen undead and roving bands of minor demons. Thanks to his impressive defenses and his divine weapon, he’s easily able to cut through them with little harm to his person.
However, one day, he finds himself in the midst of a ruined town, several miles from Fort Invictus. There, he not only encounters more weak, easily destroy able undead, but also a powerful wraith. An epic battle ensues, as the heavenly fighter seeks to end the unholy shade. Back and forth they rage against one another, each trying to gain the upper hand. Finally, calling upon a deep wellspring of divine power he didn’t know he had, Godwyn is able slay his undead foe.
That night, he has a dream, wherein it seems like Pharamsa visits him. However, it’s a hazy vision, and he isn’t able recall much upon waking. The only thing he can remember is that it seemed like the goddess of the dead chose him as her champion. He isn’t even positive of that, yet he feels a stronger connection to the gods than he did before.
Soo, my above 'I am not feeling the best tonight' turned into 'I ended up sick and didn't do much all weekend'...
Also, I got my brand new gaming laptop today, several days+ early. However, it was kinda crazy here, as we had the guy come by to fix the furnace/pump, so I could get heat in the basement. As I have a rather protective puppers, I was banished up to my mom's bedroom with the doggo for the whole afternoon, meaning I didn't get much of anything done today.
Gonna head to bed soon, and tomorrow is slated to be busy during the day as none of the errands we had wanted to today got done. Hopefully I will be able to finish up the react post tomorrow night. It's about half way done.
Wasn't feeling the best tonight, so have just been curled up under my blanket, snuggling my puppers, watching friends on Twitch.
However, I'm taking a trip into NYC this weekend, to visit my bro, and I'm not taking my laptop with me(for ease of travel), so new post won't be till Monday or possibly Tues.
Ya know, I noticed something interesting while doing this write up:
Godywn and Drystan are(as I believe is evident) two sides of the same coin. Both are holy warriors, with Godwyn much more defensive based, and Drystan being combat oriented.
However, it occurred to me that Lian and Karen are also similar(to each other). Both work with people, Karen healing and taking care of them physically. Lian on the other hand, boosts their spirits and morale, as well as easing their fears, worries and concerns. Karen focuses on the body, while Lian handles the mind and spirit.
That's a nice cool little accidental coincidence! :) And one I might use to further the story now that I've had this revelation.
As Karen points out being able to sense divine power in the rest of the group, each of you realizes you're able to do the same in regards to the others.
While contemplating what this could mean, Uthar comes up to the group. Instantly, you are all able to tell he too possesses divine power. However, it does not feel the same as what you sense from each other, and it is definitely different than what Karen felt from the refugees.
Once this scene is over, I'll do the recap of everyone's activities. I would like to give Ametist a chance to reply.
Sadly, I believe we have lost both our druid and necromancer, as neither of them seem to have posted since Sept. This is why I wanted so many players in the first place, as it's common for a few to drop off for whatever reason.
That means we currently sit at 5. While 5 is a great party size, see my last comment for why I wouldn't mind a couple more being brought in, just in case.
Little something to hold us over till Lian posts, as I would like to recap every ones actions at once.
As Karen walks and works among the refugees, she senses very minor divine power within many. It is not the same feeling she gets when around her fellow reborn companions, but it is faintly similar. 2d10 + 10 ⇒ (7, 4) + 10 = 21 out of the 3d10 + 60 ⇒ (3, 7, 1) + 60 = 71 refugees.
FYI, anything you guys do will be handled via cinematic narrative, including combat. Now, obviously you don't know this in game, but don't feel like you need to hold back cuz you're worried about slowing the game down. I'll probably handle resolving every one's six days in one long post.
Nevermind, still awake an hour + later. I realized you guys have a few days before you can leave, as that's when the steward NPC will arrive. In fact let's go with 1d6 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6 days.
Let me know what you're going to do in that time. There's several small towns within about a days ride that you could visit and try and get supplies from. You could explore/fortify Invictus. The nearest battle front is about two days ride, so you could make your way to one of them and offer aid. If you have other ideas, let me know and we'll try to work something out.
Still here guys, just had a really busy last few days, plus I had minor ear surgery on the 5th and I'm still recovering. I will get a post up for you all tomorrow, as I'm heading to bed now.(3:30am)
Uthar nods to Ametist "Yes, the Hellknights are one such legion, but there others. War, despots, undead, demons and their lords, and many more of have shattered this land. There are very few, if any, nations where there is not some type of fighting or battle being waged."
Turning to Godywn he replies "We have safe havens and houses scattered around Avistan, and are hoping to establish some in Garund, however, that's a lot more complicated. Partly due to the distance and lack of truly reliable teleportation magicks and partly because things might even be worse down there than they are here."
He pauses, considering. "Fort Invictus is the closest bastion of safety to the Five Kings Mountains. If you come across any refugees while making your way to Highhelm, it would be best to send them here."
The reborn heroes and Sir Uthar lead the refugees into the main courtyard, which is easily large enough for all lost souls. As you chat with the knight, you realize the most important thing you need to do is getting food for all these people. Mayhap there's a magical solution?
You escort Uthar into the fort, and to a small sitting room to discuss what can be done for the refugees as well as how you can aid the besieged Sky Citadel.
Taking a seat in one of the many cushioned chairs, the young man formally introduces himself. "As I said, I represent a larger organization, known as the Bellflowers of the Dawn. We rose up out of the ashes of the former Bellflower Network, and joined with the Solar Redeemers branch of the Church of Sarenrae. We now work to smuggle refugees and slaves out of the demon infested lands, as well as provide relief aid to the legions battling the Abyssal hordes."
Turning to Karen, he says "It is just I here, but I represent a larger order. I'll tell you all about it, once we get somewhere private, just in case."
I've been here, waiting to see if anybody was going to respond to what the NPC last said. I realize it might be something nobody has a reply to, but ya gotta let me know that so I can move the scene forward.
