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RPG Superstar 8 Season Star Voter. Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber. Organized Play Member. 80 posts (142 including aliases). 11 reviews. No lists. 1 wishlist. 10 Organized Play characters.


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Bonus Adventure Path: Age of Worms Prophecies

The Age of Worms adventure Spire of Lost Shadows references a list of artifacts and events in other Dungeon magazine adventures. This 'Adventure Path' is a framing device for a campaign that includes these adventures.

Of course, prophecy itself is dead on Golarion. These events aren't prophecies coming true, they're a desperate attempt by the surviving Saoc Brethren from the Sodden Lands - who have recruited the PCs - to forcibly restore prophecy by bringing a series of prophecies to pass.

The Black Egg - Dungeon #106. While this adventure is level 12, it's the only adventure on the list that I don't have the magazine for and the adventure list is very high-level-heavy already. My plan is to write this from scratch as a low level adventure, perhaps even the start of the campaign.

The Obsidian Eye - Dungeon #120 (Level 3): These ruins are in Osirion.

Given the large break in levels between The Obsidian Eye and the rest of the adventures, Expedition to the Ruins of Castle Greyhawk, also set near Absalom, is a good adventure for levels 8 - 12.

City of Shadows - Dungeon #117, #118 and #119 (Level 12): The biggest problem here is that there isn't really a place on Golarion where frost and fire giants live close together. The most sensible place is likely the Mindspin Mountains, although this makes the series very similar to Giantslayer. Depending on whether the goal is prioritizing Golarion lore or the Istivin arc, Istivin can either be Vigil itself or a orc town in the Hold of Belkzen.

Maure Castle - Dungeon #112 (Level 12+): Placed under the Spire of Nex. Full Conversion Notes.

Tomb of Aknar Ratalla Dungeon #119 (level 14): Given that he united devils and angels, Aknar Ratalla was probably a warlord devoted to Rovagug. This adventure can be set almost anywhere. Given that City of Shadows is already set near the Hold of Belkzen, that might be a good place.

Lost Temple of Demogorgon Dungeon #120 (Level 14): This is a temple to Angazhan in the Mwangi Expanse.

Root of Evil Dungeon #122 (Level 18): Started by a cultist of Treerazer in Tanglebriar.

The Quicksilver Hourglass Dungeon #123 (Level 30): As this is an epic level adventure set on a demiplane, the biggest conversion challenge here is mechanical. Various magic items found in Maure Castle might convey mythic powers.


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Adventure Path Setting Conversions: Shackled City

This one is a bit more ambitious. It starts in 4704. It's very much still a rough draft.

Cauldron and Redgorge:
This is my first really ambitious swing. Cauldron is Kalabuto (later to be renamed Umnyango), and Redgorge is Mzali. The Bright Lions replace the Chisel, more interested in protecting the people of Mzali but still willing to lend a hand to those opposing Sargava. The ruins provide settings for many of the undeground adventures, and the riverbank can overflow in Flood Season. The explosion in Foundation of Flame will be almost entirely magical in nature, the result of necromantic energy. Mages from Magaambya should be able to restore the city once Vidrian is established.

Adimarchus and Demodands:
This one I'm less sure of. I think the idea is to make Adimarchus a fallen angel who almost redeemed himself in demonic death. The circumstances of his death led his soul to get lost in Pharasmian bureaucracy, and daemons now feast on his powerful soul. The prison for his soul on Abaddon then becomes more of a matter of circumstances and daemonic opportunism than an intentional construction. The Shackleborn then become duskwalkers.

Soul Pillars:
The Soul Pillars are the Stasis Fields of the Bandu Hills, of course.

Wee Jas becomes Pharasma, Nerull becomes Urgathoa. The Striders probably become undercover mages from the Maagambya. The church of St. Cuthbert becomes either a bunch of colonial priests of Iomedae who can come to understand the error of trying to convert the populace, or a church to Mazludah.

Since it's set in the Mwangi Expanse, serpentfolk are in abundance for Strike on Shatterhorn, if I decide to keep this adventure, but it's a likely adventure to cut. Vhalantru becomes a maharaja rakshasa. Nabthatoron becomes the Gorilla King.

Note that continuity-wise, this means Shackled City should probably be run before Serpent's Skull.


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Adventure Path Setting Conversions: Age of Worms

This one is a bit more ambitious, but here are my conversion notes on the pre-Golarion Paizo adventure paths. The idea is that each of these take place before Rise of the Runelords, so Age of Worms is set in AR 4705. I'm starting with the Age of Worms because it's the easiest.

The Ebon Triad:
The Ebon Triad are dedicated to Asmodeus, Norgorber, and Rovagug. They believe that Norgorber has the secret to control Rovagug, and that Asmodeus can release Rovagug and use him to bring about a new order.

The Free City and Diamond Lake:
Given the name, it's tempting to make Almas, as the capital of Andoran, the Free City. Falcon's Hallow could even be Diamond Lake. However, conceptually, Absalom is probably the better choice. Blackwall Keep can even be used as a teaser for the xulgath invasion in Extinction Curse.

Air Elemental Princes:
The elemental lords in Golarion stick to the traditional good/evil axis, but actually fit quite well. The tombs to various air elementals are dedicated to those who fell in battle alongside Ranginori, Duke of Thunder, in his battle with the evil elemental lords. Note that Ranginori will be freed in Pathfinder Society Special 8-00: The Cosmic Captive, a level 1-11 multi-table adventure that kicked off Year of the Stolen Storm.

Alhastar:
This city works best in the River Kingdoms. Depending on how big a swing you want to take, this can either be an otherwise unnamed River Kingdom, which will presumably dissolve at the end of the AP, or possibly Tymon.

Wormcrawl Fissure:
By the time the PCs get to Kings of the Rift and Into the Wormcrawl Fissure, they should have access to powerful transportation magic, so proximity isn't an issue. These adventures just need some mountains. Saggorak, with its heavy undead influence, is probably the best choice.

Much of the rest of the conversion is relatively simple. Spire of Long Shadows should take place in the Mwangi Expanse, near Mzali and Kalabuto (which will be renamed to Umnyango). The Library of Last Resort, as it is reached by teleportation, can be set in the Eye of Abendego. Kyuss and the Rod of Seven Parts can basically be ported as is. Manzorian could potentially be Grandmaster Torch or Lord Gyr, or could simply be a new wizard.

I have a lot of thoughts about the prophecies in Age of Worms, but those will be a post in their own right.


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Cori Marie wrote:
What are you problems with Stolen Fate? It's one that I'm really excited to run after Abomination Vaults

The fundamental problem is tracking down a deck of 54 cards is simply too many quests.

The portals of the Harrow Court are a strong railroad, leading the PCs rather bluntly from card to card. At level 10+, the PCs should be able to use their own research and magic to track down leads anywhere on the planet. If this were the only problem, it would be easy enough to eliminate the portals, but there's so little detail on each of the encounters to retrieve a card (especially early on) that each ends up feeling like a random encounter. Many are in interesting places, but the AP barely has space to detail what happens if the PCs stay on the rails, let alone provide guidelines if the PCs go off them.

The AP makes strong assumptions about the PCs allying with every group they stumble into, often with little motivation for the PCs to help them or them to help the PCs.

Worst Of All Possible Worlds:
On top of that, there's very little PC agency. No matter what they do, the cards are all stolen again in the final adventure.

I don't dislike Stolen Fate as much as Ruins of Azlant, but I don't think there's anything worth salvaging in it. I'd personally be much more likely to run Fists of the Ruby Phoenix after The Abomination Vaults, but that shouldn't stop you if you like Stolen Fate.


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Lord Fyre wrote:

I have to disagree with you on one point.

CaelibDarkstone wrote:

Adventure Path Connections

Cheliax Adventure Paths
Council of Thieves should occur before Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance. Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance work well when they're played by two different parties running campaigns at the same time, but both come after Wrath of the Righteous.

Council of Thieves should be avoided if possible. There are some things that can be salvaged in it, but on the who it falls into the "failed" adventure paths.

Council of Thieves isn't that bad, in my opinion. The first chapter is lackluster, but there are tons of cool concepts.

Note that I'm also excited to run a thoroughly re-written version of Serpent's Skull if I had the time to re-write it. Salvaging an AP can be part of the fun as a DM, provided there's something left to salvage.

So far, the only adventure paths I don't think can be saved are Ruins of Azlant and Stolen Fate. Gatewalkers, Serpent's Skull, and Giantslayer require a lot of work, but the last two at least sound fun to re-write. As huge sandboxes, Kingmaker and Skulls & Shackles also require a lot of work on the part of the GM. Second Darkness and Council of Thieves definitely could use some help, but they're far from the failures of the first four listed.


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Lord Snow wrote:
Care to rant a bit about your issues with the Ruins of Azlant AP?

The concept of the Azlanti as some sort of super-human species is problematic, to put it mildly. I like that PF 2E moved away from this.

On top of that, I find the campaign outline and villain motivations to be way too convoluted to follow. It's ironic that an Adventure Path that begins with an editorial on a cool new way of keeping track of the plot requires several reads for me to even attempt to make sense of what's going on, and I'm not convinced the developer kept track of it properly either.

Finally, this one is only a personal pet peeve of mine, but I really dislike the aeon stones as computers aesthetic.


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Adventure Path and Module Connections Part Two, PF 1E

Modules that could be potentially added to APs
Academy of Secrets (13th level) and The House on Hook Street (6th level) could be tied into Curse of the Crimson Throne.

Broken Chains (6th level) could be tied to Legacy of Fire.

Carrion Hill (5th level) could possibly be tied to Carrion Crown or Strange Aeons, but it’s a stretch.

Dawn of the Scarlet Sun (5th level) is intended to be connected to the Shattered Star adventure path.

Feast of Ravenmoor (3rd level) takes place near Magnimar and might make an addition to Rise of the Runelords.

Plunder and Peril (4th level) is a good addition to Skulls & Shackles, which already needs longer adventure pieces.

Realm of the Fellnight Queen (7th level) could potentially be added to Kingmaker.

Risen from the Sands (3rd level) is another adventure that could theoretically be added to Mummy’s Mask.

Wardens of the Reborn Forge (12th level) takes place in Alkenstar and so could be a potential sequel to Outlaws of Alkenstar.

Several APs have similar themes of interplanetary/portal travel or demons that might match with The Moonscar (16th level), including Age of Ashes and Strength of Thousands.

Prequel Adventures
The Harrowing is a prequel to Stolen Fate and, as a 9th level adventure, could potentially lead straight into it. However, Stolen Fate is one of only two APs I don’t think are worth salvaging.

The Ruby Phoenix Tournament (11th level) takes place a decade before the Fists of the Ruby Phoenix AP and is intended as the culmination of the first edition Pathfinder Society Season 10: Season of the Ten.

The Witchwar Legacy (17th level) is intended as a prequel to the Rein of Winter AP, but has notes for how to adapt it to take place after.

Module Campaigns
We Be Goblins, We Be Goblins Too, We Be Goblins Free, We B4 Goblins, and We Be 5uper Goblins make a Goblins series.

The Dragon’s Demand (levels 1-6), The Emerald Spire (levels 1-12+), and Thornkeep (levels 1-7) are campaigns in their own right.

Crypt of the Everflame, Masks of the Living God, and City of Golden Death make their own series titled Price of Immortality.


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Adventure Path and Module Connections Part One: 3.5

Ideally I'd organize these by adventure path instead, but it's easier to break them up by module edition because of how the Paizo site is organized. Note that I don't actually have access to most of the modules, so these are best guesses.

Hollow's Last Hope, Crown of the Kobold King, Carnival of Tears (with a jump to 5th level), Revenge of the Kobold King, and Hungry are the Dead all take place in Darkmoon Vale, and so make a series of their own. Note that this is different from Bloodsworn Vale, which also has a module.

Tower of the Lost Baron (5th level) and Treasure of Chimera Cove (7th level) make their own series.

Seven Swords of Sin is a 7th level adventure that can tie into the Runelords APs. I remember seeing a sidebar about conflict between this and another adventure path, but can't find it.

Entombed with the Pharaohs (6th level) and The Pact Stone Pyramid (8th level) fit together and could possibly be tied into Mummy's Mask.

The Demon Within is an 11th level adventure that takes place in Mendev and could be tied to Wrath of the Righteous.


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Adventure Path and Card Game connections

Some of these are pretty obvious.

Rise of the Runelords is tied to the Rise of the Runelords set and the associated Season of the Runelords.

Curse of the Crimson Throne is tied to the Curse of the Crimson Throne set used with the new core set.

Skulls & Shackles is tied to the Skulls & Shackles set and the associated Season of the Shackles.

Wrath of the Righteous is tied to the Wrath of the Runelords set and the associated Season of the Righteous.

Mummy's Mask is tied to the Mummy's Mask set and the associated Season of Plundered Tombs

The Card Game Year of Rotting Ruin, which uses the Core Set and the Curse of the Crimson Throne Set, is supposed to take place after Tyrant's Grasp and is set in Lastwall.

Of the remaining Card Game seasons, Season of Faction's Favor (using the Mummy's Mask box) and Season of Tapestry's Tides (using the Skulls & Shackles box) are tied to Pathfinder Society seasons. As best as I can tell, Year of Reborn Strife is not tied to anything.


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Adventure Path Connections

Varisia Adventure Paths
Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and Second Darkness can all occur relatively simultaneously.

Jade Regent should occur after Rise of the Runelords and Second Darkness.

Rise of the Runelords, Shattered Star, and Return of the Runelords should occur in order.

Cheliax Adventure Paths
Council of Thieves should occur before Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance. Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance work well when they're played by two different parties running campaigns at the same time, but both come after Wrath of the Righteous.

Ustalav Adventure Paths
Carrion Crown, Strange Aeons, and Tyrant's Grasp occur in order.

Absalom Adventure Paths
Extinction's Curse and Agents of Edgewatch both occur on the Isle of Kortos. They should both occur after Tyrant's Grasp.


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Extinction's Curse:
Give the PCs a chance to learn Aroden stole from the xulgath, and add opportunities for them to seek to make reparations.

Gatewalkers:
Honestly, the first two adventures of this AP need to be re-written. I'm not sure how yet.


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As long as I have a job and finite time, I won't be able to play through every Adventure Path, but this is a summary of all the edits I would make, in one handy place for easy reference.

Crimson Throne:
Add a separate adventure with different PCs that takes place during A History of Ashes to demonstrate what happens in the city.

A Council of Thieves:
First, the first chapter could use an overhaul. It's boring, and sets the wrong tone for the setting.

Second, spend a significant chunk of time figuring out downtime activities and working on recruitment.

Kingmaker:

Serpent's Skull:
Oh, boy. My plan is to re-write almost everything except the first adventure and get rid of the PCs allying with the factions entirely. Instead of the PCs being members of factions, they are native Mwangi who are trying to prevent colonists from awakening a great evil.

Once they've cleaned up the colonist's mess in Book #6, finish the Adventure Path with another adventure where the PCs are active participants in overthrowing Sargava and establishing Vidrian.

Carrion Crown:
Work in Progress

For Trial of the Beast, the final dungeon needs to be redone. The timing of the final battle is atmospheric in concept, but doesn't really work in practice.

Skulls & Shackles:
Several of these adventures feel too sandbox-y, to the point where they're just strings of random encounters, especially because the PCs are roving the open ocean. The PCs need more options, many of which they won't pursue, but also each location should be slightly larger.

Also, consider swapping the last two adventures, and possibly adding adventures introduced by Legendary Games.

Reign of Winter:
Set the first adventure in the River Kingdoms in the PCs kingdom, to tie the adventure to Kingmaker.

Giantslayer:
Run the first adventure as a standalone adventure with human PCs. Run the rest of the Adventure Path with giant PCs, and rewrite adventures to have the opportunity for negotiating or stealth where appropriate.

Hell's Vengeance:
Tone down some of the brutality, and in particular eliminate all references to slavery. If I'm running an evil AP, I want to give the PCs an opportunity to summon demons, use evil class features, and wear a lot of red and black, not be unspeakably cruel.

Ruins of Azlant:
This AP is un-salvageable, and should be ripped from existence.


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I know I'm quite late to the party with PACG organized play, but I'm looking to get some more mileage out of my Mummy's Mask set and have a few questions.

First, when making characters, is it legal to combine a character from the Mummy's Mask set with a class deck? I'd like to do so if possible, because they fit with the set so well, but I'm unclear from the rules and the boons for Season of Plundered Tombs which of the following is true:

  • 1. I can't use any of the character cards from the box.
  • 2. I can use a character card from the box only if there is a card with the same name in a class set. (I think only Alahazra, Ezren, and Damiel qualify.)
  • 3. I can use any character card if I have a class set with a card of a matching class. (So only Zadim as a slayer would be illegal.)

Second, how do people usually print the proxy cards? Has anyone tried to print them on high-enough quality paper to use them as cards directly instead of using proxies?


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Haunting of Harrowstone, Chapter One

Trouble on the Dreamwake

Moderate 1:
6 commoners (Gamemastery Guide 214)
Three DC 15 Diplomacy or DC 17 Intimidate checks to disperse (critical success counts as two), a failed Intimidate or critically failed Diplomacy check (or multiple failures) incites the mob to attack.

Map: Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Bigger Forest
Miniatures: All from Pathfinder Pawns: Inner Sea Pawn Box

  • 4 Sodden Scavengers and 2 Sczarni Thiefs (the commoners)
  • Pathfinder Explorer (Ken Lorrimor)
  • Priest of Erastil (Father Grimbarrow)
  • Varisian Merchant (apothecary)
  • 2 Taldan nobles (council members)
  • Bellflower Tiller (young boy)
  • Priest of Caiden Cailen (tavernkeeper)
  • Silent Enforcer (Gibbs)

Gibbs

Low 1:
Gibbs
Creature 3
Unique NE Medium Human Humanoid
Perception + 6
Languages Dwarven, Varisian (Common)
Skills Farming Lore + 10, Stealth +8, Survival + 10
Str +5, Dex +1, Con +4, Int + 1, Wis + 0, Cha +1
Itemshalf-plate, war razor, waterskin, dead rats
AC 16; Fort + 12, Reflex +6, Will + 4 (+2 against fear effects)
HP 55
Speed 25 feet
Melee war razor + 12 (agile, backstabber, deadly d8, finesse), Damage 2d4 + 5 slashing plus 1d4 bleed

While Gibbs is in possession of the war razor and under the affect of Splatterman's magic, it is supernaturally sharp. Once outside of his control, it is a mundane war razor (Gods & Magic 121).

Map: Depends on location, but likely from Pathfinder Map Pack: Urban Sites or drawn free-hand.
Miniature: Silent Enforcer from Pathfinder Pawns: Inner Sea Pawn Box
Treasure: half-plate

False Crypt

Moderate 1:
2 giant bats (Bestiary 39)

Map: Twisted Caverns (spiral portion of the back)
Miniatures: 2 Stymphalidies (Pathfinder Pawns Bestiary 3 Box)
Treasure: holy water, minor elixir of life, minor healing potion, 2 spirit planchettes

Hungry Stirges

Low 1:
2 bloodseekers (Bestiary 42)

Fire

Severe 1:
2 flaming skulls (Bestiary 3 30)

Burning Building
Hazard 2
Complex Haunt
Stealth + 8 (expert)
Disable DC 18 Survival to beat out one of the 3 blazes, or DC 20 Religion to exorcise the spirits keeping a blaze going.
AC 15; Fort + 5, Reflex + 5
HP 15, only affected by cold or water damage
Alight (reaction) Trigger The bloodseekers enter the room. Effect Three squares light on fire. Anyone in these squares takes 2d6+2 fire damage (DC 18 basic Reflex save), and those in adjacent squares take 2 fire damage.
Routine (1 action) Each blaze grows one square towards the nearest creature. Anyone in a square occupied by the fire after it grows takes 2d6+2 fire damage (DC 18 basic Reflex save), and those adjacent take 2 fire damage.

Map: Starfinder Flip Mat: Cantina (front-side)
Miniatures: As for Trouble on the Dreamwake plus 2 magmin (Pathfinder Pawns Bestiary 3 box)
Treasure: If the PCs save the town hall from burning to the ground, the town rewards them with a 2nd level permanent item well-suited to the PCs (likely a +1 weapon), as well as 5 gold pieces each if they explain and promise to deal with the source of the threat.

Undead Surprise #1

Low 1:
3 elite skeleton guards (Bestiary 6, 298)

Miniatures: 2 random skeleton miniatures
Treasure: When defeated, one of the skeletons femurs bursts into magical flame, creating a macabre everburning torch.


Undead Surprise #2
Moderate 1:
2 zombie brutes (Bestiary 341)

Miniatures: 2 festrogs (Pathfinder Pawns Bestiary 3 box)
Treasure: A +1 weapon potency rune on a rusty axe.

Additional XP:
10 XP for event #2
10 XP for each DC 20 research check (3 possible)
10 XP for each DC 25 research check (7 possible)

The DCs of the research checks can remain the same, although the PCs will likely need access to the temple or great luck to research everything at 1st level.

Additional Treasure:
Each PC is gifted 5 gold pieces as part of the will.


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I'm prepping for an upcoming Carrion Crown campaign in Pathfinder 2E and plan to share my work here. We'll be using the Fast advancement speed and will likely have 6 brand new/mostly new players.

PC Rules
As the players are all fairly new, I'm expecting they'll start with mostly classes from the Core Rulebook and common character options. I did grant them access to the Uncommon ancestries/heritages of dhampir, duskwasker, aasimar, and tiefling from the Advanced Player's Guide however, with the caveat that any of these may attract unwanted attention.


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Timitius wrote:
So far, out of 36 submissions, all have managed to stay completely out of Absalom.

This statement surprises me, as I sent in a Weal or Woe tied to the Agents of Edgewatch AP on September 25th.


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From the first post:

Timitus wrote:
A hard target word count of 750 words does not apply to bestiary entries. See the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary or Bestiary 2 for examples of proper formatting and content.)


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Based off of previous years, Wayfinder doesn't choose which articles to accept until after the submission deadline, so they definitely still have space for monster articles. Plus, based off of Timitus' last post they've only received 2-3 so far.

Give it a shot, CorvusMask!


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Hmm, "pulled the trigger" almost certainly means "sent the submission" in this context. It's used to mean that someone has done something irreversible.


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Shalelu the elven ranger appears in a few other APs, most notably Jade Regent. She is good friends with Ameiko and travels a reasonably large area.

Ameiko has a half-sister in Westcrown, Cheliax named Amaya (Council of Thieves). According to the Pathfinder wiki (source listed is NPC from each AP article in Song if Silver) they've met twice.

There are Vancaskerkins in several APs, most of them similarly of low moral character. Most notably, Orik's father Saul owns a gambling Hall in Riddleport (Second Darkness). His brother Verik is a somewhat disreputable member of the Korvosan Guard (Curse of the Crimson Throne). His good-aligned Uncle Damon operates in Trunau (Giantslayers). His disowned Varisian half-sister also operates in Magnimar (Shattered Star), but he might not know about her.


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The player used an existing Pathfinder diety for Korrok's domain and favored weapon (one of the four horseman maybe?) but the backstory comes from the story John Isn't Dead. He's a Cthulhu-esque computer.


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Book 6: Sound of a Thousand Screams
Sessions: 1 plus pre-game preparation in a message thread
In - Game Time: 1 month
Character Deaths: Lia died but was brought back retroactively by better knowledge of the rules
Key character arc: Lia

Modifications: My players were ready to end the campaign at this point. Cut the adventure down to three fights: the Nightmare Rook, the faceless nymphs, and Nyrissa herself. Instead of needing bloom trophies to get into Nyrissa’s realm, the PCs only needed sympathetic magic - in the form of Lia pretending to be Nyrissa.

What went well: The players really enjoyed having the chance to look things up and use powers they hadn’t learned before. Nyrissa started out unassailable, and the PCs were only able to defeat her after casting dispel magic multiple times. This was a really good way to make the fight last multiple rounds and feel intimidating. The setting we didn’t have time to get to was also amazing, and thanks to shadow walk the PCs had a chance to see much of it without dragging down the game.

What went poorly: Although putting Nyrissa in a tiny room actually worked really well tactically, it didn’t feel as dramatic as it could have.


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Book 5: War of the River Kings
Sessions: 2, plus extended message threads
In - Game Time: 2 months
Character Deaths: Lia died in King Irovetti’s throne room, but was brought back immediately with breath of life
Key character arc: Soren

Modifications: Everything. First, added a one session Red Wedding adventure where the PCs were hired as bodyguards for the marriage of King Noleski. Then, reduced the entire book to some research (done over message threads) and a final confrontation with King Irovetti and Rilka once the PCs figured out he had Briar, first in the throne room and then on the battlefield in all-out war. Made Briar a staff to make it suit Lia, as she was the only player that hadn’t received a cool magic item yet and could use one. Gave King Irovetti clockwork troops (thank you Dudemeister for this suggestion).

Once the PCs killed Rilka and had the capital under siege, King Irovetti called for a truce, explained what the party didn’t know about Nyrissa, and asked the party to join forces with him to confront her.

What went well: The players really enjoyed coming up with what the PCs would wear to a wedding. Getting a chance to finally kill Rilka was also a long-deserved win.

What went poorly: I hadn’t had to design many encounters for this campaign, and jumping into designing encounters once the party was already level 12 or above was a challenge. It also made the fights feel much less fair. The fight in King Irovetti’s throne room was much too hard and, while that was appropriate (as the PCs really should have been over their head), I had to scale down the later encounters very quickly.


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Book 4: Blood for Blood
Sessions: 6
In - Game Time: 1 year and 3 months
Character Deaths: Jin and Lily died in the Tiger Lord’s tomb, although resurrection was much easier by this point
Key character arc: Jin

Modifications: Reduced much of the exploration. Also, the PCs categorically refused to invade and ended up travelling to Pitax to get King Irovetti to straighten out his new vassal. He was still denying any direct attacks on the kingdom, so this worked. He replaced Baron Drelev with an incompetent regent, backed by Rilka.

What went well: The bloodthirsty nature of the weapon in the Tiger Lord’s Tomb had a lot of potential, and led to some interesting discussions, although Jin avoided using it much. The dungeon was decent as well (especially as the PCs killed the derghodaemon before it could summon way too many swarms.)

What went poorly: There were a lot of issues with this adventure. First, while I don’t blame the module for assuming the kingdom would want to expand into Fort Drelev, the PCs completely disagreed with the main plot thread. Second, the exploration was much, much less interesting than in the preceding chapters. The boggard encounter, for example, involved a lot of low-level boggards. The naga proved much too powerful for the group to defeat and charmed everybody, but she also didn’t really have anything interesting to do with her charmed minions.


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Book 3: The Varnhold Vanishing
Sessions: Between 7 (for the actual module) and 15 sessions (if all of the modifications and kingdom events are included)
In - Game Time: roughly 1 year and 4 months
Character Deaths: near TPK to lobster demon
Key character arc: Kaija

Modifications: Made Vordekai a disciple of Korrok and added a chance to close the portal to Korrok’s realm in Candlemere Tower at the end. Also, moved the Rushlight tournament to the beginning of this adventure. Kaija received a copy of the fairy tale book when she started learning to read, and thanks to Silkenray on Deviant Art I actually had an illustrated copy to share.

What went well: The players actually really enjoyed Vordekai’s dungeon, despite not liking dungeons in general. Most of the encounters were unique and the encounters with undead cyclops didn’t feel repetitive. Totally by coincidence, Lia already met the requirements to destroy the Oculus. Destroying it and closing the portal was an epic session.

What went poorly: Definitely cut or ignored a fair amount of exploration. Managing kingdom building was also difficult. Ideally, the kingdom should have time to expand, but events lead to PCs taking action lead to XP, which creates the potential to outlevel the adventure. If I were to do this again, I might use the Legacy of Fire method of having a year of down-time and giving each PC a small boon based on how they choose to spend their time.


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Book 2: Rivers Run Red
Sessions: 8
In - Game Time: 4 and 1/2 months
Character Deaths: 2 (Soren and Alastor)

Modifications: Lots of small modifications:

  • * Included a short series of negotiations to recruit investors for initial BP (thank you Redcelt for suggesting this)
  • * Added a short diplomatic side quest to resurrect Soren. This was where Torvald was introduced.
  • * Players organized Candlenights, a winter holiday. Rilka tried to assassinate Howl-of-the-North-Wind and lost her hand as a result. Queen Mab made an appearance.
  • * Added a portal to Korrok’s realm to the top of Candlemere Tower, and runes mentioning Puck.
  • * Replaced all mentions of Gyronna with Korrok (Kaija’s deity)
  • * Switched to fast experience track for last part of adventure and removed repetitive troll encounters.
  • * Added jabberwock abilities to the troll king (thank you to Orthos)

What went well: NPCs continued to be top-notch. Both Old Beldame and Howl-of-the-North-Wind were introduced here, and became major characters throughout the campaign. Dealing with the character deaths ended up really advancing the story instead of hindering it. Players really had fun and did a good job taking the initiative, creating their own holiday and managing the kingdom.

What went poorly: My players aren’t generally a fan of huge dungeons, and the troll dungeon was definitely too big. Also, by the end of the book the number of small encounters were beginning to become tiresome, even if each individual encounter was well-written. Candlenights was hard because it was PC-organized, but still needed a GM to set parts of the scene. Should have asked for more details on what players were expecting. Still, these were minor details and the players had a lot of fun.


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Book 1: The Stolen Lands
Sessions: 7
In - Game Time: 3 months
Character Deaths: 0
Key character arc: Alastor

Modifications: Added a very short intro where the party met at a town hall to attempt to win the charter to explore the Stolen Lands. They lost to Kesten Garess, but he was disqualified due to his affair and they ended up getting the charter anyway. Also changed Dovan to Demetri, Alastor’s lost brother.

What went well: The best part of this adventure was that it had so many little details that could be expanded on if the players were interested. Rilka, one of the most hated villains of the entire campaign, was introduced here after 2 random encounter rolls. Radishes became the official country vegetable and the trademark of the campaign after the radish soup quest. With so many characters, the less interesting ones such as Kesten Garess and Akiros and even the fairy dragon ultimately fell to the wayside, but this only emphasized that the PCs had choice over how the campaign developed.

What went poorly: Nothing I can remember.


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A Cast of Thousands
The Kingmaker AP absolutely overflows with interesting NPCs, but the following are my top five favorites.

1. Rilka
Rilka started out as 2 consecutive rolls of hunter on the wandering encounters table in book 1, and became perhaps the most hated enemy of the entire campaign. The second time she showed up in the Stolen Lands, she challenged the PCs to a hunt and didn’t play fair. Then, she shot at Howl-of-the-North-Wind at Candenights and had her hand amputated as punishment. She eventually went to Pitax and became almost like a daughter to Irovetti, who gave her a clockwork replacement hand and blamed Pitax’s wrong-doings on her impulsiveness. Lia killed her in the penultimate session.

2. Magister Old Beldame
Old Beldame is an amazing character in the AP to start with. She’s a witch that lives in a hut, but she doesn’t have the witch class, and she has a cauldron but it’s filled with foul-tasting soup, nothing sinister. In our campaign, she knew the most about the First World and had a very protective way of keeping both the fey and Korrok out of her home. She became the kingdom’s magister. The first couple of times the PCs caused some trouble with the fey and didn’t come to her before it got out of hand, she chastised them thoroughly. They soon started coming to her for advice proactively, and she helped with much of the research to find Nyrissa.

3. Demetri
Of all the player-created NPCs, Demetri had by far the most fun spontaneous development and laid the groundwork for the rest. He took the king’s place after his brother (and PC) Alastor died, and caused a number of political questions as a result.

4. Former Treasurer Torvald
When Soren died in exploring the southern part of the Stolen Lands, the kingdom did not have enough money or magic to resurrect him. To secure the services of a cleric, they made a deal with Lord Garess. In return, they would support the dwarves of House Golka who no longer had a home and install Toval Golka’s loyal Torvald as treasurer. Torvald funneled off money from the kingdom to repay the debt, but also made many advances in mining technology that made up for the losses. Eventually, he discovered that Toval had been lying about his family’s disappearance and went off in search of them, around the same time Clif found out about his embezzlement and reported it, becoming the new treasurer. Torvald was one of my favorite NPCs mostly because, although he was really fully developed, the PCs never picked up on most of the hooks so the twist at the end came as a real surprise.

5. Howl-of-the-North-Wind
Many supporting NPCs had a moment in the spotlight as brief favorites, but Howl-of-the-North-Wind lasted until the end. He greeted the PCs as a very civilized winter wolf, and was treated as an honored ambassador in the kingdom. He disappeared briefly, struck by a frosty curse, and Kaija in particular was hurt by this and saw to his revival. She went to him multiple times for advice on how to control and live in harmony with primal rage.

Honorable Mention: Radishes
After the moon radishes in book 1, radishes became the official vegetable of Tu Vescun. They featured in wine and all of the kingdom’s best-known dishes, and were snacks the one lucky time three of us were all in one place for a session.


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Our group finally finished Kingmaker! Actually, we finished much earlier in the year, but it took me a while to get around to writing the summary.

Sessions: 39
Estimated Play Time: about 110 hours of gameplay
In-Game Time: 3.5 years
Out-of-Game Time: almost 3 years

This group was an absolute blast to GM. The players really blew me away with how much energy they put in to the game.

In addition to thanking my awesome players and the good folks at Paizo, a big thank you to Orthos (whose ideas for the fey and summer/winter courts I used liberally), Dudemeister (for the idea of giving King Irovetti clockwork), Redcelt (for the idea of doing a red wedding), Delvesdeep (whose Flood Festival inspires every holiday event I have run), Silkenray on Deviant Art (for the Zuddinger's Picnic art) and many, many other messageboard posters who inspired little bits and pieces of the campaign.

Main Cast
Presented in order of when their story arcs were addressed.

Alastor/Lily:

Alastor: male Varisian human ninja 5 (briefly Ruler)
Spymaster Lily: TN female tiefling brawler 16

Supporting Character: King Demitri (NG male Varisian vigilante 7)

Story Arc (Book 1): Alastor was forced to abandon his brother Demetri after he killed a rival Scarzni in his brother’s defense. Alastor eventually made it to Brevoy and joined up with a group out to explore the frontier. Demetri became increasingly disillusioned and brooding, eventually joining the Stag Lord’s forces (replacing Dovan from Nisroch). Demetri may have resented his brother’s burgeoning kingdom of Tu Vescun’s core interests at heart to begin with, but that changed when Aastor met his death at the hands of a fairy mistress. To avoid dissent from the loss of a king, Alastor’s friends convinced Demitri to disguise himself as Alastor and take his place. His fellow leaders made some attempt to replace the new “Alastor” with a democratic election, but Demitri ultimately won out and became a fair ruler.

Player’s Star Contribution: Alastor’s player had a firm grasp of the rules, especially grappling, and helped keep the game flowing whenever I got stuck on a rule’s question. He also had some incredibly cool character concepts.

GM 20/20 Hindsight: I tried to make Demetri too close to Dovan, instead of fitting him to Alastor’s backstory. He clearly wasn’t supposed to be a dark character. Also, Lily never really got tied in to the main plot.

Kaija Thrall:

Warden Kaija Thrall: CN female half-orc warpriest of Korrok 16

Supporting Character: Treasurer Clif the Bespectacled (NG male gnome expert 8)

Story Arc (Book 3): Kaija was more possessed by Korrok’s primal rage than a worshiper of him, living many years of her young life as an almost feral creature after her village was destroyed. When she discovered that he had a presence at Candlemere Tower, and even a rift to his realm, she knew it must be eliminated. With his disciple Vordekai dead at her feet, she found an artifact capable of destroying the portal, the Oculus of Korrok. Unfortunately, during the performance of the ritual to close the rift she fell under Korrok’s sway once more and had to be restrained by Lily. Luckily, she recovered in time to save Lily from the rift and gain control over her relationship with her god.

Player’s Star Contribution: Kaija’s player handled the vast majority of the kingdom rules, and even created an elaborate spreadsheet to help us keep track of everything. He also helped the newer players understand the rules and level their characters.

GM 20/20 Hindsight: I wish I spent more time to understand the rules for armies and play out the battles at the end of book 5, so all the kingdom building had a chance to pay off.

Jin Qi Zhong:

General Jin Qi Zhong: LN male “Tian/weretiger” fanglord skinwalker samurai 16

Supporting characters: Jin took the Leadership feat, and trained a small militia with four well-detailed sub-commanders. Sadly, I haven’t been able to find their descriptions again.

Story Arc (Book 4): Jin and his sister Lia spent their young adult years in Brevoy as foster siblings with House Surtova, as part of the traditional practice of swapping children to secure political allegiances. Jin was defined most by his dedication to his blind sister Lia and his honor. He served as a source of reason. His tiger inclinations helped him pass the trials of the Tiger Lord Barbarians and he earned the right to carry Armag’s naginata. He declined to wield it as he feared its bloodthirsty tendencies.

Player’s Star Contribution: Jin’s player is an amazing artist, and made character tokens on Roll20 for all the players. He also did an excellent job bringing everybody back in character and focused when the rest of us got sidetracked.

GM 20/20 Hindsight: In general, I wish I did more to develop Jin’s character arc. The Tiger Lord Barbarians were the part of the AP that most closely fit his character, but of all of them he could have benefited the most from bringing in additional material.

Soren:

Marshal Soren: TN male drow ranger 16

Supporting characters: animal companions Buttons (cat) and Albert (fairy dragon)

Story Arc (Book 5): When Lily and Kaija fell into the rift at the top of Candlemere Tower as it was closing, they released the fairy trickster Puck. Puck offered to save one in trade for the saving of his own life, but only one life for a life. To save both, Soren traded the life of a friend dear to him: his animal companion Buttons. Buttons escaped when Puck traveled through Nyrissa’s fairy realm and kept trying to contact Soren through dreams and brief appearances, but despite his best efforts the fairy magic always called the cat back before he could get close. Only when they all returned to Candemere Tower much later was Kaija able to end the curse that kept Buttons from seeing Soren for extended periods of time.

Player’s Star Contributions: This was Soren’s player’s first Pathfinder game, and he dove in with zeal. Soren’s obsession with hats and rings brought a lot of levity to the game and also allowed the party to pick up on some pretty delayed magic item connections. The player even created a language for the kingdom of Tu Vescun to give the town’s consistent names, and even a kingdom slogan.

GM 20/20 Hindsight: Finding Buttons really shouldn’t have taken as long as it did. I dragged on this part of the character arc until it was no longer fun, and should have rearranged some elements so the payoff happened earlier.

Lia Qi Zhong:

Grand Diplomat Lia Qi Zhong: NG female Tian wizard 16

Supporting characters: Latricia, diplomat in training

Story arc (Book 6): Blinded by a childhood sickness, Lia saw the world through the eyes of her monkey familiar. She was fostered to House Surtova along with her brother, Jin. Lia’s blindness saved both her and the kingdom multiple times, not only protecting her from the depredations of many beautiful fey, but also allowing her to destroy the Oculus of Korrok. However, it was her connection to a Tian sun god that most shaped her adventuring career, for it evoked Nyrissa’s jealousy. Throughout the Stolen Lands, fey spoke of how she resembled the summer queen. She was able to turn Nyrissa’s jealousy against her to provoke her into a confrontation and stop her once and for all.

Player’s Star Contribution: When we moved to a post format between combat sections towards the end of the campaign, Lia’s player kept the story going. He kept track of dangling plot threads to make connections and really made the 2+ years of plotting pay off. Along with Kaija’s player, he also helped significantly with scheduling sessions.

GM 20/20 Hindsight: I made Briar a staff for Lia, but never figured out how to stat it appropriately. It would have been great to see her wield it, as Jin, Soren, and Kiaja all got interesting magical items at some point. (Lily was a brawler and came in with more wealth than the other PCs at the time, so I don’t feel bad about her missing out on custom magic.)


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Another option: Have the trolls and the owlbear attack the town at the same time and end up fighting each other. An epic three-way battle between the owlbear, the trolls, and the militia would be a dramatic finale. You can use the owlbear as a balancer against whichever side takes the least damage.


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Name: Jin Qi Zhong
Race: skinwalker
Classes/Levels: Samurai 11
Adventure: Blood for Blood
Location: Armag's tomb
Catalyst: Iron Golem
The Gory Details: The guardians of Armag's tomb seemed to recognize Jin's tiger heritage and called him out by name. When the statue of Gorum challenged him, Jin took it as an offer of a duel and the rest of the melee hitters gave him space to fight unimpeded. Unfortunately, Jin's armor was no match for the golem's iron fists.

After four hits from the golem, Jin fell unconscious. His friend Kaija healed him, only to have the next pair of blows send him over death's door. Kaija brought him back with breath of life, but the samurai will have a fist-shaped scar over his heart for a long time.

Name: Lily
Race: tiefling
Classes/Levels: Brawler 11
Adventure: Blood for Blood
Location: Armag's tomb
Catalyst: freindly fireball

The Gory Details: Upon encountering a group of 8 bloodied skeletons, the party wizard Lia unleashed a barrage of fireballs while Kaija, Jin, and Lily blocked them off with melee. Kaija and Jin took care to avoid the firy blasts, but Lily insisted her tiefling heritage and quick reflexes would protect her.

Unfortunately, Lily didn't anticipate that Lia had the strength to knock out half the skeletons in a single blast, nor did her quick feet get him out of the blast radius in time. 51 fire damage and a failed Reflex save She burnt to a cinder along with the rest of the skeletons.

With Kaija's resources for restoring life depleted, Lia took her friends ashes and shadow walked to Jhod to ask for help in reviving the fool-hardy brawler.


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Wow, thank you for the quick response skizzerz and Frencois.


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I started playing through the Skull & Shackles basic set last week. It's great fun, but I have a pretty simple question:

Is the adventure path intended to be played with characters who have finished the introductory adventure Plunder and Peril, or should I build up new character decks from scratch?


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Name: Kaija Thrall
Race: half-orc
Classes/level: warpriest 8
Adventure: Varnhold Vanishing
Catalyst: Piscodaemon

Name: Lilly
Race: tiefling
Classes/level: brawler 8
Adventure: Varnhold Vanishing
Catalyst: Piscodaemon

Name: Jin's boar
Race: boar
Classes/level: animal companion to samurai 8
Adventure: Varnhold Vanishing
Catayst: Piscodaemon

The Gory Details: The brave rulers delved into the tomb of Vordekai, hoping to rescue the villagers and the daughter of the centaur tribe's high priestess. They battled past cyclopes and nasty traps to arrive at the prison battered and weary. The ugly crab demon guard allowed them to visit the prisoner unmolested, but they decided they couldn't simply leave the paralyzed centaur for another night. When their attempt to bluff past the piscodaemon failed, Jin attacked.

The battle became one of attrition. Noone had a way to easily get past the piscodaemon's profane hide and it shrugged of the barrage of many weak attacks. No one thought to prepare align weapon. First the piscodaemon battered the half-orc Kaija into submission, but she refused to slump into unconsciousness. For her bravery, the piscodaemon finished her off, than turned to face the brawler Lilly. After a few rounds of this punishment, she too hit the cavern floor and began to bleed out. Even though she stabalized each turn, she continued to take bleed damage.

Before Lilly's comrades could rush to heal her, the piscodaemon released a stinking cloud to try to get some relief from the constant pounding. Only Jin's loyal boar could stand the stench, so he stayed in the fog to allow the boar to continue beating down the daemon. His sister, Lia, and Soren retreated to a safe distance, but had to leave their fallen comrades behind. With only one threat remaining, the piscodaemon pounded the poor loyal boar to a pulp.

Luckily, the boar's sacrifice gave Soren and Lia enough time to recover from the stinking cloud in fresher air. Lia cast energy weapon to make Soren's bow ignite with sonic energy and his arrow shot true. The piscodaemon reeled and disappeared back to its dark home. They had just enough time to rush in and save Lilly with a potion.

(Since Kaija's player wasn't there, I actually had the piscodaemon switch the attack that would have killed Kaija to Lily, but she ended up unconscious anyway.)


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1. Kingdom size is simply the number of hexes your kingdom has currently claimed.

2. Consumption is your Kingdom's size (given above) + Consumption cost given for any edicts (+1 for token holiday, +1 for token promotion; note that you can drop these to no holiday's and no promotion to lower the consumption cost for each to 0) - any modifiers that specifically decrease consumption (2 per farm, 1 per fishery). Consumption is never negative.

3. The DC for your Stability checks is your Control DC, which is "20 + the kingdom's Size in hexes [See answer 1] + the total number of districts in all your settlements + any other modifiers from special circumstances or effects"

All of these answers come from the Kingdom terminology section of the rules, except for the specific modifiers for edicts and terrain improvements.


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My players and I are really enjoying the changes you've made to the Kingmaker campaign, but I do have one question:

Did you add any safeguards to keep the PCs from taking the various rings of the jabberwock that you placed around? They add great flavor, but they also seem like irresistable buffs to player characters and yet nobody seems to have become a half-jabberwock.


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Name: Alastor
Race: human
Classes/Levels: rogue 5
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Catalyst: shambling mound (directly), Dancing Lady (indirectly)

The Gory Details: After a long grueling battle with the Dancing Lady of the keep, where Alastor was mesmerized, pinned, and drained of a significant amount of blood, all thought that clearing out the rest of the keep would be easy. Without stopping to heal themselves, they returned to the Grimstalker's tower.

Emerging from hiding among the vines of the tower, a shambling mound burst forth, striking and grabbing the ruler of the small kingdom. Despite his friends attempt to save him, his already broken body was crushed to smithereens in the creature's tendrils.

(I moved the shambling mound to the Ruined Keep from the Lair of the Beast in order to eliminate the last dungeon and still have the Shamblesap quest. Admittedly the PCs were a little bit lower level, but the cause of death was really continuing to try to adventure after taking heavy Constitution damage.)


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Phase Six: Dancing, Fireworks, and the Arrival of the Queen
The feasters slowly finish their dinners, dwelling on the luxurious venison, as the dwarves set up large drums made of stretched animal skins and small anvils, beating them with work hammers. The dancers start to clamp and stomp, forming great big circles and holding hands. Little children who haven’t learned the dance moves yet burst through the circle to dance haphazardly in the center. Then the master dancers take their turns in the center, starting with a marvelously sweet performance from Oleg and Svetlana. (Used music from All Drums Go to Hell by Three Steps from Hell.)

Allow the PCs to take their turn dancing as well. A Perform DC 15 check is enough to get the others to clap for them. A Perform DC 21 or above check means everyone stops to watch them. If the PCs figured out the proper use for the gunpowder, fireworks burst overhead.

After two hours of dancing, everyone steps back, exhausted from the long day, to see the last display of fireworks. The drummers start an old folk song that no one knows the meaning of any more. (Used Lauf der Welt by Finsterfrost). A majestic firework sticks in the sky, lighting up the heavens, and a blindly beautiful and pale figure materializes and descends from the sky. Ice crusts her eyebrows and a dark purple cloak the color of midnight drapes perfectly symmetrically across her shoulders. She descends to earth in front of the rulers and says “well, this was a bit unorthodox, but it is Candlenights, and all the proper rites were completed, so I suppose I owe you a favour, as long as you promise to do one for me in return.”

This is Lady Cordellia, daughter of winter. She will grant the PCs one favor, in return for a favor to her, to be named later. Old Beldame uses message to whisper in a PC's ear that she would try to respectfully say no, and steps in to distract the Lady’s attention. She generally dislikes fey.


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Phase Five: The Feast
Everyone gathers as dusk hangs about the air, lighting paper lanterns and setting up a large outdoor feast table next to the bonfires, lining up the crude but study wooden benches. Two whole pigs and a deer turn over fire pits. The accomplished cooks set up their own rudimentary grills for radish medallions and meat patties, playfully competing to get more villagers to favor their cooking over that of the others.

Even though we couldn't cook them in person, I did find recipes for the dishes being served:


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Phase Four: Entertainment
The city remains quiet until the sun has reached its highest point. At high noon, the temporary bell Jhod and Torvald erected in the city rings out over the whole city. All across town, mugs clink out in cheers as everyone drinks the traditional first glass of radish beer, gulps down the last few bites of hearty radish and wolf meat soup, and heads out to the festival. It doesn’t take long to put the finishing touches on the games and entertainments and light the candles. Getting the bonfire takes slightly longer, but soon it too rages, and even the antlers burn with a faint fire thanks to the magic of the Old Beldame.

Events include:

Tyg Titter Tut and Pervilash: The two little fey creatures have become the favorites of a group of small children, performing magical tricks in exchange for radishes. Most of the tricks involve turning invisible and reappearing in a cloud of snow flakes, or short bursts of fire. The pair has taken an especial liking to a young girl named Tigg, who the grig pretends is named in her honor. A number of more mundane but well-behaving badgers and such are in attendance.

Howl-of-the-North-Wind: The wolfish guest takes the opportunity to be as noble as possible. He has brought a strand of pearls for the ruler and his escort (each strand is worth 25 gp) and is impeccably clean. Rilka takes the opportunity to attempt to hunt him down (Use stats from NPC Codex skilled sniper). If the PCs do not take counter measures, the wolf draws a crowd, and Rilka’s assassination brings up a cheer.

Grigori’s play: The play plays out exactly as it did in dress rehearsals, plus any modifications the PCs requested. It draws a small crowd laughing at the crass jokes and fey shenanigans.

Drinking contest: The drinking contest is a go-till-you-drop downing of spicy radish ale and milder but more alcoholic mushroom ale. Both are essentially really strong kumbucha. Winning the contest requires five consecutive Fortitude saves (DC 15, 18, 20, 22, 26). The winner gains a bottle of fine dwarven fire ale (Gamemastery Guide). The other contestants include a down-to-business Oleg (+3 Fortitude save, drops out on round 3), a rebellious Parsha (if-present, +5 Fortitude save, drops out on round 4), Akiros (Fort +10, only loses if a PC wins round 5). Akiros is a drunk and somewhat belligerent loser, lashing out at the PCs.

Archery contest: Jhod Kavken organizes a fair archery contest to encourage the villagers to train their archery skills. The goal is to blow out a candle held precariously in the prongs of an antler without knocking it out of the holster. The dwarves added an additional challenge: throwing hammers at a drum. Winning the contest requires hitting a DC 18 AC from 150 feet away (-2 range increment penalty with a longbow, -4 range increment penalty with a shortbow) three consecutive times, followed by hitting a DC 9 AC from 60 feet away with a light hammer (-6 range increment penalty) four consecutive times. The award is five +1 flaming arrows.


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Phase Three: Festival Morning
The dawn raises over a quiet, sleeping town, the noises of the morning muffled by a thin coating of snow. Candlenights antlers hang over the doors, candles burning slowly in the candle holders at the tips. The screams of mostly joyous children occasionally split the quiet.

Svetlana sets aside fresh infinite bread (Amish friendship bread) and radish jam for the PCs. They have some quiet time to exchange their own presents. When present giving has calmed down, Svetlana calls the PCs down to share presents by candle light. The PCs have their own presents for the PCs:

Svetlana has made everyone a batch of ginger cookies from a fresh batch of ginger she got just for the occasion. She also made little sweater vests for any small animal companions/familiars. Oleg has painstakingly covered wooden coaster sized pictures of each of the PCs. He also has a set of tusk rings, horseshoes, etc. for any large animal companions. Auchs forgot that it was present giving time, but is very sad when he finds out it is and asks if he can go get his present. He bursts back into the room with a dragon toy for the PC that befriended him the most and says “this is for you!!!” He has miniature swords for the rest of the party as well, although they are a little broken.


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Phase Two: Visitors
Most of the visitors I introduced were cameo appearances of characters from previous campaigns, which were a big hit. The one other visitor was everyone's favorite bard.

Grigori arrives with a troop of actors, putting on a satirical play in grand Shakespearian style about a new kingdom’s rulers. Grigori knows that defaming the PCs at their own elaborate festival is a loser’s game, and tries to make a satire that will appeal to their tastes. As a test run, he invites them to see a dress rehearsal the day before the festival. The play is called Midwinter’s Madness. It opens with the poem from Love,’s Labour’s Lost, scene 2.

Behind this monologue, the actors go about daily tasks oblivious to the fey around them. It’s a fun, light-hearted, comedy about bumbling villagers who slowly discover and then trick the fey into freeing them from a tyrannical and similarly oblivious mayor, mostly through sheer luck. A Sense Motive check opposed by Grigori’s Bluff score (+13), reveals the mayor is modeled after the PC ruler. Failure by 5 or more suggests that the PCs are the villagers, rebelling against the mayor that is Brevoy. If caught, Grigori denies any libel claims but agrees to change the play to be more acceptable. Of course, however they react, Grigori will surely use their reaction against them later.


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Phase One: Preparations
During a week, a character can focus on one activity to prepare for Candlenights. They can check in with any number of NPCs, but only get the benefits from one activity:

Spread the Word
Spend the week spreading the word to as many people as possible. And the end of the week, make a Diplomacy check. For every 5 points by which this Diplomacy check exceeds a DC of 10, one additional surprise occurs during Candlenights as the faregoers outdo themselves with ideas for the party. Example surprises come from the following list.

Varnhold fireworks: Caspar Morgarion from Varnhold comes to Tu Vescun with a wagon of supplies, offered as a gesture of gratitude from Maeger Varn and his villagers. The main good in the wagon is a white powder that some of their explorers saved from a group of bandits centered in Pitax. Although neither Caspar nor Varn understood how to use the powder, Torvald (the dwarf NPC council member I created to oversee the gold mine) recognizes it as gunpowder immediately and offers to use it to put on a firework show for Candlenights. The PCs can recognize what it is with a Knowledge (engineering) DC 15 check, or realize Torvald probably would recognize it with a Knowledge (local) or Diplomacy DC 15 check. Caspar also wants to check in on Jhod, to see how the temple of Erastil here is progressing and trade advice.

Visiting dignitaries: A young member of House Orlovsky (or whatever noble house one of the PCs is a member of), Parsha (LN female human aristocrat 1/warrior 1), and her two young friends Marice Lovsk (LN female human cavalier [order of the dragon] 1) and Rori Lovsk (LN female human sorcerer [draconic bloodline] 1) come to see the party. They claim to be just visiting for the festival and to see Parsha’s long-lost relative. Of course, the patriarch Lord Poul Orlovsky sent the trio to try to draw [the PC] back into the family in case the kingdom does end up with political power. Parsha brings a cloak with eagle feathers embroidered on the back as a present (functions as a cold weather outfit).

Prepare Appropriate Religious Observances
Research and prepare events to correctly honor all of the gods correctly during the festival. At the end of the week, make a Knowledge (religion) check. A DC 10 check is sufficient to remember the proper prayers for Erastil. For every 5 points by which this check exceeds the DC, they remember another appropriate ritual (Torag, Pharasma, Gorum)

Ritual of Erastil: Followers of Erastil celebrate with a community hunt, followed by a simple feast of Venison, warm cider, and archery competitions. Successfully following the rites makes Jhod even more friendly towards the kingdom rulers and grants everyone in the kingdom a +1 sacred bonus on ranged attacks against animals and magical beasts for one month.

Ritual of Pharasma: Followers of Pharasma celebrate with appropriately religious caroling to celebrate the cycle of life and death and drive away evil spirits. Successfully following the rites grants everyone in the kingdom a +1 sacred bonus on saving throws against attacks made by undead for one month.

Ritual of Gorum: Followers of Gorum celebrate with ritualized combat and the banging of swords and shields, which sounds sort of like a heavy metal concert. Successfully following the rites grants everyone in the kingdom a +1 sacred bonus on melee attacks against humanoids and monstrous humanoids for one month.

Ritual of Torag: Followers of Torag celebrate by crafting intricate ornaments for decoration, finding devotion in the act of creation. The dwarves hold a ceremonial lighting of the forge at dusk before Candlenights and the forge must remain lit until daylight the day after Candlenights. Successfully following these rites grants a +1 sacred bonus on crafting checks for one month, and also grants the rulers a +1 bonus on Diplomacy checks to deal with the local dwarven population.

Make decorations or food
Spend the week crafting or preparing something for the festival. At the end of the week, make an appropriate Craft, Profession, or Perform check. The exact benefits depend on the DC achieved.

DC 10: An appropriate NPC rewards the PC with a small present of masterwork artisan’s tools. For example, Old Beldame provides an impressive set of finely crafted knitting needles to anyone who knits, Svetlana provides a bundle of well-preserved spices for cooks (along with a promise to refill them in the future), or a younger dwarf named Hark makes a gift of a set of prized dwarven carpentry, smithing, or stoneworking tools.

DC 15: The items the PC makes are well appreciated, granting a +2 circumstance bonus on all Diplomacy checks during Candlenights and in the month after.

DC 20: In the month to come, villagers start a new fashion in the PCs name. Someone in town recognizes the PCs skill and offers them a secret recipe or plan. For Perform, this is a rare bard spell (treat as a bonus spell known; for a non-bard, this is the ability to cast a level 0 bard spell 1/day with a DC 20 Perform check). For Craft, this is a magic item (allow the PC to craft that one specific item as if they had Master Craftsman and Craft Wondrous Item or Craft Magic Arms and Armor).

DC 25: Word of the PCs master-craftsmanship spreads all the way to Brevoy. A month after Candlenights, a noble in Brevoy asks to make a special commission.


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All of the LARP ideas are absolutely fantastic. Unfortunately, since my group spans 2 continents and 3 time zones at the moment, that wasn't an option. Pennywit was right about planning being key. Of course, very little of that plan survived contact with the PCs, but I will post what I did plan in case anyone is interested.


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My players have decided to throw a Candlenights festival and are really looking forward to an RP-filled player-driven session. Which is awesome. However, I'm not really sure how to prepare for or run something like this. Obviously, the players will be driving the action, but there are are so many NPCs involved and the potential for lots of party splitting.

Has anyone else run something like this? Do you have any tips for giving each PC/NPC a fair amount of time?

For some context of the NPC's involved, we're a short ways into book 2, with some initial politics and forshadowing that "summer is coming" thanks to Orthos's and Redcelt's wonderful modifications.


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Duiker wrote:
I'm surprised that #12 was so low. That's the Osirion Wayfinder, and it's been instrumental to my Mummy's Mask campaign. The Side Trek Seed in there by Bran Hagger and/or Cole Kronewitter in which the ancient little girl had been trapped for thousands of years in the forgotten tomb? My players really ran with it. She's a fully fleshed out NPC now and probably their favorite one in the game.

Wow, thank you Duiker! (I'm the first author you listed and wrote that particular Side Trek Seed.) That was my first entry to Wayfinder and it received significant improvement from whichever great editor edited it. Glad to see someone found it useful.


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Minor formatting question: For submissions, how should we reference non-core products? In the actual Wayfinder publication these are denoted with superscripts, but that seems to fall under fancy formatting.


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My players haven't gotten to Candlemere yet, but I'm planning on expanding it slightly. Not so much as to b a whole dungeon, but enough to be more memorable than the stream of will-o'-the-wisps.

First, I'm replacing the wisps with Rorkoun (from the Rivers Run Red bestiary), the tentacle extensions of an insane god reaching up from a portal below the tower. They'll be attacked by only one pair of Rorkoun before the creature gives up on them, but any settlers to the region will also be attacked (no claiming the hex until the creature is dealt with).

Actually clearing the Old God's presence from the tower will require:

  • Deciphering the writings inside the tower, then extrapolating how to reverse the portal (requiring a DC 30 Spellcraft check and a DC 30 Knowledge(religion, nature, or arcana) check). Old Beldame or a library back in Brevoy can help them with this check.
  • Defeating Hargula and the enraged owlbear, the two insane connections the old god has in the region
  • Actually performing the ritual in the center of Candlemere tower while enduring attacks from the tentacled creature

Currently I'm stuck on trying to figure out how to stat up the tentacled creature for the attack during the ritual. My initial thought was a kraken, but even with lax ideas about what CR of creatures the party can expect to face, that would mean they don't stand a chance of restoring the keep until the last adventure, if ever. Either a pair of (possibly mythic) yithians or a mythic hydra on the other hand, seem a little too easy.

(Sorry about the necro, but it seemed to make more sense than starting yet another Candlemere thread.)


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I've started to put together a collection of summer-themed magic items (inspired by Orthos' summer and winter courts for the Kingmaker AP), but doubt I'll be able to fill a whole 750 words in time.

Would anyone be interested in doing a compilation article (either with more summer-themed items, winter-themed items, or whatever comes to mind)?


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Name: Soren
Race: half-elf (drow)
Classes/Levels: ranger 3
Adventure: Rivers Run Red
Catalyst: Tendriculos

The Gory Details: Brevoy's chartered explorers of the Stolen Lands eagerly continued exploring into the Greenbelt in search of mushrooms for Old Beldame before they had a chance to train their skills further. They came upon the disgusting mud bowl, and all but one were overcome by the nauseating vapors when an immense tentacled monster lurched to life.

The incapacitated members of the band tried to retreat as best the could while the one rider still in charge of his faculties held it off. Unfortunately, the half-drow ranger of the group miscalculated the length of the massive plant's vines and was subjected to a powerful barrage of tentacles that knocked him out. The tendriculos picked up the poor drow bodily, and he died in its maw.

Kaija the half-orc soon followed Soren, and cut her way out of the great creature's stomach. Although they recovered his body, there was no signs of life.