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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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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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.
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.
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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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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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.
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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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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.
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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.
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.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
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.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
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.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
John Mangrum (above) was kind enough to post the great and very thorough conversion to Pathfinder he's describing, so a lot of the work is already done if you want to run by the pathfinder rules.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Posting the first of my conversion notes. The rest of the levels probably won't follow for a while (this group plays pretty sporadically).
The Great Hall
Claws of Lamashtu:
Claws of Lamashtu
CR 11 (12,800 xp)
Gnoll ranger 6/fighter 5
CE Medium humanoid (gnoll)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +15
Defense AC 16, touch 11, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +1 Dex)
hp 98 (11d10+1d8+33)
Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +4; +1 vs. fear
Offense Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Melee +19/+14/+9 +1 dire flail (1d8+7) or
+17/+17/+12/+12/+7 +1 dire flail (1d8+7)
Spells (Caster Level 3rd; concentration +4)
1st – charm animal (DC 12), resist energy Statistics Str 21, Dex 12, Con 17, Int 8, Wis 13, Cha 6
Base Atk +11; CMB +16; CMD 27
Feats Cleave, Diehard, Double Slice, Endurance, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (dire flail), Improved Two Weapon-Fighting, Iron Will, Power Attack, Two Weapon Defense, Two Weapon-Fighting, Weapon Focus (dire flail), Weapon Specialization (dire flail)
Skills Handle Animal +7, Intimidate +7, Perception +16, Stealth +10, Survival +10
Languages Gnoll
SQ armor training, favored enemy (humans +4, elves +2), favored terrain (desert), hunter’s bond (companions) 1 round, two-weapon combat style, weapon training (flails +1), wild empathy
Combat Gearpotion of cure moderate wounds; Other Gear+1/+1 dire flail, +2 studded leather, cloak of resistance +2, belt of giant strength +2
Pathfinder Mercenary:
Pathfinder Mercenary
CR 8 (4,800 xp)
Human fighter 9
NE Medium humanoid
Init +2; Senses Perception +9
Defense AC 23, touch 13, flat-footed 20 (+2 shield, +7 armor, +2 Dex, +1 dodge, +1 natural)
hp 68
Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +4; +2 vs. fear
Offense Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Melee +16/+11 +1 bastard sword (1d10+8/19-20)
Ranged +15/+10 +1 light crossbow (1d8+5) or
+13/+13/8 +1 light crossbow (1d8+5)
Statistics Str 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +9; CMB +13; CMD 25
Feats Alertness, Dodge, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Bastard sword), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Reload (light crossbow), Rapid Shot, Weapon Focus (bastard sword), Weapon Focus (crossbow), Weapon Specialization (bastard sword), Weapon Specialization (crossbow)
Skills Acrobatics +7, Climb +16, Intimidate +7, Knowledge (religion) +4, Perception +7
SQ armor training, weapon training (crossbows +2, heavy blades +1)
Combat Gearpotion of cure moderate wounds; Other Gear+1 bastard sword, +1 light crossbow with 20 bolts, +1 buckler, +1 chainmail, amulet of natural armor +1, wayfinder
The Weaver:
The Weaver
CR 14 (38,400 xp)
Ogre mage sorcerer (infernal bloodline) 12
CN Large outsider (giant, native, oni, shapechanger)
Init +6, Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +13
Defense AC 22, touch 13, flat-footed 18 (-1 size, +2 Dex, +6 natural, +1 dodge, +3 armor, +1 deflection)
hp 247 (12d6 + 8d10 + 160)
Fort +20, Ref +10, Will +20; +4 vs. poison
SR 19; Resist fire 10
Offense Speed 40 ft., fly 60 ft. (good)
Melee +25/+20/+15 +2 greatsword (3d6+11)
Ranged +17/+12/+7 +1 composite longbow (2d6+7)
Spells Known (Caster Level 12th, concentration +19)
6th (4/day) – mass suggestion (DC 23)
5th (6/day) – dominate person (DC 22), hold monster (DC 22), mind fog
4th (7/day) – charm monster (DC 23), confusion (DC 21), dimension door, greater invisibility
3rd (8/day) – displacement, nondetection, secret page, shrink item, suggestion (DC 20)
2nd (8/day) – cat’s grace, detect thoughts, fog cloud, locate object, make whole, scorching ray
1st (8/day) – comprehend languages, identify, magic missile, protection from good, shield, unseen servant
0 (at will) – arcane mark, detect magic, detect poison, ghost sound, mage hand, mending, message, read magic, resistance
Spell-like Abilities (Caster Level 21st)
Constant – fly
At will – darkness, invisibility
1/day – charm monster (DC 21), cone of cold (DC 21), gaseous form, deep slumber (DC 20)
Special Attacks corrupting touch 10/day, hellfire 1/day (DC 23)
Statistics Str 28, Dex 15, Con 27, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 24
Base Atk +14; CMB +27; CMD 36
Feats Brew Potion, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Craft Wondrous Item, Dodge, Eschew Materials, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Armor, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Skill Focus (weaving), Spell Penetration
Skills Bluff +22, Craft (weaving) +24), Diplomacy +22, Disguise +30, Fly +11, Intimidate +18, Knowledge (arcana) +14, Knowledge (history) +12, Perception +13, Sense Motive +13, Spellcraft +14, Use Magic Device +18
SQ change shape (small, medium, or large humanoid; alter self or giant shape 1), flight
Combat Gearwand of summon monster IV (20 charges), 2 potions of cure moderate wounds; Other Gear+2 greatsword, +1 composite longbow (+7 Str) with 20 arrows, robe of armor +3 (as bracers of armor +3), cloak of resistance +2, shirt of health + 2 (as belt of constitution +2), ring of protection
Fighter Fresco:
Fighter Fresco
CR 9 (6,400 xp)
Human fighter 10
N Medium humanoid
Init +6; Senses Perception +1
Defense AC 24, touch 13, flat-footed 21 (+2 Dex, +3 shield, +8 armor, +1 dodge)
hp 85 (10d10 + 30)
Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +4; 3 vs. fear
Offense Speed 40 ft. (8 squares)
Melee +21/+21/16 +1 bastard sword (1d10+10/19-20)
Special Qualitieshaste Statistics Str 20, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +9; CMB +15; CMD 27
Feats Blind-fight, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (bastard sword), Great Cleave, Greater Weapon Focus (Bastard sword) Improved Initiative, Power Attack, Quick Draw, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (bastard sword), Weapon Specialization (bastard sword)
Skills Acrobatics +12, Climb +17, Intimidate +12
Special Qualities armor training, haste (CL 20th, lasts 4 minutes), weapon training (heavy blades +2, light blades +1)
Gear+1 bastard sword, +2 chainmail, +1 heavy steel shield, belt of giant strength +2
Hetfish Swarm:
Hetfish Swarm
CR 5 (1,600 XP)
N tiny magical beast (aquatic, fire, swarm)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +12
Defense AC 18, touch 17, flat-footed 13 (+2 size, +5 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 67 (10d10 + 10)
Fort +8, Ref +14, Will +3
Defensive Abilities swarm traits, immune fire, half damage from slashing and piercing weapons; Weakness vulnerable to cold
Offense Speed swim 80 ft. (16 squares)
Melee swarm (2d6 fire)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks burn (1d6, DC 18), distraction (DC 16)
Statistics Str 2, Dex 20, Con 12, Int 2, Wis 10, Cha 1
Base Atk +10; CMB - ; CMD –
Feats Ability Focus (burn), Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes
Skills Perception +12, Swim +18; includes +8 racial swim
Special Qualities swarm traits
Advanced Fiendish Hetfish Swarm
CR 7 (3,200 XP)
N tiny magical beast (aquatic, fire, swarm)
Init +11; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +14
Defense AC 22, touch 19 flat-footed 15 (+2 size, +7 Dex, +3 natural)
hp 85 (10d10 + 30)
Fort +10, Ref +16, Will +5
Defensive Abilities swarm traits, half damage from slashing and piercing weapons, immune fire, resist cold 10; DR 5/good; SR 12
Weakness vulnerable to cold
Offense Speed swim 80 ft. (16 squares)
Melee swarm (2d6 fire)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks burn (1d6, DC 20), distraction (DC 18), smite good 1/day (+10 damage)
Statistics Str 6, Dex 24, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 14, Cha 5
Base Atk +10; CMB -; CMD –
Feats Ability Focus (burn), Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes
Skills Perception +12, Swim +20; includes +8 racial swim
Special Qualities swarm traits
Terrible Iron Golem:
Terrible Iron Golem
CR 18 (153,600 xp)
N Large construct
Init -1; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +0
Defense hp 210 (25d10 +60)
Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +8
DR 20/adamantine; Immune construct traits, magic
Offense Speed 20 ft., fly 20 ft. (perfect)
Melee +36/+31/+26/+21 +5 keen longsword (2d6+18 plus poison/17-20) or
+32/+27/+22/+17 +5 keen longsword (2d6+18 plus poison/17-20) and +32 +5 keen whip (1d4+12 plus petrification)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks bonded weapon, breath weapon, petrification, poison, powerful blows
Statistics Str 34, Dex 9, Con -, Int -, Wis 11, Cha 1
Base Atk +25; CMB +37; CMD 46
Feats Two-Weapon Fighting
Special Abilities Breath Weapon (Su):As a free action every 1d4+1 rounds, the terrible iron golem can exhale a 15 foot long cone of fire. This deals 17d8 fire damage (Reflex DC 24 halves). The save DC is Constitution based.
Powerful Blows: An iron golem inflicts one and a half times its Strength modifier in damage with its attacks.
Bonded Weaponry, Petrification, and Poison: As Dungeon #112 29, except save DC is 24.
Bodak: See Bestiary 2
Room 12: According to the rules in the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, the spear trap is CR 13, not 11.
A few minor changes to the rooms in the Great Hall help tie it in to Golarion:
Room 7a: The rightmost sigil is the personal sign of Lord Gyr, and can also be identified with a Knowledge (nobility) check (same DC).
Room 15: The obscene tapestry is of Nocticula, not Malcanthet. The patterns in the partially damaged tapestry can be detected with Knowledge (religion) instead of Knowledge (arcana); the patterns are an element of sacred Desnan artwork. In the tattered, stained tapestry the refugees look on the city of Quantium covered in a thick green fog – the attack in which Nex went missing.
Room 17: The note refers to the address of a shop near the Pathfinder Lodge in Absalom, not Bard Street.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
I'm finally getting a chance to run a group through Maure Castle. The twists: Starting at level 14, in Pathfinder/Golarion.
Location: I'm placing the castle on the Isle of Kortos (near Absalom), underneath the Spire of Nex.
Maure family: The Maure family were powerful mages who served Nex while he was alive. When Nex abandoned his plan to conquer Absalom, the Maures established their halls below the Spire of Nex in hopes of investigating the various magical creations and demiplanes that he left behind. Over time, the Maures got frustrated trying to with the traps Nex left behind and turned to dark magic.
Pathfinders/Seekers: Eli is a member of the Pathfinders who has been dedicated to the study of Maure Castle for years. As a faithful Pathfinder, he has reported his story to the Society, but his official account stop at the Unopenable Doors.
Yeenoghu/Lamashtu: The gnolls that have come to Maure Castle came at Lamashtu's bidding. In room 124 the statue of the King of Ghouls is replaced by a statue of Yethazmari, Lamashtu's herald, and the falchion of Lamashtu it holds between its teeth is part of a ritual in the deeper levels tat allows even a non-worshipper to call her herald and bind it - permanently. It is this threat/potential that has prompted her interest in the castle.
Dalt: Although his name is unknown today, Dalt is the human form of the blind boy from Swallowtail Festival fame.
Lord Gyr/Mordenkainen's Group: In much younger years, Lord Gyr and his adventuring companions checked in on House Maure, which he had learned about from looking through the private archives at the Arcanamirim in Absalom. When he found Pathfinder interlopers there, he dispatched them. The PCs could search for records on House Maure at the Arcanamirium, but gaining access to the records should be an adventure in itself. Most of those with records of House Maure believe the place is now abandoned. Lord Gyr still has a key that can open the Unopenable Doors.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
It's been a while since I was a new GM, but we've all been where you are. My main tip is to not worry about knowing the details of every single ability. A typical fight only lasts 6 rounds or so. You only have to know the abilities they will use in this few rounds (ie. just their best 4-6 abilities), and you only need to know those at the simplified explanations that you give in your example.
If it's a non-spellcasting character, you can get away with only knowing their melee stats, whichever feats, abilities, or combat maneuvers are listed in their tactics, and any passive abilities under defensive abilities or listed next to their attacks.
For spellcasters, you only need to know their most powerful level of spells (and the spells one level lower at higher levels). Focus on the spells listed under their tactics.
Don't worry about skills for NPCs at all. Mostly skills are a way of challenging PCs outside of combat. There are few rare circumstances where they could come up in combat, but you can ignore those without too much difficulty. If your players ask about an edge case for an ability or skill and you need any more detail, you can either look it up during the game (if you have the option) or just go with what sounds reasonable and look it up after the game.
Also, one chunk of good news is that Erlyium is the most complicated opponent your players will be encountering for a while.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
If you mean, how do you get a faction icon to show up next to your alias in a thread, go to My Accounts (at the top of the page), click on the Edit button under Messageboard Settings, and then select one of the options for faction to display. I believe each alias can have a different faction.
If you're referring to actually setting the faction of a PFS character so that Paizo can keep track of how many faction members there are, again go to My Accounts, but click on Make Changes under My Pathfinder Society. This should show you a list of your PFS characters. For an existing registered character, click the Edit button next to the character. For a new character, click on Register a New Roleplaying Character. Either way, you should end up with a set of radio buttons to choose from, as well as some other information to fill in about the character.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Welcome to the game! I'm still pretty inexperienced myself, and I haven't had a chance to look at the beginner's box, but here's my best guess.
1) I would just get another piece of paper and write down the third weapon's stats on that instead of erasing every time. You can drop a weapon as a free action, or draw one as a free part of a move action if you have +1 BAB (base attack bonus). Otherwise, drawing or sheathing a weapon is a move action.
2) Paizo put out a few free adventures (stories) for RPG game day and other promotions: We be Goblins, We Be Goblins Too, Master of the Fallen Fortress, and Risen from the Sands. When you're ready, setting up your own stories is really fun. You don't have to write everything out like they do in the booklet, so it's not as time-consuming as it might seem.
3) There are loads of adventures (stories) to choose from in your local game store. The Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook and Pathfinder RPG Bestiary are good sources for explaining more advanced rules and understanding the references. If you come across a reference in a story to a product you don't have, you can look up the rules in the Pathfinder Reference Document, a great free online resource.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder Rulebook Subscriber
Frankly, I think the descriptions you linked to aren't super spoilery. Most of the spoilers you can either figure out from the covers and AP book titles, or you'll know by the end of the first book. Knowing a little about what's coming also helps you make characters that better fit the story. If you want as few spoilers as possible, though, you can just stick to themes.
Rise of the Runelords: Classic fantasy.
Curse of the Crimson Throne: Urban campaign where you learn to love the city. Resistance fighters.
Second Darkness: Introduction to the mysterious drow. Okay, that might be a minor spoiler, but there is a drow on four of the six covers.
Legacy of Fire: Arabian Nights, genies.
Council of Theives: Make life a little bit better in Westcrown, a once proud town in devil-worshiping Cheliax.
Kingmaker: Kingdom building and exploration.
Serpent's Skull: Think Indiana Jones.
Carrion Crown: A whirlwind tour of all kinds of horror.
Jade Regent: Travel to the part of Golarion most closely modeled on ancient Asia.
Shattered Star: A return to the story of Rise of the Runelords.
Reign of Winter: Inspired by Russian mythology. Very cold.
Wrath of the Righteous: Crusaders against the demon hordes of the Worldwound.
