Daniel Scholler's page

EPIC!! Thank you so much for sharing! Always a joy to see the results of your efforts.

Thanks for following along and supporting us, it means a lot to know that there are people enjoying what we are creating, it really does make it worth it! This adventure path was such a diverse experience to play through; by the end, our stories as player characters were eclipsed by the greater story we had built in our downtime, and it was such an unexpected treat. Kyra stayed the most active of all characters between each volume, even converting three other characters to Sarenrae over the course of the campaign! I always love playing support characters and pushing forward the team, so to be able to fulfill that role in a much larger meta-sense was very fulfilling. It’s been a real pleasure to share this years-long experience with all of you!

Huzzah!

Thanks, this one had its close moments!

150 published adventures is quite a feat, indeed. I don't think I've even read that many. What are the Order's favorite 10 they've played or DMed?

Oh, oh, oh, I love this question!

Here are some of my favorites played with the Order:

1. The Lost Island of Castanamir
2. Black Stars Beckon
3. City in the Deep

An amazing recap! Great final thoughts. Congrats on this achievement but also all those real life ones with family, career, and all! I hope to see some Runelords ahead after ya deal with the end of the Ruins!

Thanks Rob, that means a lot since I was one of the group with a big change in my professional life which made the playtest harder for us. I'm kind of sad it's over now, I'll miss everyone on the team for a few months!

For the future I agree, and I am pushing for Runelords too (we are in part five but haven't released anything yet). Lem and his llama are ready for some more action!

Kind of random, but I was looking at these photos all put together and just noticed how much orange-through-amber is in Adam's world. That's how it should be I guess, it's his dice bag that has the Amber Die in it.

Congratulations OAD for completing the playtest and doing so with a winning record! It sounds like you finished on an epic note. I loved the pictures, particularly the dragon one. It seems as if all of your PCs really has a chance to shine in this. Well done!

Thanks, K, there's a huge sense of relief not only having completed the playtest, but also doing it successfully! The dragon fight was definitely an epic one, it's breath weapon was something to be feared. We managed to make it through that fairly unscathed, relatively speaking of course, with a few meteor swarm spells.

I had a blast going through this last part of the playtest, pushing our classes to the limits to accomplish our goals. So glad that you could come along for the ride, it makes the work that much more worth it. WE DID IT!!!

I just give one extra hero point to those players that make the surveys. Lol

That works! Out of game responsibility for each group is different, but I like the idea of encouraging players to contribute more to their group.

In a normal session for the Order, my roles involve: double-checking stat blocks for all players (2-3 hours in the week before a session), showing up an hour early to help Adam with last-minute details, cleaning up and doing dishes after the session (I prefer this!). No one shows up empty-handed to a session, so we can make a pretty big mess. I've been known to bake brownies too. If it's a full marathon, my roles also include tracking session hours, setting and keeping to the schedule of play, helping Erick with the initiative board, digging for rules clarifications on the PFSRD, and waking everyone in the mornings. The last one is the hardest!

Thank you Order of the Amber Die for tracking everything with such detail! Great snapshots!

Thank you, we all try to choose some data to track that might be interesting, and it's fun to look back at it. It can be challenging at times to remember everything as we play, but we all remind each other to make sure the data is properly recorded. I was happy to survive!

Adam Smith wrote:

Flurry it was played as 0/0, then -4 (agile) and -8 (agile).

This does seem to be an incorrect reading of the ability, as it does 2 Strike actions, both of which have the Attack trait (and thus both are separately affected by MAP).

I could see an argument for both strikes occuring at the same time and thus not affecting each other, but then the remainder of the attacks would be at -8 with agile (since you've already had two actions with the attack trait from Flurry). However, with the conspicuous absence of such language from the Flurry description (whereas Double Slice includes it, for example), I'm fairly certain 0/-4 for flurry is the correct reading.

Yes, received confirmation to end the debate. No matter how we've each chosen to play it, correct ruling is 0/-4, which--most importantly--means Lem might just have a chance at showing Sajan up in a combat on the next blog. Hehehe!

Awesome, I'm glad to hear that it took so long because you were attempting a few different ways of creation while at the same time trying to piece a new system together. Thank you for giving some insight on that, I look forward to seeing the rest of your guy's feedback as I sadly do not have a group available to really participate in the play test.

I'm glad we could ease some of your concerns, I had some of the same feelings after I saw how long it took me. The time it took me to build a higher level character (soon to show up as our playtest continues) was probably close to the same as my first, so I'll take that as a positive that I'm learning the mechanics of a system.

We're super excited to be continuing our journey in the playtest, it's a shame that you aren't able to experience the full effect, but sometimes an observer can give a needed impartial observation! If we can help facilitate a vicarious gaming experience, then all of this is more than worth it. It's been a good deal of effort for us players so far, so thanks again for the kind words, it makes this experience so much better.

So I'm curious about something you had noted. The average time you said about character creation was about 2 and a half hours. Now was that time spent from each person working solely on their character, or was that chunk of time spent trying to figure out how to put characters together?

Good question, and Evilbob with his comment as well. I can add a little, since I was the one who had the shortest time at 75 minutes. We all felt like we could have made these characters faster than the average came out, but because of a few factors the time did seem a little high to us after we tallied it. One of us tried to see if it could be done using his phone and came in somewhere close to three hours. We were also learning a new system, and weren't sure whether to include the time it took us to read the rules about our characters as well. In addition, we hadn't memorized where everything was located in the rulebook, so there was time lost on searching that doesn't occur as much after playing the same edition for a while. You both raise some interesting points, I'll be in part three next, so I'm hoping to have more perspective soon!

Shpaackle wrote:

+1 weapons do an extra die of damage when they hit, which then gets doubled on a critical hit

Where's that stated? I haven't been able to find it.

Pg 371 top right of the page under Weapon Potency Rune.

Ouch. Death by Disintegrate. Raise Dead won’t help with that.

How are you planning on bringing Merisiel back? (Or is she going to get replaced by another character?)

Hi Porridge. Despite Kyra having the Medicine subdomain, which was crucial in saving everyone against the ragworm and the blood lilies, it could do nothing to save her love from being turned to dust. Hopefully at some point Sarenrae will grant her a miracle to bring Merisiel back to life, but until then we'll sadly have to go on without her. On the brighter side of things, since Kyra converted Aoinse (the awakened clockwork servant from The Flooded Cathedral) to a worshipper of Sarenrae, perhaps she'll be of great help in that regard.

Not only has Kyra faced her fear of traveling beneath the ocean, she even managed to befriend almost an entire underwater city! The Dawnflower has truly blessed this group, because without her light to guide us we would have surely perished in the dark depths.

KYRA
Female human cleric 5/exalted 7
NG Medium humanoid (human)

AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 20 (+8 armor, +1 deflection, +1 shield)
hp 93 (12d8+16)
Fort +13, Ref +4, Will +13
Defensive Abilities aspect of divinity, vitality

Melee +1 seaborne scimitar +10/+5 (1d6+2/18-20)
Ranged sling +8 (1d4+1)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 9/day (DC 22, 6d6)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 7th; concentration +11)
1/day—bless weapon, daylight, holy smite, righteous might, searing light, shield of faith, undeath to death
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 12th; concentration +15)
6th—(3/day) chains of light (DC 20), heal* (DC 20) (2)
5th—(4/day) break enchantment, breath of life* (DC 19), cleanse, life bubble
4th—(5/day) cure critical wounds* (DC 18), freedom of movement, restoration, ride the waves (2)
3rd—(6/day) cure serious wounds* (DC 17), dispel magic, magic circle against evil, magic vestment, prayer, sacred bond
2nd—(6/day) bull's strength (2), calm emotions (DC 16), placebo effect*, resist energy, lesser restoration
1st—(6/day) bless, detect evil, endure elements* (2), shield of faith (2)
0 (at will)—guidance, light, read magic, stabilize
Domains Glory, Healing (Medicine), Sun
Special Abilities blessed surgery 7/day, touch of glory 7/day

Feats Deific Obedience, Extra Channel, Lookout, Quick Channel, Selective Channeling, Skill Focus [Diplomacy], Skill Focus [Knowledge (religion)], Warrior Priest
Skills Bluff +11, Diplomacy +27, Heal + 15, Knowledge (nature, planes) +4, Knowledge (religion) +13, Linguistics +4, Perception +10, Sense Motive +13, Swim +7

Str 12, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 18, Cha 18

Traits Acolyte of Apocrypha, Employee
Alternate Racial Traits Focused Study

I'd definitely call this a successful marathon, but I can't wait for the next one to find out what the full power of an Exalted cleric of Sarenrae can do against undead!

As Kyra's connection with Sarenrae grows, so do her gifted powers. I'm really excited for the next few levels of exalted and seeing what new challenges Sarenrae can help us overcome.

KYRA
Female human cleric 5/exalted 3
NG Medium humanoid (human)

AC 17, touch 11, flat-footed 17 (+5 armor, +1 deflection, +1 shield)
hp 63 (8d8+16)
Fort +10, Ref +2, Will +9

Melee +1 seaborne scimitar +7 (1d6+2/18-20)
Ranged sling +5 (1d4+1/x2)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 7/day (DC 14, 3d6)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +11)
1/day— daylight
Cleric Spells Prepared (CL 8th; concentration +11)
4th—(3/day) cure critical wounds* (DC 17), freedom of movement, greater path of glory
3rd—(5/day) cure serious wounds* (DC 16), dispel magic, magic circle against evil, remove curse, water breathing
2nd—(5/day) bull's strength, calm emotions (DC 15), placebo effect*, resist energy, lesser restoration
1st—(6/day) air bubble, ant haul, bless, endure elements*, remove fear, unwelcome halo (DC 14)
0 (at will)—guidance, light, read magic, stabilize
Domains Healing (Medicine), Sun (Day)
Special Abilities blessed surgery 6/day

Feats Deific Obedience, Extra Channel, Lookout, Selective Channeling, Skill Focus [Diplomacy], Skill Focus [Knowledge (religion)]
Skills Bluff +7, Diplomacy +16, Heal + 12, Knowledge (nature, planes) +4, Knowledge (religion) +11, Linguistics +4, Perception +8, Sense Motive +9, Swim +7

Str 12, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 17, Cha 14

Traits Acolyte of Apocrypha, Employee
Alternate Racial Traits Focused Study

Hope everyone has fun this Memorial Day weekend; wish I could join everyone who is going to PaizoCon!

Wow, you lost Merisiel, Kyra, Oorka, and Koloshkora?

That's a hefty amount of loss. With Kyra gone do you have any way to bring party members back to life?

Thanks for reading and commenting, Berselius. Normally, with our cleric being down, I would be worried about the beginning of the next marathon. Thankfully, with the help of our newest ally, Nieran Codali, we have a chance to acquire a few items (i.e., raise dead scroll if need be) from the Mordant Spire Elves. Aoinse is capable of bringing back at least Kyra (possibly more than just her) and the candle of invocation we have is enough to open up two options for bringing Kyra back to life. Lastly, I'm one of the main data-trackers in the Order, and I'd like to add in our defense that three of the four deaths occurred from critical hits. :)

Kyra's abilities have been super helpful during this campaign; unfortunately, one of my favorite moments of the last marathon wasn't high enough on our list to make the blog post, but I've included it below because I want to show how useful certain domains can truly be.

Here it is:

"After splashing around with some Azlanti mummies, we knew something was wrong with Merisiel when Valeros eased off his familiar flirting. Our character builds came through when Kyra's Medicine subdomain and the rogue's relic raider archetype allowed the pair to successfully diagnose mummy rot, then remove both the curse and disease."

Aerick definitely said a mouthful, haha. This was a really challenging adventure to get through, but overall a fun one. There were a few "classic" gaming moments to be had too, like at the observatory when we couldn't figure out how to get through the front so we risked climbing up the side of the tower instead. Thankfully we had a strix with us to fly up and attach a grappling hook and rope to the top, otherwise Kyra would have fallen to her death.

Anyway, it turns out we skipped a whole bunch of stuff (good and bad) and got straight to the end battle. Apparently that was the right move though, because we needed all remaining healing resources to survive it!

Hey there y'all, I'm back with an updated stat block after the first module. I'm pleased with her progress and am excited to see what the next modules brings. Here's Kyra:

KYRA
Keleshite human cleric 4
NG Medium humanoid (human)

AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17
hp 32 (4d8+8)
Fort +6, Ref +1, Will +7

Melee +1 seaborne scimitar +5 (1d6+2/18-20) or longspear +4 (1d8+1/x3)
Ranged sling +3 (1d4+1)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 2d6 (DC 12)
Cleric spells prepared (CL 4rd; concentration +7)
2nd—(3/day) hold person (DC 15), lesser restoration, placebo effect*
1st—(4/day) bless, diagnose disease*, shield of faith, unwelcome halo(DC 14)
0 (at will)—create water, guidance, light, stabilize

Feats Skill Focus [Knowledge (religion)], Lookout, Deific Obedience
Skills Bluff + 7, Diplomacy +9, Heal +10, Knowledge (planes) +4, Knowledge (religion) +10, Perception +6, Sense Motive +7, Swim +3

Str 12, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 16, Cha 14

Traits Acolyte of Apocrypha, Employee
Alternate Racial Traits Focused Study

Highlights of playing the iconic cleric:

- Most of my focus in leveling has been in preparation for 6th-level when Kyra takes a level in the Exalted prestige class. Normally I would take cleric levels all the way through, but this path feels right for how I'm playing Kyra. We've seen a few different iterations of her in other campaigns and I wanted something to set her apart, so I decided to really push her faith to the extreme. It's been fun, especially playing a relatively young and naive character, despite a few social blunders, but role-playing through multiple love triangles has also been a lot of fun so far.

- Domains have been a big boon for me, and the first ability granted in the Medicine subdomain is amazing. It only heals a few hit points here and there, but it's already been a life-saver on the battlefield--being able to take the best of two rolls is massive and the quicker treatment aspect was an unexpected bonus. It definitely helped prevent TPK in the subterranean battle against the darkmantles, saving both Valeros and Merisiel's life. Unfortunately, the Day subdomain hasn't seen much use since there haven't been many undead yet, but hopefully that'll happen soon enough!

You can find additional materials from The Azlant Odyssey in our Dropbox.

Reveal:

Hi all! I'll be playing Kyra in The Azlant Odyssey and my goal will be to focus heavily on her religious devotion. I intend to take her into the Exalted prestige class, and being the first member of the Order to do so in a project, I want to do it with the same intensity that I always bring to the table. From what I’ve read about Kyra in the comic books, her faith gives her a strength and assurance that I want to emphasize in my portrayal of her, so to translate this into game mechanics, I gave her the Acolyte of Apocrypha faith trait to unlock special subdomains.
Check them out in her stat block:

KYRA
Keleshite human cleric 1
NG Medium humanoid (human)

AC 17, touch 10, flat-footed 17 (+6 armor, +1 shield)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +4

Melee scimitar +1 (1d6+1/18-20)
Ranged sling +0 (1d4+1)
Special Attacks channel positive energy 5/day (DC 12), wilting glare 5/day
Cleric spells prepared (CL 1st; concentration +3)
1st—detect evil, diagnose disease,* shield of faith
0 (at will)—guidance, light, stabilize
Domains Healing (Medicine), Sun (Thirst)

Feats Skill Focus [Knowledge (religion)], Lookout
Skills Diplomacy +6, Heal +6, Knowledge (religion) +7, Perception +3

Str 12, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 14

Traits Acolyte of Apocrypha, Employee
Alternate Racial Traits Focused Study

Data Tracking:
-Successful uses of Blessed Surgery
-Uses of Exalted Boons
-Lethal damage done with Wilting Glare underwater

Soundtrack Song: I chose the song “Allahi Allah” by Niyaz to express Kyra’s love and devotion to Sarenrae and what her blessings mean to Kyra; besides, it was hard to pass on the opportunity to choose Azam Ali. :)

Immersion: Even though she hasn't taken the Deific Obedience yet, I will be incorporating her daily obedience both in and out-of-game: I will wake at dawn, blindfold myself with a pashmina, and try to locate the sun in the sky through the layers of fabric. For finishing touches, I'll be using tattoo paper to imitate the symbols underneath Kyra’s eyes, as well as the divine brand once I’ve unlocked that class feature.

Additional Content: You can now find her scripted interview, along with the interviews for Ezren and Merisiel, in our Dropbox.
Interview with a Cleric

GM Commentary: "Dan's story represents the enduring friendships that have made the Order possible. He was with us for about a half-dozen marathons back in the 2000s, until distance and life's frustrating obstacles separated us for six years. We reunited at a convention in 2014, when he excitedly returned to active status and donned his OAD jersey once more. Since then, Dan has participated in over 500 session hours, where his natural charisma always seems to find him in the role of lead party negotiator. Playing as closely as we do to the rules wouldn't be possible without him, as Dan is always ready with the latest errata or evidence for discussion. At our marathons, he is respectfully referred to by the team as our 'Den Mother,' whose task is to wake up weary gamers each morning and get us started on time--more difficult than you can imagine until you've marathoned. When you're four days of real time into an adventure, it's Dan's continuing drive that will see you to the bottom of the dungeon." --Adam Smith, GM

Playing! First chance I've had to PC in a long term game for a little while. Definitely looking forward to it, especially some ruins diving and ancient Golarion lore discovery!

Happy to compare notes at some point, though I expect a wyrwood occultist's will look a little different than a human cleric's :)

Sorry for the delayed response, my isolationist tendencies got the better of me. :)

Glad to hear you are looking forward to playing, I need to run something small so our GM can experience that again. That's definitely a ways down the road though, have to find the right one-shot to do.

I'd love to hear how your experience went, our characters will definitely have different outlooks and opinions of what happens. I'm looking forward to playing a cleric again, going back to my roots with this one. Exploring ruins and expanding civilization, what could go wrong with that?!?

Oh hey, I'm about to start this too! Though that unfortunately means I won't be able to follow along as quickly, I'm looking forward to seeing your exploits at some point in The Future (tm)

I hope you're as excited to start as I am, Andrew. After some of the lore we discovered during Strange Aeons, I'm curious as to what this path will bring us. Are you going to be playing in or running the adventure path?

Follow us as best you can, we appreciate all the feedback and interest from the Paizo community and beyond. I'm giddy with anticipation at playing Kyra, it's been a while since I've been able to play a female character and a cleric on top of that! Keep us updated on how your game goes, would be fun to share notes sometime.

Happy Gaming!

Very interesting that the first two to die were also the ones to survive til the end! I can't wait to read all your updates in the experiment PDF you share in drop box! It was thrilling to follow along 4th of July weekend with your contest! It was a lot of fun to see the group progress along. Thanks again Adam and team!

Daniel,
I love the notes about the induced anxiety from the constant pressures and dangers. You really are never safe in this game. I think that's why settings like Ravenloft can be so successful. I really hope to capture this with my team.

I'm so very excited as my current game is ending this Saturday; the players are excited too. However, October 21st we begin our Strange Aeons campaign. I'll be map drawing on my mats over the next month!

Again, eager to read through your pdf and consolidate all the suggestions and details your team has provided. Thank you Order of the Amber Die!

Also in case you didn't know...
The Order of the Amber Die is on Patreon!

Visit their patreon here! Or the url: https://www.patreon.com/OrderOfTheAmberDie

Help support them in this and future endeavors! Your support helps them "...spend more time producing the high quality content (they) are known for, and on a more consistent basis."

Silent,

I'm glad I could be helpful in some way, the full immersion that comes from the marathon setting intensified the horror and anxiety. I remember playing Ravenloft with friends when I was about 15 and the isolation of your characters from everything familiar to them is a key thing to intensify the eerieness. Any kind of props that can be brought bring in, such as music, candles, incense, etc, go a long way toward improving the immersion. You could try what we did for the asylum, minus those accursed fog machines, and lock yourselves in a dark room for hours at a time. I can tell you, it did wonders for my sanity!

Congratulations on completing a campaign, that is an accomplishment always worth celebrating. It really is a bittersweet moment, and I'm glad I was able to experience mine with this group. These will be stories I'll be telling in the old folks home. I'd be happy to hear from you if you wanna throw some questions my way and I definitely think you'll get useful information from the PDF.

Thank you for all your interest and support, Silent. I look forward to hearing more about how Strange Aeons treats you, it wasn't gentle with me.

This makes me so happy.

Okay, question for you bold souls. Knowing little about Lovecraft or the Mythos going in... what were the scariest / creepiest / most got-under-your-skin bits of the Path? And, to be scrupulous about it, what were the bits that didn't work for you?

Doug M.

I'll go first, but I'm guessing everybody is going to want in on this one.

Going in, I expected my sanity and playing abilities to be tested, as I'd heard Lovecraft-anything was known for being brutal and merciless. This path did not disappoint. I've been playing Pathfinder, D&D, and other RPGs for over twenty years, and many times I was left feeling like a complete novice to the game.

The pickled punks in the first module were an example of something that I didn't expect to bother me as much as it did, they were just disgusting. The Dreamlands was another place that was completely unsettling with its alien environments and people, combined with the challenge of it. Neruzavin was the worst for me, that city broke both me and my character (Quinn)! The relentless carnage and lack of safety in that place brought a level of anxiety that I just wasn't expecting. Add in how much we didn't know or understand, and it was a disturbing experience. Also remember that when we play these marathons we stay inside these fantasy locations for days of real life too, so that ups the level of the entire experience. The lighting, dark ambient music, and our GM torturing us with sounds like fierce wind (for hours) can't be counted out either.

The only thing that I can think of that didn't really work for me was just how hopeless and powerless I felt during the last marathon. I can look back at it and honestly say that if it weren't for a few powerful items that crossed our path, we never would have survived as long as we did. The horror of spending days lying under our friends' bodies (long story), or watching Quinn drop after 2 hits brought me to a new level of fear. Running through that first section of Carcosa with the dual encounters of polyps was unrelenting, cruel, and horrific, but I admit there's a part of me that enjoyed it; this may have been because we were ultimately successful in the AP, although even after the success I felt less than satisfied. I was left asking myself and the group, "Did we really win?" I'm not sure if that is common with Lovecraft but it's not something I'm accustomed to in my regular gaming sessions. After all, we still had to return to Golarion and the mess we left behind...

Hello all!

We are running another map contest for Strange Aeons. Tell your friends.

Click. Post. Win: Horror Hashtag Contest

I was actually re-reading your and Daniel's Thrushmoor notes last night since we proudly have another gay iconic in Quinn. I was looking into where the bar fight became the bar fight for his boyfriend's honor. Nicely done! I expect my group will also take time really enjoying being in a town that knows them but they don't know what's going on. Your notes for handling some of the events will be very helpful thank you!

It was very fulfilling for me to play an iconic character that was legitimately gay for the first time, especially with a chance for such a large exposure. I'm glad that you were inspired by it, I loved what Adam did with that whole thing. He was so nonchalant in his delivery that it caught me off guard and became this side quest for me that was has yet to finish. I asked all around about him but could never find any info, so I'm assuming he was an outsider brought in.

That was one of my most nostalgic times, especially as Quinn as taken a turn towards the darker and nihilistic parts of his mind. Trying to figure out what was going on, what we had done, and making amends for our actions was thrilling. I hope your players get as much out of it as I did. The payout for all of that was felt modules later when we ran across an NPC that was written as gay and Quinn was able to allow himself a moment of need for companionship and vulnerability. Hopefully whomever is playing Quinn will have that opportunity as well, they are few and far between.

I look forward to hearing how your campaign unfolds, it sounds like you are preparing for an immersive and detailed campaign. Enjoy yourself, this is such an amazing Adventure Path!

Also, if your players are having problems with flying polyps, they may wish to consult this short video. (Not a spoiler at this point, I don't think.)

Doug M.

I've done my best to avoid any spoilers of the genre until the game is finished but I'll make sure that is the first video I watch once I can finally delve into the Cthulu mythos and fill in some of the gaps information. The Necronomicon is first on my reading list since I now have an official reason to read it!

Definitely interested in hearing more about this.

Module 5 had (I thought) a really interesting setting. Did that come across in play?

Doug M.

I'm glad we've piqued your interest, we're looking forward to finishing this story no matter the outcome. Module 5 did a number on both Quinn and me; the amount of immersion we put ourselves through definitely helped intensify how alien and disconcerting Neruzavin was. The sheer size of the buildings and the interiors reminiscent of Escher made me feel insignificant and powerless, not to mention the fear that around the next corner would be another creature to pummel us. I don't think I have the requisite sanity remaining to play another horror campaign with Adam again!

Just counting PC deaths alone, this was easily the most intense module I've ever played through. I don't think I've ever dropped as many breath of life spells in my entire gaming career as I did this marathon!

The brutality of this module and city took its toll, even surpassing our infamous "Summer of TPK." Dying twice within the same round was something that I never thought possible but leave it to me to accomplish something like that. I can only imagine the horror of being paralyzed while watching your death coming only to momentarily be revived and watch it happen again within fractions of a second. This module was full of loss for our characters; I'm still not certain how upset I am at the loss of Quinn's morality.

Quinn, the one-time possessor of the Necronomicon, has uploaded his stat block following module 5 to the Dropbox for your perusal--if you dare!

The stat block for Quinn at the end of module 4 is now available in our Dropbox.

I have really fallen in love with Quinn, both as a character and the Investigator class. The Cult Hunter archetype really shined this module, allowing me to protect my party and eradicate a few cultists and extraplanar creatures. I'm excited to see how the next abilities play out in higher levels as well as pushing how far I can manage to survive as the "meat shield" for the group.

Daniel Scholler wrote:

Quinn's stat block after completion of Dreams of the Yellow King has been uploaded to Dropbox for your perusal!

Out of curiosity, how are Quinn's bonus/penalties vs. cultists/others being handled? Did his bonuses apply vs. nearly everything in book 2, or just the human cultists? Was there anything he could use the higher values against in book 3, or did he have to use the lower settings for "other targets"?

Unfortunately, it only applied to the human cultists--but I did ask every time if a creature was a follower of Hastur, just in case! In Dreams of the Yellow King, we didn't come across any worshipers of deities or religions aside from Razmir and Hanspur, but we were just passing through--it wouldn't have mattered if I had taken the time to research them. The nature of the module (going through different Dreamlands) didn't really lend to Cultic Study too much, but that's fine. I'm sure I'll find a good use for it soon, because I've been itching to use the higher values for quite some time now.

What was really useful though was the Sense Madness ability. Since lesser and greater madness was a big part of the module, with some of the bad ones not being obvious (like the one that turns you evil), this ability might have saved us from a TPK when Feiya turned against the group. Admittedly, I failed a few checks to get us to that point, but when she finally tried to kill me it worked! If she had succeeded, the others were sleeping so it would've all been over. Also, the bonus to saves against compulsions came in handy, as did Foe of the Strange campaign trait, because the others spent a lot of time being confused in this module--it was awful to watch!

Quinn's stat block after completion of Dreams of the Yellow King has been uploaded to Dropbox for your perusal!

This makes me curious: what are you and your players picking up from / about the Lovecraft mythos by osmosis? Are you thinking "Okay, I see the appeal of this -- I'd like to sit down and read some of his stuff afterwards?" Or is it more "once a philosopher, twice a pervert?" (1)

Doug M.

(1) attributed to Voltaire, the morning after a walk on the wild side.

This AP has definitely piqued my interest in Lovecraft and the Cthulhu mythos. Once we are finished, I plan to dive into the books to see what we missed and to help bring some kind of understanding to it all. I'm sure there are fine points that I have missed along the way, that fans would have picked up on easily, but I'm realizing that is half the fun for me. It's much easier for me to slip into character when I'm just as confused about the situation as Quinn would be.

I only had second and third-hand knowledge of what to expect from a Cthulhu game, I had always heard it was difficult and intense. The authors have managed to translate that well into Pathfinder and have managed to humble our players a few times. Even though our characters are growing more powerful, we have now witnessed powers that are beyond our belief and know that this is only beginning. I'm looking forward to the next module with trepidation and excitement.

You guys are awesome, and I'm thankful you take the time to present your adventures.

The parting of a dear friend is never easy. I wish you all the best.

Thanks, Elorebaen, I'm glad you're enjoying the adventures so far. This module pushed us, both in and out of game, and helped us tell an amazing story. The opportunities for roleplaying were everywhere, but my favorite was the bogeyman. He's one NPC that I wish I had more of an opportunity to interact with, every time was fascinating and tense since I only had an inkling of how to deal with him. Adam's roleplaying was great for giving that clue I needed, and sometimes being polite and humble is the best route to go when dealing with something that powerful and unknown.

Thanks again for your kind words, Elorebaen, it never is easy. He will be sorely missed, but remembered fondly and always.

The updated stat block for Quinn, post marathon 2, is currently available in our Dropbox!

Mad props to Daniel for his write up regarding Quinn and roleplaying the reveal of Paizo's latest gay iconic! "Most companies I know of are welcoming and supportive of the community, but one of the things that makes Paizo great is their usage of LGBT characters as both NPCs and Iconics." Well said Daniel!

Thank you for reading the write up and comment, SilentInfinity, your timing couldn't have been more impeccable. Today is National Coming Out Day, I couldn't have asked for a better day for this to be noticed. I'd also like to thank Paizo for giving me the opportunity to do something as awesome as this. It's been important to myself, as well as the Order, to make sure that this is done with the respect and honor that it deserves, and I'm glad that the timing worked out to be today.

Adam, our GM, was amazing in how he revealed this to all of us in game, the subtlety in which he dropped it into the conversation was perfect. This was preexisting knowledge for me and it even took me a second to register what he had just said. Quinn has had much to worry about recently with his ongoing disease, the cult infesting Thrushmoor, repairing relationships with everyone in town, and trying to find Count Lowls, so he hasn't had too much time to focus on this little bit of information dropped in his lap. He's curious and worried what all of this means, and is unsure if his boyfriend was a willing participant in their prior misdeeds or just a dupe. Unfortunately there wasn't much information to be found in town, we were the sort that no one really questioned us too much. Perhaps in the upcoming module this mysterious figure will reveal himself.

It's been such an honor playing Quinn, he has earned a place as one of my favorite iconic, and his sexuality was just an added bonus. His being out in the open about it finally is also really important to me as well since there seems to be a lack of gay male characters in mainstream RPG products. I've enjoyed seeing them pop up as NPCs in some of Paizo's Adventure Paths, now we also get the added bonus of having an Iconic. Hopefully we'll be seeing more of Quinn in the future, maybe he'll be lucky enough to have an appearance in a comic, I would love to have something to reference his "official" personality. The LGBT community has more than an ally in Paizo, they have an advocate and confidant. Keep up the good work Paizo, you continue to amaze me!

And to all my sisters, brothers, friends, allies, and beyond out there in the LGBT community, Happy National Coming Out Day! Today is a day to celebrate and rejoice, share your stories with your friends, come out if you can, and support those around you who cannot, for whatever reason. We shall overcome the fear with acceptance and understanding!

I couldn't help but notice the spotlight on Quinn, this was definitely a big module for him. This was the module for him to shine as a cult hunter, and the archetype definitely played an important role. I personally loved roleplaying his focus on the stopping the cult in this town, and there was a burning desire in him to wipe them out and make sure they never bothered Thrushmoor again. I was even able to land the killing blow on the villain in this module, it was an exhilarating feeling for me as a player and character. I'm looking forward to using my cult hunting skills to eradicate a few more cultists along the way to stopping Count Lowls.

This affliction that Quinn is currently struggling with has definitely thrown me for a loop as a player. I personally don't know what it is and how to deal with it, and that is both exciting and frightening. I'm fairly certain that all the players at the table know this is some sort of ghoul related thing considering all the symptoms, but that's as far as we are able to guess, and no one--players and characters alike--has a clue as to how to make this go away. Hopefully someone in Caliphas might be able to help us out, our first time in the city was before the symptoms started appearing.

Not knowing or having much to go on with player knowledge about this affliction, I've taken it upon myself to roleplay it as much as possible. Originally, Quinn knows that he's hungry and craving something more substantial than food. After the marsh giant fight, while helping to carve up the giant into smaller pieces, Quinn was caught sneaking a small taste of the giant. This was my way as a player to clue the other players that there was something deeper to this affliction than hunger, and also for Quinn as a character to know that there is something more sinister going on. The flesh did help satiate that hunger, but playing a LG character has challenged me into how I would play this out. This module was all about trying to redeem ourselves and make right by our actions. I couldn't have him going around eating raw flesh or even meat, it's not socially acceptable, moral or sanitary. He's had to try and satisfy this hunger by other means, mainly by buying as much fish and meat as possible since nothing else seems satisfying. Thankfully the fish market was clearly marked on the map, Quinn became a frequent customer there and will speak highly of their fish throughout this campaign. I also know that one of the best things to do with a high intensity game like this is to interject a little humor and levity, and that was what I strove to do with him being caught constantly eating. It's now become something of a subconscious thing for him, and Quinn is frightened of this growing hunger inside of him. He fears that he might not be able to control his urges and will take unwanted actions to solve it. I as a player am fascinated and excited to see this play out, it's made me feel like a newbie all over again!

Is this location larger than Yzadirune(?), in chapter 1 of Shackled City?

Because we thought we'd be in there forever, till we stumbled on a secret door.

I've run Shackled City for a session or two in the past and have been wanting to run it again soon. Jzadirune is a logistical nightmare for a GM and also players, it's just really huge. Until I did a second count of the map, I would have said that Jzadirune is at least 1.5 times the size of Briarstone Asylum. I was wrong, and I'm glad I double checked, but I only considered dimensions of the maps not actual sq footage. The map for Jzadirune is approximately 390 x 290, the map for Briarstone is 350 x 260. Somehow slogging through Jzadirune seemed much worse, it had to be the traps. Although the fear caused by Briarstone definitely seemed to distort how big the map was, and the constant paranoia helped as well.

Side note: Would love to discuss your experiences with Shackled City, I haven't spoken to many people that have played or run the game. It's still in the works for me to run, but is currently on the back burner.

Quinn's full stat block, post In Search of Sanity, is now available for viewing in our Dropbox.
I'm excited to see people are enjoying these!

There’s something to be said about encountering new and strange creatures in an adventure path. The use of obscure monsters, especially unique ones in each module, helps make the game feel fresh. All you have to go by is a picture shown to you by the GM, which removes the “man vs himself” conflict with meta-gaming; there was much of that to go around in this module. At one point, when faced with something that looked awful, all I wanted to do was get everyone into the next room and shut the door to keep it outside. In the end, we discovered it wasn’t terribly hard to kill and I felt a little silly making such a big deal about it. I’ve always been an overly cautious role player when exploring, and this was both a player and character response to a horrible and unknown monstrosity trying to kill me. Going into this module, I was aware that fear was going to be a factor, I just didn’t count on how much of a driving force it would become throughout.

With a party member to raise, will you be able to afford keeping it?

There was a healthy amount of loot discovered, so this was actually something that was discussed between party members. We had two options in regards to loot moving forward, focus on offense or defense. I had initially voted for defense, this module has proven how important any +1 can be, but we now have the option to keep and use a named weapon no less, and that was an opportunity we couldn't turn down. Plus, Red Destiny was more than instrumental in our success through major combats, it just felt wrong to turn our backs on it.

Just wanted to say I love the attention & detail to the maps. While hand drawn at home they look professional. Happy gaming ahead!!

This is one of the things that still consistently impresses me about our GM! His attention to detail is painstaking, which makes the maps come to life.

You guys mentioned a sword called red destiny, is that from the adventure itself or just a player created item?

This was a weapon found within the adventure, and was an amazing find. I can't wait to find out more about it, and why it was where it was. Named items are worth keeping, especially for the lore & roleplaying potential. I hope your curiosity is as piqued as mine.

It seems to me even if you're running to the authors and developers intent with the 15-point buy, you're going to be starting the second AP at a distinct disadvantage as you're going to very gold and magic poor. I think this is going to give you a much higher risk of death than the AP intends. This will snow-ball into to later APs.

Yeah, it's definitely going to be a struggle through the next module, and I feel slightly responsible for that. I failed a save with a natural 1 and there's not much that can be done about that, it happens. The guys have done a good job at alleviating my guilt though, reminding me that we've pulled through worse odds before, so it'll just be something else we'll have to overcome. Wish us luck!

Quinn's campaign trait:

Foe of the Strange: You awake feeling emboldened after a terrifying nightmare. Instead of being frightened by the bizarre creatures from your nightmares, these experiences have steeled you against these startling alien beings. You know that you fell victim to strange circumstances and loathsome forces, but you refuse to give in to a creeping sense of helplessness. Instead, you vow to fight back against whoever or whatever is responsible for your current situation. The creatures of your nightmares won’t hold fear over your head. You’ll take the fight to them. You gain a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against extraordinary, spell-like, and supernatural abilities of aberrations (for example, a gibbering mouther’s gibbering or an intellect devourer’s confusion). In addition, whenever you’re confused and roll to determine behavior in a given round, subtract 10 from the result.

Since I changed his character concept from the psychic detective in Occult Adventures to the cult hunter in Horror Adventures, this campaign trait matched Quinn perfectly. It's what he does. Also, it actually helped me allay some of my own fears as a player, as I'm quite nervous playing Quinn as one of the main melee combatants against what'll probably be a daunting selection of scary creatures throughout the game.

The Strange Aeons Experiment
Character Profile #3:

When I heard that I would be playing Quinn I was excited. I got my first taste of an alchemist last year at Philly Games Con where I reconnected with the Order, and since then I've been itching to try one. Skills and spells are two of my favorite types of characters to play--playing Lem in RotR is evidence of that--so this gave me a chance to do both, and brush up on my melee skills as well.

I'll be building him towards Two-Weapon Fighting, as he appears to be doing so in some of the recent art, so I'll be allocating several feats for that. When it comes to his investigator abilities, I'll be focusing on Inspiration over Alchemy, and pushing his usage of Knowledge skills as much as possible. I'm interested to see what I can accomplish with his archetype changes, as they seem like they'll be both useful and appropriate for this adventure path.

QUINN
Mwangi human investigator (cult hunter) 1
LG Medium humanoid (human)

AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +3

Melee mwk sword cane +4 (1d6+1) or dagger +3 (1d4+1/19-20)
Ranged dagger +3 (1d4+1/19-20)
Investigator formulae known (CL 1st)
1st—(2/day) cure light wounds, shield

Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Craft (alchemy), Diplomacy, Disable Device, Knowledge (dungeoneering), Linguistics, Perception, Sense Motive, Spellcraft

Str 12, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 15, Wis 12, Cha 10

Traits Strange Aeons campaign trait [TBA]; Rich Parents
Alternate Racial Traits Dual Talent

SOUNDTRACK Song: "Trust Me" by Zola Jesus

For the complete stat block, see our Dropbox shortly after the first Paizo Blog report comes out.

Quinn's incredible miniature can be seen here!