Espagnoll's page

Some references to the authors Robert W. Chambers, Ambrose Bierce and William Hope Hodgson, specially Hodgson's work since The Night Land, The House on the Borderland and Carnaki's tales were a vital influence on Lovecraft's mythos. It will be cool to see some of the creatures described in Hodgson's stories like the hog monsters.
Chambers and Bierce should be at least mentioned in the AP's metaplot since they predate Lovecraft.

Greetings.

This last Friday my Rise of the Runelords group had an encounter with the Scarecrow before going to the Shadow Clock after spying on the Seven's Sawmill and witnessing Ironbriar performing a ritual. As a GM I thought that a preview of the Scarecrow would encourage them to stop the cult before the murders escalate further and for hint that they were already targeted by the sect.
For my surprise, the wizard of this party did manage to spot a hidden Scarecrow, initiatives were roll and he managed to get a 25. This allowed him to cast Create pit, the Scarecrow failed the reflex save and fallen into the hole. From there everything when downhill for the flesh golem.
The magus casts grease on the pits border and the hunter then does an entangle spell, then stone calls and acid arrows were used on the awakened construct managing to cause him 30 points of damage. A chance for a very atmospheric encounter ruined as it almost became slapstick until the spell effects ceased.
My question is:
Could a hole made with a Create Pit spell be target of spells like entangle or grease?

-I did read that in the upcoming occult themed AP the mysterious location of Carcossa is going to be a mega city built with fragments of other cities from different worlds and time periods. My question is, since the original The King in Yellow anthology had three tales about the siege of Paris during the Franco-Prussian war, there will be streets belonging to that time period? It would also be possible to visit fragments of Commorion (from the Hyperborea tales by Clark Ashton Smith) and meet the legendary thief Satramba Zeiros?
-Which Runelord is going to wake up next?
-Did Androffans contacted any of the thassilonian kingdoms?
-Does Geb undead aristocracy use soulless humanoid clones for supply their need for blood and flesh?
-Did the Vault Builders clash with the Dominion of the Black?

I'm using those.

When the pirates appear, try to use this theme as background.

Greetings!
I'd like to share with you all some additional attackers for Fortress of the Stone Giants segment in which Mokmurian's minions attack Sandpoint.

Pirates!
Mokmurian send the barbarian kobold Enga Keckvia to Riddleport for recruit mercenaries. At first the kobold was ignored until she was approached by
Captain Varthrand "Earbleeder". A pirate obsessed with music and gunpowder weapons, he and his crew will appear after Longtooth lands on Sandpoint's cathedral, raining fire on the area close to the Old Light. After the cannon salvo, Captain Earbleeder and his crew will leave their ship and head into Sandpoint through boat while an orchestra hired by the captain will start playing a composition that the captain considers his leit-motiv. The music will have an effect similar to the bard's masterpiece Song of the People's Revolton the pirates as long as Captain Erbleeder is alive.

Captain Varthrand's stats and those of their crew are the same as those for the Besmaran Priest (1), Pirate Captain (1), Pirate Officer (1)and Pirate Sailor (15) (check pags. 43, 56 and 57 from Isles of the Shackles).

Vikings!
Enga asked Mokmurian to contact with Snori Axebiter through magical means, a jarl from Broken Bay which the kobold barbarian meet during her brief stance on the Hold of Belkzen. Snori has been promised slaves, so he and his men will take prisoners and drag them back to their drakkar focusing their attack on the area in which the noblemen manors are located. Their stats are those of a Longboat Captain (1) and Ulfen Raiders (12) (check Land of the Linnorm Kings pags. 60 and 63).

Samurai!
Tashiro Imufe (LE, Samurai (sword saint) lvl. 12) is a warrior from the distant land of Minkai. A devout of the god General Susumu, he has come to find an honorable death at the hands of a powerful warrior before his cancer do it first. The samurai can appear along with the crew of Captain Earbleeder or Snori's raiders and as soon as he reaches land he will look for the PCs to defy the most martial proficient one into an honorable last duel. If Ameiko is present, he will recognize her and prostate while saying in minkaian: "A great destiny awaits you" before rise and defy the PC which he consider a worthy opponent.

Varisian AP.
Background: Varisia faces an ancient enemy that is not linked to the long lost empire of Thassilon, Uvaglor, the Misbegotten Prince. The vrock oracle has set in motion a conspiracy for proclaim himself rightful ruler of Varisia with the help of a terrible ally which he communed with during his imprisonment in the Malestrom, Shub-Niggurath.

-The Broken Anvil: Jorgenfist is soon to be the place of reunion for the representatives of all the settlements in Varisia as recent crisis forces them to negotiate a possible alliance which may become something more but assassination and sabotage menaces to spark a war between the mighty city-states.
-Womb of the Black Goat: A new strange cult is spreading across Varisia and it has declared war on the followers of Lamashtu, Pazuzu and Norgorber while horrible mutations and sightings of never seen before monsters become more common by the day. Hints point towards the City of Strangers as possible origin of these events when a deranged member of the Brotherhood of the Seal discovers the access to a ruined temple and demiplane that even the caulborn ignore it existed: The Womb of the Black Goat.
-Conquerors of Greed: Xin-Shalast is under siege! The many colonies that try to claim the ancient city ask for help as a horde of darkfolks, derro and duergers is assaulting the famed ruins with the help of strange fungoid aberrations that resemble insects. Can the PC settle the differences between the different colonies and face the enemy before Uvaglor's minions can claim an artifact that may help Shub-Niggurath come to Golarion.
-The Triumvirate of Retribution: Shub-Niggurath cultist had managed to wipe out almost all the followers of Lamashtu, Pazuzu and Norgober in Varisia and as a mockery to the Mendevian crusade the Mother of Monsters has done the unthinkable, she has forged an alliance with Norgorber and Pazuzu to stop the Black Goat and the Misbegotten Prince with a Crusade of Freaks and Shadows. To stop the incoming horde of dark fanatics the PCs must settle the differences between Riddleport, Kaer Maga, Korvosa and Magnimar or the land will soon succumb to an unholy war.
-The Last Fight of Alaznist: The PCs had aborted the plans of Uvaglor to bring the goddess Shub-Niggurath to Golarion from the deeps of the Dark Tapestry as well as the Triumvirate of Retribution's unholy crusade, but the Misbegotten Prince is far from being defeated. The vrock oracle brings an ultimatum: "Proclaim me king of Varisia or you will know the might of the Oliphaunt of Jandelay". The PCs must do an insane mission to stop this from happening, awaken the Runelord of Wrath herself, Alaznist, from her slumber in one of the most deadly dungeons in Golarion.
-All Hail the Misbegotten Prince!: The PCs had discovered where Uvaglor hides, under Castle Korvosa, in the resting place of Sorshen, Runelord of Lust. After conquering the dangerous vault, they find that the Misbegotten Prince has escaped to the most unlikely place: the celestial planes. Uvaglor plans to use a mythic artifact created by Sorshen herself able to dominate demigods like the Empyreal Lords with the idea of force them to proclaim him supreme ruler of Varisia.

I am expecting an AP dealing with Distant Worlds concepts, having an Eoxian bonesage as a main villain trying to access the might conceal inside Apostae. The first module of this AP could be situated in the Sodden Lands and end in Eox, which second module could be a tribute to John Carpenter's 1997 Escape from New York and be titled Escape from the Halls of the Living.
If not, a Spaghetti Western with Weird Fantasy themed AP involving the nations of Alkenstar, Geb and Nex could be also interesting, with the PCs working as good aligned agents of Geb trying to stop a nexian experiment which could bring doom to Golarion's magic. It could even have a name which evokes the Western theme, something in the line of The Ballad of Next the Lost.

I had acquired the module recently and considering that the kytons are out of place in Silver Mount I'll going to edit them for duergars and drows (Monster Codex is going to be very handy). I even thought of introducing corrupted by Unity inevitables, perhaps applying the tortured soul or nightmare creature template to them.
In Palace of Fallen Stars, the kytons made sense to me because they were emissaries of the Chapel but in this module, a part of the brief mention to the artifact being the main reason of those outsiders presence I see them almost shoehorned.

Espagnoll wrote:

Keep in mind there are many unaligned with a faction individuals living in Scrapwall.

Those can be source of commerce by bartering skills, and considering the talents of adventurers, sure once they pass the three points in their Scrapworth more than a single individual will ask for an exchange.

Wow, that's a great idea! I'll definitely incorporate this.

Espagnoll wrote:

...a druid is approached by a group of orphan mutant kids...

...they will be tossed into the arena for fight against [her]...

I'm not sure how interested my party's druid would be in fighting a group of mutant orphans, but I gotta respect your style.

This "law" can be changed once the party help less evil inclined gangs, as the Redtooth's Raiders and the Steel Hawks, to regain influence and power in Scrapwall. Mainly gives the party members a hint that not every gang in that hive of scum and villainy must be put to the sword (some NPC should drop a comment about how this "Grudge Combats" weren't a thing before this new gang came to power)as well as accentuate the evil of Hellion's minions.

Keep in mind there are many unaligned with a faction individuals living in Scrapwall.
Those can be source of commerce by bartering skills, and considering the talents of adventurers, sure once they pass the three points in their Scrapworth more than a single individual will ask for an exchange.

This should resolve trough a profession or Knowledge skill roll or by performing a spell that benefits the other part while the subject performs a service of interest to the adventurer.
For example, a druid is approached by a group of orphan mutant kids asking her for fresh water and food as they had been sustaining themselves with poorly preserved goo tubes and contaminated water. The kids promise to guard the party while they rest, warning them from any approaching threat and protecting they gear from possible thieves.
As Scrapwall haves ears and eyes everywhere if the kids doesn't provide what they promise for the druid's service, they will be toss into the arena for fight against that person they wronged (the druid), and in case said individual doesn't want to fight or doesn't have fighting skills, a monster would do it for her.
These should be the services and spells of most interest for the Scrapwall scum:
-Remove disease (mostly for deal with tetanus).
-Purify food and drink.
-Create food and water.
-Tattooing.
-Engineering (If the PC haves Technologist Feat and can provide information on tech items).
-Architecture (The scoundrels of Scrapwall value shelters capable of provided good cover against acid rain).
-Blacksmith.
-Performance (Oratory is valued if the performer can tell good dirty jokes and stories).

Espagnoll wrote:

Acolyte of Mushu wrote:

Espagnoll wrote:

Why walk when you can drive?

I found the lack of vehicles in this AP quite disturbing, so decided to add four bikes (aesthetically similar to those of the film/manga Akyra) in Fires of Creation with an holovideo showing androffan technicians teaching Isuma how that vehicle works and is drive (also a good way to make Isuma do an early cameo).
I also introduce cars and bikes for the Lords of Rust, but far more primitive and very similar to those found in the film Mad Max 3 (using alchemical fuel instead of a solar electric battery like the bikes found on Fires of Creation). It also gave me the excuse of make the Lords of Rust far more aggressive as a gang as they need to raid crusader merchant caravans in their constant need for Numerian fluids or alchemical products for produce their fuel.

Valley of the Brain Collectors. Why aren't you a Hex Map?
Good question, why the third module of Wrath of the Righteous has an hexmap and this module, being also quite sandboxy, doesn't?
Tangentially, I had decided to introduce far more aliens than the module has, like a group of Elder Things, an Eoxian bonesage and his taskforce of skeletal champions equipped with power armors and necroguns, Vercite pirates and a member of the Great Race of Yith.

I made other modifications to the AP, like introduce a legendary figure named Captain Cheen'aro Warkher, an Androffan war hero who sacrificed himself for crash the Divinity before it could reach homeworld and bring the madness of the Dominion with it. I intend to make Cheen'aro's ghost appear in Lords of Rust or at least made the PCs find holovids about him fighting with his mono plaza fighter against the bioship that appears in Valley of the Brain Collectors (which also decided that crash landed by the damage done to it by Cheen'aro). Captain Walker (as he is known on Numeria) legend would be a hint that some of the Divinity crew survived and somehow mixed with the natives, as

...

You are right about the Yithians being a psychic race. This individual though was found trapped in the ice of a comet as it was a scientist performing a wormhole tech experiment when Pnakotus was suddenly attacked by Flying Polyps. The real funny thing? Is not really a "Yithian" but a scientist from Earth's future.

Now this means that the aballonites nor Apostae aren't of Androffan origin.

Espagnoll wrote:

Why walk when you can drive?

I found the lack of vehicles in this AP quite disturbing, so decided to add four bikes (aesthetically similar to those of the film/manga Akyra) in Fires of Creation with an holovideo showing androffan technicians teaching Isuma how that vehicle works and is drive (also a good way to make Isuma do an early cameo).
I also introduce cars and bikes for the Lords of Rust, but far more primitive and very similar to those found in the film Mad Max 3 (using alchemical fuel instead of a solar electric battery like the bikes found on Fires of Creation). It also gave me the excuse of make the Lords of Rust far more aggressive as a gang as they need to raid crusader merchant caravans in their constant need for Numerian fluids or alchemical products for produce their fuel.

Valley of the Brain Collectors. Why aren't you a Hex Map?
Good question, why the third module of Wrath of the Righteous has an hexmap and this module, being also quite sandboxy, doesn't?
Tangentially, I had decided to introduce far more aliens than the module has, like a group of Elder Things, an Eoxian bonesage and his taskforce of skeletal champions equipped with power armors and necroguns, Vercite pirates and a member of the Great Race of Yith.

I made other modifications to the AP, like introduce a legendary figure named Captain Cheen'aro Warkher, an Androffan war hero who sacrificed himself for crash the Divinity before it could reach homeworld and bring the madness of the Dominion with it. I intend to make Cheen'aro's ghost appear in Lords of Rust or at least made the PCs find holovids about him fighting with his mono plaza fighter against the bioship that appears in Valley of the Brain Collectors (which also decided that crash landed by the damage done to it by Cheen'aro). Captain Walker (as he is known on Numeria) legend would be a hint that some of the Divinity crew survived and somehow mixed with the natives, as a big tribute to Mad Max 3, as the stories about his fight

...

-Elder Things: Those were actually Golarion natives, the few still able to fly members of an Elder Thing colony from the Crown of the World. They got contacted by the aboleth, who detected the arrival of the Dominion ship. Aboleths REALLY hate the Dominion as they know them from previous visits (Osirion), but being the aboleths unable to leave some other "affairs" they are involved for attend this invasion, they contact the Elder Things in exchange for an ancient favor. They are hostile to both Mi-Go and Dominion as well as the PCs (The aboleths asked them to kill any possible humanoid witness of the Dominion and the Mi-Go).

-Gernakho de Thrul and Sentinel Terror Trops: Gernakho de Thrul is a fallen from grace Bonesage who has been tasked with surveillance on the Sentinel for control any possible threat coming from beyond the solar system. When the alarms started to wail and detection system signaled that The Cage (Golarion) got a visit from the Dominion, he called a trio of skeletal champions (elite shock troops from before Eox becoming a wasteland) and used a scroll of planetary teleportation for find the Dominion ship and its crew with the intention to annihilate them. Gernakho is hostile towards the Mi-Go, the Elder Things and the Dominion. His shock troops and himself would also be hostile towards the PC in first contact, thinking they are Mi-Go or Brain Devourers in disguise. If somehow the PCs manage to make Gernakho no hostile, he provides a side quest which consist of capturing alive a neh-thalggu so he can bring it to the Sentinel for interrogation. Gernakho will grant a magical property to a tech weapon as a reward.

-Vercite Pirates: A vercite voidship and its pirate crew crash landed after being attacked by the Dominion bioship. Only the captain, her first mate and three members of the crew survived the impact, some of them are gravely injured. Their disposition towards the other aliens is hostile, indifferent towards the PCs. If they are made friendly (mainly by healing the injured crew members) they will offer the PCs the chance to use their campsite as a shelter as well as provide chances of commerce as their cargo is intact. They can offer a sidequest, which would consist to convince the reclamation robot to repair their voidship, being the reward a technological item.

-Great Race of Yith: This one is a prisoner of the Dominion who can be found inside the colony and about to be tortured by a kython with the intention of know the secrets about this ancient race chronomancy. If rescued, can provide the PCs with some support for the final encounter.

Why walk when you can drive?
I found the lack of vehicles in this AP quite disturbing, so decided to add four bikes (aesthetically similar to those of the film/manga Akyra) in Fires of Creation with an holovideo showing androffan technicians teaching Isuma how that vehicle works and is drive (also a good way to make Isuma do an early cameo).
I also introduce cars and bikes for the Lords of Rust, but far more primitive and very similar to those found in the film Mad Max 3 (using alchemical fuel instead of a solar electric battery like the bikes found on Fires of Creation). It also gave me the excuse of make the Lords of Rust far more aggressive as a gang as they need to raid crusader merchant caravans in their constant need for Numerian fluids or alchemical products for produce their fuel.

Valley of the Brain Collectors. Why aren't you a Hex Map?
Good question, why the third module of Wrath of the Righteous has an hexmap and this module, being also quite sandboxy, doesn't?
Tangentially, I had decided to introduce far more aliens than the module has, like a group of Elder Things, an Eoxian bonesage and his taskforce of skeletal champions equipped with power armors and necroguns, Vercite pirates and a member of the Great Race of Yith.

I made other modifications to the AP, like introduce a legendary figure named Captain Cheen'aro Warkher, an Androffan war hero who sacrificed himself for crash the Divinity before it could reach homeworld and bring the madness of the Dominion with it. I intend to make Cheen'aro's ghost appear in Lords of Rust or at least made the PCs find holovids about him fighting with his mono plaza fighter against the bioship that appears in Valley of the Brain Collectors (which also decided that crash landed by the damage done to it by Cheen'aro). Captain Walker (as he is known on Numeria) legend would be a hint that some of the Divinity crew survived and somehow mixed with the natives, as a big tribute to Mad Max 3, as the stories about his fight against the Dominion, his leadership during the riots of the crazed crew and his final sacrifice for not let Unity not the Dominion reach Androffa made him a somewhat messianic figure that would come back and guide those of Androffan ancestry back to home.

I also made Hellion cult be like a mix of televangelism and infomercial, as Hellion damage programming could only found these two references for create his church. The dogma of Hellion is going to be in my campaign quite a satire of wild consumerism and techno fetishism: "Hey true believers, Hellion here with a new thing which would make your life in Scrapwall more exciting! THE HOLY SYMBOL! Its shinny, its metal, its does funny noises and it can be all YOURS if you convert n-n-n-NOW!".

Another modification that I made is Unity not launching itself into space but instead developing a modified with divine and arcane magic extinction wave device which is going to annihilate all the deities linked to Golarion. This device is going to be fired into Axis trough a wormhole and it is basically a weaponized equation which is going to turn most of the deities worshiped on the planet into fictional beings, making Unity the only true deity.

Sky Howl wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

Sky Howl wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

We've never illustrated Curchanus, so far as I know.

Oh I'm confused then. I remember seeing a picture of a black-ish colored wolf with white star fur patterns. That's the picture I'm looking for then.

If you find it, or if someone else finds it, let me know here so I can see!

Curchanus is a dead god from my homebrew, but not one that I've ever done much with there OR in Golarion, so if someone somewhere along the way did more with him and even illustrated him, I'd love to see!

This would be be awesome! Maybe he could make an appearance in a future book or adventure path. Curchanus could team up with Desna and give Lamashtu her just desserts.

I sense a really cool opportunity for Mythic Adventures!

I consider for the sake of Desna's ethos that Curchanus should stay death. However, what about a mythic adventure path involving the idea of resurrect Curchanus which ends taking a turn into the conversion of Lamashtu in a CN or CG deity?

After reading the article concerning the Technic League in Lords of Rust I couldn't but come with the idea of introduce a side quest in my campaign.
Knowing that the community of Hajoth Hakados does have a network of agents dedicated to rescue sentient aliens and androids trapped in stasis on the massive ship's wreckage, it could be interesting to find a member of said group asking the PCs about rescuing any they could find for a reward.
My idea is to introduce Androffans who had survived the crash in stasis pods, perhaps a soldier as a reference to the film "Outlander" or a low maintenance worker which will pretty much be like Ash from "Army of Darkness".
This may increase the fun as there sure will be "fish-out-of-water" shenanigans dealing with someone who comes from a civilization which always considered magic non existent or perhaps knew about elves and dwarfs in fantasy literature to find them being real in this strange world. Another interesting element would be what to do? Help that individual come back home even if 9,000 years had passed? Help him/her integrate into the world of Golarion?
I would like to know if anyone here has come with the same idea and how was their experience with their players.

Espagnoll wrote:

I think I am going to have tons of fun with Hellion.

"Look at you, barbarian, a pa-pa-pathetic adventurer of meat and bone, raging and panting trough my dungeon corridors"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFZ5fv_pb8

You're going to have him speak like Max Headroom?

It fits with the technogrunge aesthetics of the module and is part of the charm of this AP, but now you had mention that character...I think it could be fun to introduce an A.I. NPC follower bard (demagogue) connected to an holographic projector. Maybe a town crier from Hajoth Hakados: "Fla-fla-flash news! The party is being attacked by mutant-tant-tant orcs!"

Here are some suggestions:

-Bonesage of Eox invasion: A bonesage from the dead world of Eox has found a way to teleport himself and his minions trough the ruins of a forgotten elf gate. Using dominated formians and lashunta he wants to trigger a casus belli , forcing Kyonin to declare war on a specific lashunta city state or formian hive. Good chance to let the PCs fight undead minions armed with futuristic weaponry from the Technology Guide.

-Vikings and ninjas!: A quite particular ulfen raid has managed to get into Kyonin trough navigating the Sellen River. The thane commanding it not only haves tian blood but also some of his family members are adepts to the path of shadow to the point their drakkar can become "invisible" at the eyes of the elf patrols. Finding themselves in the legendary land of the elves, they decided the main objective of this raid will be kidnap beautiful elven maidens to warm their Linnorm Kings lands' winter.

-Dragonchess: A young adult green dragon who has been pestering some elven communities has agreed to leave Kyonin woods if an elven aristocratic famed for be a chessmaster accepts his challenge of a living pieces match. The elven aristocrat knows the green dragon is going to use constructs for his side and he doesn't want to sacrifice elven lives, so goes to the PCs offering the chance to fight for him for a reward (the rest of the pieces can be played by NPC followers or become a good way to introduce new helpful NPCs in the campaign).

I think I am going to have tons of fun with Hellion.

"Look at you, barbarian, a pa-pa-pathetic adventurer of meat and bone, raging and panting trough my dungeon corridors"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NOFZ5fv_pb8

There wasn't a kuthite heretic in Shattered Star which offered a less "Pinhead beyond the first Hellrise" vision on Zon-Kuthon?
Also, keep in mind the NPCs of Curse of the Crimson Throne never attempt to force their ways into the PCs, not even Laori Vauss.

I have the theory Zon-Kuthon wasn't tortured by an entity of Lovecrafnian inspiration but by the Aztec deities of death, like Acolnahuácatl.
Perhaps the goddess Coatlicue wanted Shellyn for some unfathomable reason and Dou-Brhal offered himself as a sacrifice instead of letting the evil Aztec deities take her sister.

I had this idea you all may like.

Asterion:
NG God of good aligned minotaurs, logical problem solving, physical fitness, friendship and self discovery adventuring.

The son of the god Zeus and the queen of a now long gone kingdom in a far world, Asterion was imprisoned in a labyrinth designed by a genius for contain his evil. Far from truth as Asterion had a good nature, the labyrinth was in fact created as a way to diminish the ranks of subjugated nations' nobles as it was an incredible deadly dungeon. During his youth, Asterion helped many of the presumed sacrifices to him escape until he clashed with the evil hero Theseus. Thought death by the toxins Theseus used in his weapons, his body was leave on the wilderness to be devoured by the beast but the noble minotaur managed to overcome the paralyzing effects of the poison.
Free at least, Asterion made many good deeds but his monstrous appearance forced him to take a new entity, using a ring of change self he assumed human form and he called himself Iolus. During those years he meet and befriended the hero Herakles (and today priest of Asterion argue in a friendly way with those of Herakles about who came with the strategy to defeat the Lernean Hydra) and it is said the facade which Asterion used during these years was revealed by his friend in one of his legendary fits of rage. People instead of react towards Asterion with rejection accepted him as what he was.
Being Asterion incredible modest concerning the affairs of love is not sure if he is the main source of the existence of half-minotaurs in Iblydos.
Asterion teaches his followers problems must be approached with logic first and use brute force as last resort, that an adventurer's life must be for discovery oneself's nature and bring back to your community what you had learned for enrich it and there should be a balance between body and mind. The priest of Asterion train both mind and body, making their temple public gymnasiums and academies in which maths and philosophy are teach to the followers of the White Bull.
Asterion haves a good relation with all the good aligned gods and empyreal lords, specially Herakles, which friendship is as strong as the first day. The only exception is Caiden Caylean, which during a party in Nirvana the drunkard god was so intoxicated he mistook the White Bull for the demon lord Baphomet, breaking Asterion's right horn with a mighty blow before the Labyrinth Solver knocked him out with a self defense upper cut. Calystria was present and it is said she find the sight so hilarious she laughed hysterically for a whole year. Followers of Asterion are still today looking trough the Prime Material Plane for the Lost Horn of Asterion, said to be a powerful good aligned artifact capable of destroy the mightiest evil doers. Some legends said the Horn was found by the Bonesage Malifax of Eox and put in custody in his laboratory hidden in one of the many asteroids of The Diaspora, in a labyrinth guard by mighty robots, powerful undead, runic magic and quantum technology traps.

[Cont.]

Espagnoll wrote:

Dragonchess Player wrote:

Ummm... You do know that (bad Sci-Fi notwithstanding) there is no greater impetus for technological (or magical... or psychic... depending on the cosmology) advances than conflict/war? Unless both sides manage to wipe each other out/destroy their societies in the process (which is extremely uncommon).

I'd say the historical Androffans aren't "Star Trek Federation," by any means. They definitely don't seem to have had a pacifistic/non-interference mindset and were probably expansionist. However, they did seem fairly inclusive and accepting of other "alien" races as crew members on Divinity.

In a conflict between standard sentient humanoids, yes, war effort would had bring a Big Science leap. But we are talking about a civilization of humanoids unfamiliar with magic and facing a "confederation" of beings which are the embodiment of cosmic horror. Just imagine what a spell like glyph of madness could do to a society which is almost all the time on-line being download into the net. In no time the whole Androffan civilization would had end Event Horizon.

Pulling the "they're aliens, they don't have to make sense" card is a cop out. Either they learn from/coopt the "good stuff" from other races they encounter or (eventually), they'll be pushed aside by a race that does.

In a conflict: (1) it's over quickly and the winners appropriate the losers' "good stuff" (tech has a lot of "good stuff" for magic types, and vice versa) before the losing side can make adjustments and start learning, (2) the conflict brings changes on both sides while it lasts as each side starts figuring out/coopting the other's "good stuff" (through various methods, including spies and traitors, interrogation/torture of captured opponents, study of captured equipment, etc.), or (3) they decide to delay/end the conflict and get distracted by something else/want to avoid the secondary consequences of continuing (think the Korean...

According to Lovecraft one of the key elements of cosmic horror is the idea of the alien being as a pure expression of The Other. They make sense, but their own sense, in the meaning its actions can't fit into the moral and ethical scope of mankind. The Dominion of the Black is a more space opera interpretation of the concept exposed by Lovecraft in his essay Supernatural Horror in Literature .

It will be cool if Iblydos was founded by Odisseus (a.k.a. Ulysses) after wandering trough the cosmos and finding Golarion in such state of devastation during the Dark Times.

Ummm... You do know that (bad Sci-Fi notwithstanding) there is no greater impetus for technological (or magical... or psychic... depending on the cosmology) advances than conflict/war? Unless both sides manage to wipe each other out/destroy their societies in the process (which is extremely uncommon).

I'd say the historical Androffans aren't "Star Trek Federation," by any means. They definitely don't seem to have had a pacifistic/non-interference mindset and were probably expansionist. However, they did seem fairly inclusive and accepting of other "alien" races as crew members on Divinity.

In a conflict between standard sentient humanoids, yes, war effort would had bring a Big Science leap. But we are talking about a civilization of humanoids unfamiliar with magic and facing a "confederation" of beings which are the embodiment of cosmic horror. Just imagine what a spell like glyph of madness could do to a society which is almost all the time on-line being download into the net. In no time the whole Androffan civilization would had end Event Horizon.

Well, the Reign of Stars was over 8,000 years ago. All the technology in Technology Guide is vastly outdated. Just think of all the advancements real life human society made from -6,000 B.C. to the modern day.

The odds that Androffa still exists at all are pretty slim. And if they do exist, the odds of them being anything like they were 8,000 years ago is even more slim. Of course the developers could just hand-wave realism in this case and say "meh, they entire society has been static for the past eight millenia."

So were they lawful neutral/lawful evil/militaristic? It's hard to say. But would they care about a ship that went missing 8,000 years ago? I'd say not so much.

I doubt they did any advance since the Divinity invaded the Dominion of the Black space. Most likely both powers struggled and that perhaps halted the development of Androffa, maybe there was an Asimov's Foundation scenario. If that is the case, perhaps the new restored Androffa is trying to contact any lost colonies during the whatever dark times they had to endure after being attacked by lovecrafnian horrors. Perhaps someone has found in ancient records about the Divnity.

This question came to mind after reading the first issue of Iron Gods and the Technology Guide. The amount of militarily material which could be find (as plasmathrowers or graviton guns)and came out of the spaceship crash (the annihilator robots) plus the lack of restrain concerning contact with other sentient lifeforms (the kasatha tribe kidnap sure would be seen as an absolute violation of the so called "Prime Directive" find in a certain sci-fi franchise) hints Androffans aren't really nice guys.
In fact, this modus operandi: charging an exploration vessel with weaponry capable of level an entire city from a civilization which cultural and technological level is that of the iron ages and aggressively extracting whole communities for its study instead of having a direct contact or research in situ, points androffans are most likely a Lawful Evil civilization or Lawful Neutral with evil tendencies.
If its so, then this could be exploited for a "continue the campaign" plot, about Androffans finding about what happened to Divinity mission and perhaps getting ready a full invasion force not on Golarion but on the whole Solar system.

Right. "Universe" and "Common Sense" were the two novellas combined to make "Orphans of the Sky", so they weren't neglected in my list :)

Shame on me, I didn't realize that when I did read your post, after all I do own the compilation and I have both tales as a unity in my mind.

Andrew Betts wrote:

Russ Taylor wrote:

Influences for me include A Canticle for Leibowitz, Hiero's Journey and its sequel, Universe and Common Sense, Starship, and Thundarr the Barbarian. Surely more if I spent more time thinking about it.

Starship, Russ? Did you build the city on Rock and Roll?

Hah :) A city-in-a-bottle novel by Brian Aldiss, also called Non-Stop.

Now you had mentioned "Non-Stop", lets not forget "Orphans of the Sky" by Heinlein.

Espagnoll wrote:

Tabletop Prophet wrote:

James Jacobs wrote:

I'm not sure why you haven't seen much about that... maybe just not looking in the right places? Because Expedition is pretty much my number one literary inspiration for Iron Gods. You'll see plenty of examples in the months to come, but they start with an illustration of iconics fighting vegepygmies in a sci-fi dungeon on the first installment's cover!

Ermagerd, it's the Voice of God!

Anyway, yeah, I probably just haven't found all the references. I guess what I was talking about is that I have only found a couple posters making the connections, though there may very well be more of them.

Also, AWESOME! Barrier Peaks was my favorite module from AD&D, the second one my Dad ever ran me through. I remember being a Werebear wearing Powered armor and feeling like a Space Marine from 40k. I'm writing a one-off adventure for my players that's happening in Numeria, it's going to be a while before I can get the last few volumes of WotR to run it for them, so they're getting a bunch of one-shot adventures. I hope I don't run afowl of anything you guys establish in Iron Gods, but I can always rework it after the AP is published :)

Is a pity for me Jacobs is not familiar with Temple of the Frogs, City of the Gods and Wrath of the Immortals, all them composing a trilogy concerning the impact of a high-tech scientific universe spaceship crew ignoring the Prime Directive and mess with the realpolitik of a Sword and Sorcery world.In my opinion, that would had been a great inspiration source for a possible faction in the shadows.

So far I like the Numerian people would pretty much like those tribes found in Riddle Walker or even that one in Alfred Bester's Tiger,Tiger (a.k.a. The Stars my Destiny) with a good doze of cimmerian. Back to Riddle Walker, it could had been the source for a bard archetype, like the main protagonist, using oral tradition for keep somehow a remembrance of the origin of the disaster and also

...

In another thread you mentioned not being familiar with Temple and City because they came out when you were in college. Maybe I am wrong and was another member of the Paizo staff, but I do have that impression.

James Jacobs wrote:

I'm not sure why you haven't seen much about that... maybe just not looking in the right places? Because Expedition is pretty much my number one literary inspiration for Iron Gods. You'll see plenty of examples in the months to come, but they start with an illustration of iconics fighting vegepygmies in a sci-fi dungeon on the first installment's cover!

Ermagerd, it's the Voice of God!

Anyway, yeah, I probably just haven't found all the references. I guess what I was talking about is that I have only found a couple posters making the connections, though there may very well be more of them.

Also, AWESOME! Barrier Peaks was my favorite module from AD&D, the second one my Dad ever ran me through. I remember being a Werebear wearing Powered armor and feeling like a Space Marine from 40k. I'm writing a one-off adventure for my players that's happening in Numeria, it's going to be a while before I can get the last few volumes of WotR to run it for them, so they're getting a bunch of one-shot adventures. I hope I don't run afowl of anything you guys establish in Iron Gods, but I can always rework it after the AP is published :)

Is a pity for me Jacobs is not familiar with Temple of the Frogs, City of the Gods and Wrath of the Immortals, all them composing a trilogy concerning the impact of a high-tech scientific universe spaceship crew ignoring the Prime Directive and mess with the realpolitik of a Sword and Sorcery world.In my opinion, that would had been a great inspiration source for a possible faction in the shadows.

-Bonus material: I know this is not literary, but I found quite amusing how science fantasy used to be a constant in japanese RPG video games. Here you have a good example, the first encounter with the dreadful technology of the ancients in Shinning Force. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JG29OcrOCAg

Hyperion is absolutely a literary inspiration for Iron Gods.

Ilium and Olympos... not so much, since they're sitting on my bedside table but haven't yet been read by me.

But there are indeed some elements of the Hyperion stories that really inspired Iron Gods.

Sure you will find the Moravecs a great source of inspiration for how to write Aballonite NPCs.

I presume the attitude and reaction towards high-tech from non-numerians would be similar to that of the englishmen from Poul Anderson's "The High Crusade".

We know which are the cinematographical influences in this new AP, but I would like to know which are the influences coming from science-fiction literature.
A part of the quite not subtle reference towards Dune concerning the relation between the Black Sovereign and the Technic League, which other novels dealing with exhausted future or post-apocalyptic scenarios had been read by the authors?
For example, the Technic League is an evil version of the monks found in A Canticle for Liebowitz and the Foundation series? In my opinion it would had been perfect their concept development was influenced by the Miser from the novel Riddle Walker.

Bonus: Here I leave a moment from the British sci-fi show Doctor Who, belonging to the serial The Face of Evil in were the main protagonist must deal with a primitive civilization which source was the stranded crew of a crashed space ship.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geMx6y8ctFk&feature=youtu.be

Espagnoll wrote:

I think it would be neat if it is published a mythic super module for the next anniversary of the world's oldest pen and paper RPG telling about the end of Orcus. Something with a dramatic titled, like "When the Wand got broken", delivering the final chapter of the demon lord which has been the main antagonist of so many campaigns.

Even could be a crossover module, doing references to well know campaign settings if Wizards agree.

Write it yourself.

Okay, lets see how many like this idea.

When the gears of war become rusted...

In the Abyssal realm of Uligor the civil war between Orcus and the Thanatotic Titans had escalated to unseen proportions. Thanks to a mysterious ally from beyond known multiverse called The Machine Man, the titans now have access to knowledge of blasphemous technology capable of maim reality, forcing Orcus to seek help in champions of balance for deal with the crisis before the localized conflict compromises the whole existence!

Grease them with wrath and madness!

"When the Wand got broken" is a sandbox adventure which will take PCs from level 5 to 20 as well as imbue them with mythic power. In this super module you will find:
·A sandbox campaign in which the PCs will command armies, explore a war torn abyssal realm and even build a kingdom.
·Fight not only against hordes of demodands, demons and undead but also qlippoths, creatures coming from Lovecrafnian mythos and the Horde of the Lost, an army constituted from the soldiers of all the wars waged in planet Earth until WW1!
·New monsters and mighty foes, like the Old One Glaaki, Orcus and The Machine Man, avatar of Nyarlathotep!
·Expanded rules for aerial vehicles and monsters concerning dogfights.
·Divine spells, traits and information linked to the Greek pantheon.
·New and terrible powerful artifacts: from the reality bending Catachresis Engine to the most dreadful seen to date weapon in the multiverse, the Aklo Runic Atom Bomb!

Midnight Blade (Anti-paladin archetype)

Defender of freedom: Midnight Blades focus their purpose to protect the outcast, not caring if these are evil or good, their main concern is the prevail of freedom. Therefore a Midnight Blade can only be CN, CE or CG.

Aura of Chaos (Ex):
Detect Law (Ex):

-Smite Good, Evil and Law (Su): As in the anti-paladin and paladin same ability but with the exception it must be choose first which alignment affect.

-The Lady's favor (Su): A Midnight Blade gains a bonus to her bluff, sense motive and diplomacy skill equal to her Charisma bonus when dealing with sentient beings which could feel attracted to her.

-Midnight Blessing (Su): A level 1 a Midnight Blade can do sneak attacks as the rogue class and gains rogue talents in the same progression.

-Aura of Freedom (Su): At level 3 the Midnight Blade can radiate the palpably hate towards oppression of her mistress. Allies under the influence of this aura have a +4 to any save against spells which threat mobility or could trap them. At level 13 this kind of spells are dispelled if cast inside the area of influence of the aura and the caster fails a DC equal to 15+level of the Midnight Blade+Charisma and Wis bonus.

-Blessed by Shadows (Ex): The midnight blade is recognized enough by her mistress she gains permanent true seeing dealing against creatures conceal in supernatural darkness and gaining a +4 on perception checks for detect anybody hidden in shadows or natural darkness.

-Channel Midnight's Will (Su): A Midnight Blade reaches level 4 it gains the supernatural ability to channel positive, negative or an alternate channeling associated with the portfolio of Nocticula. However, she must decide which kind of energy channel during a day after doing the proper prayers in the morning. Once chosen it can be changed only the next morning and is also necessary to perform the prayers to her mistress.

-Spells: A Midnight Blade at level 4 can cast a small number of divine spells from the anti-paladin and paladin spells list and spells from the Magus spell lit.

-Servants of Midnight: At level 5 a Midnight Blade can summon once per month 1d2 incubus, succubus or shadow demons (CE, CN) or 1d2 Brijidine, Lillend or Lyriaken (CN,CG) to help her. The summoned outsiders aren't really serving the Midnight Blade and she must perform diplomacy checks to convince them to stay if something makes them decide to leave the prime material plane.

-The Music of Midnight: At level 8 The Midnight blade is blessed by Nocticula with the knowledge of a musical masterpiece. The Midnight Blade must choose which masterpiece and it counts as an additional feat. The Midnight Blade can spend a feat to learn a new masterpiece onward.

-Kisses from the darkness: At level 14 when using a crossbow for sneak attacks, the Midnight Blade can bless the bolts so they gain the bane property against the target as well as any aligned related trait for the main purpose to overcome damage reduction.

-The Mistress favorite: At level 17 the Midnight blade's gains the benefits of Nocticula's Profane Ascension. If the Midnight Blade already haves it then she gains an additional DR 15/Law.

-Champion of the outcast: When attacking a lawful outsider, if the strikes deals damage said foe suffers the effects of banishment. In case of attacking a non outsider who is lawful and confirming a critical hit, the Midnight Blade can plane shift him into the Shadow plane or make him suffer the effects of Imprisonment.

Long story short, the player's character is a female aasimar paladin of Shelyn which ended seduced by Nocticula. The queen of succubi basically used her interest into arts for get access to the paladin, managing to have a "moment of intimacy" from which gave a boon to the PC.
During the battle with Baphomet I informed to the player she could summon Nocticula for help them kill the Lord of Minotaurs for once and all, so she did it and after the battled ended just described her being "kidnapped" by Nocticula.
Not convinced by the default outcome of such blasphemous act, got the idea of Nocticula turning this paladin of Shelyn into her champion after the goddess forsake her for her sin.

Following the advice of James Jacobs I made an anti-paladin archetype which is basically only playable with CN characters, it can smite good, evil and law and which powers are associated with the domains of the Queen of Succubus. Lust is still present but is minor aspect of this archetype, granting just bonuses into diplomacy and bluffing.

One of my players PC has allowed the demon lord of the Midnight Isles to grant her a gift as described in Noctycula's stats. During the battle with Baphomet she summoned her so now this offer me the chance to develop a bit this idea exposed in some issues of Wrath of the Righteous about Noctycula desiring to become a goddess.
After talking with the player we decided it could be nice she rejoins the party as an anti-paladin, but altering the class enough for make it less evil oriented and more chaos oriented. However I would like some advice or suggestions so the changes made to that alternate class makes it too unbalance or too hostile to the rest of the party members.

I consider this omox demon oracle perhaps one of the most entertaining npcs in the whole AP. In fact changed a bit the first contact the PCs have with her instead of doing as described in the module just for the sake of doing a reference to the Beelzeboss scene from the Pick of Destiny and the song from a certain video game.
However, I would like to know how was your experience with the filthy "succubus" as PCs or GMs.

Nex.
A book dealing with this nation should be written by China Mieville or James L. Sutter.
Alkenstar and the Mana Wastes.
Geb.
Even if Mythic Realms gave us the chance to take a look into Mechitar, this nation should be exposed as soon a book dealing with Nex is published.

I think it would be neat if it is published a mythic super module for the next anniversary of the world's oldest pen and paper RPG telling about the end of Orcus. Something with a dramatic titled, like "When the Wand got broken", delivering the final chapter of the demon lord which has been the main antagonist of so many campaigns.
Even could be a crossover module, doing references to well know campaign settings if Wizards agree.

I am playing in a Kingmaker campaign a NG winter witch who is an adept to the Green Faith. Said character doesn't really belong to Irrisen as she was born in Brevoy and belongs to the Medvyed family, but during her late childhood her father was hired as the bodyguard of a quite troublesome stilyagi and she moved with him to Irrisen, spending most of her teenager years in Chillblight and learning the arts of the winter witches, always careful to not display her good nature openly. The background of the Medvyed family and the contact with the fae in Chillblight made her embrace the spirituality of the Green Faith.

In my case, mostly "classic" heavy metal and soundtracks like that of System Shock 2 and the Mad Max trilogy.

It would be funny if the PCs found a historical character from Earth in the prison, like Aleister Crowley.

I think it should be interesting if in some cells the PCs find inevitables.

Even though Baphomet's goal of invading Hell and overtaking Asmodeus seems hubristic and ridiculous, one wonders what would become of the multiverse if the demon lord managed to take his place and bring Hell under his reign...

If Baphomet is moronic enough for do such thing as try to invade the domains of Asmodeus, this sure will be a casus belli which would unleash a conflict between Chaos and Law trough the Great Beyond as ancient pacts would be broken. There is a tense balance between the forces of Law and Chaos since the assassination of Churcanus and Aroden which hasn't break because Pharasma holds a Sword of Damocles above everyone, Groetus.

I got my hands recently on AP #77 and after reading the article and the background concerning this demon lord I found perhaps the impression he did escaped from Asmodeus labyrinth is in fact misinformation.
Asmodeus most certainly has manipulated the Lord of Minotaurs for turn him from a brute into a force of political and social destabilization so people feel the need of order deliver by an iron hand in a silk glove. Let me elaborate this, Baphomet could think he did escaped but in fact was let to escape by Asmodeus when the Prince of Darkness find the demon lord has changed his mindset to the point he became less demonic and more devilish (this explains also why his head changed into that of a goat).
This also would explain why Nocticula is so eager to murder him, she knows Baphomet is just a pawn of Asmodeus cosmic political chess for total multiversal domination.

I can see what would happen if the Worldwound expands into Numeria.
"We must awake the great hero from the vaults!"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf47DQj_2Gg

Geb was the kind of necrommancer who really didn't wanted to become an undead himself but be pragmatic about mindless undeads making life for the living easier. However his obsession for eradicate Nex became so great this project was twisted into the Geb we know now, one in which intelligent undead made the elite of society. Geb is a very pragmatic and rational individual (if we ignore his obsession for Nex), a good example of this is the commerce relation with the nation once ruled by his arch-nemesis and the rules which basically force intelligent undead behave like civilized individuals and not mindless hunger driven beasts.
Tar-Baphon is just an insane nhilist (or used to be, the imprisonment on Gallowspire perhaps has changed his mind) which pretty much was a pawn of a bigger threat.

I wonder if in the future we are going to get APs which contain issues taking place on Earth in the early 20s and heavily focused into pulp adventure meets Lovecraft mythos.