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The deity articles in the first couple adventure paths each had two or three stories from their holy texts, like the story of Desna and Lamashtu and the origins of Abadar's herald. Then, suddenly, they stopped. There's something very powerful and revealing about the stories different religions and cultures choose to tell. So, I guess that leaves the rest of them for the community to write.

Has anyone written any they would like to share or perhaps have any ideas for stories from our world that could be adapted to fit? For example, I thought a variation on the Ugly Duckling would work wonderfully for Shelyn.

I'm working on building some of the more popular buildings in Sandpoint in The Sims 3 to give my players a cool visual aid. (And because I'm hooked on Sims atm.) I know I'm going to build The Rusty Dragon and the Sandpoint Cathedral. Any ideas/requests for any of the other locations? I was considering the Glassworks, if I can figure out how to do the glass ovens.

Before anyone gets too worried, I have not (yet) been nominated for this, but if I was... How would I go about nominating the Paizo staff?

ETA: I mean, is that something we are allowed to do or is there some company policy against it? And if we can, where/how do you want those nominations to come?

So... Just started Skull & Shackles and one of my players and really good friend is playing a paladin of Iomedae. I had talked to him going in about how difficult it was going to be, and he understood. We've had one game so far and he is roleplaying it very well. He's making a nice nuisance of himself trying to be honorable and just. He even protested at the keelhauling.

I've been using Sandara to help keep him from getting himself killed on a couple of occasions. So far, he is taking to her very well. She hasn't made it completely obvious that she is a cleric of Besmara yet.

The other players are both good, so I know that once we get them their own ship things will be much easier. I plan on using Story Archer's good(ish) spin on the campaign, and I think it will be very easy to send him after the Chelish Imperial Navy, being that they're devil-worshippers and all.

What I really need some help on is the thing that brought him to the Shackles in the first place. He chose the artifact hunter trait, and I need a little help. I am thinking of giving him an item that can grow with him, that way it doesn't unbalance things. I'm thinking of using either the Weapons of Legacy rules or create kind of an item set.

I know the base item (the one he knows he was sent to find) is going to be a combination of the Azant Pendant from Gods & Magic and the folding plate from Ultimate Equipment. I'm calling it The Eye of Aroden.

The backstory that I've come up with is that it was forged by Aroden for Arazni, but was lost when she was defeated by the Whispering Tyrant. Not sure where it goes from there, but I know it needs to end up on Bonewrack Isle. Maybe it was brought to the Shackles right after Aroden's "death" to see if it could be used to revive him.

I would like some ideas on where to go with this. Should I use the multiple items idea? Maybe have an item specific to Arazni and Iomedae as well? I think Iomedae wants it back because it's a relic of her original patron, and she can use it to make the paladin her champion in the Shackles region. Is that a good enough motivation for her? Enough for the paladin to stick around?

Any input is more than welcome. Thanks in advance guys

Corvin. Ebony. Or Snow, if you feel like irony.

I would definitely have the house start to repair itself when the PCs aren't looking. At least every 24 hours, when the haunts reset. Also, look at the history of the house. Someone tried to burn it down before. What happened? They ended up dying a fiery death themselves. Maybe create a custom haunt that triggers next time they try to smash something. Have them make a Will save to resist actually inflicting the damage on themselves.

I would say that most of the languages can be learned by anyone who wants to take the time. Probably some of the race specific ones can't be spoken by others, but they can be understood. I would look at the individual monster entry. Generally the ones that can only communicate in their language are mentioned specifically, and those are the ones that you would have trouble learning/speaking.

For example,I seem to remember there was something that communicates by scent. Humans probably couldn't learn that language, but another creature with the scent ability could learn but not speak it.

You might also want to check out Dawn of the Scarlet Sun. It also involves a ruined shrine to Sarenrae.

Kinda relevant. There was a 3rd edition D&D module that involved a village of animals that had been turned into humans and halflings. Can't think of the name, and all my books are packed atm. I seem to recall a lot of smaller animals, maybe not suitables weres, but could be a useful point in the right direction.

So, last night's RotRL game kinda didn't happen. But I was introduced to the Pet Shop of Horrors anime (all 4 episodes.) For those that aren't familiar, the gist of the story is there is a mysterious pet shop in Chinatown that sells exactly the pet that a person needs. For example, a grieving couple that just lost their daughter was sold a rare species of rabbit that exactly resembled their daughter. Of course, there were specific rules (never show the pet to anyone, keep a specific incense burning at all times, and never feed her anything but water and vegetables) and of course they weren't followed, with tragic results.

I have been trying to figure out a way to incorporate the shop and it's "owner" into Golarion.

I see the Count as either some kind of sorcerer or fey of some kind. You could truly argie for just about any alignment you wanted for him. He definitely seems to care more for animals than humans, but he also seems to try to teach his customers a lesson. Most of them don't seem to learn it until it is too late, though. I personally feel like he is some kind of neutral, as he does not inform his customers of all possible consequences and will not take responsibility for whatever may happen if the conditions of the contract are violated. He does repeat that the pets are only animals, even though they appear human; most of the problems arise when the customers forget that fact and break the conditions.

All of the "animals" he sells appear to their owners as some kind of human/semi-humanoid (one was a mermaid, one was a medusa), but they are in truth animals or magical beasts. From what I can guess from a quick scan of the manga and watching the anime, it seems to be the incense that provides the illusion. I assume that the reason why no one else can see it; they might not be affected by the illusion. It seems that it at least some of the animals gain a measure of intelligence over long-term care.

I think the incense burner would probably be the main magic item sold. Maybe it has to attune to a specific animal or magical beast, then creates an illusion of a humanoid. The Count can shape the illusion to fit a specific customer's needs. The contract is a connected magic item. A customer who signs it takes a -10 to the saving throw against that specific illusion, and also sets up the conditions that will cause the illusion to end and the incense burner to become nonmagical. Perhaps the illusions cast are only temporary until the contract is signed.

The shop could truly fit in just about any big city in Golarion. To do a literal translation, all you need is somewhere with a sizable Tian population. But, anywhere with a run-down section of town would make a perfect place to tuck the tiny facade of this shop. The shop seems much larger on the inside, but that could simply due to extensive underground space, and space behind neighboring storefronts.

DISCLAIMER: I have read all the AP's, but have only prepared Runelords and Crimson Throne. Memory may be sketchy on some details.

I would say that Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Council of Thieves, and Carrion Crown are definitely out off the top of my head. Runelords and Crown habe some major horror aspects. Curse and Council habe a major infernal influence to them. I would also say that Skull and Shackles, as written, is kinda dark and gritty, but maybe if you toned down the more gruesome, realistic aspects it could work.

Shattered Star is kinda iffy to me. It really relies on some knowledge of the earlier Varisia AP's, most of which aren't really that kid friendly. There are also some morally gray areas, and some disturbing themes that may not be kid friendly.

I think your best bets are Legacy of Fire, Kingmaker, and maybe Jade Regent. They are the ones that have the least problematic major themes, at least to me. LoF you could probably emphasize the Arabian Nights aspect. Kingmaker is all about building the kingdom, with a kind of dark fairytale undertone. I would probably scale back some of the political aspects, but it could work for kids.

I would definitely read through the entire AP just to make sure there is nothing specifically objectionable. All kids are different. You know them better than we do, and you can better make the call on what is appropriate.

I know this has come up before, and I remember reading some of the posts where people had actually run the AP's for kids. Maybe some of them can give you more specific advice.

So, I am running the anniversary edition and my players were just sent by Sheriff Hemlock to check the crypt and found Father Tobyn's remains missing. They reported back to Zantus and now are wanting to investigate. I want to give them some clues to point them in the right direction, but I don't want them to rush off to Thistletop right now (they are mostly 1st level, one or two are 2nd). Any ideas?

The Wand of Animate Dead. Obviously using it is an evil act. My PCs are already talking about selling it. Any opinions on whether the SALE of the wand is an evil act? They were saying they might try and sell it to a goodly church saying "We can sell this to you here, or to those guys over in the marketplace" under the assumption that the church would dispose of it.

That seems like extortion to me and, again, bordering or maybe outright evil.

I'd like to think about what I can do for the PCs if they go down this line. Any clever ideas?

I would say that a lot of good churches and especially the church of Pharasma would be vey interested in disposing of that thing. They wouldn't so much say they were buying it, more like paying a bounty on it. Probably the same result on the wallet, though. And the players wouldn't even have to resort to extortion.

Well, if the players don't kill her and take her to Magnimar to stand trial, I hear there is a certain corrupt Justice over there...

Pretty much the same thing happened with my players. I let them go off hunting goblins, and actually sent them towards the Birdcruncher tribe. When they got there, they found just a bunch of empty goblin hideouts. They set up a trap and waited for goblins to return, but none ever did. Eventually, they gave up. On their way back to town, they saw a farmhouse burning and ran to help. They met Shalelu who was helping rescue the family and killed a few straggler goblins that got separated from the rest of their tribe after the raid. Shalelu went back to town with them to have her meeting with the mayor and the sheriff. All in all, it worked out just fine.

As long as your players come back to Sandpoint relatively soon, a little side trip is ok at this point; just watch out that they don't get in over their heads.

I think James has specifically said that classes like summoners and gunslingers are beyond rare to the point of being almost pc-only. So I wouldn't expect to see many more high level summoners, if you see any at all.

Something that might be helpful. I tried to do a "show" drawing and really random drawing. What I mean by that is that i stacked the deck with a spread i wanted to use to tell the story. Then I drew a spread to see how many points the group got at random. kinda cheating, but if you're having trouble getting things to make sense on a random draw, it might help. Heck, if your players aren't familiar with the harrow, you can just read the cards however you want to tell the story you want to tell.

I'm almost certain that it would be a copyright issue.

The new one is technically the official canon. But, there is some relevant information in the old one that apparently is not included in the new one, so you might still want to check out the old.

The pugwampis are only one short scene, they aren't really part of the plot. Heck if your players hate them that much that scene works even better.

Not to spoil too much, but they are actually part of a summon monster trap. You could simply substitute another monster that the players would hate you less for. I would probably take a vicious twist on an old gag and have a pair of fiendish vipers spring from the trap.

The only one that I know of is the one on YouTube that you mentioned. You might check around at some of the campaign journals on the forums. Don't know if that would help you at all...

Excellent, thank you thats perfect.

Good thing I asked, I compared it to the 3.5 one and there are several differences.

They still use 3rd party sources for some of the monsters? Erylium being from Book of Fiends for example.

I don't think so. Most of the 3pp monsters have new PFRPG stats, and some of the npc's have been changed, too. Erylium is now a witch, for example.

Ok, here's Burnt Offerings. I've listed the monsters per encounter.

Do you want the total number of monsters in the campaign or just the most in a single encounter? I am at work right now, but I don't mind putting that list together for you. I could actually use it for myself.

* - who the heck are these guys? I can't find them in the adventure.

Haldmeer Grobaras is the Lord-Mayor of Magnimar. He isn't written to have any involvement in combat (YMMV), so I wouldn't worry about a mini for him. He has information in the Magnimar book and, I believe, AP #2 in the Magnimar gazetteer, and is mainly a questgiver NPC in the AP as written. Gobblalas I'm not sure about, unless you took Haldmeer's last name as a different character.

I would definitely say Acrobatics checks are in order. It's a stinking awesome idea, but it should be hard to pull off. I would say that the victim should be considered flat-footed, to represent him still being in bed and all.

I must say I approve. I guess I will have to keep my eyes peeled for when this comes up on the store.

Normally I'm not a huge fan of repaints, but for something that's basically a freebie, I wouldn't really expect them to do an entire new sculpt and everything. I like the different paint scheme on this one, anyway.

Judging by the alignments and personalities of the Deverins and Scarnettis that feature most prominently, I would guess Sarenrae for the Deverins and Abadar for the Scarnettis.

I haven't gotten my copy of the Anniversary Edition yet, so I can't tell you if they mention a solution. But, probably the simplest solution would be to simply put another family in charge of the Glassworks. Change some names and the bastard son/father/daughter relationships could still be the same. Who is running the Glassworks in your game?

So, long story short, I have some brand new players (to tabletop and to my campaign ) working their way to Sandpoint to join my campaign. One of the sidequests I plan on giving them is the chance to explore some newly discovered Thasilonnian ruins in the Mushfens. From the campaign setting, it looks like Eurythnia, the kingdom of lust, is what was there.

So, from what I remember about the architecture, I am planning on a kind of Egyptian style to the place. I figure it would have been basically a temple/bordello in ancient times, maybe to Callistria, if she was an active goddess in Thassilon, and of course Sorshen herself. I need some ideas for what kinds of traps and monsters there might be. Any thoughts?

In one of the dnd equipment books, there was something called an augment crystal. Basically its an enchant that you can attach to any masterwork or better weapon. Never really played FFVII, but something like that might kinda work for materia or at least give the right feeling.

I am about to reintroduce my players to Aldern Foxglove. I took the opportunity to put my and my girlfriend's special fx makeup skills to use. A mutual friend of several of my players agreed to model for me. Both of the possible Aldern obsessions know him well, so there should be a very good reaction when they realize who he actually is.

Going with the mask theme that's so prevalent in Skinsaw Murders, I gave Aldern a second (non-magical) mask to play with. I see him as using one mask for His Lordship and the stalker's mask for the Skinsaw Man, while leaving his face uncovered for the Hurter. I also added a few spots of mold on his face, tying him in with the mold and disease in the house. And his fingernails are green to suggest the same disease.

I am planning on adding a few final touches to this on Photoshop before I show my players (probably make it look more like night and make his eyes red), but I couldn't wait to share this.

Without further ado, I present to you The Skinsaw Man

I am getting ready to run a certain module that prominently features ghouls. Normally not a problem, but one of my players (my girlfriend actually) has a phobia of zombies, specifically the Night of the Living Dead kind. So, how do I make this ok for her? I know I'm going to make a certain aristocrat ghast look and act more like a vampire, but what can I do about the generic ghouls? Any ideas?

I would add that your party is probably going to have company sooner than they expected. Probably at least Lyrie and Orik coming up to investigate/yell at the stupid goblins/put out the fire. Nualia herself would eventually also show up, probably with yeth hounds in tow. And then you have the other goblin tribes, some of whom might be willing to rush to the Thistletop tribe's aid, or try to come take over the best lair/keep it from burning down. Of course, eventually someone from Sandpoint will come investigate, but by then it will probably be too late for them to help.

All in all, if your party is burning it down so they can rest and recover safely, it's probably not the best way to go about it.

I am working on a one shot adventure based on Disney's Haunted Mansion, the ride not the movie. I know that I want to include several iconic scenes and characters, like Madam Leota and the ghostly ballroom, but I'm having a tough time getting it together. Anyone have any ideas?

Thanks guys. I'm gonna give gimp a try. I do the occasional image editing, and I needed something a little better than Paint. I've tried Photoshop Elements, and like it, but even that's more than I can afford at the moment. Oh well, something to save up for.

Can anybody recommend a good image editing software? Something like Photoshop, but cheaper?

So, I know there are certain people on here that have very fond memories of a monster from a free D&D adventure called "Something's Cooking." I want to adapt it to Pathfinder for a Runelords campaign I'm running. Problem is, I've never built a monster for Pathfinder before. Anybody have any advice, or actually converted this guy?

I'm looking into running this AP for my players, but I'm concerned about a potential issue. I was wondering if any GM's had encountered this or had reasonable solutions for it. (Or maybe it isn't a problem at all.)

** spoiler omitted **

It's kinda late for me, so my brain is a bit fuzzy, but seems like this was addressed somewhere in the module.

I wouldn't really have a problem letting them take a ship to Brinewall, they'd just have to come back to Sandpoint to start the caravan. I'd imagine there would be a few people, like Ameiko especially, who would have unfinished business back home that they needed to tend to before leaving maybe forever.

With the exception of the Master Runewell in the Runeforge, each runewell can only hold 1-3 sins, is this correct?

Right, specifically, each Runewell that I remember seeing is attuned to only one sin, ie the Runewell under Sandpoint is attuned to Wrath. If I remember correctly, most of the Runelords only built one or two Runewells. The exception being Wrath, which had a lot of little ones at all her major holdings.

The "control dias" for a Runewell limits what the power in the well can be used for?

If I'm understanding you right, no. The limit on the Runewell (sin points, I think they called it) is basically the charges remaining. Anyone that knows how to use it, or accidentally bleeds on it, can use the Runewell. Now, to do more than summon sinspawn or infuse someone with that sin, yeah, you'd probably have to actually be a Runelord.

Special Sihedron rituals are needed to "recharge" a pool through sinful fatalities? Or just chuck a sinful critter into the well and watch it dissolve?

Well, the ritual seems to be needed to fuel the Greed Runewell, but not so much with the Wrath Runewell. I am assuming that the ritual basically sends the sin energy to the appropriate runewell upon death. Probably is related to the distance between the victim and the runewell. If it's close enough, it can absorb the energy itself automatically; if not, it has to be sent there.

And if I'm remembering right, the Wrath Runewell wasn't awakened by the murders in Sandpoint. It was the cause of them. The Runewell, and probably most of the others, reactivated when the Greed Runewell was reactivated. The murders recharged it, definitely, but they didn't actually awaken it.

One of the problems with printing out the maps is the secret doors, traps and other things your players shouldn't see. Jade Regent has the interactive maps that fix this problem, but you said you're running Kingmaker.

I know when I did a 3D model of thistletop for my RotRL game, it got a really big reaction. I actually did it all kinda freehand. Not the most cost effective, definitely. But the wow factor is definitely there.

I have also made my own map tiles for games before. Doesn't use up nearly as much card stock. If you're a half decent artist, you can add all the detail you want.

Just my 2 cp

Rough idea for a script, if gran rey will agree to let me use it. Most definitely will credit.

GOBLINVILLE SCRIPT
Lyrics by gran rey de los mono from the Paizo messageboards.

CAST
LEAD GOBLIN
LOCKJAW (GUITAR)
DRUMMER
BIG BOSS

The clip of the guy fighting orcs is from another project of mine.

Yikes! No advice here, people? Nothin'?

Well, please, let me make a comment or two ...

I'm finding that beefing up "We Be Goblins!" for a group of PC's currently in "Skinsaw Murders" sort of takes the fun out of the whole thing. The original idea was that 1st level goblins would be running around shanking horses and dogs and blowing stuff up. But now I find I'm replacing the horse with a nightmare, and it sort of sucks the flavor out of the original concept. I may still go ahead with it, as I've already invested some time in the retooling.

Now any comments?

Well, what if one of the horses from the farms got infected with ghoul fever but got away. What if Vorka was looking for a replacement horse at just that moment? So now, instead of a nightmare you've got a ghoul horse. Who infects all the other animals and Vorka, and now you've got another budding ghoul plague the next time the players pass through Sandpoint. You could bump up Vorka's charcter levels and add as many ghoul animals as you want to make the right CR fir you.

Doesn't quite have the same feel as the original adventure, but seems to be the most logical development. Might remind the players that ghouls keep coming back.

So, my players managed to get through BO without quite reaching 3rd. So, I've got to give them some extra exp. I'm sending them into Brinestump for a quest and thought I'd intro them to one of the creepier (human) residents of the marsh, the Swamp Witch. My plan is to use the same scenario of her getting attacked by a faceless stalker. I think I'm going to have it play her as a sweet old lady who just likes to live in the swamp. Probably invite them in for a clumsily poisoned to tea.

At least that's what I'm gonna do if they're not suspicious of her. If they are already suspicious that there's somethig going on, it will actually be her, but she wants more than the groceries they're delivering. She wants guinea pigs.

Here's where I need some community creativity. I want whatever she does to them to be temporary, not fatal, and maybe something they can turn to their advantage, if they get creative. Any ideas?

Ok, these are so good I have been inspired to have another go at amateur film making. Goblin Music Video is coming!! I don't know yet if I should try to write one of my own, but I am very tempted to use one from this thread. If gran rey de los mono would let me, I would love to do the goblin margaritaville.

I've gotta say that Garen Thal's Goblin Gamer song is really fun, too. But that will be a bit more complicated and need more people. So, I wanna get another one under my belt first.

Well, looks like I get to kick things off with a vote for the Pathfinder adventuring party. I am a big fan of group costumes, especially since they can be really hard to pull off. And these guys did a very good job.

Check out the Wayfinders for more Golarion themed recipes. If I can come up with any myself, I will post them.

I agree with previous posts on most of the world. However, in Geb, I believe, sentient undead actually have a few MORE rights than living citizens. So, as long as daddy becomes a vampire and not a zombie, he gets to keep everything.

First of all, let me say that I really enjoyed being back in Sandpoint. I'm running a RotRL campaignrigt now and its really nice to have more material to draw from. The thing that. I'm wondering is about a certain monster in he Brinestump Marsh and how log he's been there.

I remember reading somewhere on the boards that the APs are assumed to take place during the time they are published in, which would make Jade Regent set 4 years after Runelords. This particular creature really shouldn't have come been made after then. The adventure points to sightings only going back 3 years. So, where was it before that? Is it only 3 years old? If so, how? If not, where was it before? I may be sending my players into the Brinestump soon and need to know what's there.

I definitely plan on importing those two little rascals into my RotRL campaign.

I like the idea of an ultimate prank, and I wanna steal an idea I saw on here somewhere of it being actually helpful. I like the facepaint on the sleeping pcs, and I have a copy of Dragon 337, so I am going with the magic face paint that kinda works like a delayed potion.

Might give the players a whole new style, lol.