Tracking!
-Posted with Wayfinder
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So is Hinkle a dwarf or a gnome? Sheet says one thing, post header says another!?? Just curious.. -Posted with Wayfinder
Nope, but go ahead and roll and add the GP to your form... that goes for everyone who has a day job but didn't provide a roll. TABLE 5–1: DAY JOB CHECK REWARDS
Not sure that this is going to work... but I have tried to make chronicle sheets and you should be able to view yours here (link) : I still need Esowulf's PFS # as I couldn't find it anywhere! -Mike
Hinkle strikes the evoker with his hammer and sends him to his god of secrets.
After surviving the ambush, the party is able to leave the Shrine of the Failed and deliver Eylysia’s cache to the Grand Lodge. The crowd gathered around the Starstone Cathedral has disbanded, and many of the locals are still horrified following Sir Reinhart’s attempt to vault the chasm on horseback, which ended with his fall into oblivion. Drandle Dreng personally thanks the Pathfinders for their successful investigation, indicating his interest in their future careers as Pathfinders. As the fledgling adventurers have yet to complete their Confirmation, the venture-captain promises to speak with Master of Scrolls Kreighton Shaine to have the process expedited. Several days later, each of the PCs receives a missive summarizing some of the Society’s initial findings:
Highest regards,
Enith & Woolfie - Sling at witch, (hit,-2) bite swordsman (hitx2,-8,-7) & tripx2 (swordsman is now lying on the ground dead.)
Baddies-
The Green Witch attempts to cast cause fear (DC 13) on Esowulf, but fails when Fillias arrow plunges into her breast. Her rage flows forth from her eyes, but she speaks not a word. The Brown Swordsman attempts to get up and provokes an extra attack from the wolf and again finds himself flat on his back, this time minus part of his larynx! The Red Archer draws and fires at Esowulf, but misses Eoswulf - Stabs Archer (hit, -10) ---------------------------------------------------------------
Enith & Woolfie - slings witch (hit, -3) bite & trip witch (hit,-5 + trip) kills witch
The red archer drops his bow, pulls his short sword and retaliates against Eoswulf, but the warriors parry skills far outmatch the swordsmanship of the evil archer: Eoswulf - Swipe (miss) + Armored spikes (hit, -9) Archer goes down, hard
Baddie - TBD Eoswulf - TBD
Eoswulf 's blade slices the air as the injured archer desperately parrys his strike, but this leaves him completely vulnerable to a smash from the warrior's wicked spiked shield that slams deep into his side, taking him out of the picture.
-Posted with Wayfinder
As this is the last encounter of the Wounded Wisp, I may need some advice on the final steps of GMing (chronicle sheets, etc) and how to report (this I believe I understand this part, but will need everyone's PFS numbers, names, faction, day jobs (for chronicle sheets and reporting).
Enith & Woolfie - Sling at witch, (hit,-2) bite swordsman (hitx2,-8,-7) & tripx2 (swordsman is now lying on the ground dead.)
Baddies-
The Green Witch attempts to cast cause fear (DC 13) on Esowulf, but fails when Fillias arrow plunges into her breast. Her rage flows forth from her eyes, but she speaks not a word. The Brown Swordsman attempts to get up and provokes an extra attack from the wolf and again finds himself flat on his back, this time minus part of his larynx! The Red Archer draws and fires at Esowulf, but misses Eoswulf - Stabs Archer (hit, -10) ---------------------------------------------------------------
The red archer drops his bow, pulls his short sword and retaliates against Eoswulf, but the warriors parry skills far outmatch the swordsmanship of the evil archer:
Eoswulf -
Enith & Woolfie - Sling at witch, (hit,-2) bite swordsman (hitx2,-8,-7) & tripx2 (swordsman is now lying on the ground dead.)
Baddies-
The Green Witch attempts to cast cause fear (DC 13) on Esowulf, but fails when Fillias arrow plunges into her breast. Her rage flows forth from her eyes, but she speaks not a word. The Brown Swordsman attempts to get up and provokes an extra attack from the wolf and again finds himself flat on his back, this time minus part of his larynx! The Red Archer draws and fires at Esowulf, but misses Eoswulf - Stabs Archer (hit, -10) ---------------------------------------------------------------
Enith & Woolfie - Sling at witch, (hit,-2) bite swordsman (hitx2,-8,-7) & tripx2 (swordsman is now lying on the ground dead.)
Baddies-
The Green Witch attempts to cast cause fear (DC 13) on Esowulf, but fails when Fillias arrow plunges into her breast. Her rage flows forth from her eyes, but she speaks not a word.
The Brown Swordsman attempts to get up and provokes an extra attack from the wolf:
The Red Archer draws and fires at Esowulf, but misses
Eoswulf
---------------------------------------------------------------
Baddies- ---------------------------------------------------------------
Enith & Woolfie - Sling at witch, (hit,-2) bite swordsman (hitx2,-8,-7) & tripx2 (swordsman is now lying on the ground dead.)
Baddies-
GM Dice:
Baddies initiative- The Blue Evoker moves 20' and casts burning hands (DC 13) on Geo for The Green Witch attempts to cast cause fear (DC 13) on Esowulf, but fails when Fillias arrow plunges into her breast. Her rage flows forth from her eyes, but she speaks not a word.
The Brown Swordsman attempts to get up and provokes an extra attack from the wolf:
The Red Archer draws and fires at Esowulf, but misses
W=-2-6 (-8)
Baddies-
Enith & Woolfie
Baddies Eoswulf
Geo can decern that the gem on the desk is a cut alexandrite worth a handsome amount, yet it somehow glows with a steady cool light. Enith identifies the paperwork on the desk as a priceless collection of Pathfinder Society lore and information describing dozens of unexplored sites. Most are written in an Azlanti dialect further encrypted using an old cipher employed by the Society centuries ago. Further examination of the room reveals nothing else of value. As you gather up your quest findings to bring back to the Grand Lodge, you feel as if you have grown on this requirenment for the Society. Laughing and recounting your exceptional (and not so exceptional) actions during this adventure, your group makes their way back into the shrine of the failed through the secret door. Init:
Enith's sharp eyes pick up 4 cloked figures, black robes draped over their armor. They have reapons and spells prepared for an ambush; but the sharper of initiative of your group allow a quicker action, (for most.) Before you, you see a Blue cloaked Halfelven evoker, a Green-skined Halforc witch, a Red-eyed Elven Ranger, and a Brown-garbed Human swordsman.
Enith & Woolfie
Baddies Eoswulf DC 15 Knowledge religon: You recognize these assassins as Norgorberite Cultists: They do not speak as they attack, and exactly how they have tracked the PCs is unclear; however, the Norgorberite cultists fight to steal your discovery and destroy it so that their god can keep one more secret.
As you make your way through the natural looking cavern, you make your way to a small chamber. Several desks are arranged along the northern and eastern edges of this small stone alcove. Whereas the stonework leading to this chamber is rough, the walls in the alcove are polished. A single gem rests among the neatly filed papers on the desk, emitting a soft luminescence that brightens the small room. GM Dice:
As Hinkle, in elaborate and very neat handwriting, writes on the chalkboard, this dispels an illusion concealing a secret door and causes the stone portal behind it to open. The cavern beyond the secret door is made of stone. This cavern is dark but for dim illumination further inside the cavern. DC 15 Knowledge dungeoneering or spellcraft:
Although the cavern has the aesthetic of a natural cave, you can recognize the walls are not natural; rather, someone cleared this area using stone shape spells.
As Fillia is looking around the small stone altar to Mellag, she runs her finger across the nameplate and it slides just a small bit to the side... upon further inspection and manipulation, altar’s nameplate slides all the way to one side, revealing a miniature chalkboard and a thin piece of chalk.
Geo and Ezren look at each other and at the same time, they both say, "Shrine of the Failed!" You recognize that the underlined portions of each inscription refer to failed aspirants of the Test of the Starstone and the monument dedicated to those who have failed the test. Erected centuries ago by an unknown organization, the Shrine of the Failed is a dour complex that pays homage to those who failed in their attempts to overcome the Test of the Starstone. The building houses numerous altars, each dedicated to a specific failed aspirant. Black-robed acolytes protect, clean, and maintain the halls as well as the few trinkets left behind by the aspirants. Your party arrives at the Shrine at the exact moment Sir Reinhart, the Mendevian crusader intent on becoming a god, attempts the Test of the Starstone. As the valiant knight prepares to charge his steed across the chasm outside Starstone Cathedral, you have unrestricted access to the Shrine of the Failed. The city guard and what few caretakers the shrine has have left to watch Sir Reinhart’s attempt.The rest of the shrine is closed because the caretakers have left to witness Sir Reinhart’s feat. This monumental chamber stretches eighty feet from end to end, with a ceiling suspended thirty feet from the floor by great pillars. Seven arched passages lead to humble rooms, each of which contains a polished stone altar dedicated to one of the failed aspirants who attempted
Each of these chambers contains a small stone altar to one of the failed aspirants. Each altar stands upon a raised dais and bears a small brass nameplate identifying the aspirant and the would-be-god’s areas of interest. Demuren:(E2a) Sought the jade idol of ten thousand faces.
Gobru:(E2d) Respectfully resigned after losing a friend.
Mellag:(E2f) Survived the horrors of Nemret Noktoria.
Oggo:(E2b) Traveled to distant Jalmeray.
Plokkis:(E2g) Sought to brave the Path of Aganhei.
Silmor:(E2c) Fought up all but one step of the Storval Stairs.
Spuchasta:(E2e) Enjoyed the many excesses of Katapesh.
GM Dice:
You soon find the epitaphs in question (pictured on the Maps & Handouts). They read as follows: Doulgonlir Caskmail - Deceased 4332 ar
Hollis “Evil Grin” Thorne - Deceased 4331 ar
Karina Clamp - Deceased 4330 ar
Everyone, please roll a Knowledge (history, local, or religion) Dice Check.
Created in 4330 ar, the Wall of Names resides on the grounds of the Grand Lodge in Absalom. The monument is a curving wall of black glass that stands atop a small hill at the western edge of the lodge’s grounds. Trees surround the hill, providing ample shade and privacy for those visiting the wall to remember fallen comrades. Carved into the wall are the name and date of death of every Pathfinder killed in the course of duty since the wall’s construction, and most entries also include a sentence or two summarizing either the agent’s greatest accomplishments or how they died. You recall reading from Adolphus' Addendum you found in the hidden chamber under the Wisp:
The exploration of the rest of the house turns up nothing of note, the basement is full of years of unread, neatly stacked newspapers and the upstairs is unfinished and empty. You are not noticed leaving the residence and you draw no special attention whatsoever.
Geo's examination of the table in the southwest corner of the meeting room reveals a neatly penned letter:
Underneath the letter is a hastily scrawled note in similar handwriting, which contains the name:
In the chest at the foot of the small guest bed in he meeting room, Fillia finds many potion bottles and stoppers... most are cracked or empty except for 2 which still contain their precious liquids.
DC12 Spellcraft or DC15 Perception: A long-forgotten potion of cure moderate wounds and potion of lesser restoration sit at the bottom of the chest.
The Main Floor:
GM Rolls:
Will Save vs 15
The Gnome simply tips his hat to Ezren, smiles and continues to read his book. Ezren's anger boils as he lambasts Fimbrick in the study. Meanwhile the wisdom of Hinkle, the untrusting nature of Eoswulf and the clear vision of Fillia start to unravel the clever and powerful illusions that have been cast here.
The combined attack of the halfling and her wolf ends the existence of the final beetle.
With Ezren's staff strike, the red beetle enters the afterlife. All that remains is the yellow. -Posted with Wayfinder
Round 1 Cont.
Enith & Wolfie -TBD
Beetles - TBD Enith and Ezren to end the round. GM: R= -7 Y= B= dead
Round 1 Cont.
Enith & Wolfie
Beetles GM: R= Y= B= -4
As Fillia and Eoswulf step into the living-room, a summoning circle just beneath the sofa activates. A loud clap of thunder slams your eardrums and three large housecat-sized beetles, dull brown in color yet brightened by two glowing green-yellow spots on their carapaces, appear and start scurrying towards the front door. GM Dice:
Round 1 Enith & Wolfie
Beetles
While examining the room, Fillia notes that despite the lack of dust on many surfaces, no one has been here for years. The carpet and sofa show virtually no wear and coupled with the plethora of papers on the front stoop, it is somewhat easily deduced.
Hinkle starts his search at the wadded up papers still stuck in the door-slot and these papers date back almost two years.
The old gnome seems indifferent to your presence, as he continues to read his selected time, his back to the window. -Posted with Wayfinder
Fillia looks on as Geo knocks, but doesn't notice anything more besides the home itself is an impressive stone dwelling reminiscent of what one might expect from an eccentric wizard’s home.... but her curious nature will not be unanswered! She moves to the east and peers into the ground floor window, and through some light billowy curtains she sees Finbrick's study. This study contains a round table surrounded by chairs, and the walls are replete with tome-laden bookshelves. As she is looking on, an elderly gnome garbed in noble attire with a dapper rounded hat on his head and a can tipped with a brilliant glowing gem in his hand walks in. This elderly man, whom you presume to be Fimbrik, begins perusing his book collection. Fillia nocks on the glass and waves enthusiastically, "Hellloooo!", and in return the old gnome reacts by smiling and giving a tip of his hat before continuing to read.
Geo knocks, but there is no response. Wizards of the Arcanamirium are seen about, but pay your troupe little mind as they bustle around focused on their own requirements.
You relook at Foster's notes and read the portion on Fimbrick:
A long-serving member of the Arcanamirium— Absalom’s largest and oldest magical institution—the gnome Fimbrik worked closely with Eylysia. Despite never becoming a member of the Pathfinder Society, Fimbrik aided Eylysia as a colleague and as a fellow wandering gnome whenever he could, ostensibly culminating in assisting Eylysia in hiding her repository of secret knowledge. You know that the Arcanamirium is not only the largest and oldest school in Absalom, but quite possibly the most prestigious arcane academy in the entire Inner Sea region of Golarion. You travel there find the Gnome's house. A brick step leads to Fimbrik’s front entrance, which is locked with a rusty lock. Numerous stacks of newspapers are piled around the door and crammed into a thin slot at its base. Each rounded corner of the building has a large window showing a neat and well appointed living area.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Janira proudly produces her wayfinder and looks excited to test out this Pathfinder's coin on her very own device!
The last word hangs in the air and Janira looks as if she is going to burst with excitement. "I have no idea what any of that means, but it was incredible!"
Heryn Gale nods and smiles politely as your group walks in, she curtly says, "I see ye couldn't stay away from our famous "Next-Day Haggis" lunch special... will it be six bowls for you?" meanwhile back at the Halfling's table: Janira Gavix looks at your group a little perplexed as she holds her hand out for the coin. She replies, "OOhhh, well... I haven't seen one of these in quite a while. And even then it was in a book. What you have here is referred to as a Pathfinder's Coin. Hidden inside this 'coin' are intricate gold and platinum wires. This matrix, carefully modeled after fragmentary Azlanti coins, reportedly causes the Pathfinder’s coin to rise an inch or so into the air and slowly spin in place if placed atop a wayfinder. In addition, when levitating above a wayfinder, it is written that the coin can be given a short message to remember. This message is said to repeat, in the speaker’s voice, the next time the 'coin' is floated above a wayfinder. All of this is according to my readings, though. I have never actually seen it done before..." the bard trails off, examining the coin even closer. "Now what was this about an absconded priestess in a graveyard?!?"
It's late morning when you arrive back to the Whisp, just prior to the lunch crowd. It is sparcely populated but you do recognize the halfling bard, sitting in her usual seat, where Hinkel spoke briefly with her just the night before. -Posted with Wayfinder
Hinkle's spell causes the coin to give off a slight glow indicating it is definately has magical properties.
You think about (if you don't know yourselves) anyone who could help figure out this piece of the mistery. -Posted with Wayfinder
You successfully subdue the attendant before she could again call for the city guards, and as it turns out, her own obscuring mist hides your actions outside the tomb. She rages against her bonds but her expression is more of fright than anger.
She is grappled. Next up: on Enith/ Wolfie; and if Geo will add an action since he technically did make a move.
Hadriana backs out of the tomb, suffering two strikes as she casts her obscuring mist. These must be the type of grave raiding scum that the church warned me about... well not on my watch! Weird that they would attempt this in the light of day, though? Following party members are up to finish round 1: Enith/ Wolfie - TBD
GM: -10 NL -6 L
Thank. You. That's SUCH a relief.
Ah, okay, so that one would have to be under the ORC license if I understand them right. Which could be untrue, I have no need of understanding the licenses. The ORC license would be usable if the document didn't reference any names from Golarion or the adventure. As it is, under the new policy, it would have to be published on Pathfinder Infinite... which means that, most likely, it wouldn't be shared at all. So I think that emky is right: the new policy means that such side quests, changes to AP and other ideas to add to the published modules would not be shared anymore.
... Also, add to that the fact that fans who wanted to share free Golarion-themed short adventures, quest ideas, additional side quests or variants for APs or modules, or other creations (a new wizard school, a new archetype, a new organization...) can no longer do that outside of Infinite (not just for PF1/SF1 but also for PF2/SF2). Many (most ?) of them will simply decide not to produce/share anything, instead of having to go through all the trouble to rework and format their creations for Infinite. Or they might simply not feel like their creations is good enough for such a big official commercial site. Thus, a globally much poorer pool of shared creations and resources (since the CUP allowed for those free rpg products to be shared more easily, without having to wade through complex and intimidating legalese considerations).
Although this whole thing has been (and still is) incredibly stressful and disheartening, considering that huge parts of the work done during the last 15 years might have to be scrapped or simply discontinued (since, like other fan communities I guess, we simply do not have the resource or manpower to go through all the content to scrub out all the things that the CUP allowed and that are no longer legal under the new licence), I would like to thank you, Mark, for taking the time to answer each and every comment in this thread. The answers might not always be what we hope for, but the fact that they exist is very much appreciated! We'll wait for an update. (And we even got a bonus answer from James Jacobs. – No, I’m not fanboying. YOU are fanboying!)
Hi! I’m part of the same group as rectulo_Fr who posted above, and we have been working to promote and share our passion for Pathfinder and all Paizo products, and to create a community for the French-speaking players for more than 15 years now. This includes sharing news, translating articles, creating and sharing game aids, homebrews, adventures, AP add-ons and other products made by the community under the PCUP. Most of those things are no longer possible under the new policy, which is a really harsh blow both in concrete/practical ways and to the morale of all the fans. And not everything can simply be ported to Infinite, either because it is not intended for an international audience (e.g., for products not written in English) or for mass publication (e.g., “I made a short adventure, but I do not feel confident enough to share it on such a large platform.”), or because fans simply might not desire to go through the hassle of such a formal system just to share a short creation of theirs. All in all, this will unfortunately lead to the loss of potential content, with people simply choosing not to bother sharing their creations since there is no legal, simple and efficient way to do it anymore. So, naturally, anger and frustration ensue… but the main feeling many of us get from all this is one of deep disappointment (and, from the various discussions I have read here and there, it is shared by many other content-producing fans who helped bring up the community). It is hard not to draw parallels with what happened when WotC suddenly decided to change their OGL, even though I see 2 main differences: (1) While it could be contested whether WotC had the right to change the policy, the (abrupt) removal of the PCUP is entirely in the purview of Paizo, so it’s entirely in your hands whether or not this unfortunate change stands. (2) While the changes WotC tried to enact mostly targeted people who made money from the licence, the change in policy here affects fans who share their creations for free, fans who are motivated only by passion for the game and not by financial gains (which might actually make the blow even harsher). It’s difficult not to feel some sort of “breach of confidence” in front of such a deep change in policy, when the fans who supported the game and helped it grow for so many years are suddenly told they are not allowed to do so anymore. I have been a fan of Paizo for more than 15 years (heck, I started by translating the alpha version of Pathfinder 1 and promoting the very first AP back in 2008, mainly to let the French-speaking community know that very solid alternatives to D&D4 existed). And my passion for the game was and is based on the high quality of the adventures/world and the system… but also (and maybe mostly) on the ethic decisions and behaviour displayed by Paizo in how they treat their community and fans. That might be why I feel so affected by this change, which sadly seems inspired by disrespect and disregard for the work of the fans – something that I would not expect at all from Paizo. I still cling to the hope that this might be a mistake or an error in judgement and that Paizo (as they have done before) can identify the problem and maybe revise the change in policy concerning free fan-made game products that helped grow the game.
Nice work, UnforcedError! And thank you very much for sharing!
I will most likely get the Foundry module since this is the VTT that I use to play, but I would also like to add my voice to those who deeply regret the decision not to offer a separate digital version (PDF, webp, jpg, png, whatever). This is especially bad for those of us who do not live in the US and already endure very high shipping costs to keep our subscriptions and have the money go directly to Paizo instead of using other - sometimes cheaper - options.
Just as a follow-up to my previous post... The PDF file for the adventure has been updated, and the image embedding has been fixed. I had to click on "Problems downloading this file? Click here" (in the Digital Content page) to refresh the download to the new version (the zip file for the single file version is now 51.49 MB instead of the previous 180 MB). Thanks for the fix!
I really hope this is just a mistake. Same here. I really hope it is just a mistake as well. The VTT modules porting the adventure paths can stand on their own without having to make the PDFs hard/impossible to use. Taking the excellent modules created for Foundry VTT as an example: not only do they save a lot of time to GMs but they also contain high quality tokens, maps (complete with walls and lightning), integrated journals with the adventure text, and even scripts. All this, in itself, is already a high added value. I will send this feedback to the CS as well, as requested above.
Hi! There seems to be several problems with the PDF version of The Seventh Arch (Gatewalkers volume 1), both the all-in-1-file and the 1-file-per-chapter versions:
I hope this is just a mistake (wrong version of the file maybe) and not an intended change?
Hi! Both as a suggestion and a question: along with the price modifications, is there any plan to work on providing a better experience for the digital products like PDFs? Two examples of improvements that I would welcome: 1) include higher resolution images (mostly for maps) ; 2) include - perhaps in a separate zip file - complete versions of the illustrations used in the book (for those cases when an NPC or monster is placed on the edge of the page and the image is partially cut ; many examples in the Bestiaries but also in adventure path books)
For what it's worth, I got the last two subscription packages with no problem, and without being required by the Belgian customs to pay any extra taxes. I am now waiting for the September package to arrive, hopefully with no problem either. Sorry to see that Eledriel and Zaister still have troubles with their packages though. Crossing my fingers for those to be fixed quickly. Thank you for your continued efforts, Brian, and for communicating and actually doing something about this problem. I got a mail from someone else more or less taking the credit for the fix, but the exchanges on this thread make me think that you are the one who got things moving.
Same for my July subscription package. I got it without having to pay extra taxes this time. Let's hope the same goes for this month's package and the following! Many thanks to Brian for taking the matter into his hands and paving the way for a solution that, I hope, will be confirmed to work in the following months!
Just for the record... I'm in the same boat. I was planning to buy those modules to support even though I have no plan to run them currently, but I am not going to, because of the new pricing policy where the full price of the PDF is not discounted. Just to be clear... I do not mind a price increase: $7 for the Foundry module was clearly too low for the amount of work and the quality of the work, and I would not have any problem with the module price going up to maybe $12 or $15 in addition to the price of the PDF. What I don't really get (or agree with) is having the price increase weigh more on subscribers and customers who have bought the PDF earlier than on customers who buy both the PDF and the Foundry module at the same time. (And, by the way, I'm not trying to start a debate or convince anyone... I'm just sharing my point of view on here, just as I did on the PF2 Foundry Discord server.)
Thank you for everything you've done up to now, Brian! Hoping that you can resume the very much appreciated efforts once you are back from GenCon (and have taken time to recuperate from it). Have fun!
Welp… I've just got a mail requesting that I pay additional taxes if I want to get my June subscription package (with Outlaws of Alkenstar 3, the Smoking Gun). Just to give you an idea of the extra costs that result from this tax problem.. that has been ignored for several months by customer service higher-ups (I do not blame in any way regular customer service employees who deal with day-to-day problems): - The book itself: $17.49
- Additional taxes due to lacking information : €21.88 ($22.76) I'm not sure whether I should refuse the package and wait till the problem is fixed, or once again pay those additional taxes, or simply buy the book again from another cheaper source. So, once again, thank you Brian for your continued prodding! I'm incredibly glad to see that someone at Paizo is finally considering that this problem affecting several EU customers is worth investigating!
Thank you for the regular updates! Even knowing "Nothing new yet, but we're still on it!" helps.
Hi Brian, and thank you for taking the time to answer and for actively stepping in to help fix this problem! I posted the ticket numbers I got above in this tread, right after Tonya's request. If I can assist in any way, feel free to let me know. The regular updates will also be very appreciated!
The current situation is very sad indeed. It might be worth pointing out that Paizo's Customer Service used to be renowned for being fast, helpful, caring, understanding and efficient. From my personal experience during those last 15 years and from what I read on these forums and everywhere else, the many qualities of the Customer Service played a significant role in Paizo's success. That makes it even more disappointing to see how customers are dealt with currently and have been dealt with during the last few months. Especially at a time when we see everywhere on the internet more and more players getting interested in trying Pathfinder 2 and other creations from Paizo. I have been very pleased with Paizo's products, attitude, values and customer service for 14 years ; I have accumulated a lot of goodwill during those years, and that incites me to be patient and give Paizo a second/third/... chance even though I feel like I (and my complaints) have been completely ignored for the past few months (see the thread about the European taxes). But newcomers will rightfully have much less patience! (Positive vibes to you, Mebrilia83) So, please, Paizo, get a grip on this problem. Examine what bad decisions led to the current situation and fix it as soon as possible!
So... PaizoCon has come and gone. And another week has passed. But still no significant answer. Soon, it will be 3 months since the first mail I sent about this topic (on March 9th). I want to continue to believe in Paizo, given how good they used to be with their customers, but it's becoming increasingly harder to justify this position. I understand that this is not a simple problem and I do not blame in any way the customer service representatives (who continue to be efficient, fast and friendly), but the lack of communication and consideration for EU customers is really disappointing and depressing. Had I not come to the public forum, I guess my three mails would have remained unanswered (much like other people's mails). And even here on the forum, after the initial answer, there's nothing but silence. Is it necessary to take the problem to Twitter and other social media to finally get some feedback? That's really not the Paizo I've known for the last 14 or 15 years! Really disappointing and depressing.
I hear you. My first mail about this particular topic was sent on March 9th (so, 2 months and 2 weeks ago). I was already kind of disappointed (polite euphemism) that, after seeing my first two mails being ignored, I had to come and post publicly on the forums in order to finally get some feedback. Then again, the feedback was mostly to ask me for more information so they could find out what went wrong. I provided the information (my ticket numbers) 12 minutes after it was required. And since then, more than two weeks later, still no other answer. I guess that many people at Paizo are busy with the PaizoCon preparations for this week-end (which might explain the current lack of answer but not really why there had been no answer before). I really hope that this topic will finally get some attention and that the IOSS problem can be solved very soon. Also, thank you Cyria, Tomeric, Mimski and Jason Nelson for sharing your experiences in this thread and breaking the otherwise deafening silence. It really helps to know that other people too have been confronted with the same problem. :)
Sorry for bumping this thread but... since I've just had to pay, once again, around 30€ in taxes that could have been avoided (otherwise, I wouldn't get my subscription package), I thought I would post again and ask for an update? Did you manage to get a hold of the previous mails I sent on this topic (on March 9th and April 17th) and seem to have been ignored? (Looks like Mimski had the same problem with the mails they sent.) Could you determine exactly what missing steps are required for the IOSS process to work (digital registration, as Mimski suggested)? Thank you in advance for any information and help you will be able to provide!
I also sent mails on March 9th (ticket #149279) then again on April 17th (ticket #153350), and another one today but, aside from the automatic responses, I did not get any answer.
Hi! The final scene at Rimecrag Pass mentions frost giants in the mountain, and Iversa commanding them to "pick up the scraps and make sure the Tusk runts die after [...] the avalanche", but there's no other mentions of them. Did I miss something?
Mark Seifter's Battlezoo Monster Part System allows characters to craft and improve weapons, armour, and skill boosting items by using "monster parts" that they collect from monster corpses, get given by peaceful monsters, or obtain by "un-crafting" items. I was thinking that it might be a very good match for this adventure path, since there are very few opportunities (actually, none in the first book) to visit a shop, sell things and buy runes and other magical items. The Monster Part System is actually quite flexible as presented in the Battlezoo Bestiary, since it comes in three variants, replacing completely the standard PF2 loot system, replacing it partially, or replacing only the currency in the loot. Many encounters (at least in the first book) can be resolved either through violence (thereby producing monster corpses that can be salvaged) or through more peaceful means (which, I think, is a really great idea), generally by recruiting creatures into the following. Peacefully recruited creatures might actually grant a few body parts (feathers, quills, hair, or more symbolic "body parts" like tears) to allow the PCs to collect an adequate amount of "monster parts" no matter how they choose to resolve the encounters. In order to imbue the monster part items with magical properties, characters need to have monster parts with the corresponding trait (e.g., parts from fire-based/fire-using enemies for fire properties, and so on), so it might be necessary to replace some enemies with other enemies that would have rarer traits, or modify some part of the loot. Anyway, it's just ideas for now... but I was curious to know if other GMs had thought about using the Monster Part system in their Quest for the Frozen Flame and maybe started working on the changes needed to do so?
Thank you, artjuice!
To make this part of the adventure more interesting, you can intersperse the characters’ tasks with minor complicating events that occur around the Broken Tusk’s camp. Three such events are detailed under Events Around Camp on page 18. It looks like one of those 3 events was removed (lack of space I would guess?), since only "New Snares" and "Porcupine Nest" are presented in the adventure. Any hint/idea you can share about a third (or more if you want!) possible event(s)?
It's really disappointing that the maps included in the Paizo PDFs are not high quality enough to be used on a VTT (especially now that VTTs are much more common). One shouldn't have to buy an adaptation of the PDF on one of the pay-again VTTs providing them (like Roll20 or Fantasy Grounds) just to get usable maps, in my opinion. I'm not sure whether it's due to a technical limitation / a current lack of know-how, or a deliberate decision to incite players to "buy again" in order to get a quality map (which wouldn't really fit with Paizo's history of being "fair" towards their customers). That being said, like other posters above, I generally find Narchy's maps much more immersive, high-quality... and free (though you can tip Narchy on his ko-fi account). They are also available both as stand-alone images (thus easily usable with any VTT) and as Foundry modules (with walls and lights already set - and boy, does Foundry provide good options for walls and lightning!) Edited, because I've just seen the previous post
Checked with Narchy btw and at least for now he's not going to create maps. Other people in the community might rise to the challenge, hopefully. It's one of the greatest advantages of this forum in my opinion: all the "let's share our creations/ideas and enhance everybody's games" threads.
Got my subscription pdf copy yesterday. This book is awesome! I did notice the the large version fold out map was not included at the end of the pdf as has been the custom with other products with included maps.I'll pass that along. The map is now included in the new version of the download... but it has a very low resolution. As soon as you zoom in a bit, the roads and buildings become all blurry. As it is, I find that it is unusable unless you just want a very broad overview of the whole city, so you lose all the possible benefits from having such a detailed map. Is it possible to get a higher resolution please?
Hi! I can't speak for everybody in the EU, obviously, but such a sticky would be very appreciated. Even simply letting us know whether things are in the work and whether alternative solutions are being looked into would help a lot! Thank you greatly!
Alright. Colour me very surprised, considering the geographical location of France and Belgium, but thank you for checking and letting me know!
Hi! Bumping this thread since it's been nearly one week. In the meantime, I talked with another subscriber from France, who also got charged only $24.19 for shipping & handling, so it looks like my increased fees of $39.17 might be the erroneous one? Also, if I should rather send a mail instead of bringing this topic up on the forum, let me know. Thanks! :)
Hi! A friend living in France and I (living in Belgium) were talking about the increase in shipping fees for Europe and comparing our most recent orders. • Both orders are for exactly the same books (Secrets of Magic + Strength of Thousands 2). • The shipping method is the same (Mail Innovations International). • The package information is the same (2 items; package weight 4 lbs). But one order has $24.19 of shipping & handling and the other one, $39.17! One package is sent to France and the other to Belgium... but I would guess that it does not explain such a difference in shipping fees? I know that you have had problems recently with the code supposed to compute shipping fees, so I thought this might be an error you should be told about. For reference, the order numbers are 36608834 and 36629261. Thanks for looking into it and letting me know ! :)
Another idea... this one is about Volluk Azrinae and his transformation... Spoiler: ...into a worm-that-walks. I struggle to find a good way to foreshadow this event and maybe let the PCs gather information and prepare themselves for a fight against a worm-that-walks.
A few tidbits of information that can be added to the dungeon itself: - (A19) In the various books and notes left here, the PCs can find hints that Volluk was researching a way to combine various rituals pertaining to post-death transformations - (A22) Under the destroyed self-portait, a note scratched in the wall reading "Obsolete. Must transcend!" - (B3) and (C36) Use the three books mentioned in the note to give more hints about Volluk's plans
As for the ritual itself, the AP volume simply mentions that he "[fed] himself to a vat of ritually prepared leeches" in order to become a worm-that-walks. The Bestiary entry about worms-that-walk reads: "When a powerful spellcaster with a strong personality, a lust for life, and a remorselessly evil soul dies and is buried in a graveyard infused with eldritch magic, a strange phenomenon can occur. The decaying body fattens and instructs the very worms that feast upon it." I think that it might be interesting to have this transformation ritual occur during the adventure or maybe just before the adventure begins, so the PCs can actually investigate the place where it happened. As far as I know, having Volluk become a worm-that-walks during the adventure (rather than before it begins) would not break anything in the story (but if I'm wrong, please let me know!) Option A (linked with the previous idea): if there's an old swamp village nearby, maybe inhabited by descendants of people who fled Gauntlight's dungeon, the ritual might take place in this village's graveyard. The corpse might also be devoured by leeches (instead of worms) to keep the swamp theme. Option B: the events of "Deadtide for Otari" left the graveyard changed, and certainly "infused with eldritch magic" ; a few days after this event (which Volluk might see as a sign sent by Belcorra), Volluk might go there at night and perform the ritual (burying himself and killing himself in the process). Come morning, the inhabitants of Otari might find a new grave freshly dug, open and empty, an ornate and rune-covered dagger of drow origin abandoned inside, with several worms (or leeches) all around... and ominous squiggly footprints leaving the place...
Same here. I got a mail saying that the package has been sent, and I can now access the PDFs (yay for that!). The shipping fees remain the same as what I mentioned above ($37.80 just for the Bestiary + Abomination Vaults 3). So, all things considered, I expect to have to pay this $37.80 shipping fee + around 30€ of import taxes for an order worth $59.98. I would like to hope that the shipping fees are wrong and that it is not "the cheapest method", but I cannot be sure. (Also, thank you for our answer earlier Raychael!)
I've just checked my subscription order for March and it shows a $37.80 shipping & handling fee for just the Bestiary 3 and Abomination Vaults #3 with the "cheapest method" option selected. Is this really the current standard fee for sending books from the USA to Europe (Belgium in my case) or are you still working on the issues about shipping costs and there is a chance that those numbers might be wrong? I really want to support Paizo (and I have been trying to do so for the last 11 years) but those fees (shipping fees + import taxes) are really making it hard, sadly turning subscriptions into a very poor option all things considered.
For the beginning of the campaign, I plan to build upon Steel_Wind’s suggestions and use a never-seen-before idea: let’s have a festival to start the adventure! (Everybody knows that, in Golarion, festivals always end well!) Other sources of inspiration include the “Otari Gazetteer” by James Jacobs, the “Shroud of Four Silences” novella by Liane Merciel and the various blog posts by Ron Lundeen.
Spoiler: Before the adventure. Wrin regularly studies the stars and seeks to get glimpses of the future through her readings. Recently, she saw the signs of a looming danger over Otari, a danger both far and near, in space as well as in time (near in space: Gauntlight ; far in space: Nhimbaloth the Outer gods ; near in time: soon to come ; and far in time: echoes of events that took place 500 years ago). All this is quite vague, and the only other information her readings gave her was that things should start to get in motion later, during a clear night that happens to coincide with the Festival of the Founders (Desnus 3). In order to prepare for this day, she sends invitations to people she knows (the PCs), asking them to come visit her for the Festival, and makes sure that local PCs will also attend the Festival. Festival of the Founders. It’s a celebration mostly of the first creation of Otari 477 years ago (in 4244) by the Roseguard, but also of its “second founding” by Maklanni Menhemes 398 years ago. The PCs gather with Wrin, who tells them that she would like to have them all join her for the evening meal at the Otari Market but that, in the meantime, they should feel free to visit the city and enjoy the various events set up for the Festival. The main goal here is to get the players to learn about Otari and some of its key NPCs. Festival Events. Many booths have been set in the streets near and around the Market (which serves as the central spot for the Festival). PCs can buy various kinds of food (mostly root vegetables and products from the sea), drinks and other specialties from Otari (wooden figurines, wooden objects…) or take part in some activities. A few of them are described below. Festival Event #1. Morlibint set up a small open tent where children and young adults gather to hear him read stories from various books. He also uses prestidigitation to enhance his reading with minor effects: characters and monsters jumping out of the pages of the book, light effects and ghostly screams… Alymora Inkholtz is also present there, with the children she teaches to (I wanted to introduce her early since, in my campaign, the dead thief in A15 is actually a never-do-well young son of a noble family from Absalom sent to Alymora to get “a good education” – he has a letter of introduction on him but decided to go get some easy money from Gauntlight instead of going directly to Inkholtz Manor). The PCs can also meet Dorianna Menhennes here (and I intend to have her touch one of the PCs then tell them something about their past that she shouldn’t know, like “Oh, I’m terribly sorry for your sister. I am sure she was a nice person.”, as a hint of her latent psychic powers). Festival Event #2. Magiloy of the Crow’s Casks has a booth where visitors can taste her creations, like her spiced pumpkin rum and sour blackberry ale. Festival Event #3. Klore Hangus set up a hatchet throwing contest with a few sharp hatchets made by Blades for Glade’s owner Carman Rajani (a sponsor of that event) as prizes for the winners. If a PC impresses him, he might suggest that they can visit him later if they want to get a job patrolling the flume. Festival Event #4. Wrab Chertel set up a “caber toss” competition (the goal being to carry then throw a large tree trunk as far as possible) with a small prize (coins) for the winner. His main goal is to use this competition to find new recruits, strong recruits, that he thinks might help him with the many problems of his lumber organization, Chertel Timber. Festival Event #5. Vandy Banderdash set up a cooking contest, with the final round happening between two contestants: Brelda Venkervale of the Rowdy Rockfish and the (unnamed) cook from Crook’s Nook. They both had to make some sort of salmon pie for the contest. Brelda’s is nicely spiced and harmoniously mixes many subtly different tastes (from various vegetables), while the cook’s pie is good and very nourishing but a bit bland, and decorated with the small fish-shaped smaller pastries for which the Crook’s Nook is famous (similar to those found in A17). The contest is to be judged by Oseph Menhemes (who is going to give his vote in a very diplomatic way, as a practiced politician) and Carman Rajani (who is going to give his in a much more crude and direct way) and a third judge to be selected randomly amongst the attendants (I expect that the third judge would be a PC). The goal here is to introduce Oseph and Carman and hint at the fact that they were chosen to be judges because they are the most likely candidates for the next mayor election (see Steel_Wind’s posts for more on this idea). Festival Event #6. A few organizations of Otari worked together to set up a treasure hunt through Otari. The participants are given four hints that should lead them to 4 locations in Otari, where they will get 4 pieces of information that, once put together, will lead them to the location of the treasure. The goal here is to introduce the Roseguard, some of the merchants the PCs might want to visit later, the history of Otari, and have a few situations where the PCs might have to make some skill checks (Perception, Recall Knowledge, Acrobatics…) during this first session that should mostly be roleplay (and no combat). The main document each participant gets: “Each Founder sent an agent to Otari. Each agent carries a message and is waiting for you somewhere in Otari. The following indications should allow you to get those four messages, which will lead you to the spot where the treasure is hidden! (1) The exiled warrior-queen rests in a high place. Behind her white stone sanctuary, up high, her agent left a message for you. (Please do not take more than one copy of the message.) (2) The priestess asked her agent to wait for you near the shrine to her god. But it is the shrine that sits where those who feed the community gather, not the one near the library. (3) The wizard became wise and well learned by travelling much and sharing knowledge. Maybe that’s why he chose to send his agent to the place where the couriers meet and plan their journeys. (4) The one in honor of who the city was founded sent his agent at the end of the street that shares his name, near the place where it meets the misleading light of the swamp, right next to the bird that runs. (Please do not take more than one copy of the message.)” (1) points to the cemetery, and more precisely to the Rajani crypt (made of white marble in my campaign) ; a few trees grow right behind the crypt, and several copies of the first message are left in a leather satchel hidden in the branches of the one of the trees (Perception and Athlectics checks). (2) points to the Farmer’s Guild : Jala Highstepper can be found next to the altar to Erastil there, and she has several copies of the second message for the participants. (3) points to Gallentine Deliveries, where Oloria Gallentine gives a copy of the third message to those who come to her. And finally (4) leads to the western end of Ilvashti Street, where it meets Wisp Street, near the bridge over the Osprey river (the bird that runs) ; a leather satchel with several copies of the fourth message is hidden under the western part of the bridge there. Each message contains an ad for one of the sponsoring shops as well as a piece of the final puzzle (this part is inspired by a handout I found on Reddit “Otari Weekly” – I can’t find the post anymore, and I forgot the name of the author though :/) : (1) has an ad for Blades for Glade (“Blade for Glade – forge ; Carman Rajani, heir to Founder Vol Rajani, crafts tools, weapons and armor of high quality ; 50 Ilvashti street) ; (2) has an ad for the Market (Otari Market, providing the community with General Dry Goods and Basic Necessities for Town Living ; Open-Air Market (weather permitting) ; Open every day, dawn ‘til Dusk ; 80 Menhemes Street) ; (3) has an add for Gallentine Deliveries (Local deliveries done within 24 hours ; Deliveries from/to Absalom/Diobel within a week (within 48 hours if you choose the express option) ; 120 , Roseguard Street) ; and (4) has an add for Wrin’s Wonders (Visit Wrin’s Wonders and explore your destiny in the stars! Trinkets and baubles! Magic and wonderment! 60, Osprey street). The puzzle I plan to use is in French, but it should be possible to recreate it in English. In the French version, the 4 message gives the following information: (1) a sequence of letters (PUBASHJWSECTXTUBEVQISEPQKUKXSUB. XLCHELXABCPXVHEUKISABQTAUVICHDXVXUNABITUVXE.) ; (2) has “… with MORUE” [morue means cod, though it doesn’t matter here] ; (3) has “Then, replace KQVWX …” ; and (4) has “First, remove all the letters from BUCHE” [bûche means log, though it doesn’t matter]. If you remove the letters B, U, C, H and E from the sequence of letters, then replace K with M, Q with O, V with R, W with U and X with E, you get a text that means “Not small. It allowed Otari to come back to life”. This final message points to the Giant’s Wheel, which was key in allowing Otari to flourish after its second colonization (thanks to Maklanni Menhemes). If the PCs go to the Giant’s Wheel, they find “the treasure”: a chest with a small wooden sculpture of the Giant Wheel and a message saying that, by showing this trophy to Keeleno Lathenar in the Otari Market, they will get a voucher worth 50 sp that they can use in any shop in Otari. Evening of the Festival. Once the sun has set and the stars appear very clearly in the sky, the PCs gather with Wrin, Morlibint, his spouse, and many other locals and visitors who attended the Festival in order to share an evening meal (barbecued fish maybe?). At some point during the evening, Wrin looks at the sky and seems concerned. She stands and, without a word, walks away from the lights of the Festival (to better see the sky). Morlibint notices this and suggests that the PCs and he should go check on her. After all, she has seemed quite preoccupied the last few days. Wrin is observing the northern sky, and pointing to something in that direction. “I wasn’t sure before… but, with such a clear sky, there is no doubt anymore. There is some sort of glow coming from that direction.” Morlibint and the PCs do not see anything, and Wrin posits that her tiefling eyes might let her see more than them. Wrin tells them about her previous readings, the danger over Otari and the reason why she invited the PCs. Morlibint does not really take this very seriously: “Oh, sure… like in the childish song? Belcorra coming back to eat the foolish children maybe? Ha ha… I might not be as learned as Vandy about the history of Otari but… Gauntlight has been destroyed what? 400 or 500 years ago? There might have been Stonescale kobolds and other kinds of pests over there at some point, but nothing that could endanger Otari.” Nevertheless, Wrin remains serious and concerned and asks the PCs to go there and investigate the place after a good night’s rest, even though she doesn’t have much to offer them. Morlibint continues to doubt her but, since he is a good guy and a friend of Wrin’s, he wants to help convince the PCs. He tells them that, if they make the journey to the swamp and they see any creature related to the dangerous will-o’-wisps, he’s interested in hearing their experience with them and that he’s ready to give them a few coins for this information. He also warns them that they should be cautious and not follow them, lest they lead them to danger. And then the campaign can begin as written in the books. Morlibint’s quest is also there to tell the players that they should come back regularly to Otari and visit the NPCs who might be interested in what they are going to find during their venture through the Abomination Vaults.
Another great module, similar to Multi-Level Tokens but simpler, is Stairways (link). Stairways allows you to create clickable connections between scenes (stair icons working a bit like door icons, but teleporting a token between two places that can be on the same scene or on different scenes). Multi-Level Tokens is more powerful though, since it also allows you to insert a copy of an area from a scene into another scene (e.g., insert the area "central courtyard" of the ground floor scene in the first level scene, because people standing on the first level would see tokens that are in the courtyard). I also found that Token Magic FX and the lightning options are quite useful to visually represent Otari's manifestations.
Many great ideas, thank you Steel_Wind! I like the idea of making the Denizen of Leng's presence a problem for the PCs to solve because it might lead to a bad mayor being elected for Otari, but I still think that this narrative thread could do with more foreshadowing. Once again, just two broad ideas: - Introduce Dorianna's psychic sensitivity to the PCs. For example, when the PCs are introduced to her, she touches one of the PCs (shakes their hand or just brushes against them) then seems startled for a few seconds and tells the PC something like "I am deeply sorry for your loss." or another sentence linked to a secret part of the PC's backstory. She explains that she sometimes "feels" things about people. - Reusing and revisiting the idea above about the assassin Siora Fallowglade's quirk: instead of cutting the left ear of her victims, she might instead take their left hands. That links her to Ysondkhelir's habit to claim a hand from the creatures he has corrupted. When/if the PCs get information about Belcorra's ancient allies (from Absalom maybe), they might learn that Siora was a very dangerous assassin because she had some sort of psychic powers and that she was said to be addicted to some kind of sleeping drugs that she needed in order to sleep calmly (without it, she had vivid dreams that prevented her from resting). Mostly hints indicating that Siora might have suffered from something similar to Dorianna's "curse", and that this "curse" might have a source that is old and to be found somewhere in the dungeon. Back in Belcorra's time, Ysondkhelir was attracted by Siora's latent psychic powers and tried to corrupt her: it went as far as insinuating in Siora's mind the desire to take a hand from her victims. Belcorra noticed it and ordered Ysondkhelir not to go too far with Siora (Siora was useful to her, as her main assassin, so she didn't want Ysondkhelir to "damage" her too much).
But I'm also wary about giving background to rooms, as it creates a lot of GM-driven talk that often isn't super interesting to the players and really slows play. Thanks for your comment and ideas! Hopefully, the once-per-day limitation and the fact that the PCs have to choose to use it to get information about a room might help with this concern? Yet another quest idea... After the Roseguard's attack on Belcorra's dungeon, there was much chaos in the lower levels, especially in level 2 (the servants' level) where the explosion and the collapse made a lot of noise. I would guess that some of the servants that had joined Belcorra (for one reason or another, disturbing faith in Nhimbaloth being a possible reason I guess) began to panic and try to leave. This quest idea is based on one such servant (as yet unnamed), who fled the dungeon then hid in the swamp for a few days before joining up with the first settlers who, along the Roseguard, created Otari. That unnamed servant panicked and hid a family heirloom in the dungeon before managing to escape. After he joined the inhabitants of newly-founded Otari, he went back to his old evil / certainly not lawful ways and joined other similarly-minded people in a sort of budding thieves' guild. He never dared go back to the dungeon to get his treasure but, on his dying bed, he confided in a friend what he remembered of the day of the attack. His memories were written down, then passed down from rogue to rogue... and finally ended up in Yinyasmera's hands recently when she dug up old documents from the archives of the thieves' guild. The document might actually be the reason why she sent of some of her men to investigate Gauntlight in the first place. And, considering that her men failed, if she trusts the PCs, she might give them the document in exchange for a service, or she might simply offer to sell them the document. Here's a first draft of that document: Spoiler:
When I heard the explosions, I was in the office of the majordomo who managed all of us servants. I ran out of the office, hoping to get to my room... but I soon noticed that a collapsed had blocked the way. I thought about fleeing through the flooded cavern: I ran through the kitchen and the pantry, but... I always had that fear of water, and I've never been a good swimmer. I turned around and went down the stairs, to what I knew was the library level, hoping to find an exit there.
I entered a long hall. To my left, I remember seeing a room flooded with a strange fog, which I avoided. I went the other way, through a door, and reached a large hall. I closed the door and leaned against it to catch my breath. It was chaos all around, with people screaming and running in all directions. I started counting the door, with the one at my back being number one, while following the wall to my right... I kept following the wall while counting one door for each of Nhimbaloth's digits. Then I went through the last door. That's where I hid the first part of the amulet, behind a loose stone in the far corner of the room. I didn't know the library level very well, and I had seen no exit yet. I decided to go back up to the servants's level, which I knew better, then ran through the pantry and the kitchen again. I couldn't go through the flooded cavern, I couldn't go up the stairs, blocked by the collapse. I could think of only one other exit, situated in the room beyond the workshop. I grabbed a torch and, without wasting any time, went down the room through the hole. I landed in water... but, thankfully, it wasn't too deep. There were stairs in that cavern, but they most likely led back into the complex and I wanted to get out, not in. There was also a tunnel, leading into darkness. Before going that way, I hid the second part of the amulet at the foot of the wall next to the stairs, in the corner, under a few rocks. All I remember was that I exited the tunnel several long minutes later, somewhere on the coast. I spent maybe two or three weeks there, hiding from whoever came to attack us. Then I saw settlers, who were gathering to build a new town nearby, and I joined, hoping to hide amongst them. Following the instructions in the letter, the PCs should be able to find the two parts of the amulet. Spoiler:
The first part is in room C25. Starting with the door east of C10 being door #1, the unnamed servant followed the wall south to C15 before going back north, and counting the doors as follows: #2 leading to C13, #3 south of C15, #4 to C19, #5 to C18, #6 to C17, and finally #7 to #C25. That's the door corresponding to Nhimbaloth's last digit ("Clusters of seven perfectly spaced divots of crumbling earth on shores are said to be Nhimbaloth's fingerprints.")
The unnamed servant then went back up to B16, B14 then B8. He went through the workshop B22 and into the well room B23, then down the well into room C40, where he hid the second part of the amulet before leaving the dungeon through C2. I'm still looking for ideas as to what the "amulet" might be (it could also be something else than an amulet).
Another very rough idea: give the PCs a magic item that allows them to get hints about what happened in the rooms of the dungeon back when Belcorra was alive. Goals:
The PCs might have to construct the magic item themselves, since it needs to be attuned to the time in history about which they want to gather information. It might require some mystical components from the ghostly or physical remains of people who actually lived at that time. (Maybe Borbo's gem and a part of his preserved body - an eye? Maybe a more complex list of ingredients turning into a scavenger hunt through the first levels of the dungeon?) The details for the construction of the magic item (the crafting formula) might be found in the notes left in Volluk's Worshop - though the notes might be incomplete and reference a few volumes stored in the library of the 3rd level. Taking Volluk's research topics into consideration, the magic item might be some sort of necromancy-focusing crystal lens. (Thus requiring interaction with the merchants in town, especially Gallentine Deliveries to get a special lens crafted in Absalom). The magic item might be activated once/day. When it is activated in one of the rooms of the dungeon, it could create a ghostly, obviously illusory, image of a randomly selected event that happened in that room. (The random selection part allows the DM to reveal as much or as little information as they want, and incites the PCs to use the magic item several times in the same room if they want more hints about its usage back in Belcorra's days). In addition to this activated power, the magic item might also give a constant bonus (maybe low-light vision? or night vision? or a +1 item bonus to Perception when used as an eyepiece?). Since the scene revealed by the magic item is "random", I guess that introducing this object in the campaign is safe with regards to the plot of the campaign?
Here are a few changes and additions that I plan to use with the Abomination Vault adventure path. The main goals of those are:
If you have other ideas or simply comments to improve on those suggestions, please share! Obviously, SPOILERS ABOUND! Spoiler: (1) Candidates for mayor position. First, Steel_Wind’s excellent suggestion from the How will you be starting the AP thread: have the AP start during a festival in Otari, where the nominees for the forthcoming mayor election are announced ; have Carman Rajani included in the list ; have NPCs comment about his last four campaigns and how there is no way he becomes Otari’s mayor (maybe add a few racist comment about his Nidalese origins).
(2) Annotated cartography mission. Once people in Otari learn that there’s more to Belcorra’s dungeon than just the surface ruins, Vandy Banderdash is very interested in collecting maps and notes about the structure of the dungeons and how each level was used. She’s ready to reward the PCs for any maps and information they can bring to her and might ask them for a complete survey of all the connections between the levels themselves (e.g., 4 connections between Level 1 and Level 2, 5 connections between Level 2 and Level 3, …, 8 connections between Level 5 and Level 6…) and the connections between the levels and the rest of the worlds (twisting tunnels, opening into the Darklands…). (3) Information from Absalom. Once Mayor Menhemes learn of the lower levels, he reports the information to Absalom and asks his contacts over there to check if there are other tidbits of information that were not made public back when the Roseguard was sent to stop Belcorra. It turns out that there is… Those who went the Roseguard to Gauntlight knew that there were lower levels and other people allied with Belcorra but thought that it would be enough to cut off the head of the snake. They promised that the Roseguard would be paid for Belcorra’s head but did not mention anything about her allies, hoping to not spend too much money on a threat that seemed quite minor and far away from Absalom. The mayor’s contacts might discover a list of names and comments about some of Belcorra’s allies, information obtained from merchants in Absalom who sold and brought supplies for Belcorra’s dungeon. The list could include names of people who made special orders to those merchants, or contacts that the merchants introduced to Belcorra, like:
(4) Otari’s last days. Once Morlibind learns that Otari (the hero, not the town) did not die during the initial fight with Belcorra, he might ask the heroes to draft a report about how the thief spent his last days, retracing precisely his journey through the first levels of the dungeon, the opponents and challenges he overcame, and how he finally met his demise. PCs would have to gather information from the ghostly echoes of Otari and what they encounter in the dungeon (like the minotaur skeleton in a guardroom), since Otari the ghost’s memories about his last days are quite fuzzy. The more precise the report is, the more Morlibind is ready to reward the players (he might also give them a bonus if the story is told in an epic way, more akin to the fictions he likes to read). (5) Siora’s quirk. Chief Assassin Siora Fallowglade was known for always cutting the left ear of her victims – a quirk that might be mentioned in the list from Idea #3. Out of habit, she did the same thing to the two guards she murdered when she attempted to flee… Perceptive PCs might notice that the two shadows they encounter in Smuggler’s Refuge are missing their left ears (it might be harder to notice on a shadowy form, but it creates a hint that those shadows might not be just a random encounter). (6) In Search of the Perfect Soldier. In the Restricted Collection room of the Library (C33 on Level 3), the PCs might find nearly empty bookshelves specially prepared to receive reports and experimentation notes related to the quest for the perfect soldier. The bookshelves are divided into sections for fleshwarping, reanimation of the dead, selective breeding and golem creation and some of them have a few old reports written mostly in undercommon. Some of those reports might be presented as “copies” of notes collected by Jafaki and might hint to the various creations and experiments the PCs can find on Levels 5 and 6 of the dungeon. The undead librarians used to keep in contact with the seugathi researchers and continue to create copies of their research notes for safe storage in this library… that is, until Belcorra’s return created the spectral wall of ectoplasm blocking off the lower levels. I'm still looking for ideas to "bind" the various encounters on Levels 5 and 6, and maybe foreshadow the presence of the denizen of Leng (in addition to its effects on the mayor's daughter).
I wholeheartedly agree! A very useful addition to set up the mood and elaborate on the descriptions! Thank you, Steve Geddes, for mentioning the environmental cues and starting this positive feedback thread!
Not directly answering the original question but... for those using Foundry VTT, the (free) PDF to Foundry module (see here) that lets you automatically import the maps, images and texts from the official Paizo PDFs into Foundry has already been updated to work with Abomination Vaults #1. And the monsters and NPCs are already available in the Pathfinder 2 compendiums. And the good news is that all that is free, as long as you have an official Paizo PDF.
I think that the heavy presence of good-aligned (and even chaotic-aligned) deities could be explained by the combination of two elements: First, the inhabitants of Breachill are not only open-minded towards adventurers but they even incite them to come to their town by hiring them for various tasks. And, amongst the adventurers who come by to help, it makes sense that faith in Cayden Cailean (freedom, adventure, daring) or Desna (exploration, travel) is quite common. So, all those visiting adventurers would bring along many chaotic-aligned and good-aligned ideas to Breachill (ideas that might also be especially attractive to people who were stuck with very lawful-aligned hellknight neighbours). Second, I don't recall reading any details about how life in Breachill was when the Hellknights were still occupying the citadel, but I would guess that the presence of so many strong and armed lawful warriors nearby sometimes made things difficult for the inhabitants who tended more towards the chaotic alignment. So, when the LN Hellknights left, some of those people might have finally felt free to express their opinions and their faiths... that could explain the creation of a temple-tavern to Cayden Cailean and a place of worship to Desna, in reaction to strictness imposed by the Hellknights. But that's just my take on it. (Hey, and welcome to Pathfinder and Golarion !)
I have a question about the name of the goblin tribe, the Bumblebrashers. With English not being my native tongue, I have a hard time making sense of it (then again, it's fine if a goblin tribe has a slightly nonsensical name, but I want to be sure I'm not missing anything). Bumble as in speaking/moving in a confused way, or as in a bumble bee? Brasher as in very brash/arrogant/self-confident/energetic, more than the average goblin? I'm also wondering where the name comes from. Were they at some point very brash and brave and did they attack a group of giant bumble bees that had invaded the Citadel... or was this name given by the first humans of Breachill they met, who thought that the goblins who came to them bumbling peaceful words were very brash to approach them, especially after the Goblinblood wars? I couldn't find any official explanation for the name in the book, but I might have missed it?
Bestiary pages 166-167, Ghost. In the general presentation, Frightful Moan is a 2-action activity, but in both detailed stat blocks p167 (commoner and mage), it is a 1-action option.
Core Rulebook, p96, Bard Advancement
Core Rulebook p275, the "noisy" trait has no precise definition that I could find in the book. In the Playtest, it was described as "This armor's check penalty increases by 1 on Stealth checks."
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