I just purchased this and it's absolutely incredible. I feel like I'm walking through a super fancy theme part of the thoughts in my head. Each map I open, each area description, it all is done with such a loving and expert touch.
Though I wrote this several months ago, getting to see it in full color, and a fantastic sound design complete with ambient sounds, is bringing it all back to life for me. The locations, the characters, the silliness, and the dark moments... they all live and breathe in this VTT. I'm absolutely flabergasted.
My plan wasn't to run this AP, but after seeing the majesty of this product, and how easy it is to just... run a game... I am seriously considering it.
If you're running this online, or have access to a digital display for your in-person group, you should ABSOLUTELY consider getting this. Not only is it going to save you dozens of hours of prep time, but the result is what you would get if you spent hundreds of hours crafting this experience.
Bought it earlier today, and not only is the vtt module stunning, the actual adventure is one of the best I've read in a very long time! Fantastic job!
Pretty frustrated. My subscription went into pending on the 10th, and still hasn’t shipped. Others have gotten their hard copies but I don’t even have the PDF’s yet.
So, in my real life job my title is "Emergency Services Coordinator" for a non-profit. My specific job is that I oversee and run a food pantry. We are in the 4th poorest county in the 2nd poorest state in the United States, so at times it can be very busy.
During Christmas, we do what we call a Christmas Basket, which is a large amount of food, hygiene and cleaning supplies given out all at one time. We give out, over the course of a day and a half, to nearly 500 people. This is something I work on starting in August, as much of the supplies we get we either buy with donations or get from individuals and companies in the area.
We are giving out our boxes next Wednesday and Thursday, and we are assembling boxes tomorrow and Thursday. If I don't post daily for the next few weeks, that is why -- but it's only temporary, and if I am able, I intend to still post on those days. I just want to give a heads up if I'm not able to.
Sorry in advance, but, again, it's only temporary.
[u]Audrahni:[/u] I wasn’t there, but I did bury the bodies. There were 6 of them. One of them had a puncture wound on her throat – from a rapier or some other thin weapon.
{beat}
[u]Audrahni:[/u] The other 5 there wasn’t a mark on them. No wounds at all. They all had this … look of complete terror frozen on their faces. I’ve lived a long time, and spent a long time in this town, but I haven’t seen anything like this.
{Audrahni shifts uncomfortably in her seat, and looks around as if someone was listening. She speaks softly now, nearly whispering, but still understandable to the main characters.}
[u]Audrahni:[/u] The port-governor and most of the folks around here think it was pirates from Riddleport, and I think that’s true, especially given what happened earlier today. The last time Sir Rodrick showed up was because of Riddleport, and he was killed by them, so it would make sense.
But the Port-Governor won’t do anything – she says she doesn’t want to anger Riddleport, and she has more important things to worry about than some – as she put it – “hooligans”.
I knew these people. Most of the Horned Frogs are just workers who like to stand together and drink. They were causing no harm to anyone. They’re not a real gang – not like the Roadkeepers from earlier today are. They didn’t deserve this.
I just think there’s more to this than a simple attack. I’ve never seen people die like those 5 seem to have, and if Riddleport did this, we need heroes more than ever here.
I’m not good with people, so I need you to find out what happened – maybe Sir Rodrick’s old house might give some secrets up – people around here call it Rodrick’s Wrack, and most stay away because they think it’s haunted. I know the first person on the scene was Ladia Kelstrop – she owns the smokehouse in town – so maybe she knows what happened.
So, I got written permission to give you the full layout of Rodrick's Cove (the article in the back of the first AP). but they would prefer I send it to you via PM or by Email. Which would you prefer?
{We FADE IN to the inside of the Creekside Inn. We see several people seated in tables across the room, talking quietly to themselves. A server walks among them, offering drinks to her patrons. We see a bard in the far end of the room singing a song, but not so loudly that it overshadows everything else. We move towards the middle of the room, where AUDRAHNI and our four characters are seated in a table, having just finished a meal.}
[u]AUDRAHNI:[/u] Thank you again for taking the time to chat with me. You seem like capable sorts—certainly not the type who’d be content to live out lives of comfort in a small town like Roderic’s Cove. I don’t mean that as an insult—far from it. I’ve been in town for several years and I think the Cove needs people like you: heroes.
{beat}
The stink of violence is in the air. The near-confrontation you were just involved in isn’t the first we’ve had recently... surely you’ve heard of the slaughter that took place last week? Something strange is going on here in Roderic’s Cove, and someone needs to do some investigating to figure out what that is. I’m hoping you’ll be up to that challenge.
{The guards seem relieved at the fact of the ghost’s disappearance, and move off to see to other details. A few short moments after the guards leave, we center on a young elven woman. She wears plain colored clothes but is dressed more for winter than for a brisk fall day. She approaches our characters, a dour look on her face}
[color=red]MAKE A KNOWLEDGE: LOCAL CHECK. [/color]
If Knowledge: Local check passed (DC 10):
You recognize her as Audrahni, a local elf who works as the cemetery groundskeeper.
WOMAN: I just saw what happened. You are a brave girl, young one. Might I impose on you and your friends? I … this entire town needs your help. I would be happy to pay for dinner if you all would be kind enough to listen.
{Three town guards rush into the nearly empty Circle, short swords out and at the ready. Cut to the main characters standing together in the Circle. One of the guards sheaths his weapon, and approaches them.}
GUARD 1:We were told there was a spirit in the Circle? What happened to him? Are all of you alright?
The ghost turns, and looks down at you. ”Save …. My …. Cove ….” he says, gasping for air, as spectral water pours out of his mouth, disappearing before it touches the ground. The ghost then fades away.
{After a few short moments of panic, the fear subsides in the main characters, and they make their way back into the Circle. They find MADDIE, a small girl, standing alone in the center of the abandoned place. She is standing right about where the apparition was. He is gone. There isn’t anyone else in the area, although you can see some town guards rushing towards the Circle from the west.}
{The two groups pause for a moment, staring at HILAEL and MAYKEN. One of the Horned Frogs speaks up.}
HORNED FROG 1: We’re not here to start trouble. We just lost 6 of our own right here, and we just want to toast their memory.
HORNED FROG 2: Yeah, we wasn’t bothering nobody.
ROADKEEPER 3: (muttering) like you people are worth toasting …
HORNED FROG 1: What … what did you just say?
{We PULL BACK to see the two groups, with HILAEL and MAYKEN in the middle. You see the Horned Frogs begin to walk very aggressively towards the Roadkeepers. After a moment, the Roadkeepers begin the same, and it looks like the two groups will meet right where HILAEL and MAYKEN are standing.}
HORNED FROG 3: GET OUT OF OUR TOWN!!
ROADKEEPER 1: THE ROADKEEPERS WERE HERE FIRST, AND WE’LL BE HERE LAST!
{As the two groups converge, we see several of the other residents moving away from the group, with a couple running, calling for guards. Suddenly a man materializes, his appearance indistinct and hazy, a glowing and transparent humanoid form viewed as if through a haze of murky water. In a booming voice that sounds like it’s gurgling out of the throat of a drowning man, the ghost cries out, [u]“NO! MY COVE! NO!”[/u]}
{He moans, his voice murky and yet overwhelming, and a nearly invisible force flies out in all directions from him. Fear seems to encompass the entire area and its inhabitants, as both groups and nearly everyone else in the Circle immediately run away as fast as they can.}
[color=red]MAKE A WILL SAVE vs FEAR.[/color]
If Will save(DC 19) fails:
You are panicked for
Panicked Rounds:2d4 ⇒ (2, 1) = 3 Rounds.
You recognize the rough patches on all 4 men drinking at Coot’s stand. It is the symbol of the Horned Frogs.
Maddie:
As you stare at the Horned Frogs symbol, you realize you have seen this symbol before: it is the Thasillonian rune of wrath.
{As Hilael and Mayken walk casually towards the Possum Juice stand, the 4 men previously in hiding walk into the center of the Circle facing the Horned Frogs, and start to laugh. It also puts Hilael and Mayken directly in-between the two groups. You see alot of the townspeople quickly move out of the way between the two groups (except for Mayken and Hilael) One of the men in hiding begins to speak}
ROADKEEPER 1: It’s the mighty, mighty Horned Frogs, boys! I’m surprised you haven’t dropped over dead from fright! {Laughs}
ROADKEEPER 2: BOO! Buncha cowards.
MAN 1: Watch your mouth, Roadkeeper, or else -
ROADKEEPER 1: Or else what? You don’t have the guts. I think it might be time for us Roadkeepers to come back to town. Run things the right way!
{Possum Coots greets the men at his stand, and fills mugs full of his ‘possum punch’ for them.}
MAN 1: To our fallen brothers!! {They all raise their mugs.}
MAN 2: So what is she gonna do? We have to get them back!
MAN 1: She won’t even say who ‘they’ are yet. She might not even know.
MAN 3: I’ll betcha Moz--
MAN 1: Shut up! You know better than to name names, especially here.
MAN 2: Well, someone’s gonna have to do something. We can’t just let this go.
{As they continue to talk, we pan over and the viewer can see 4 men slowly making their way towards the stand, trying their best to be as stealthy as possible. Their expressions and concentration seem directed at the 4 men drinking.}
Maddie and Mayken only:
[color=red]MAKE A KNOWLEDGE: LOCAL AND A KNOWLEDGE: ARCANA CHECK. [/color]
{We FADE IN to a wide view of the town of Roderic’s Cove, from above. After the brief shot, we CUT to an establishing shot of the Circle, the main marketplace area of the town. It is the weekly Market Day, and we PAN to see dozens of small carts with locals selling all sorts of things, from TRICIA MOONPORT, a portly woman selling spices both strung up and in bowls, KELEM VALATROS selling small pelts, and to CORUM DIROMIDA with his weekly selection of squash. We can see directly in front of the viewer the two-story Creekside Inn, and we can see several people mulling about in front of the establishment.}
{The entirety of the marketplace is seated on a large circular stone, providing a slight raised area as opposed to the rest of the town, and obviously man-made (hence the name). After a few moments of looking at the various small carts, we center on our main heroes.}
TRICIA: (speaking to a customer) No, I just sold the last of it, but I can have some dried for you next week …
I visited Finland when I was stationed in Germany back in the 90's. It is an absolutely gorgeous country with some of the friendliest people I've ever had the privilege of meeting.
Time for some introductions. My name is Eric, aka MoonKnight, after my favorite comics character. We will be starting later today, but I wanted to take a moment and talk about the upcoming game.
A little about me first: I’ve been playing tabletop RPG’s since 1980, when I was 9. I have been playing off and on ever since, through high school, college, the military (there was A LOT of gamers in the Army when I served), college again and now ‘real life’. I’ve played all manners of games and genres. I am now a 40-something with an incredible wife and child, and I still play on weekends. I am also a big sports fan (Go Pats!), comic book fan, movie buff and pro wrestling fan (even went to wrestling school when I was younger and stupid). So, how I’ll be writing this game will incorporate some of my interests.
I am not very good at prose. My wife is infinitely better. I used to be ok, but as I age, I feel myself losing vocabulary. So, instead of classical prose-style, I’ll be experimenting with a hybrid script style – a little film script, a little comic script, and a little e-wrestling script (that’s PBEM Wrestling, called e-wrestling when I played). Here’s an example:
{Description of what is going on, as if you this were a film. Such as: FADE IN to the wide eyes of a monster, we PULL BACK to see the full face of the dragon, staring at the reader with fierce determination.}
CHARACTER 1: Dialogue!!!
CHARACTER 2: More Dialogue!!!
You all DO NOT need to follow this style. Write the way you feel comfortable. We’ll revisit the format later, and gauge how you like or dislike it, and adjust as necessary.
So … what about all of you? Stand up and introduce yourself.
By the way – Moon Knight is way cooler than Batman. Just wanted to put that out there.
Should our Sihedron heroes form a functional party (like a standard party with roles covered), or does it matter?
It doesn't matter. They can actually be from two separate groups (one from Shattered Star and other from Rise) that were put together due to attrition.
Ok, while you are working on finishing up stats, I also need a basic background for ONE Sidedron Hero per player. You don't have to stat her, but she needs to have finished Shattered Star or Rise of the Runelords (I'll be ok with Crimson Throne or Second Darkness, but would prefer SS or RotR).
I just need the basic idea of her (or him) -- name, race/class, history. Your character doesn't have to have a connection with them (unless you took Scion of Legend ... Mayken), but this will allow me to flesh things out for later in the campaign.
@GM, I'm considering taking a drawback to gain an extra trait. Could I take a re-flavored version of Honored Fist of the Society? Normally, you have to be a member of the Pathfinder Society to take it.
Do you want/would it increase our chances of being accepted if we have full stat blocks? I have a pretty decent idea what the stats are for my characters but nothing made up at the moment, but if that'll help my odds I can throw them together.
Not at all. I am not using stats at all in my decision making process.
Pauljathorne was kind enough to send me a link to a wiki that has basic info about Roderic's Cove. I put it as a link in the campaign information at the top of the page.
Since the PCs have been in the Cove for at least several months if not years, it would make sense that they would have basic knowledge of that sort of thing. I just shared the whole Roderic's Cove article with my players before the game started. You could do that or type up a list of notable NPCs and locations in the campaign info section.
That's what I would like to do, but I don't know if it's allowed.
The application list has been updated.17 apps and counting. We might cut the application process short, as I have some really, REALLY good apps right now.
