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Definitely getting Shadow Under Sandpoint vibes from this. Especially with the ghast alchemist on the cover.


Toshy wrote:

Oh and I almost forgot the most important thing:

Describe those mechanics and abilities as extensively as possible to the characters. What do they see? What do they hear? What happens in front of them? Depending on the mechanic you want to use give them hints how it works and how they can overcome it in advance or during the encounter.

The enemy beeing immune to damage or just popping another health bar and abilities without explanation? Frustrating and not fun for the players.

Interrupting the evil guy during his vile ritual to absorb energies from the dark tapestry they read about in the ancient tome? The warnings of the dangers of such a ritual they discovered in the ancient crypt or temple a while ago? Seeing as he struggles to control those energies as he gets weaker (and maybe even needs actions in combat to keep control)? Witnessing how his body is consumed and twisted by those energies as he is defeated, only to watch in horror the abomination that his screaming body transforms into, loosing his self in the process of becoming this new, dark and primal beeing they have to defeat?

EPIC!

Yes, I agree with you here absolutely. Right now my only really interesting boss fight is with the mad flesh golem and columns of frozen lightning. This is what I have:

Check: A DC 14 Knowledge (arcana) or Knowledge (nature) check identifies the threats posed by the frozen lightning pillars.
Check: A successful DC 16 Knowledge (arcana) check is enough to realize that the supernatural lightning is influencing the flesh golem, driving its frenzy. If some of the pillars were deactivated, the creature may cease its rampage.

The PCs will be 6th-level, so these are definitely doable checks to make. I will also probably describe how the electricity seems to be flowing into the golem, and each zap seems to fill it with both power and frenzy.

In the case of the final battle with multiple life bars, it will be very clear to the PCs that they have entered a new "phase" of battle. I'm still planning this one out, but it will be incredibly explicit.

Love the description of the Dark Tapestry ritual by the way. Funny, because that's the entire focus of my campaign - Night Herald cultists toying with forbidden occult space magic.


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Toshy wrote:

I wouldn't say that rules are there to be broken, rather they are something DM and players agree on or agree on ignoring them sometimes.

What I mean by that, is if you want to add mechanics to fights that are not defined by the rules to spice things up a bit, tell and ask your players beforehand. Not exactly what you are going to do, but that you want to try some things to make encounter more interesting for your players. Nothing is more frustrating than a dispute mid combat because things don't work as the players thought they would and are accustomed by the rules.

For example I suggested to my players to switch some things up with initiative for encounters where it would make sense to add a bit variety. They were a bit skeptical first, but agreed to try it and the encounter was a blast.
In that encounter they were fighting a chimera and I gave each head (dragon, goat, lion) it's own initiative and split its actions among those, to mimic things kind of legendary actions from D&D 5e.

One thing to keep in mind is, if you are giving them new abilities and mechanics compare them to existing things to get an idea of how it will impact the difficulty and adjust it accordingly. In the case of my Purification Ritual encounter, I took into consideration that the action economy would differ drastically, as almost half of the players actions were needed for the ritual. The actual enemy had to be adjusted for it, because otherwise it would have destroyed them.

Yeah, I suppose breaking wasn't quite the word I was looking for. For example, in the case of a boss with multiple life bars/phases, there's nothing in Pathfinder rules that allows for that per se. But it's a classic boss fight mechanic and I plan on using it for my final boss fight.

I've been watching videos from Matthew Colville, and he has some excellent advice. As he put it once: the rules are there for the players, not the bad guys. That's heavily paraphrasing, but his advice was not to allow rules to limit the GM from cool, awesome storytelling. For example in PF 1e, only a very high-level necromancer can create and control interesting undead. But should that stop the GM from giving his low-level necromancer villain a mummy or wraith servant? No. There doesn't need to be a mechanical reason why the 7th-level necro has such a (relatively) potent undead under control. It will be a cool encounter - enough said.

In the case of legendary/lair actions, I've picked 4 very important climactic fights in my campaign wherein the bad guy will have these. I haven't settled on exact mechanics yet, but I like your Planetarium idea of effectively giving an inanimate object an initiative. Splitting initiative with multiple attacks is also a clever way to do it, especially with something like a dragon. I'm sick of throwing one single powerful foe at the PCs, and having one of two results: either it shreds the PCs, or far more often, the PCs kill it before it can get off more than a round of actions. That's not how I want my dragon fight to go. It should be tense and epic.

My goal in all this is to make things interesting, fun, cool, and novel, both for me and my players. I'm definitely not trying to "beat" them. Just challenge them in a way that they'll hopefully find memorable.


Thanks Toshy, those were great. I'm adding them to my notes - I can definitely use some of those (especially Hell's Bells and the Planetarium). Chicken Raft sounds like a blast.

I had a friend give me some really good ideas as well: add "exploding barrels" that the PCs or bad guys can blow up to damage everyone within range; a multi-stage boss fight where the boss has multiple life bars, and each iteration has a unique suite of abilities and fighting style (this was done in Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal in the Sendai fight, she animated statues of herself, each basically a different "aspect" of herself); a duo of enemies where one gets stronger when the other dies (Dark Souls' Ornstein and Smough). I realize a lot of this stuff is video-gamey and not technically supported by Pathfinder rules, but rules are made to be broken right?

I've also taken notes on the combats run by Brendan Lee Mulligan in his Dimension 20 Youtube show. That man is an absolute genius, and many of his combats felt as much like puzzles as fights.


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Hi all. So I've GM'd a while now, and I'm getting bored of the standard combat format: walk into a room with bad guys, everyone roll initiative, hack away at each other until bad guys are invariably dead, move on to next room, repeat. So in a campaign I'm currently writing, I want at least 25% of the combats to be unusual or dynamic in some way. I know "unusual and dynamic" isn't super descriptive, but my examples below will hopefully illustrate what I mean by this.

I'd love to hear how other GMs have pulled off memorable combats. Ones that made the players think, kept them on their toes. Any advice or anecdotes would be much appreciated. I'm also mining memorable video game battles for ideas. Additionally, I'm seriously considering adopting legendary actions and lair action from D&D 5e.

I'm about 1/5th of the way through writing the campaign, and I've set up some (hopefully) interesting combats. Will they work? No idea. But here's my "interesting" combats so far.

Example 1
The PCs have to raid a ghost town occupied by bad guys. The baddies are dynamic - if they hear combat, several of them will react, going to the site of the disturbance if they succeed at Perception checks. There is also a fairly dangerous beast that patrols the town who will serve the same purpose. My hope is that the PCs will need to utilize Stealth and stay on the move, launching skirmishes but not staying in one place for too long.

Example 2
The PCs have to do some sanitation work, as the sewers have been backing up. The culprit is an ooze mephit archer who knows the terrain and has some goblin allies and mindless oozes to utilize. She will snipe for a round or two when the PCs engage an enemy, then flee deeper into the sewer. This happens three times until she is cornered and attempts to surrender. Nothing too special here, but I like it.

Example 3
This is the first combat I'm really proud of. The PCs are spending the night at what they assume is a safe mansion (though I do drop clues that things are amiss). There are several friendly, low-level NPCs there as well. Late at night, a swarm of monsters launch an attack on the manor. They will attack in waves, arriving at set intervals (rounds), breaking through windows or busting down doors. The PCs can stick together and play it safe, but their allies will almost certainly perish in this case. So they will need to chose between the tactically sound approach, or the altruistic but dumb route of splitting up and trying to save some of their friends. PCs will have the opportunity to make preparations for the impending siege, such as trying to convince the friendlies to sleep in a safer area such as a basement strongroom.

Example 4
The PCs are traveling across the desert on camel-back. They find themselves in a veritable minefield of quicksand pits and burrowing antlion-like ambush predators (dust diggers). They will need to carefully make their way across the treacherous terrain, guiding their camels. Lots of Perception and Handle Animal checks. The dust diggers won't beeline for prey, and it's technically possible to avoid combat entirely if PCs are very careful. Every camel that perishes will add time to their desert trek, and time is of the essence.

Example 5
A group of air and lightning elementals have created a sandstorm, heavily limiting the PCs' range of sight. The elementals are not hindered in this way. The air elementals will use hit-and-run tactics, swooping in for an attack then disappearing into the sandstorm, while the lightning elementals will use combat maneuvers to hassle PCs. The elementals attack in waves. In the middle of their group are a pair of special air elementals who are conjuring the sandstorm. The PCs can either hunker down and deal with the elementals' guerrilla tactics, or they can charge forward and try to kill the two sandstorm generators but potentially be surrounded.

Example 6
A single sentient flesh golem has gone berserk in an area featuring vertical columns of frozen lightning. Golem will utilize bull rush and overrun combat maneuvers to try forcing the PCs into the lightning columns, which will simultaneously harm the PCs and heal the flesh golem. Additionally, the columns are hazards by themselves: get within 5 feet, and they have a chance of delivering a shock. The PCs can either focus on the golem or utilize a variety of techniques to "disable" the lightning columns that are driving the golem mad. Attacking a column with a metal weapon to disrupt it but also harming the wielder; casting dispel magic; using skills such as Disable Device or Sleight of Hand to deactivate a column, and so forth. Basically every character class will have some means of disabling a lightning column, if they choose that route.

If the PCs can disable 3 columns, the sentient flesh golem comes to its senses and ceases its assault. It can even be befriended as a long-term ally.


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WatersLethe wrote:

As for the OP: I thought it would be a prime number with two digits, and I had to look up a list of primes because I'm dum and arrived at 11. It felt forgettable and fillery, though.

Yeah, without the Aucturn Enigma context mentioned above, it definitely would be fillery. But I'm seeding the number 11 (and also 56) throughout the campaign, so it wasn't just some arbitrary choice on my part.


Claxon wrote:

You may not need this input, but as a player I hate riddles because it removes the player character from the equation and focuses on what the player knows or can figure out. To me, that is bad design for a role playing game.

I'm not sure if the answer is to allow players to roll some kind of check for success, but perhaps also allow a player (and not their character) to answer the question if no PC is successful.

I absolutely hear you on this. And normally I would agree, but there's some details about my campaign and players that are salient. I'm trying a lot of new things - I've gotten bored running "standard" campaigns, so for this one, I'm including a lot of elements I've never used before. This is a Pathfinder 1e game for context. I am utilizing rules for corruptions, factions, and some homebrew stuff that I think/hope will be neat. I'm also seeding some very non-standard and unusual combats into the mix. I have no idea if any of this stuff will work; I'm throwing a whole lot of mud at the wall, and hoping some of it will stick. I want to experiment and get out of my comfort zone as a GM, while also getting my (seasoned) players out of their comfort zones. If it becomes clear one of my ideas is a dud, I'll drop it.

Regarding this riddle, it is purely optional. The PCs may not even engage with the sphinx. If they do, she will offer five riddles, and the players will have 7 tries to answer them. If they solve at least 3 riddles, the sphinx gives them some juicy (but not plot essential) information. If they solve all 5, she is impressed and gives them a bonus prize. There's no penalty for failure. That said, if the players are struggling, I will probably allow an Intelligence or Knowledge check to give a hint.

Dragonchess Player wrote:
As always with any "gate" challenge, I would recommend keeping the Three Clue Rule in mind.

Oh that's good advice. Thank you! So more context: my campaign revolves around the Aucturn Enigma. The number 11 is closely associated with the Enigma. I've decided to change the last line to "Aucturn’s secret in numerical lore." I won't outright tell the players that Aucturn is the 11th planet from the sun, but if they poke this clue enough, I'll mention it offhandedly. Additionally I remembered that earlier the PCs find a Bad Guy Journal handout, written by a cultist who has gone bonkers. For fun, I replaced any instance of two Ls with 11 instead. So instead of writing "All your bases are belong to us," it would be written "A11 your bases are belong to us." It's subtle but happens often enough that I'm fairly sure at least one player will notice it. So... I guess I just need one more clue.


Thanks for all the input everyone, it was very helpful. I'm not sure what I'll settle on, but the different perspectives certainly helped.


Okay, this is my revision. I've swapped out "mirrored" for "palindromic" because that's the actual mathematical term, and changed "Symmetry's secret" to "Aucturn's secret." This campaign heavily involves the Aucturn Engima, and the PCs will have heard of the planet before meeting the sphinx, so if they're stumped I might offer an Intelligence check to hint that Aucturn is the 11th planet in the solar system. Anyway, revision:

In palindromic whispers, a duo aligned;
A twin truth in digits defined.
Prime in its essence, a mystery to explore;
Aucturn's secret in numerical lore.


thenobledrake wrote:

Reading the riddle before checking the answer I felt that the answer would be a pair of numbers that if you reflected one would create the other and that the resulting image would appear symmetrical and add up to a prime number.

And I had no idea what number that would be other than getting really creative with something point something.

Then I clicked to see the answer and I found out why I didn't get the answer.

The first line is a misdirect because mirroring has nothing to do with anything. The second line does convey that it's going to be a number with 2 identical digits. The third line then narrowing that down to being 11 since that's the only 2-digit same-digit prime number - but then the mystery bit added to keep the rhyme structure could potentially mislead someone since it's just noise. The final line is a misdirect as well because the only way that 11 is symmetrical is if we arbitrarily write one of the digits backwards - which if you actually want just that, written as an answer rather than spoken, this and the first line have a purpose again - and the "secret in numerical lore" part being again a case of noise added to force a rhyme which could mislead the participant.

To your first point, the AI's original riddle used the word palindromic instead of mirrored and I changed it because I was afraid it would be a bit too wordy, but palindromic is the more accurate term. Also yeah, I see what you mean about it seeming a tad forced just for the sake of a rhyme. I may have to drop that.

*Workshopping time*


MEATSHED wrote:
The main issue is that the first line and last lines focus on 11 being symmetrical which is very dependent on how you write 1s. This makes a weird thing where the only 2 relevant lines are the middle two.

Hmm. That's a good point. I'm not sure how to rectify that, but I'll give it some thought.


Hi all. This isn't a rules question, but I'm still in need of advice. I'm writing an adventure where the PCs will meet a sphinx. The sphinx will, naturally, ask the PCs a series of 5 riddles. The first 4 are fairly classic ones, but I wanted the final riddle to be tough. And I'm not clever enough to write a good riddle so I turned to AI. This is what I put together after a few tries.

Is this riddle too difficult? If so, are there any good ways to simple it up a bit? Important note: the answers to all five riddles are plot relevant, so I can't just pick another challenging riddle that has a different answer.

So:

In mirrored whispers, a duo aligned;
A twin truth in digits defined.
Prime in its essence, a mystery to explore;
Symmetry’s secret in numerical lore.

Answer:
11


Hey all. I don't know how many people still play 1e, but I sure do, and I have found something enraging. Mostly because it's so cool, but so difficult to understand. That would be the Psychometabolic corruption.

I have issues with two of its manifestations. The first, called psychometabolic blast, reads:

"You gain the kineticist’s kinetic blast class feature, as well as the telekinetic blast wild talent. Use your manifestation level as your effective kineticist level to determine the effects of these abilities. If you have the elemental focus (aether) or expanded element (aether) class ability, you instead gain a bonus on damage rolls with your telekinetic blast equal to half your manifestation level (minimum +1)."

I can understand most of that. However, my issue is: what is the cost for using this ability? All the other gifts from the psychometabolic corruption use psychometabolic points, but as written, it looks like this ability can be used at will. I assume it is meant to cost 1 point, or be used a limited number of times per day, but who knows.

Second and bigger issue comes from mind blast, which reads:

"When you use the telekinetic blast gained from the psychometabolic blast manifestation, you can spend 2 points of psychometabolic power to use the telekinetic force to wreck the mind of each creature targeted. Instead of you rolling to hit targets with your blast, each target can attempt a Will save (DC = 10 + half your manifestation level + your Constitution modifier) to try to negate the damage and any infusions or metakinesis abilities applied to it. When using this ability, your telekinetic blast is a mind-affecting effect."

I have several issues with this. First, it notes that the user "wrecks the mind of each creature targeted," but a kineticist's blast only has a single target. Second, you're paying 2 points to allow your (singular) target to make a relatively low Will save to avoid the damage? Instead of just making an attack roll that would come from the psychometabolic blast? That seems to very underwhelming, especially with the flavor text of "wrecking the mind" of your targets.

I know this is a long shot and probably won't get many bites, but I'm using this corruption (or more likely, a heavily modified version) for a game I've got coming up. Anyone have any thoughts, suggestions, ideas?

Thanks.


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Castilliano wrote:


GM: "The trees are whispering."
Player: "What are they saying?"
GM: "Who's listening?" (pause) "All of you make Will saves."

Oh that's a good one. Especially since I remember reading about a forest there where the trees ain't all trees. Thanks! As for statuses, I already gave the PCs random magic items to protect them from Aucturn's poisonous atmosphere, but that place does screw with people in multiple other ways. They're already going insane (part of my campaign involved all PCs to be affected by mind quakes early on), but iirc, Aucturn also physically mutates people. Would be fun to have a character spontaneously turn into a gibbering mouther for a few hours, with no indication I'd turn them back.

Xenocrat wrote:

Have them meet Carsai the King (possible avatary of Nyarlathotep) who wants something from them in return for help, or has to be convinced to let them proceed. For whatever reason he's not (necessarily) on the side of these particular bad guys.

The funny thing is, Carsai would absolutely be opposed to my villains. The Dominion of the Black (the Night Herald's fascination/fetish) is basically at war with Nyarlathotep. My PCs would 100% try to recruit Carsai, heh.

Hmm, actually that would be a great "deal with the devil" scenario. Have Carsai offer some boon, but at a terrible price.


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I have mild-to-moderate anxiety, am on meds and see a therapist regularly. It's a lifelong thing, nothing crippling fortunately - more of a constant background hum that sometimes becomes severe, but for the most part is under control. I've been tabletop gaming for decades, usually as a GM, and while I'll stress out about it, it's usually "normal" stress. For example worrying about a problem player, whether my work is up to par, if everyone is having fun, stuff like that. And never overwhelming.

For the past year or so, I've been GMing largely online. There are a ton of upsides. I love Roll20 and find it very adaptable, it saves me a lot of legwork, is more convenient, and of course allows everyone to socially distance. The downside is the lack of face-to-face interactions, but honestly that's a minor drawback for me at best. I'm an introvert and like being able to have fun with friends while also not leaving my house. Best of both worlds.

So here's the weird part. We play weekly, and I began to notice that my mood would drop a day or so before the game was scheduled. Nothing major at first, but enough that I definitely took note. A small voice began telling me to cancel the upcoming game, which I did once or twice while claiming illness or whatever.

Lately though, within the past few months, things have gotten drastically worse. The hour or so before I go live with a game, I've been overcome with anxiety. Racing heartbeat, rapid breathing, and worst of all that terrible stabbing pain in my stomach that so often accompanies an anxiety attack. It's never reached a full-blown panic attack, but I'm starting to worry it might. And it makes no damn sense. I've been doing this for decades, I've known my players for many years and they are awesome, and anxious though I am, I've never had more than mild stage fright. It's getting to the point where I'm ready to take a break from GMing for my own sake.

I practice breathing exercises, grounding techniques, the works, but no results. The only thing that helps is smoking (not cigarettes), but the trade-off is, when I'm intoxicated even somewhat, my quality as a GM suffers. At least it takes the edge off the anxiety though. And yet another weird thing - within maybe 10 minutes of actually starting the game, the anxiety just washes away and GM-Me takes over. All is suddenly well and I'm fully immersed in the game. But those hours leading up to the game itself? Getting to be downright hellish.

It's incredibly frustrating. I love this game more than most of my extended family (a low bar considering the people I'm related to, but still) and want to keep doing this for as long as I can, but damn.

So who else has found their mental health (whether or not it's anxiety) negatively impacting this awesome hobby? How do you handle it? Or if anyone else wants to just vent like I did for the past several paragraphs.

Sigh. Take care of yourselves everyone.


The Raven Black wrote:
From what I read, in Starfinder, Aucturn is a nascent Outer God. Maybe that can help.

I like this one. I was thinking something along these lines, such as an avatar of the sleeping Aucturn rise up from the ground. Some high level aberration like a hundun. Have it speak it weird cryptic nonsense, garbled prophecy, etc. Or maybe the PCs find their path blocked by a herd of the mosquito things that feed on Aucturn's black blood. As they prepare for combat, suddenly a massive canyon opens up beneath the beasts swallowing them whole, then seals back up. Followed by a very satisfied belch.


I'm not sure I'm posting in the right place, but it says advice, which I need, so here it goes.

I run an online campaign where the Night Heralds are the villains. For those who don't know, Night Heralds are a cult of fanatics intent on summoning alien horrors to Golarion. Your basic Lovecraftian lunatics. We're reaching the climax of the campaign, wherein the primary villain - a high-level sorcerer - has teleported to the planet Aucturn to perform a ritual that will cause Super Not Good Things to happen. The PCs have just found a one-way portal to Aucturn and are about to dive in and hunt him down. Simple enough.

I wrote out my penultimate adventure and was fine with it at first, but looking over it, I realize it's mostly just 2 combat encounters. My adventures tend to only last about 2 hours and I have to limit combat as a result, so this is normal. The problem is I am having serious trouble thinking of non-combat stuff for the PCs to do on Aucturn. Aucturn is a bizarre, alien nightmare world, and I really want to drive home just how insane the place is. This is where I'm stumped. I've read up on all the Aucturn-related material I could find such as the Distant Worlds Auctun section, but am still drawing a blank. Some combination of writer's block and a lack of creativity on my part.

So does anyone have any ideas? Specifically, ones that will inspire roleplaying. My campaign is very much a sci-fi/cosmic horror, and to emphasize I'm trying to drive home just how utterly alien the place is. I want the PCs to feel completely isolated in this hellish but very cool set piece, while also highlighting some of its many idiosyncrasies. I already have all the combat encounters in place so I can't add more of those.

The PCs are 14th-level right now, if that matters.

Thanks for any suggestions.

*Edit: To be more specific, I'm trying to think of anything cool. Roleplaying encounters with the natives, spooky/mindbending occurrences, hazards - basically anything that will make my players treat this place as more than just a hack-and-slash gauntlet.


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Also I know that the PCs will likely never stop to question why they're able to breathe in an enclosed subterranean dungeon. Ever. But I have OCD and an obsessive attention to detail. I always include stuff like methods to produce running water, laundry rooms, and other boring but necessary features.


vagrant-poet wrote:

I've always liked the magic scrubber option. Though often I don't make it a single brick, because it's not intended to be interactive.

A couple of Paizo dungeons explicitly do the air vent upwards thing too. Sometimes just for background detail, sometimes not.

Hah, it's funny you mention both these. From my campaign:

"Additionally, several dozen bricks in these depths have been enchanted, essentially functioning as magic items that cannot be moved without destroying them. They function at caster level 3rd and radiate faint transmutation auras if such is detected for. These bricks magically refresh and circulate air in the Veinstone Citadel, and while it tends to be on the stale side, it is quite safe to breathe."

"...and despite the lack of windows, the air is fresh and flowing. This latter feature is thanks to a number of ingeniously built air vents that keep fresh air moving throughout the vast fortress, helped along by minor magical enchantments that draw air into the compound."


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So I've been playing a Pathfinder game focused on the Night Heralds, whom I've heavily developed. I threw together some fiction. If anyone's interested, here's a short story. Basic synopsis: big evil wizard Orlassk Belshain kidnapped the good guys, who managed to escape. Orlassk is the master of the Night Heralds. Three of Orlassk's top agents (Adelita, Harshom, and Maukui) departed in hot pursuit of the players without Orlassk's command. As for the story itself, another of Orlassk's lieutenant, a half-elf guy named Ghartone, rushes into Orlassk's private dining room to inform the boss of this escape.
One last thing: I reference something called the Dominion of the Black. They're a billion-year-old empire/hive of alien monstrosities that Orlassk really wants to summon to his world.

I think I'll add me Night-Herald fiction from the villains' perspective in the future. Hope ya'll enjoy.With no further ado:

The Escape
The door to the small dining room burst open and in the shadowed hall beyond stood a winded half-elf man, his face, long given to stoicism, now etched with panic.
“Master please forgive the intrusion, I bring grave news!”
Orlassk sat his fork down with a sigh, but said nothing. Ghartone waited a beat before continuing. “The four Prime Candidates have found a way to escape. Maukui was keeping an eye on them when they made their move.” More silence.
Ghartone was growing desperate. “Master, what are your orders?” he all-but demanded.
Orlassk turned at last, regarding his subordinate with a disaffected coolness. “At what point were my orders to have changed, Ghartone? Was it before or after you ruined my meal?” The half-elf was about to respond but, as if suddenly noting the sharpness of the response, managed to stop himself.
“Nevermind. Tell me, who has gone in chase?”
“I believe Harshom, Adelita, and Maukui teleported ahead of them. The Droon Guard has assembled a team of scouts to follow.”
“Then I have just lost three trusted lieutenants and a guard regiment,” Orlassk replied flatly. The lesser Night Herald was quick to appreciate the implications. He could offer his superior only more silence in reply.
“I was arrogant, Ghartone. I believed I could harness the mind quakes, but instead I called forth something that was beyond my control.”
The sorcerer rose, his robes shimmering in the wan moonlight that peaked through a nearby window. “No worries, old friend. These things happen.”
Orlassk strode over to a waiting hookah and took a long draw from it, his breath causing the coals to glow dangerously in the shadowed lounge. He paused to feel the hallucinogens take hold before continuing.
“We are scholars and scientists, are we not? The possibility of failure mustn’t deter us from our path. Instead we must strive to find a way to reverse the situation so that things are in our favor once more.”
The two men were quiet for a time. Ghartone furrowed his brow in consideration, a number of possibilities rushing through his head. Then he realized.
“The Prime Candidates will try to follow you to Aucturn. Either that sniveling wretch Oscilar puts them down, or they make it past him and offer themselves up to you.”
Orlassk grinned a bit. “That’s the sum of it. I want you to go to them soon, after they’ve made it past your disgruntled fellows. Tell them that the game is up. They’ve occupied too much of my attention as is, and I do not have anything left to spare them. If they are genuine in their perseverance, they will find me in due time.”
Ghartone bowed a bit, new marching orders in hand, and spun to depart. Orlassk’s icy voice halted him.
“Before you go, tell me. As for my other gambit, do you think me foolish for pursuing it?”
This was unusual. A legitimate question with no hint as to what was expected in response.
“That… is a complicated matter, my lord. Perhaps we should discuss it another time.”
Orlassk nodded but said nothing. A few whispered syllables of magic later, and Ghartone was gone. Alone once more, the man who was audacious enough to call himself Master turned his attention to the coals that smoldered upon his hookah. His vision swam from the toxins that now coursed through his lungs, his blood, his brain.
You’re wrong, he thought. It’s not a complicated matter at all . The Dominion of the Black had been his mentors and comrades for decades, but they now demanded that he play the obedient sycophant, and that was unwise. He was Orlassk Belshain, and not even the Dominion was above his reproach.


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I'm a stickler for details. Obsessively so, in fact. My fortresses and strongholds always have ample storage space, pantries, a well, occasionally running water, a laundry room, workrooms, etc. But there's one stick in my craw: how can a fully subterranean, largely self-contained dungeon maintain fresh air for the occupants?

I have limited knowledge of airflow in closed subterranean places from reading about oldschool coal mines, and have two solutions: Solution one: the occasional brick in the dungeon wall is enchanted with transmutation magic to purify the air in the vicinity. Option two: discrete vents reach to the surface, and minor magic pulls in air from the outside and circulates it in the dungeon.

Yes, this is incredibly (perhaps overly so) obsessive on very minor details, but that's the stuff I love. Has anyone given thought to how the air in their deep, sealed off dungeons stays fresh and breathable? My third idea was to have a plant/algae/fungus farm to function as air purifiers, but the two dungeons I'm working on lack space for such a thing.

So yeah, there's my obsessive details-oriented quandary. Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome. Thanls.


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"The oldest and most prestigious magic academy in the world is the Magaambya, an ancient institution founded by the greatest wizard the world has ever known."

Xanderghul, Sorshen, Tar-Baphon, Nex, Geb, Arazni, and Aroden's eyes all collectively twitched a bit when they heard this. Jatembe is certainly high-ranking, but methinks there's some pro-Magaambya bias partisanship behind this statement.


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Andostre wrote:

Most observatories' domes can rotate.

In most cases, the entire upper portion of the telescope dome can be rotated to allow the instrument to observe different sections of the night sky.

Ah, that would make a lot more sense. Thanks.


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So I've Googled around, but can't seem to get the mechanics of it. I'm referring specifically to the dome aspect of modern observatories. Looking at them, they only open a side slit in a fixed location. Hard to explain in words, so here's a good picture.

Looking at those observatories, it looks like the telescope is in a fixed position and can only observe part of the sky. Can the entire dome spin to allow the telescope access to different quadrants of the sky? Or are observatories all fixed in place? Any explanation and/or links would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


Fumarole wrote:


On the other hand, between Extinction Curse, Beginner's Box, the Vault mini-AP, and Erik Mona's mega-dungeon, you have a TON of site-based adventure material, all focused on a 50-200 mile perimeter that could take up a campaign for 2-5 years.

Would someone be so kind as to point me towards Eric Mona's super dungeon?


James Jacobs wrote:

Doomsday Dawn saw the end of ONE Dominion plot on Golarion. Iron Gods saw another. There are still plenty more Dominion Plots lurking in the wings waiting to be uncovered or discovered by PCs!

In particular, something I'm working on for 2021 will have some Dominion elements in it... it has nothing to do with the Valley of the Brain Collectors or the Countdown Clocks.

The Night Heralds and the Dominion are still very active on Golarion. It's why we chose the Night Heralds as one of the groups to mention in the Core Rulebook, in fact.

Awesome, thank you for the info. I'm not expecting a Dominion AP (as amazing as that would be...), but I'll definitely keep my eyes peeled for the 2021 Dominion madness.


I've always loved the Night Heralds and Dominion of the Black - it's probably my single favorite thing about the Pathfinder campaign setting. That said, information on the former has always been sparse. The most we have is a small write up in Occult Mysteries and the 2nd-edition playtest Doomsday Dawn. Doomsday Dawn effectively saw the end of the Dominion of the Black's threat on Golarion.

So I was surprised to see that the Night Heralds are still very much active - they even have their own symbol and write up in the new Core Rulebook, and are apparently still active in Osirion. I'm curious about a lot of Night Herald/Dominion things, and I'm actually getting kind of excited by the gosreg creature in the 2nd edition bestiary. Not only does this suggest that the Dominion is still being fleshed out, but the sidebar suggests that the Doomsday Dawn was only phase one of the Dominion of the Black's plans to invade Golarion.

Now that Night Heralds are an official faction with a nifty symbol and everything, and we continue to get Dominion monsters and references, does anyone have ideas/plans on using either in their future campaign? I've been designing a Night Herald campaign on and off for over a year, and I know people on these boards are nothing if not a great source of inspiration.

For my own campaign, I'm ignoring a large chunk of the Doomsday Dawn adventure. In my opinion it retconned too much of the original story. Without too much complaining, it relegated the Four Pharaohs of Ascension to puppets of Ramlock, didn't mention any of the 11 gifts given by the Dominion (other than the Last Theorem), and changed the Night Heralds' motives from a nihilistic urge to be absorbed brain-first by neh-thalggu, to seeking out Countdown Clocks as a means of protection against the coming apocalypse.

So yeah, if anyone has any thoughts, ideas, suggestions or the like, I'd appreciate it.

This part isn't necessary, but in case anyone wanted to know...

Campaign Info:

For my own campaign, there was no Ramlock and the Four Pharaohs were the initial point of contact between the Dominion and the people of Osirion. I may still have the Countdown Clocks active, ticking towards a new period in the unknown future. The focus will be on the four regions mentioned in Occult Mysteries where the Night Heralds are based (Osirion, Numeria, Ustalav, and the Sodden Lands).

The primary villain is the unofficial head of the Night Heralds and operates out of an ancient Lirgeni observatory-fortress in the Sodden Lands. He has a tooth from Tychilarius and is waiting for the right time to attempt the ritual Waken the Drowned God to let the poor fellow out of its prison, because his previous servant failed (as detailed in the Dark Tapestry literature way back from the Reign of Fire Adventure Path). Meanwhile, he's coordinating with a mummy lord from Osirion's second age, and it's her job to try and forge a portal between Aucturn beneath the streets of one of Osirion's big cities.

Also now that I think about it, are there any sources I'm missing about the Night Heralds/Dominion? The following are big ones:

Occult mysteries (Midnight Herald description)
Valley of the Brain Collectors (Dominion of the Black description)
Doomsday Dawn (meh...)
Pact Worlds (Starfinder book with loads of info on Aucturn)


Bump.


Unfortunately I need to cancel my Pathfinder Adventure Path subscription. Thank you.


Nex and Geb were designed by Erik Mona. Unfortunately, due to being busy with his other duties at Paizo, he hasn't had the time to flesh out the area as a designer. Until he does, the region is basically going to remain a blank. And considering those countries have remained two of the least detailed areas in Pathfinder for over a decade, that probably won't change anytime soon.


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I never considered "Oinodaemon" to be his name - to me it always sounded like more of a title. For one thing, he's always referred to as the Oinodaemon. And unless he was the namesake of the daemon race (a possibility of course), including -daemon in his name would be an odd choice. It's Asmodeus, not The Asmodevil; Rovagug and not The Rovaqlippoth. Whatever the case, seems like Oino was benched in the beginning because there were no mortal deaths for him to embody, and a second time when the Four Horsemen turned on him. Poor schmuck can't catch a break.


Mechagamera wrote:

Please copy and paste the relevant parts of those pages that discuss Z-K's association with Velstracs. I don't see it. They have different abilities and a different name in PF1, so I am not sure how much the fluff carries through, although I appreciate your sense of certainty.

I've been calling them kytons for many, many years. It's going to be a while to adopt the new name. Force of habit and all that. Nomenclature aside, divine/occult aren't creature types or subtypes. It took a while for the occult-magic-using kytons to show up in 1E, so the same will probably hold for velstracs in 2E. Then again, occult magic itself wasn't introduce until much later in 1E, as opposed to 2E which premiered with it. So maybe not.


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The Raven Black wrote:


There are hints of something that sounds very much like the Beyond Beyond in Concordance of Rivals. It makes me fear Z-K far more than the other more blatantly Evil deities.

And why is he even Lawful?

I've been meaning to get Concordance of Rivals for a while. As for why Z-K is lawful, I recall the issue being discussed at length in a thread years ago. I think one of the conclusions was that Z-K has an ideal, perfect world in mind, and is striving towards its creation. He's not a "burn it all down just for fun" type. He's also not a purely sadistic psychopath like the demon lord Shax, but a sadomasochistic psychopath. That matters for... reasons.

Going back to the Cenobites from Hellraiser/Hellbound Hearts, they were always very particular about whom they targeted (ignoring the slew of awful sequels). As long as you didn't mess with the Lament Configuration, you were safe from them. They (and the kytons/velstracs) are scientists, artists, and scholars of a very perverse nature. That sounds reasonably lawful evil to me. Kind of a stretch? Perhaps, but meh.


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Mechagamera wrote:
Any chance ZK could become connected to the kytons? Between the look and the Plain of Shadows, it seems like a good fit. Of course that doesn't quite fit with my desire that kytons become occult instead of divine (they haven't shown up yet, so no reason they couldn't be occult), but it isn't that big a difference, since the Outer Rifts could be connected to occult power.

Become connected? Eh, Zon-Kuthon is pretty much the kytons' strongest deity (though not their oldest). The kytons have several exemplars on par with demon princes and archdevils known as demagogues, but Z-K is their only god-level god. Also what do you mean by kytons being occult vs. divine? Occult and divine are sources of magic. Kytons do have members capable of using occult magic (cantor kytons, in Occult Bestiary), but there's no such thing as an "occult" or "divine" creature type.

The Outer Rifts/Abyss are a font of all sorts of power (occult, divine, arcane, primal, other). Where Z-K traveled to is someplace outside of even those supposedly limitless reaches. This place-outside-of-places is hinted at in articles concerning the creatures known as devourers.

More info on kytons can be found in the Book of the Damned. It's a solid resource. Other references to the Beyond Beyond can be found in Undead Revisited (devourer chapter) and Planar Adventures (page 5 under the Beyond Beyond heading, and page 114 under the Eternity's Doorstep heading).


So looking at the encounters, does this adventure seem to actually be easier than the previous one (Borne by the Sun's Grace)? At least as far as the challenge ratings of opponent's go? I was really looking forward to seeing Tar-Baphon's top lieutenants, but all I saw this adventure were the bench-warmers.


Way to make one of the most formerly iconic and menacing villains in your entire product line into a guy showing all the passion of a dude gaming while on the phone. It was a bold decision to remove nearly every iconic feature from Tar-Baphon, aka the the epic master lich gracing the Inner Sea World Guide, rendering him into generic lich #572. We sure this isn't Gary-Baphon, Tar-Baphon's little brother who just never seems to measure to up his god-killing older bro?

Maybe the New and Improved(???) Tar-Baphon would feel more comfortable acting as the final fight for a mid-level dungeon crawler. He could be in charge of a few orcs and maybe even a gelatinous cube to give PCs a real surprise!


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"...the heroes strike against a massive Swarm creature that is draining the world's resources dry."

Ah, this world must be rich in Vespene gas and More Minerals.


In the preview from last month's AP (The Dead Roads), it promised "a secret that comes to light for the frst time in this article detailing the group’s rise throughout Golarion’s history and its ultimate, world-threatening goals!" Did I miss the secret in the article? I mean it was a really good article and had some cool stuff, but I couldn't seem to find that click-bait promise.


Dang that was fast. Thanks all!


Hey all. I'm going to be GMing for a group in the near future and want to do so online. I've seen a number of sites or programs over the years that allow for this, but don't have experience with any of them. Does anyone have advice or suggestions? If it matters, I want a system that will let me draw basic maps, use creature tokens, a dice rolling mechanic, and some kind of voice chat. The voice chat is definitely preferable but if it's only text chat that'd be okay too, we could just Skype or something.

Thanks for any advice.


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Considering that the entire Pathfinder campaign setting is predicated on Aroden's death, and it's been stated by developers numerous times that they'll probably never reveal how he died - no, Aroden isn't coming back. It would be also be a deus ex machina-sized cop out.

I'm just bummed that some of Golarion's biggest baddies have been killed off lately. Hopefully we get some new ones in 2nd edition.


I wonder which end of Sorshen's twin-guisarme is male and which is female. Can't tell from the illustration. I do like that you can see her patented arm crystals beneath her stylish sleeves.


Well I sent ahead and made the soundtrack for my ritual (SFW). If anyone wants to use it for their own demon summoning, please feel free.

You're Welcome


Ambrosia Slaad wrote:


I can't imagine any amount of proof you will provide, no matter how scrupulously documented, will ever convince your chosen target audience. They believe what they believe in the total absence of any proof. Look at how many decades James Randi has tried to prove to people that the paranormal isn't real.

I can't talk you out of tilting at this particular windmill, but I think there are far better and more self-rewarding activities in which you can engage.

My goal isn't to make anyone believe or disbelieve anything. This is as much about me as anything. Frankly I've heard some pretty interesting, compelling stories about things that go bump in the night. I've even had what might be deemed an experience. But if there's a Hell, I'm already heading there with bells on. So I want to see what happens.


For laughs, this was the reply to my (same) post on Facebook from a devout Catholic friend: "What makes you think that the most dreadful demons from the darkest corners of hell have not, themselves, cast charms to protect themselves from having to possess the likes of YOU?"


It's all good. I fully understand the complete nonsensical nature of this post. But I have several good friends, and every one of them refuses to use a Ouija board. It annoys me. If a piece of cardboard from Hasbro can summon the spirits of the dead, how banal of a world is the afterlife?


Thanks for the help Captain Y. Your input has truly been invaluable.


Guuuuuuys you're not helping! I need advice on being possessed be demons and haunted by ghosts! Is that really so much to ask? I mean it's not like I'm asking anything weird or crazy...

...


Okay so I was thinking of picking one of the fellas from the Ars Goetia/Lesser Key of Solomon, drawing his seal, pledging my everlasting soul to him, then smearing the seal with blood. But I also need to invite the spirits of the dead/damned to haunt me. I could go with some random occult/witchcraft/demonology website for a good ritual, but I'm going for authenticity here. I don't want to recite something some emo kid wrote.


Asmodeus, Prince of Darkness wrote:

No pentagrams OR animal sacrifices!?! Well, I'm out of ideas.

Call me when you're ready to commit!

I was thinking of finding some derelict building to add to the ambiance, but I'm more afraid of junkies and muggers than ghosts.

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