I have made a ritual for the Bloodstone (2E but can be easily converted to 1E): The bearer of the Lung Bloodstone of Arazni may perform a ritual sacrifice of one of their lungs to gain a Moderate Boon of Arazni. They do not have to learn the ritual. As long as they possess the bloodstone, they may cast it once.
Rare Divination Ritual 6
Effect: You are drained 4 (or 3 on critical success). This value won’t decrease by any means until you regrow your lung (by regenerate spell or similar effect). You also take 14d6 slashing damage.
Shadowed Fate wrote:
Ah, I see, he is sorc. Then it is probably missing in his stats and a typo. But yes, just take Sorcerer level 16 as a guidline. You won't probably have a chance to use that many spells anyway. So that is 3x 8th level spell and 6x 7th level...hm that is no joke. I am interested how this will play out. Good luck to your party :)
Shadowed Fate wrote: I feel like I'm an idiot who is just missing it, but does it say somewhere how many spells per day Istravek can cast for each spell level? He can cast all listed spells once. They are the spells he has prepared. That is one 8th level spell, two 7th level, three 6th level, four 5th and 4th and five 3rd, 2nd, 1st level spells.
Thank you for your answers, you are right. I found this: "Unlike many divinities, Arazni has a single, fixed form and a finite realm on the
I just thought that I have read somewhere that Geb took 1 year long journey through multiverse to find her soul and grab her back. But maybe I just imagined it myself or it was from some older source. There is some inconsistency in Pathfinder Lore through the years. But what Kasoh said works for me well, thx.
Bachuan will be much harder to salvage. They could at least not name the ideology communism which comes from latin (and thus in the setting Taldan) word communia. They could find some historical thinker from the region who had simmilar ideas. Heck, China is so renowned for its philosophers. There is not a problem with communist inspired region per say, but it can't be a blatant copycat. That is lazy and immersion breaking. At least name it in a region themed way when everythig else is named that way. I am from post communist country, so the word communism just instantly plucks me up from the setting. You could argue the same thing with colonialism if you are from a post colonial country. Sure, but the word colony does not equal modern euroamerican colonialism, many cultures from all over the world and time periods were making colonies and trade stations. Communism from my point of view pretty much equals Marx, Stalin, Mao and their ideology (correct me if I am wrong). I don't mind fighting Baphomet or Lamashtu, cause they are mythical beings from real world history, but I sure don't want any Maos or Stalins in Golarion.
vagrant-poet wrote:
I think that conquering civilized foreign lands and making your own empire is an interesting story as well. It is a very grey area for sure, but moral dilemas and more heavy stuff is something that makes me interested in RPGs in the first place. Taldor and Amandar are not Good Aligned, they are Neutral. Which means pros and cons. Grey stuff. That is important. If they would be defined as Lawful Good, that would be a huge problem, but luckily even 15 years ago and with very American outlook of the world Paizo did not make such mistake. So I would just make sure that the white saviour trope point of view is dismissed. Taldan people brought law to the Amandar region opressed by bandits, but they also created other problems in the proces, because their reason for comming was acquisitive. That makes an interesting setting for a lot of diplomacy. It is not a necessarily evil place that must be rebelled against at all costs. There are other ways.
Yosiduin's backstory reworked:
One of my PC's showed great interest in taking part in some knightly tournament in Vigil. So obviously Ceto will be there as a final boss (yeah she will be a huge favourite in 1 on 1, but that's okay, it's just a tournament not a fight to the death. And more beef with her and PC'S = better). But I also think it is a great oportunity to introduce Yosiduin. But in that case there is a need to rework his backstory. So instead of being 'evil which no one has seen, haha' I made a bit deeper personality for him. 1) Backstory:
There he was introduced to the Seal Breakers and fully indoctrinated. Being a former knight and soldier he made for a perfect double agent. So after four years of imprisonment (here is your Rambo reference) in 4695 he was released (like a Gollum was) and sent to Vigil with a mission of finding the Seal. Oficially he was repatriated as a POW after the collosal defeat of orc Warlord Graukrad (from the history of Lastwall: ‘The last such decisive battle took place in 4695 AR, when a force of 173 mounted knights rode down a force of over 2,000 infantry under the command of the orc Warlord Graukrad’). So after this defeat, there was some negotiation between Lastwall and the orc tribes. Lastwall wanted their POWs back. This was a perfect oportunity for Seal Breakers to release Yosiduin without raising suspicion. Back in Vigil they realised that there is something wrong with Yosiduin (not only physically, but also mentally), but that was not a surprise because he was held as a prisoner in the worst of the tribes. And he played the role of a victim perfectly (which in his defence he also was, so he was not technically even lying and because of that paladins did not reveal his deception; For his role and fake personality he shows you can take inspiration from Rambo - 1st movie). Yosiduin was diagnosed with PTSD, dischargeed from the army and given veteran rent. Despite his bitter demeanor he was given help and viewed as a true martyr by the public. PC's might feel pity and sympathy for him as well. But in the end he is an iredeemable character which was given many chances to redeem themselves, but chose to stay on the side of evil. Yosiduin was given a helping hand by The Mourners of Arazni, who specialise in therapy. To him this help and mercy for the 'mental cripple' (his words) is an insult and every positive motivation and selfless help he is recieving is paradoxically only feeding his desire to see Vigil burn. But it is a great cover for him. He does not need to hide that his heart is full of pain and he suffers from depression. That doesn't make him a villain, does it? A lot of veterans have these problems.
His connection to the Mourners of Arazni also connects him with the lost temple of Arazni beneath Vigil (so it is another good clue for the PC's). He might have learned about it from them (another possible clue). But he does not need to hide there all the time, he can be a public person. 2) His role in the tournament:
3) Why Yosiduin even fights in the tournament when he is a double agent?
Arazni may resent Iomedae for achieving divinity easily, but when Arazni was summoned to fight the Tyrant, Iomedae was just a paladin in the crusade not a godess herself yet. Also it is a lich version of Arazni that is full of resentment (for obvious reasons since Geb raped her soul and no one helped Arazni). Arazni before her death from the hands of WT was a lot more pure and loving I would say.
62) Orcish Kustroot - This plant is not so rare, but grows mainly in Belkzen, which makes it not very accessible. It grows on the south side of the hills and during the summer it has very sweet red berries. They are very nutrient rich. The bush has green waxy leaves and violet blows. It helps with many ailments - hangover, inflammation, pneumonia, anemia and cataract. 63) Styrac - this is a fungal parasite which grows inside the husk of the trees. When affecting a particular types of trees it may create a byproduct, which is magically potent. If you remove the husk and cut the infected tree you are looking for a signs of a blue sap. That is your substance.
58) Amala - a plant reminiscent of mistletoe, it grows in the forests of Gravelands. You can use the berries of the plant to treat burn or frostbite (count the result of the treat wounds one degree better).
59) Astray - a rare root which makes you get lost in the forest. To actually find it is nigh impossible. Solution: A dryad from the heart of the forest can help you find it if you can help her to stop the lumberjacks who harvest her forest. 60) Pale Darnia - an albino version of a cactus-like plant which grows in Mwangi Expanse. It can treat all sorts of dangerous tropical diseases. You can also make a tequilla-like brandy from it which makes you immune to diseases for a short period of time. 61) Starmelych - A very rare night plant with a blue star-like blow. It only grows on astral intersections of astrological leylines. Sort of like a pot at the end of a rainbow, but with stars. So with an expert in astrology and some specialized devices, you can locate this plant. It is super potent ingredient for many arcane rituals and spells.
55) Titanium - can only be forged in the Forge of the Titans.
56) Blood Mandrake from the heart of the Graidmere Swamp (Ustalav) harvested on the night of the vernal equinox. Risk: There is a ritual dance performed by local barbaric population who worship and serve the black dragon of the swamp. Solution: Take a part in the bloody dance ritual. 57) Morděj - black sentinent mushroom. It grows in Gronzi Forest of Brevoy. Gnomes of the woods know more about this rare mushroom. It protects itself by creating First World-like mindscape, so it can be a trippy adventure where logic/physics don't work to get the mushroom.
Yakman wrote: I'm going to have the Watcher-Lord mobilizing the army of Lastwall... since there's a mobilization, you can have all sorts of weird fun things in the town going on which are perfectly mundane, but also it would make sense that strangers would be walking around town with weapons... That is a splendid idea. I have recently watched a historical video about mobilization in the middle ages, so I am thrilled to do it in our game as well!
Mary Yamato wrote:
Well this is more complicated because in our game it ties this AP with the Carrion Crown. But in short what I am planning to do is to introduce Gildais in the Redoubt. Yosudin won't have to have there a piece of paper with his plot because that to mee feels kind of lame (I know that he is not a Whispering Way so he can technically use writing but still...).Gildais have possessed one member of the Wise Crows and will be in the battle alongside Yosudin (he will just use the mook stats, not his CR20 +). He was kind of imprisoned in the mooks body (it was one of the things he thought would restore his lost humanity, but instead he was directly controlled by Tyrant Geas/Quest or similar magic). By killing the mook PCs will give Gildais freedom. After the battle is over, he will rise from the dead body, everything around would freeze and he will thank PCs for his freedom. He can tell them the things they would know from the notes of Yosudin. Then ominously say that one piece of the shield was genuine. After that he vanishes in the wall.
Mary Yamato wrote: I am finding this one hard to run... Well the APs are written in a very straightforward way, so people can play their 'beer and pretzels - kill stuff, get loot' kind of games just by following the book to the letter. That is understandable. But of course if you want to create more believable experience for your groups taste, there is a lot of work to do. Some folks like to know who the bad guys are just by looking at them. But for me this:'Bad guys in a city full of paladins wearing black armor with skulls' is really immersion breaking, too. The way Vigil officials are presented in the book makes whole Lastwall look blatantly incompetent. So I was thinking about this and made couple of points. 1) Economics. Lastwall is a military state with extreme defense budget spending and without much income of its own. It is dependent on donations and support from Taldor and church of Iomedae. But all that money went to the Worldwound Crusade and Vigil is broke.
2) Moral Principles. They are people of noble principles which leads to their downfall. The solutions are there (mass conscription to the army, confiscation of property for the state). But this would make Lastwall tyrany - the very thing they stand against. And thus this is unacceptable. 3) Festival. Get rid of it. I mean, PCs will come to the city with the warning about the Whispering Way and destruction of the whole town and officials don't do anything, because they are having a party? C'mon. Instead emphasise how overworked everybody is.
4) Gossip. Folks talk all kind of nonsense and doomsayers are common in a city such as Vigil. That way the things which PCs say might seem to the officials like some tall story as well. 5) Orcs. Instead of peacefull festival make some skirmish attacks by orcs happen. Arson attempts might be common as well. This way the fire in the smithy and attack on Doeswyn is not seen like something extraordinary that would alert everybody. You can also make orcs do some air strike with alchemist fire (on wyverns or similar creatures) so you can show-off the balistae in action. The PCs does not need to fight them, it can be just a cinematic scene in which knights of Vigil defeat the orcs (and to show to the players that they can do something and are not absolutely useless - yes the PCs are heroes, but it is important that their allies do not seem pathetic, otherwise they won't care about them). (edit) The dead orc bodies can be the thrown to the moat to 'feed the othyughs'. This way you are foreshadowing them. They make corpses biodegradable and thus not source of undead, so it make sense why othyughs were not vanquished from the city. 6) Spies. This last point is for players who does not like to play in a world which is only black and white where bad guys have huge screaming 'KILL ME' signs above their heads. If you want some intrigue present Seal-Breakers more like a professional spies and agents rather then blunt force knights. Make them blend in and wear the same armor as watchknights. Let them use the Rapier (Quill) to wear false Marks of Justice. They can use Dondun for that for example. You can also give the false Mark of Justice to Yosudin and introduce him earlier when he is disguised as some unknown paladin. I hope this will help someone to make this lovely adventure more immersive.
I have a nice idea how to portray KILIBRANDT.
Later when Kili goes after PCs she will be wearing a costume of Evni and will use this disguise cleverly. This aspect and hobby will give her character some depth and personality which she is lacking as written in the module. I like Ceto's twist to evil. Then there is Yosudin playing "me evil, me bad" role and I feel that Kili could be an interesting character and does not have to be irredeemably evil. She is a gnome, so why not to have also some fun? :)
Our group have decided to house rule it this way: Massive Damage - Hero Points Spend all of your hero points (if you have at least 1) to turn instant death into a regular critical hit. So you would be still downed and dying 2 without any remaining hero points, but that is still better then outright just dying (my players did hate that).
Hi, I have a question about Iomedar - what is the origin of the name? Was it given to Gwyndria as a sign of a devotion to Iomedae or is Iomedae supposed to have some kin and Gwyndria was her descendant?
The same goes for full plate armour and guns. Knights in full plate armour are late medieval times and renaissance, times when gunpowder was commonly used on the battlefield. Even in Europe guns actually were used way before full plate armoured knights even existed - 1241 by Mongol invaders. Your famous holy knights from the crusades - they were wearing chainmail, with some plate components at best, definitely not a full plate. It is the sad story of the knights - when armour was finally at its peak (1500+) it was already kinda obsolete thing of the past and modern infantry with guns and pikes took charge instead of the knights.
W E Ray wrote: For several years now I've been under the assumption that Aroden chose to commit ritual suicide on the day he was suppose to return -- in order to illustrate to mankind that they don't need to rely on him to create prophesy and direct them in his image. This is actually a great answer to that mystery and it reminds me of the Dune universe and acts of Leto II. If any GM wants a good answer for himself regarding Aroden that has a LOT of depth and is not just a meme - read God Emperor of Dune as an inspiration and you will be satisfied :) Basically the promised Golden Age of Aroden is similar to the Golden Path of Dune and Aroden is God of Prophecy which is similar to prescience of Dune, so we actually might have hit a nail on its head here :)
As a GM I really dont like players that wants to solve all their problems during character creation and then just spam their munchkin s*@@ with OP numbers without actually thinking about the specifics of the situation, terrain and monsters. That is why I like PF2 philosophy way more. I want encounters that cannot be solved with the same OP tactic all over again. I get that in PF1, but it required a huge amount of work from me as a GM. I am looking forward to PF2 playing next year for our new campaign.
Hello, GM here, one of my players lost his shadow (fey Shadow Collector) and he has Resist Level Drain (Ex) - so he did not feel the need to retrieve it back. Soon my group will venture into the deapths of the Shadow Plane. Any ideas for possible consequences of going there without your own shadow? How are vampires doing here? I am open to any interesting ideas, thank you.
I play in Ustalav setting and actually think that Varisians were presented respectfully and having their own scary kingdom made them pretty cool. Also their divination abilities and harrow reading makes them special and useful and they really not feel like a buch of poor beggars making some cheap tricks.
Ylem wrote:
I changed a lot of names, because they sound bad and are impossible to remember. Made things what they are. Azlant is Atlantis for example. Cheliax and Chelaxians was a really bad choice of naming. Some names from RotR are stright up mental :D Volioker Briskalberd, Jubrayl Vhiski, Viorian Dekanti to name a few. I tend to use more clasic names and with surnames of random NPCs to somehow reflect them, so it is possible to remember who the f*ck that guy was.Besides the names I like the Golarion a lot, like the fact, that worldwide events are based on history of Earth, so you can assume some things like rise and fall of Taldor (Roman Empire) and so on just with an elementary knowledge of real history and geography. I do not lock things at all, so I can change some minor elements from a campagin to campagin to better reflect its setting and style of play (epic, horror, sandbox).
Yqatuba wrote: I, along with many other people, don't like how the afterlife works, namely how petitioners have their memories erased as it raises a bunch of philosophical and moral issues (is such a petitioner the same person as before? If not, is rewarding or punishing them justified?) I have a concept, when you achieve a nirvana your memories are not erased and your soul goes further, beyond the planes, beyond this world. So you can achieve a better endgame then just end up in some other plane.
Hi BenPel, this party never ends! We started CC this year, too! I will be talking about Adrissant and whole campaign in 1 post. I apologize for mistakes as English is not my native language.
First I want to adress how it is written. I found the first 3 books the most interesting ones and since my party do not enjoy mega levels that much I plan to end around level 11 anyway. When we played RotR it felt like wargaming instead of roleplaying in the end. I am not a fan of 3 pages long stat blocks of NPC wizards :D My issue concerning the second volume TotB is that there are too many things copypasted from second volume of RotR which is kinda lame and I will have to rewrite a lot here, but I love the idea of the trial, investigation and stuff. Spoiler:
There are murder cases in the big city did by skin stealing guys hidden in a factory – exact same plot as in the Skinsaw Murders…and there is also an asylum which uses bodies of its patients for evil stuff – exactly like in RotR. This felt really disapointing but since I am translating the whole AP to our native language anyway I am used to make some changes here and there. Also I would recommend to change the names of the NPCs because some are really impossible to remember and this is a good way to make some inside jokes and easter eggs and they make them easier to remember. So we started with Adrian (Avidion in book) Adrissant in the funeral, too. I added 1 character from every book to the funeral to create bigger connection, so there is also Horace Croon from 4th book (a crazy professor and former collegue) and Silvio from Lodge in 3rd book (the wannabe werewolf hunter who only knows Lorrimore from his books about the creatures of the night, but admired him so much, that he visits his funeral) Spoiler:
I made his character (AA) like a tragic story more then a straight up evil mastermind villan. He was student of Petros L. and his intelectual rival and in many things his exact opposite. But they treated each other with respect even though they mostly yelled at each other in heated debates. He did not finish his tutelage under profesor and left the country being the money spoiled kid with far too high IQ and kinda milenial character. When he returned he still did not found anything to challenge his mind so he did a law school in Lepidstadt out of pure boredom and have some cases just for the sport of it. He also did a poetry and absinthe. Petros was in Ravengro by that time and they only seen each other one time after Adrissants return. But they remained in contact and played chess by mail. They did not say anything to each other except the move combination for the week in their posts, but Adrissant had a poem for Petros daughter in each of the letters. Their relationship (A+K) is not specified, but I expect it to be a voluntary platonic one for many reasons.
AA was actually contacted by Whispering Way which was searching for a way to resurrect the W.Tyrant and needed to finish a very complex alchemical formulae. Adrissant was fascinated by the difficulty of the task and started working on it just for the science and to challenge himself (like a Dr.Strangelove developing a nuclear bomb). WW had already found that they need an infant girl of pure innocence and then make her blind, dumb, senseless…only sense they left was hearing and they were whispering all the knowledge and evil of the Way to her. And by the time she would have her first menstruation they needed the Carrion Crown to implement it to her as a seed of the Whispering Tyrant. The point is that the child would become a lich as an unborn and then be given a birth by a virgin. The girl would then die during the childbirth and then would be mummified and hidden and would serve as Tyrants Phylactery. Because of that he would be otherwise invincible. So there would be infant lich Whispering Tyrant of all the power and wisdom of the Way. I get that this version of the story would not make it to the public market :D
The first session we actually played live in our park at night because there is neogothical church with black walls and we were carrying imaginary coffin while playing Chopin Funeral March from Bluetooth speaker and it was pretty epic. And we were not shot by any policeman because luckily we don’t live in the US :D So already we finished the first book and in the second one I plan to add Adrissant as a Prosecutor of the trial. He knows that the beast is innocent, but cannot resist to compete against Lorrimors heirs in pure intellectual battle. Spoiler:
Because I will skip the last 3 books I am adding a vampire element here - Nosferatu will play a role in the third case - instead Bradas hospice there will be a monastery of some Pharasmian apostates and it will be on south of the city insead of north. When the PC meet the Crooked Kin Alice will be taken by the Nosferatu (and later they will find her mini head in Grimes place) and then at night one PC will be bitten by it. So they will be suspecting a vampires and I plan to play Adrissant to appear as one, so they would suspect him being a vampire. But then he would reveal that he is not and will play a role of a teacher and fair rival of pure intellect and not violent one.
So after this I hope they would not suspect to deal with him anymore and will focus on Auren Vrood and they will defeat him in the third book and get the receipt and go find the kidnapped girl. They will defeat the WW and rescue the girl by killing her with antidote to Carrion Crown…at least that is the theory, but stories can go different ways of course. The point is to make some I am your father moment(The only way to rescue your daughter is to kill her)! From the fourth book I like the submarine part, but other than that, I think the plot is absolutely terrible and makes no sense. I had to read it 3 times and still was confused, so only way for PC to make this book sense is just start killing everything. So after defeating WW they would think it is over and the party would disband and I plan on epilogue scene in Ravengro cemetery 1 year after Petros funeral (The scene will then result into my own version of the last book). Spoiler:
They realize his daughter is not there, so they would visit her house and would find the letter from Adrissant where he invites her to his palace in Caliphas. There will be clues in the letter from to deduct that he was behind the Carrion Crown !big reveal moment! , but written in a way not to be obvious to Petros daughter, but to PCs yes. So they will go rescue her and in his palace there will be a very melodramatical scene with organ music, poetry and a lot of words like from a movie…she will be in a complex trap…the fight itself will not be one because Adrissant really despise a violent confrontation…so he will add more words…that he has set a trap and they only can rescue one target out of many (like a joker from batman). He sent a version of Carrion Crown to all the rulers of Ustalav and will change them all to liches. His motive is not because he cares about the Whispering Way or Tyrant himself, but a childish one, that he did not see the fruit of his grand experiment and his ego is annoyed by losing so he will do some malevolent revenge (and his mind was actually secretly manipulated as well).
So then they will set out to stop the messengers and rescue the rulers, but they will meet resistance from secret agents of The palatine eye !big reveal moment! So they will go investigate and in the main Lodge of the Eye they will confront the leader which would be !big reveal moment! Petros Lorrimor! So everything was just a bait for the PCs and even Adrissant, which professor also used in his grand orchestrated plan. Yeah free masons are evil :D The idea behind the plan is that if the rulers would be liches and conected to the Whispering Tyrant, there will be revolution in whole Ustalav and then liches overthrown (maybe with the help of Crusade, too) and all counties would became a Palatinate. If plot would seem too crazy and illogical, there is a material from the Wake of the Watcher...and Professor will have some Cthulu monster in his head. Then I plan to finally conclude the adventure. Let me see what you think about my ideas and I wish you and your party a lot of fun with this gothic horror AP and the villain Adrissant which this community and thread developed so much.
|