Hiding DM's page

Thanks Mightypion!

This actually gives me something I can use in case I need it. In my head Aroden is just 'lost' out in The Dark Tapestry. But. If I need to come up with some specific description for my PCs. Or if I need some other specific information to give to the PCs -- you know, once they get there -- I can use this.

I'd likely use Nocticula since, well, it's your idea and I ought to use your choice for this Abyssal baddie instead of my picking another at random. But you know how fluid Campaigns can be; I may not have any avenue to use Nocticula when the PCs go way left instead of right and then, all the sudden, I need to make it Graz'zt or Abraxas or even Count Ranalc. In any case, if I need something like this in a few months, I'll be all over your post.

A contracted Merchant (who is their boss) may not be available?

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There is a real possibility of including an NPC with some Item Creation Feats and having that NPC be willing to tag along for a little while -- making a little bit of money on his crafting ability until he can get to a town where he can begin to rebuild his life.

Thanks!

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On item creation costs, I'd recommend changing it to somewhere between 10%-25% discount, like you're thinking. However, the creation speed is already quick for Magic creation, and you can already cut it in half at a +5 DC, so stick with the norm.

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I'll definitely consider the 25% instead of the 10%. And really read the time requirements to try to figure out what's most appropriate for our game needs.

It's quite a bit, all in all, to think through.

So, it's a Homebrew Campaign that starts with Strange Aeons vol. 1, "In Search of Sanity." But it's not a Count who put them in the Briarstone Asylum but rather they are Gatewalkers who have lost their memories and were put there. Then the Campaign goes to the adventure from Dungeon 134, "And Madness Follows" -- PCs tracking down some Hastur mystery not knowing it's Hastur, through an empty village and Zombie/Alien-plagued town. And next uses the intro from "The Haunting of Harrowstone" in Carrion Crown: Kendra Lorrimor will find the PCs in an empty village and express relief and thanksgiving that they're still alive -- she'll be the one who can answer a bit of their missing memories as described in Strange Aeons and Gatewalkers. That gets them to Ravengro where they'll see for the first time actual proof of the Campaign bad guys: Night Heralds (Dominion of the Black) and some Cenobite disciples of the Velstrac Demagogues. There'll be some use of the Harrowstone Prison as a dungeon but with the Homebrew villains rather than the Carrion Crown ex-prisoners. Then on to Lepidstadt where the PCs can really take control of the Campaign instead of desperately trying to find their lost identities.

I actually have a Thread elsewhere on the Boards seeking suggestions/advice on wrestling with the Campaign design -- often times just writing this out on The Boards really helps massage it into my mind, working out the kinks and problems.

Yeah, these are the things I've been thinking about.

The haunted asylum, the empty village, the Zombie-plague town, and the rural spaces in between them, can all have loads of stuff to find. The haunted asylum can have a spellbook, holy symbols, and a couple masterwork weapons maybe. The empty village would have a guard post with a minor arsenal of masterwork weapons and armors. The town would have a few +1 things that the PCs can grab while fighting the first few Zombies before they get overwhelmed and the Ghouls come out and they have to flee. This can get them all the way to Lepidstadt.

I like the conspiracy theory but alas it can't work at my table.... When Varisia was first published in RotRL and the location of Windsong Abbey was introduced, it felt to me like a cheesy gimmick to 'provide an answer for' when PCs want to worship a Core deity but their god ain't got a rep in Sandpoint: Here's Windsong Abbey. It was always grossly incongruous to me. I ignored (didn't even acknowledge) its existence for years until a PC wanted to be a Monk and we handwaved he was from there.

I asked in the James Jacobs Thread many years ago if Windsong Abbey were indeed just a gimmick so that, back when the setting was only a few months old, PCs could pick any Core deity and have a place to be from. He said he always wanted a "United Nations" building so he created Windsong Abbey. I felt strongly that such a place had to be in Absalom and I was back to square one just effectively treating it like it doesn't even exist.

When Shattered Star came out, though, and the chapter "Beyond the Doomsday Door" -- it put a dungeon of Groetus underneath W.A. dedicated to Groetus that the Clerics and Monks protected.

It finally gave me the answer for *my* games, and makes Aroden and Pharasma friends.... In my game, 600+ years ago that Cult of Groetus was kicking butt and the Varisians under Pharasma & Desna just could not defeat the Cult of Groetus -- and their evil machinations were coming to pass. Meanwhile, way out in Absalom, the top-dog high priest of Aroden got a vision from his god to Plane Shift himself and a small army of clerics and warpriests up to Aroden's palace in The Astral where Aroden would then Plane Shift them back to Golaria where they could join a war against Groetus. So the combined forces of Clerics of Aroden, Pharasma and Desna defeated the cult of Groetus and built Windsong Abbey above the dungeon to guard it.

So in my game, Windsong Abbey is Pharasma, Desna, Aroden and that's all. (Though as DM I could always retroactively add Sarenrae.)

And ever since then, W.A. has indeed shown up in my games as that, so I can't really use Pharasma vs Aroden. (But I do really like your conspiracy theory.)

Over the next few weeks I'm going to be rereading Gatewalkers and Stolen Fate to find where to tinker with the Gatewalker events to make them in line with Dark Tapestry & Lost Aroden storylines, and same with the Harrow Cards and changing Fate / rewriting Time and Space for the same storyline. The theme and Flavor and even quite a bit of Crunch from those two APs just feel so perfect for what I intend to create. And The Doomsday Dawn playtest adventures, or rather, the threads that connect those adventures, seem to be exactly what I need as a source for BBEGs and villains as my Level 1-20 Campaign moves forward. I swear, if I could start the group tomorrow as 1st Level amnesiacs in the Strange Aeons adventure "In Search of Sanity" tomorrow and get this campaign underway immediately I would.

But alas, our current campaign is only well into 13th Level and the PC obsessed with finding his lost god won't even discover Aroden's in The Dark Tapestry for another four or five Levels.

But I am really enthused about this next campaign.

Please, keep all your ideas and suggestions and thoughts coming! Much appreciated!

I have Zon Kuthon as kind of an 'opposite' or 'anti' Aroden: Aroden on The Material Plane got the Starstone and became a god; Dou Bral on The Shadow Plane got a Cenobite Box (Dark Tapestry / Count Ranalc connections) and became The Midnight Lord.

I do have quite a few connections between Count Ranalc (First World Elder touching The Dark Tapestry and bringing Aklo to evil Fey), and Dou Bral tracking Count Ranalc and getting too close to The Dark Tapestry (finding the Cenobite Box), and Aroden tracking Count Ranalc and then, instead of committing ritual suicide 100 years ago, just getting lost in the space between the stars.

The Oracle in (Ray's game) could believe Aroden is still alive because (he) still gets (his) divine powers. .... It could be that the ACTUAL source of that Oracle of Life's power is--

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Yeah, it's something I played with in my head a year or so ago when we started playing. For my game, the PC Oracle does indeed get his Divine abilities from Aroden, despite the deity's lost state deep in the Dark Tapestry.

However,... the Player doesn't know that! Several times in-play over the last year I've made it 'feel' like there's a 'problem'(ish) with his casting the Healing spells, etc. Sometimes when he meditates for an hour each day to get spells he feels "Cold" or something -- I remember when we Levelled-Up to, like 9th, and he Channeled for the first time with an extra d6 I told him he felt like a 'darkness' or something was channeling through him -- just stuff like that. All roleplay Flavor, no Crunch. But ultimately his PC will learn that, indeed, it IS coming from Aroden and he will have to go out into The Dark Tapestry to rescue his god. Like 20th Level'ish when our campaign is over.

You can post here -- I'd love anything you can suggest.

They're not so big on The Boards, here. My friend Mike DMs Play-by-Post and browses the Forums. He and I have both been playing since 1981, though, so neither of us are ever looking for Spoilers and, when we accidentally bump into one, frankly, we're both such jaded Grognards that we've already seen everything in-play, done every roleplay encounter, etc., -- one little Spoiler is just not gonna kill either of us.

But I do post under my Alias of "Hiding DM" instead of 'W E Ray' when I do these Threads.

As far as the rest of the group, I'm not really worried. In the campaign that we're playing now, the PCs have already gotten some clues or hints as to Aroden's fate -- though again, the campaign is not intended to be an Aroden campaign. It's just one player's individual roleplay journey. Unbeknownst to that player, my intention is to have him discover a trail of breadcrumbs (so to speak) of Aroden leading deep into the Dark Tapestry. Around 20th Level after they've finished our current campaign. Now, PCs sometimes go right instead of left, and that is still several Levels away. But my guess is that the Oracle of Aroden will *retire* heading off into The Dark Tapestry. We may even have a game session or two where the PCs -- at 21st or 22nd Level -- go with him for one adventure. I have no idea. And the other PCs in the group will finish their 20th Level PCs and retire based on their own stuff.

And I'm designing the next campaign. "The Search for Joe's Old PC Lost in The Dark Tapestry While Searching for Aroden." Or whatever you want to call it. So the Players will have a tiny bit of information about Where the campaign is going. Or Will They?!?!

I'm not planning on telling them the title or inspiration behind the campaign. Their PCs are going to wake up "In Search of Sanity" with amnesia -- find Gatewalker tattoos on them -- in time get Harrow Cards from Stolen Fate magically appearing on their chests or foreheads as they sleep -- learn of The Dominion of the Black -- etc., and etc., until at last they learn of this famous NPC Oracle of Aroden (Joe's old PC) who went to find Aroden in The Dark Tapestry, and they have to go find him -- and Aroden. And I think that'll be a memorable reveal, several Levels in, or at least several Sessions in the campaign -- that the latter half of the campaign is to find Joe's old character.

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Again, I'm just at the beginnings of designing this. I've got months to work through it as the group in our current game are only 13th Level. (The Oracle of Aroden is on the verge of learning of Aroden's war against Ibdurrengian and will visit the Layer of The Abyss (I'm sure) where they will have to fight Ibdurrengian's Ghost!

So I have time to find connections in Stolen Fate and Doomsday Dawn; I have time to create tie-ins between Gatewalkers and The Dominion of the Black. And time to find places "In Search of Sanity" where I can drop little clues of the bigger picture.

But it's obviously important to start Early!

I'm building/designing a campaign and it's getting a bit cluttered/busy in my head. Reference material I don't have would be Very helpful, as would Any ideas, strategies on mixing/matching/transitioning the published material from which I'm drawing upon.

Thanks in advance to anyone who tosses out some advice / suggestions!

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The first bit of help is just my asking if there are any adventures or setting books that have material relevant to what I'm designing that I haven't yet considered.

Campaign Conceits / Purpose:
Homebrew-- Aroden didn't necessarily die 100 years ago; he vanished, lost forever. Many of his Disciples went insane, many lost their Divine magic (etc), but a tiny few were relatively okay. I never intended doing anything else there; it just sounded more interesting to play over-the-table if that were the background instead of canon.

But I have a player who built an Oracle getting his power from Aroden (or somewhere, mwahahaha) who is obsessed with finding his lost god. Alas, that was not the campaign I had designed, so it was just that PC's background that we can play with a little from time to time in our current campaign -- which will be wrapping up in another six or seven Levels (I think they're 13th Level now.) But I've had SOO much fun designing Aroden background stuff that I want my next campaign to be Levels 1-20 "Where's Aroden" -- which is actually a little more like "What Happened to Joe's PC After Our Last Campaign Ended and His 20th Level PC Has Vanished, Too."

What I ended up concluding (while working through this Thread with y'all's help) is that Aroden was tracking down some Dark Tapestry stuff and got lost deep, deep in the space of Azathoth and Carcosa and etc.

New Campaign, Level One:
The PCs will awaken with no memories and play through the first volume of Strange Aeons, "In Search of Sanity." I'll tweak it a little bit, but it pretty well works for my needs almost exactly 'as-is.'

Instead of the Count having used the PCs from Strange Aeons, they are amnesiacs (and possibly insane without knowing) because they are Gatewalkers from that AP, which I'm having to significantly wrestle around with so it works for my needs here.

Finally, the bigger plot, beyond the problems faced in the opening adventure, are from Stolen Fate -- I'm reworking the overall background to tie in with my little Aroden-Dark-Tapestry thing.

Coincidentally, I was rereading the PF2 Playtest adventures Doomsday Dawn and it seems to fit perfectly for what I need, bringing in 'The Dominion of the Black' to the mix.

And also, at some point I will have the PCs play through the genius adventure "And Madness Follows" from Dungeon 134 -- it also fits very well (and quite frankly could have been a much better volume 2 of Strange Aeons than the one we got.)

But all in all, I'm starting to really wrestle with what I will be designing and putting together as a 1-20 campaign, starting with amnesia in a Ustalav asylum and the end of which sees the 20th Level PCs in the Dark Tapestry having learned the nature of the Gatewalkers, solved the Stolen Fate Harrow-Deck-Plot, defeated a thread of The Dominion of the Black getting Aucturn to beat-up Golarion, rescuing the old PC (from my current campaign) out in Carcosa or somewhere, and solving the mystery of what happened to Aroden 100 years ago.

So again, ALL ideas, suggestions, thoughts, bits of advice, whatever on the nature of the published material I'm using -- plus anything else you can think of that may fit in with what I'm trying to do but hasn't come to me yet -- is Very well appreciated!

Casting ye olde Resurrection to Necro the Thread;... Is there anything new?

Either Areshkagal in PF2
or
Erishkigal in a 3rd-Party-Published product such as from WotC or Kobold Press or something
or
Homebrew from the Minds of Paizo's 'Lords of the Boards'

THANKS!

This is really helpful, thanks.

If they don't like the idea of becoming actors in Robahl Nonan's theater troupe, maybe they'll agree to be actor/security.

I'm also thinking about reflavoring him so that he's not such a jerk. I can just see a group of PCs being talked down to, condescended to, and belittled/berated, and just decide to murder-hobo the prick.

Robahl Nonan could ask them to be actors/security because he's afraid The Bastards of Erebus are going to try to disrupt his play and he wants some muscle on stage.

I have skimmed over your Gameplay DM Rich, and look forward to continue reading it to see how your group handled certain scenes.

[ Threadjack from an Outsider ]

Hey guys, sorry to interrupt.
I was hoping to get some advice on my upcoming Council of Thieves game that is starting soon. Because it's a much older AP, I'm assuming my post in the CoT Thread will go unnoticed, and I've been following your PbP for a couple weeks now, as part of my prep for my own game. If anyone is willing to take a moment or two to look at my post, it's an advice request for a stumbling block I'm hitting with the very beginning of Volume 2: "The Sixfold Trial." Because our group is agreed to tinker with the published AP, I'm changing a few things and the MacGuffin at the beginning of Richard Pett's adventure seems unusable.

Any consideration you can give would be greatly appreciated.

THANKS in advance, and Happy Gaming!

[ / Threadjack ]

Looking for any advice:

I'm starting a Council of Thieves game soon and, the way the group of PCs is shaping up, and with our own little twist on the campaign, I don't see a good enough reason that the PCs will accept as why they should join Robahl Nonan's theater troupe to perform "The Six Trials of Larazod."

We're pretty agreed to kinda remove a PFS presence from the campaign and replace, when it's necessary, the PFS with The Darklight Sisterhood.

So, if they're not going to join Robahl Nonan's theater troupe in order to get an invite to Aberian Arvanxi's estate (to sneak around and get a key to Delvehaven), Why Else could they want to join Robahl Nonan's theater troupe in order to get an invite to Aberian Arvanxi's estate?

Many THANKS in advance!

I think I'm going with Mestama.

Thanks TONS for bouncing off some ideas with me -- sometimes it just helps to have a sounding board to help articulate just what I'm looking for and figure out a direction in which to go. After looking at your suggestions and looking at a few things myself, your idea of Mestama has really struck home.

Now, with Mestama as the Intelligence-and-Force behind the Fiend, I can develop that BBEG, design the NPC stooge that will make the horrible deal with the Fiend to betray & trap his friends, and then build a location and come up with a MacGuffin for the PCs.

Initially, I'm thinking of having the Fiend BBEG be a Lamia Matriarch Cleric of Mestama -- but we'll see.

So the act of betrayal is the punchline... moreso than the actual value of the souls, themselves?

Yeah, that's what really stands out to me as inspiration from the published text. The adventure module, of course, uses a Daemon as this Fiend, though it doesn't matter to me which of the three Evil Outsider alignments the BBEG is -- it could be a Kyton Cenobite (They love torture.) for all I care.

An Evil Outsider 'god' that loves to feed on people's pain of being betrayed or tricked by a loved one. I've never read anything of the Infernal Duke, Ose, so I'll grab the book and take a look. And thinking about it, I will consider good ol' Lolth from FR and make this a Drow thing. And I'll also take a good look at The Kyton Demagogues.

This is for a Homebrew inspired-by and expansion of the adventure Tears at Bitter Manor -- but so little of the Steven Helt adventure is actually being used (not in Taldor, no retired adventuring-group MacGuffin, no 'ancient, ruined' manor house, etc.) that it's much more a 'General Discussion' question than a Tears at Bitter Manor- appropriate Thread.

The point of inspiration from the module is a Daemon (which I could change to Demon or Devil) who offers an unattainable gift -- eternal youth -- to an aging NPC if, IF, said NPC tricks and traps his close friends and family so that the Daemon can torture them and feed on their souls and, all the more vile, revel in the misery of the victims who know it was their dear friend/family member who betrayed them and trapped them.

In the published adventure (unless I missed it completely, which is possible), it is not written to which of The Four Horseman (or to which Harbinger if not an Apocalypse Horseman) the Daemon serves.

But in MY game, that will be critically important. I will build the whole adventure around it.

So,...

Which Demon Lord or Apocalypse Horseman (or Harbinger or even Archdevil or Malebranche/Whore-Queen) would be a PERFECT fit according to It's Title and Area of Concern and Domains & Sub Domains?

The Fiend (BBEG) will grant an NPC some specific, incredible WISH So. Long. As. the NPC betrays his or her close friends and family such that they know it was he/her who betrayed them.
....Who should that Fiend worship?

Thanks!

Bump.

Well, almost two years later and my PCs are *Finally* meeting Tegresin in tomorrow's session.

Madame Carrington the dream-reader in Korvosa (from "House on Hook St") is sending them to the Shadow Plane's 'Nightmare Realm' Demi-Plane. The PCs also got a little help in the form of some magical charms from (Richard Pett's) Gnome Wererat Lich, Sliris. (I made "The Styes" Old Korvosa.)

Specifically in The Nightmare Realm (Demi-Plane of The Shadow Plane), the PCs will be in the Veiled Bazaar, an ethereal-like shadow market introduced in PFS.

That's where they're meeting Tegrsin -- projecting himself in a Dream-reality (Nightmare-reality) into the Nightmare Realm, where he's still in a prison cell. The PCs will assume his little prison cell in the middle of the Veiled Bazaar is actual rather than metaphysical.

I'm really looking forward to Tegresin voluntarily answering so many of their questions about where they've just arrived ("Please help me, I adventurers."), even answering how to get from the Veiled Bazaar in The Nightmare Realm of the Shadow Plane, all the way to Duskfathom -- where they're tracking some of Norgorber's Cultists and an artifact called The Nightmare Key.

Okay how 'bout this?.... Szass Tam is CR 32 (if I remember correctly from 3.5). Belimarius is

If you were to do a Homebrew statblock for Szass Tam today I think he'd probably be around CR 25, Mythic Rank 3 or 4 maybe.
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I think for me, it just makes me want to have, as I DM my campaign, a 'chapter' where the PCs go to Faerun through some Thassilonian time-portal-gate-thing and deal with some stuff in Myth Drannor or Netheril or something. Maybe have The Symbul make an appearance. ....Have Mordenkainen from GH show up.

I can use this as much or more than the Xanderghul post.

After reading the Dave Gross novel with Zutha as the antagonist, I'm adding the RuneLord to my current campaign, only to have the PCs eventually find where Zutha is(?) at the end of the novel and have to deal with it....

I recommend reading the novel and not looking under the Spoiler tag -- but if you're not going to read Lord of Runes and want to find out the ending....

Dot for future reference

Just think of the look on Karzoug's or Krune's faces if they'd ever found out.

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That's what intrigues me. And makes me consider changing my thoughts.

But I don't give a damn about the look on Karzoug or Krune's face -- I want it to be the look on the Players' faces.

If my PCs have it in their heads that the Peacock Spirit was a symbol of hope and beauty and condolences for the Varisians during the Thassilonian Empire -- and they talk to present day Varisians about The Peacock Spirit and find some of its old shrines and sacred places (such as the one in Roderic's Cove) -- then late in the campaign the look on THEIR faces when they learn it was Xanderghul the whole time could be a really good gaming moment.

And I see Xanderghul inventing The Peacock Spirit (not unlike a Vigilante) so that his peasants and slaves would worship him; it's brilliant design.
....But I'm still uncertain. In my head at least, none of the RuneLords were powerful enough to be godlike in giving Clerics and Oracles spells. (just like Razmir isn't powerful enough) And I really like The Peacock Spirit as a godlike symbol for the ancient Varisians.

Clearly more thought is required.

My plan is to have them make PCs that first session simultaneously with beginning play. I'll handout copies of the map and gazetteer and let them peruse what they want, start to build their PCs, and ask me questions and get in some roleplaying.

So the Player who's thinking about a Wizard or Arcanist can glance at the gazetteer and start developing the PC -- roleplaying with certain NPCs here and there -- even before he's allocated his Ability Score Points. And when that Player gets an epiphany that he wants to play an Undine Investigator instead he can start on that build, with the gazetteer and our early roleplay in mind, while I roleplay with the Player who's been reading over Thieve's Guild info cuz he's thinking about an underworld PC. And when I need to answer a question from the Player who's all the sudden fascinated with the ancient, crumbling clock-tower and its mysterious, robed caretaker (or whatever), I'll answer his question about how the Summoner he kinda wants to make could fit in the background with that mysterious, robed caretaker.

In addition to the gazetteer and map, I'm also giving a page of 'Rumors' -- any one of which a Player can latch on to for the beginning of his PC life. Or, if the Player is all ready with his own (hunting down the man who killed his dog, or whatever), I can point him to a couple good spots in the gazetteer from which he could choose to consider, and then get to the Player who wants to play a Cavalier and is interested in being the Constable's son.

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I'm confident that my first session will work out very well this way. Based on your advice I'm going to try to find ways to tie NPC relationships together with the PCs -- so if one PC is the Constable's son then another PC also has a tangential relationship with the Constable (or his family) so that when I'm answering for one PC, another PC can be involved as well.

And I think my prep for sessions two, three, etc. (until my big Campaign MacGuffin drops) will be in how to move each PC's gametime forward without excluding other PCs too long, and looking for more possible tie-ins to make that easier.

Right now I have a gazetteer with about sixty locations & rumors, most with an interesting NPC or bit of Fluff.

Under the assumption that it would be foolish to expect the Players to read the whole thing before they make their PCs, I'm hoping they'll peruse a handful of rumors/ locations and pick one or two that sound cool to them -- use them as a jumping point -- and mixing them with some things they come up with on their own.

I’m starting a new campaign in a month and am going to begin differently than I’ve ever done personally — though I know it’s a popular DMing style.

I’m going to build off of what the PCs’ backgrounds and initial goals are instead of just throwing a Macguffin at them.

So a PC that wants to join the Thieves Guild or Wizard Academy or City Guard War College — or a PC that wants to learn who his father was or get vengeance against those who killed his brothers or join PFS,... whatever.... That’s how I’m starting the campaign.

It won’t be too long before a Macguffin drops on their heads and they start an adventure as a group — but at first, I’m making the game completely PC-centric.

I know there are many DMs who DM whole campaigns this way, that it’s a gaming style that gets much play. But I’ve never really done it beyond periphery and side quests and such.

And I’m hoping for advice, techniques, experiences, etc so I can start off my campaign well.

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All the PCs have in common is that they are in the poorest district of the city and hope to one day Get OUT. (After they play through their backgrounds and goals a while they’ll all happen to be in the same place at the time the Macguffin falls into their laps, joining them as a group and giving them the opportunity to get out of the poverty in which they live.)

The campaign begins in Old Korvosa and will play out all over Varisia.

.... So, what are the best ways to DM a PC-centric start to a campaign?

“The Book of the Damned” mentions that Rubicante, the infernal Malebranche “Who Grows Red,” was “widely venerated” in the Thassilonian Empire.

Can anyone expound on that and/or provide other sources?

Thanks!

Here are a few examples....

One would figure Sgothgah (and his infant Kraken) would most obviously worship Rovagug? But I'm thinking maybe Groetus would fit better?

Korvosa is known for gazillions of Magistrates, a tangled and grossly inneficient morass of beuracracy; it makes most sense that Mr. Dory would be a Magistrate, I guess? But the Magistrate of what? Something that focuses on Old Korvosa likely.

Master Refrum would be a Cleric of whom? Abadar like Ishani? Or maybe Sarenrae?

The Alchemists' Quarter? It would most easily fit on Garrison Hill in Old Korvosa??? Or would Old Dock actually somehow be better?

Constable Jute sounds like a Captain under Cressida Kroft who is the head of the Korvosan Guard in Old Korvosa maybe.

Hopene'er Asylum could be on the other side of Garrison Hill from Refrum's place -- or squeezed between the ruins of Fort Korvosa and Old Dock? (I actually think the Hospice of the Blessed Maiden back in Korvosa proper might fit -- though in my homegame it's become a secret front for the Red Mantis.)

Flotsom seems tricky. Maybe the best bet is to alter a section of Bridgefront?

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Also, what are some great aspects of Old Korvosa that could really embellish "The Styes"?....

If you squeezed in Salvator Scream -- who is now a lonely spectre haunting Old Korvosa -- where might be a good point in "The Styes"?

Might Vimanda (Melyia Arkona) have a reason to jump in such an advnture -- or Glorio Arkona himself? Could the PCs meet Mr. Dory for the first time with one of them?

Pilts Swastel was Raised by an Academae Wizard after he was killed during the events in "Escape from Old Korvosa" because he was smart enough to pay for such a contingency. Now he's slowly rebuilding his vile "empire." Could you maybe see him (or Devargo Barvasi) having info on The Lantern Man or the killings or something?

I'm hoping that Richard Pett himself will see this and give his 2 cp -- all other advice equally and eagerly appreciated:

"The Styes" in Dungeon 121 is a "district" that's "in a large port city in (my) campaign world. ....It could be part of a free city that has fallen into despair and decay."

So I'm choosing Korvosa -- and the district of OLD Korvosa. Pett also wrote the Bloody-great adventure "Escape from Old Korvosa"!

It seems like I can put the adventure into Old Korvosa about as seamlessly as one can do any outside-published adventure. That said, I'm still hoping for any and all advice or suggestions or ideas on how to merge "The Styes" into Old Korvosa (which is the decrepit Endrin Isle just off the peninsula that is Korvosa -- Glorio Arkona's palace is there, as are the ruins of Fort Korvosa, Devargo Barvasi's criminal stronghold, Pilts Swastel, etc., etc.)
....And really lengthen and flesh-out the adventure.

We know Korvosa quite well. Curse of the Crimson Throne both in softback 3.5 and hardback compilation. The softcover Guide. And a couple PFS Scenarios and the two modules.

My new campaign takes place after the events of these adventures -- and quite a bit of Homebrew adventures as well. It will start in Old Korvosa -- with a modified "Styes" adventure.

You know Korvosa. You know "The Styes." Where are some perfect locations and encounters and NPCs to merge and combine? How would YOU put "The Styes" in Old Korvosa?

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The only other monkeywrench that I'm dealing with -- and this is one I'm probably going to have to do all by my lonesome -- is that I'm starting this as a new campaign. The PCs will be first level and citizens in Old Korvosa -- or maybe in the city proper. Obviously I have to rework the combat encounters since the Pett masterpiece is designed to be challenging for 9th Level PCs. (My PCs will probalby be 3rd Level when they encounter the Aboleth at the end -- they just won't fight it; it'll be something they deal with a couple years later in the campaign.)

@ Sheepish Eidolon,

Hey neat, thanks.

"The Sinister Secret of Saltmarsh"

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And only two years ago my buddy DMed a campaign in Saltmarsh based partly on the old 'U' Modules and mostly on the write-up from the 3.5 DMG 2 that's so awesome. ....I wont be able to use it.

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Then there's the PFS adventure I played in (I unfortunately don't remember the name) where the PCs are sent to a Varisian town to root out a political spy and return them safely to Absalom, while also secretly gathering info on what they know.

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This sounds vaguely familiar; maybe I DMed it a few years ago in PFS. I'll go through my Scenarios to see if I can use it. I assume it was season 4.

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Finally, if you're planning to do the Runelords AP there are little mini-quests that are meant for level 1 PCs who survive the initial start of the AP to get to know the town of Sandpoint. Perhaps take your inspiration from these?

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????
I remember the 'side quests' published during the Second Darkness AP, one of them I really liked. But Sandpoint?

Maybe you're talking about some adventures in the hardback RotRL -- I have the six softbacks.

I'm wondering how the urban adventure you run now will prep the players and their characters for crushing the Runelords later?

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So, I don't want Sheila Heidmarch to go to some no-name 1st-Level scrubs with the mission of Gotta find the Seven Shattered Stars of the Sihedron to complete the Artifact that will prevent the rise of the Runelords. She'd go to Absalom and get some heavy-hitting PFS bad-asses.

But if my 1st Level PCs in Korvosa have a little urban adventure, unrelated to anything with Sheila Heidmarch, and at the end of which they find this weird-looking shard -- and gain a couple levels -- they can be led to Sheila Heidmarch to find out what it is. And then, with one Shard in hand, a few levels under their belts, and a vested interest in the thing they've found, Sheila Heidmarch can tell them what the Shard is and have them go find the rest. ....That's where I'm at right now in concept and design (Obviously I can change as needed while I develop this thing.)

Think of the way the published Shattered Star AP is designed, Sheila Heidmarch sends the PCs to find the missing Pathfinder who has one Shard already -- then when they find her and the Shard, they start looking for the others.

In my case, I want them to be random, ambitious young folks in Korvosa who get caught up in a fun-raucous adventure, at the end of which they'll find this unknown Shard. That'll be the MacGuffin for the whole campaign. They want to find out wtf it is -- probably so they can sell it for lots o' gold -- and while no one knows (in Korvosa, in Kaer Maga if they go there, in Riddleport if they go there, etc) what it is, they hear maybe the Pathfinder Venture Captain in Magnimar might know. And they'll get to Sheila Heidmarch on their own time.

This way, my PCs aren't 1st Level when they start tracking down the Shattered Stars of the Sihedron -- and they only accidentally found the first one.

...In other words, the real campaign doesn't start at 1st Level.
Hope that answers your question.

@ Paul J at home,

To help give me a break from DMing (and time for me to work on the campaign, one of the Players is going to run both Portent's Peril and The Green Market as homebrew one-shots before we start the campaign. I'll obviously have to run a 'quiet' PC since I've DMed them both for PFS, unless he dramatically changes the Scenarios.

I am thinking about taking some time to go through those season 4 PFS Scenarios (since they're in Varisia) to see if any others will help me out.
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@ Wheldrake,
I won't be able to use City State because one of my players knows it almost as well as I know it (having both DMed campaigns around it so many times over the decades that many elements are ingrained into us). City State is also more of a campaign primer, I just need a quick couple adventures that I can manipulate and adjust and draw from to use as an intro into the campaign I want to run.

But hell yeah!, I'm with you all the way in love for City State -- it was actually the FIRST thing I thought of, too: 'Boy, I hope I can find an adventure like 'City State' to start out with.

Ooh, "Murder's Mark" is one I hadn't yet thought of.

I've been looking at the second of the 'Free Port' trilogy, "Terror in Free Port," since it has fewer pirate motifs than 'Death' and 'Madness.' I'm also taking a close look at "The Styes" to see if I can find a way to Level it Down.

With these to pull from I should be able to have fun coming up with a good Homebrew adventure in Korvosa for 1st Level PCs that will lead to the campaign Macguffin.

But keep 'em coming!

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EDIT:
Oops, I was confusing "Murder's Mark" with "Dawn of the Scarlet Sun." But it's all good.

I need some suggestions for great low-level urban adventures. I'm looking for something dramatic and dynamic right off the start, not exactly easy to find at 1st level. These are experienced PCs who have seen it all before; I want to blow their dice away.

Suggestions for awesome 1st Level adventures from just about any published module ever are welcome. I have all of Paizo's adventure books, about 4/5 of the PFS Scenarios, all of Dungeon Magazine and a host of other published adventures from which to pick. I can't see the forest cuz all the trees are in the way: I'm overwhelmed with too many choices so I'm coming here for ideas.

The adventure will take place in Korvosa a year-and-a-half after Curse of the Crimson Throne and a few weeks after another long-term campaign in Korvosa/Varisia ( in which vampires from Ustalov (from Carrion Crown) invaded, Queen Ileosa was resurrected, Runelords Sorshen and Krune were almost awakened, and the PCs accidentally raised the city of Xin from the ocean floor.)

Now, a couple weeks later, a new group of 1st Level Korvosans need an adventure to get a new campaign off the ground, giving them enough experience to draw the attentions of Sheila Heidmarch so she can send them on a grand quest that will make them legends in their time (by preventing the rise of all the Runelords).

We won't start for another few months, and I'll be scoring the upcoming AP for material as it comes in each month starting August -- I just need a great 1st Level adventure, urban setting, to get started.

ALL suggestions appreciated!

Thanks, I'll check it out when I get home.

Can you remember from what source?

I am going to be spending the next week or so building a stat block for the Red Mantis god, Achaekek, assassin for the gods.

For my game, I'm trying to make Achaekek CR 26 (Barbatos & Ragathiel equivalent).

I'm going to go through the six Bestiaries looking at the CR20-and-up entries for individual abilities and features I think are apropos for Achaekek and appropriate for CR 26.

And you guys know how challenging getting that accurate can be.

I want him clearly stronger than the CR 25 Tarrasque but not so strong as the Mephistopheles and Cthulus of the game. I want my overpowered 20th level PCs to ultimately, eventually defeat Achaekek with the adequite knowledge and proper preparations.

Any abilities or features that you think either fit the Fluff of the assassin bug/god -- or the CR 26 Crunch -- will be GREATLY appreciated! All suggestions and advice welcome.

Thanks in advance.

I dunno, what is the Tourist Abatement Bureau?

I admit to struggling with Mercer Cucuteni's job description as Magistrate of Tourism. All ideas welcome.

We're at 26 so far and canon is that there are 'currently' 23 and the number fluctuates.

I'm trying to further develop Korvosa for my homegame; finished is Curse of the Crimson Throne but we're still using the setting. And I'm looking for ideas for specific Offices of the Magistrate.

Korvosa's laws are codified to be infernally complex, purposely ambiguous, and often overlapping or redundant. There are Offices of the Magistrate for a whole host of areas of law and legal code that bloat up the civil courts, bloat up the bureaucracy, and bloat up regulation and licensing.

Now that the PCs are getting into Korvosa I'm finding myself in need of Magistrates and their areas of concern, the more complex and overlapping and ambiguous the better.

What are some others I can further add to make the Korvosan bureaucracy convoluted? And which ones of mine would you alter?

All good ideas, thanks.

Thanks Carson!

Thanks for everything guys -- Great Ideas!

(I don't know why I was so stuck on this one but I feel much more confident now.)

@ DM Asmodeus:
I think this is solid, great plan. Maybeaybe they can get lots of geographical info on Varisia at the University but no mention at all of Avenia. But they hear that so-and-so in Korvosa may know more -- and also in the such-and-such private library there may be more info -- that kind of stuff. Then individual PCs can go seek out different clues. I think small, private libraries and unaligned-with-the-University individuals could be the way to go.

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Is it possible that the name of the village turns up nothing

No. The adventure is inspired by "Lady of the Mists" by Peter Aberg in Dungeon 42. The town is Avenia and it's the crux of the first half of the campaign.

Great idea it just can't work in this situation.

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@ Ultra Geek:
Ooh, I Really like this. At some point they get a map and then someone steals it and they have to track that NPC down. It also fits perfectly as the PCs are NOT the only ones searching for this guy hiding out in Avenia.

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@ John Hawkins:
Yeah, it looks like I'm going to have quite a bit of prep work this week but you're absolutely right. I'm going to have to use a handful of those ideas. But that's exactly what I'm trying for.

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@ Coffee Demon:
Always a fear. That's one of the reasons I really want to have a good, fun roleplaying experience in Korvosa. ....But ultimately I've learned from my Players that as a group they want a designed adventure more than a Sandbox. They rely on a DM that's pushing some kind of campaign, though obviously no specific scenario-railroading. In the past when I've given a completely open situation and a multitude of choices and wide-open direction, the game slowed down and became somewhat directionless.
--Different groups for different styles of play ....(But you're right; it's always a fear.)

So my PCs have just arrived in Korvosa from Cheliax searching for a "secret police" administrator who's gone AWOL. (The PCs are good guys who have been doing what they can to hinder or fight against Thrune and 'general Evil' in Cheliax. And now this monstrous villain no longer has the protection of Cheliax-- Thrune, the HellKnights, the Church of Asmodeus -- thus he can be captured and made to answer for his horrible crimes against humanity. (Think the hunt for Adolf Eichmann post-Nazi Germany.)

So, the PCs have just arrived in Korvosa knowing only the name of this tiny village somewhere deep in Varisia where this villain has gone in hiding. Now, the obvious thing for them to do to learn where it is is to roleplay for three minutes a search in the Korvosa University, or city records, or somewhere for a detailed map of Varisia and find out the location of this tiny village. Then leave Korvosa behind.

Here's the rub: After the PCs "deal with" the villain in this tiny village way out deep in the Varisian wilderness, I want the next chunk of the campaign to take place back in Korvosa. And I want the PCs to already have a good potential base of operations, several contacts, a working knowledge of City politics and operations, and a good feel for the atmosphere and, er, theme of the city. Korvosa is a Big part of the later campaign. It has to come alive with detail and development.

So I want to develop Korvosa a bit while they search for where this tiny village somewhere in Varisia is.
--And that doesn't happen if they roleplay for three minutes looking in Korvosa University for maps of Varisia and then immediately leave.

So what can I "throw at"(?) my PCs in Korvosa that will make them have to explore and/or make contacts and/or learn about Korvosa in the process of researching where this tiny village in remote Varisia is?!

All ideas, suggestions and advice VERY welcome!

Thanks.

He allows "Harmless" mind-affecting such as telepathy and Mind Blank and such, yes.

Hey, I need rules help in Psionics.

A 20th level PC has the following effects going:

Mind Link

Battle Sense

Vitalist

I need to know if this PC will know if one of the PCs, who is Undead, has failed his Will Save against Control Undead.

I just don't know.

THANKS!

The Sheppard's Bluff: 1d20 + 12 ⇒ (10) + 12 = 22

Assassin's Stealth: 1d20 + 11 + 2 ⇒ (16) + 11 + 2 = 29

Five Mercenary Rogues' Stealth: 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (6) + 8 + 2 = 16

*purchases PFS 7-05

...You know, someone should update the Pathfinder Wiki lists -- PFS 7-05 is not listed as an adventure in The Precipice Quarter.

There's maybe a good year or two of PFS adventures published after the last update of the lists.

Thanks guys!