Ironfang Legionaire's page

I've had this idea for a few months, but had never articulated it. Partly because I think it would be very difficult to implement and would run the risk of being unsatisfying to the players. But here goes.

I'm thinking of having a homebrew session before the beginning of Ironfang Invasion; a sort of flashback to the infamous Ramgate Massacre. The players, by necessity, must be pro-Nirmathas and engaged in hostilities against Molthune. They take part in an attack on Fort Ramgate, battling Molthuni troops and trying to breach the fortress' walls. They notice the forest near the fort (where the Nirmathi's unarmed supporters are hiding) burning and are ordered to break off from the battle and intervene. There they find the Ironfang Legion murdering the Nirmathis and must fight the Hobgoblins to save as many people as they can. Azaersi herself then makes an appearance, either capturing the PCs or simply being seen from afar. They might even have a brief combat encounter as Azaersi toys with them, only to withdraw due to external circumstances.

I think that by having the PCs personally witness the Ramgate Massacre and having them confront Azaersi face-to-face, they will feel greater antipathy towards the Ironfang Legion and it's leader, and will be more invested in the plot. If there's only thing I dislike, it's having a villain who simply waits at the end of book six and is never encountered or interacted with before then; being a nominal presence that the PCs have no meaningful connection with.

There are a few potential pitfalls: like the PCs being frustrated that they can't prevent the massacre or that they can't deal with Azaersi. The other thing I realized is that the scenario of "save the villagers from the massacre" is very similar to book one and may feel redundant.

I am open to all suggestions, including the suggestion that this is a bad idea and should not be implemented.

tl;dr OP joins a new PF campaign set in Eberron; plot-line was derailed by a player joining as a princess and then further derailed when said player didn’t show up for the following session. Confusion abounds as the whole campaign finds itself rudderless and tempers flare, until the GM divorces into an out-of-context side mission which kept us amused for the evening. The future of the campaign is uncertain.

Longer version:

Let me tell you a story about the campaign I’m in right now. It’s hosted at a public venue, and I hadn’t met any of the players prior to me joining up. The GM says that we’re going to be making level 5 characters, and that it’s going to take place in the Eberron campaign setting; specifically focused on the city of Sharn. I roll up a Lawful Good human Urban Ranger named Stefan; a vigilante who fights crime and stands up weak and helpless in Sharn’s gang-infested undercity. I was granted permission to choose the Lower City of Sharn as my “community” for archetype purposes, but I was concerned over what favored enemy I should pick. I was initially going to choose human, since that’s the most populated race in Sharn. But the GM said I could choose criminals as my favored enemy. I decided that I would have “punks” written down as my favored enemy; which me and the other people at the table found very amusing.

The first session went very well. There were five other players besides myself, and we were hired by House Madani (one of the powerful “Dragonmarked houses” of the setting) to go down into the city’s Depths and investigate a plague that has been spreading and turning people into monsters. We went down there, investigated, were ambushed by a group of punks who we swiftly dealt with, and interrogated their leader. He gave us the name of a merchant from the higher levels who sometimes comes down to the Depths to sell drugs. We went to go question him, and after panicking and holding out a knife at us, he suddenly underwent an involuntary transformation into a hideous, tentacled monstrosity of unknown origin. After several rounds of whaling on it, the monster exploded into a bunch of foot-long, extraplanar slugs (which were strange and disgusting but posed no threat in of themselves). We found a strange box in the shop that had suspicious markings all over it, an engraving of a spider on top of it, and pulsed with eldritch energy. We resolved to take the box back to House Madani to study it. We are informed (somehow, I forgot the precise reveal) that the box originates from the jungle continent of Xen’Drik, and that we will need to go to the port city of Stormreach to begin our investigation. End session.

Next session, next week. Three of the six members of the group have left, leaving me, the other two, and two new players who joined us. Let me identify these guys somewhat so I have something to go off. I will give you fake names, because it’s not necessary for you to know who they actually are.

*Yours truly, playing Stefan the punk-slaying Urban Ranger.

Darren, a pretty nice, chill guy IRL, who plays Somag the Neutral Evil orc Barbarian 1/Alchemist 4. Yes, he’s playing an NE character. I didn’t even know that at first.

Chris, who seems like a really smart dude and a good role player, who plays Ki’Dosh the Chaotic Neutral Slyph…rogue? Something roguish.

And lastly, our new players Victor and Sam.

So we meet with the head of House Madani. We study the box and try to open it. But the stone spider on top of it is some kind of trap, and it bites Somag. The box is protecting itself.

Sam joins the game as Kayama, a 12 year old princess and daughter of the Madani patriarch. And this is where things begin to unravel.

According to Sam and the GM, “Kaya” is essentially a player-controlled NPC. She has no class levels, and cannot take a significant role in combat. She lacks the ability to defend herself, with rock-bottom AC and a painfully low number of HP’s. All of her stats and bonuses will be ad-libbed, probably as low. This is by design, however. Sam wanted to portray a character who was more of a plot device, motivator to the party, and role player. Kaya wishes to escape from the gilded cage of House Madani and venture forth into the real world, living out the stories that she read about in her books when she was younger. Sam said that Kaya was a “level 0” character, and would remain that way even if the rest of the party reached level 20. He spoke of how ironic it would be if the rest of us became near-demigods acknowledged by kingdoms the world over; and Kaya simply came back as a 16-year old princess about to be married off for political convenience. Based on what I’ve seen, Sam is something of a theatrical roleplayer less interested in stats and more in dialogue. He claimed that 4th ed is the best edition for roleplaying, because you can just “shut the books” and simply RP until combat happens.

So Kaya asks the party to take her with them when they leave the city, essentially stealing her out from under her father’s nose. She offers the party members astounding wealth and rewards if they do this. Ki’Dosh is not impressed, since his character is more interested in obtaining secret and esoteric knowledge. Kaya promises him…something, relevant to those goals, that we aren’t allowed to know about. My character is very ambivalent about this, since he doesn’t want the burden of watching after an underage girl in the crossfire. Other then that, he doesn’t want to betray the trust of House Madani by acting so unlawfully. Somag doesn’t care either way. Victor is her Kitsune butler, who supports the idea of her sneaking out. Everyone else is absent, so they can’t comment.

Victor’s character tells us about how Kaya’s mother committed suicide because her husband overly protected her and wouldn’t let her outside the castle. When Stefan hears that, he doesn’t want Kaya to suffer the same fate. So after a bunch of Lawful Good inner struggle, he agrees with the plan to “kidnap” her.
We board an airship (the crew of which really isn’t in the loop as far as her dad is concerned) and depart.

Now THIS is where things get really weird. Sam/Kaya starts telling us that going to Xen’Drik to stop the plague is pointless, because her dad isn’t paying us enough (we’re still technically working for him even though we’ve taken his daughter along) to risk ourselves on such a deadly, dangerous mission. Instead, the princess says, we should go to Thronehold; a prosperous city nearby Sharn. Instead of dying in the jungle, we could be wining, dining, and getting rich, while her father hires more QUALIFIED adventurers to do the job instead of us.

…See what I mean?

Kaya devotes most of her attention to convincing me that this is a good idea. Stefan is extremely skeptical; he’s altruistic and noble, and he knows that the plague is still spreading. He doesn’t think that wasting time in some decadent city while dark forces are at work is a good idea, and he thinks deferring the task to other adventurers is cowardly. I didn’t say this to Sam, but to support my argument here…by the GM’s standard, level five characters are highly exceptional, i.e “The kind of people you read about in books”. He offered Mike Tyson as a level 5 brawler. So as Stefan sees it, we are the most qualified people!

Sam informs me out of character that Kaya is still a kid, and has no power over the party whatsoever. Essentially, that her power ends when we say “nope”. Also, he points out that the reason why Kaya is trying to so hard to influence Stefan is because he’s the one truly good character of the bunch, and that convincing him to follow her way of thinking would legitimize her as a person in her eyes.
The party decides to go to Thronehold (Stefan is not supportive of this but is outvoted) and the session ends.

Session 3!

In the beginning of the session, Somag grows a scorpion stinger tail that squirts poison; as a result of him being bitten by the box-spider last session. The orc tests it by spraying it into a crew-member’s eyes. This provokes immediate contempt and confrontation from Stefan. I reprimand him, but Somag doesn’t seem to care, and thought that blinding (temporarily but painfully I believe) the crew member was funny. I try to explain that you can’t just randomly attack people on your crew without provocation. I try to bring Ki’Dosh in on my side, but he gets all lawyer-y (in character) and says “TECHNICALLY, they’re not OUR crew.” and basically shows complete apathy towards Somag’s actions. I now realize that I am a lone LG character dealing with a reckless, needlessly cruel orc and a classically amoral and selfish CN rogue who doesn’t seem to be bothered with anything or anyone so long as it doesn’t concern his own quest for power and profit. Essentially the “evil” kind of CN.

Here’s what really messes up the session:

Sam and Victor are not present. It is only me, Darren, and Chris. Sam was apparently sick.

This severely sabotages the GM’s plans, since SUPPOSEDLY there was some plot that Sam was going to share with the GM; the reason for us being in Thronehold. It had to do with her and what she promised Ki’Dosh, but Sam didn’t tell Chris either (or Chris isn’t willing to tell). So we’re left completely adrift in this new city, which isn’t related to the plot of the campaign, trying to figure out what the hell we’re supposed to do. NPC!Kaya shows true stupidity, telling the party that she can just randomly shelter with a noble family here just so long as she puts herself on their doorstep and begs for their help. When told why that wouldn’t work, she says she can just go to the Madani embassy and that they’ll help her. Stefan points out that they will drag her back to her father. I’m not sure if Kaya is really this stupid, or it was the result of Sam not being there to play her. In any case, the GM refuses to play her any longer.

With literally NO LEADS, NO PLOT, and NOTHING to do, we just sit there for 30-40 minutes describing minor actions that our characters take. Stefan begins chartering a ship to Stormreach. After this drudgery drags on for awhile and the GM seems incapable of getting us out of it, Darren tells Chris that nothing is happening and asks him to cough up what Sam told him that Kaya offered him. Chris says it’s relevant to the plot. Darren asks “What plot?”. He is visibly annoyed IRL and his temper is starting to rise.

Eventually, Chris asks the GM if there are any bounties in the city. There are some. Ki’Dosh asks Stefan if he wants to go bash some punks. Stefan agrees to this. We meet with an information broker to ask about the gang that the bounty is being offered for, the “Sewer Rats”. We get their location. We go down, and Stefan, Ki’Dosh, and Somag slaughter a whole bunch of punks. Early on, Stefan tries to show his LG-ness by playing good cop bad cop with Somag and promising a captured Sewer Rat mercy if he gives us information and renounces his criminal ways. Somag kills him anyway. The perils of being a LG character in an evil/quasi-evil group. We fight rat-shaped golems serving as bodyguards to the leader of the Sewer Rats; a large, grotesque rat-man sitting on a pile of loot. I execute him.

So, now we’re back where we started. If Sam comes back next session, we might have some idea of what we need to do. Or we can just hurry up and go to Xen’Drik. Sometimes, derailment of a campaign can be very fun. This is…not one of those times. Two of the people who left early (gone for two weeks, allegedly going to come back) are a middle-aged going on older couple who met playing AD&D in the seventies/eighties. They both seem pretty cool; maybe they can help sort out this complete train-wreck of a game, or at least be motivated to, GEE, I DUNNO, do the quest! Darren wants to do the quest, but he feels as though the choice is not in his hands. Sam and Chris seem to be the only ones who want to be in Thronehold, and Sam admits out of character that we can just MAKE Kaya obey us. Maybe the GM can throw us a bone here.

So, what do I do next?

I originally made this post in a Facebook group and decided to copy/paste it here for discussion purposes.

***

We currently know very little about the setting of Starfinder, but I've already begun to brainstorm what my first campaign will be like. I will either create my own setting or expand the official setting of the game (the galaxy is a big place after all).
Basically, the main antagonists of my campaign will be a militarized, imperialistic dictatorship called the Federation of Central Systems. Their inspirations include the Galactic Empire from Star Wars, the United Citizens Federation from Starship Troopers, and the Alliance from Firefly. The FCS is willing to use any method, be it magical or technological, to expand their empire and subjugate free planets. Their color scheme is grey and red.

The players are either rebels opposed to the FCS or are unaffiliated adventurers drawn into conflict against them. The players discover an alien superweapon hidden in another plane of existence and a star-chart containing the coordinates of several "keys" scattered across the cosmos required to access this plane. Of course, the Federation wants this artifact for themselves in order to achieve total galactic domination.

The BBEG is a Federation officer, Admiral Joseph Cain, who helms a massive battleship called the Accordance. The Accordance is too powerful to confront directly, so the players must avoid confrontation or use guerrilla tactics to destroy and disable other ships in Cain's fleet. Admiral Cain has legions of Federation soldiers at his command, along with hackers, spellcasters, robots and hired bounty hunters. He is a ruthless military leader who will stop at nothing to thwart the players, and at several occasions he either hails their ship or contacts them directly to deliver threats or demand their surrender. He might even attack or capture the PC's allies or friends to provoke them into confronting his troops or fleet. If the PCs play their cards right, they may be able to eliminate Cain once and for all; destroying the Accordance, boarding the ship to target him directly, or empowering his rivals within the Federation to supplant him are all possible methods. But he must be stopped before he is able to reach the hidden plane and seize the artifact, or the PCs may not be facing an admiral...but a god!

So...

We'll be getting a campaign setting book focused on Molthune and Nirmathas in February, when Ironfang Invasion is set to begin being released. Right off the bat, we know that the campaign will begin in Nirmathas and that a good chunk of it will take place there, as the country is invaded by the goblinoid Ironfang Legion. However, the conflict and politics between Nirmathas and it's imperialistic rival Molthune is barely mentioned in the summaries of the AP volumes. It seems, at least from the outlines we're given, that the war only serves as a backdrop against which the rest of the AP takes place.

To me, this is somewhat disappointing. Nirmathas doesn't have a whole lot of lore outside of the conflict against Molthune that gives it a lot of character, so one wonders if most of the AP will be taking place in a very confined context involving only the PCs, their immediate allies, and the Ironfangs. Molthune is portrayed in setting lore as an imperialistic aggressor which is eager to expand it's borders; and pursues war against Nirmathas since it's other neighbors are too strong or valuable to invade. Suppose the threat of the Ironfang invaders gave the country of Molthune a noble cause of sorts and an actual evil enemy to use their martial prowess against: after all, even an expansionist militarized empire must fight back if it's soldiers don't want their family members to cower under a Hobgoblin's slave-lash. Yesterday, Molthune fought to invade and oppress. But today, they fight for hope and the survival of human civilization!

From the penultimate volume of the AP, we know that we'll be aligning with a secret kingdom of Fey so that we can take the fight to the Ironfangs and end the threat once and for all: but doesn't it seem a bit strange that our allies don't appear until the fifth part of the adventure? I don't wish to judge a book that I haven't read yet; maybe this Fey army is heavily foreshadowed and characterized before we ally with them. But it seems out-of-context and anticlimactic to team up with mysterious Fey at the eleventh hour of the story when there are already two armies available in the region: the resistance fighters of Nirmathas and the Imperial Army of Molthune.

Wouldn't it be more meaningful if Nirmathas and Molthune, enemies for entire generations, were forced to set aside their differences in the face of slavery and extermination at the hands of the massive, invading Ironfang Legion? What if for the first time in decades, they joined forces to save their countries and protect their families, going to war under the PC's banner despite not knowing if their combined armies are powerful enough to even stop the Ironfang Legion? The idea of age-old enemies becoming allies is one that has been long established in fiction, and it can be a very powerful one. The Fey army can still be in the story: alongside with Nirmathas and Molthune, they would form a triple alliance against the goblinoids. After all, the normal humanoids need magical allies to help them.

In conclusion, if I run Ironfang Invasion I will attempt to add more Molthune-Nirmathas conflict to the story, and I will add additional quests in part five where the PCs seek to broker a truce between the two countries in order to ally against the Ironfang Legion.

I just hope that the structure and plot aren't so antithetical to my ideas as to require giving the AP a full facelift.

...and I had a few questions.

1) Is it possible to fly starfighters in this game? I understand that ship combat, ship customization, and each party member controlling an aspect of the ship has been discussed. But I think, if a lot of sci-fi tropes are going to be covered by this game, being able to pilot something like an X-wing or TIE fighter would be a pretty important one.

2) Will there be zero-gravity firefights where players can maneuver themselves with propulsion equipment in the vacuum while exchanging gunfire with the enemy?

3) Will there be rules for depressurizing sections of ships; causing whoever was in that room to be sucked out into the frigid abyss of space? There must be, if things like hull integrity or opening cargo bay doors are taken into consideration.

4) Will it be possible to perform a dirty trick or combat maneuver to rip out an opponent's oxygen supply or pull off their helmet? It might be a bit overpowered if it's too easy, but in-universe I see it as a viable tactic.

5) Will it be possible to hack into enemy constructs and take control of them?

Sorry for making everyone see CoD references on a Pathfinder board, but that game did have some cool scenes involving space warfare; so I just wanted to know if those things were accounted for in Starfinder's rules.

I've decided that if I ever run this AP again, I'm going to allow a modified Chaotic Good variant of the Paladin class similar to the one of the "Unearthed Arcana" supplement from earlier editions. I believe that CG paladins are appropriate for the theme of this campaign and would be acceptable here; since naturally a chaotic paladin would be more willing to challenge the authority of a government or empire (such as that of Cheliax and Barzillai Thrune) then a lawful one. In this adventure, such a unique paladin could really shine; and fulfill the smiting/detecting evil/healing role in an AP filled with evil outsiders. So there are mechanical advantages to playing a paladin here, and allowing them to be CG not only sidesteps a lot of the issues with playing paladins in such a game, but also opens up a new vein of lore for how "Paladins of Freedom" would work on Golarion.

There are three chaotic good deities who have a strong presence in Kintargo: Cayden Cailean, Desna, and Milani. I see potential for ale-swigging Caydenite paladins, fortune-telling Desnan paladins, and heroic, revolutionary Milanite paladins.

Here's my question: how should I should depict CG paladins, what role they have in their religions, and how they might work in Kintargo? And what opportunities, missions, and quests can I offer to such paladins in the Hell's Rebels campaign?

Seeing how this adventure path begins, the player's lack of memories, and the eventual reveal...how do I handle a TPK? Is it just Game over? Do I have them roll up another group of amnesiacs? Who would carry on the quest?

I'm thinking of making an LE Order of the Lion cavalier as a PC or NPC.
From a Golarion setting perspective, is there any reason why I can't pick Queen Abrogail Thrune II as my sovereign?

Here's the Order of the Lion edict:

"The cavalier must protect the life and lands of his sovereign at all costs. He must obey the commands of his sovereign without question. He must strive to expand the power and prestige of his realm."

1) What would "protecting the lands of his sovereign" mean in this case? Just opposing anyone who threatens the sovereignty or stability of Cheliax?

2) What would be the standing orders of Abrogail be? Would he just be pledged to obey the hierarchy of Cheliax and any orders from House Thrune?

3) How could one "expand the power and prestige" of Cheliax?

4) Any tips for making my cavalier seem nasty, oppressive or hellish?

Just a little something I did today. Want to give your fire elementals an Infernal twist? Change their alignment to LE, add the evil and lawful subtypes, and change their language from Ignan to Infernal. It turns out that fire elementals residing in the Nine Hells are different from those in the Plane of Fire. The malevolent and oppressive nature of the Pit changes them, and they take on superficial qualities of the Devils they serve besides. These so called "hellfire elementals" are sometimes conjured during diabolist rituals or can be found guarding portals to Hell.

Small Hellfire Elemental
CR 1
XP 400

LE Small outsider (evil, lawful, elemental, extraplanar, fire)

Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
 DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 natural, +1 size)
hp 11 (2d10)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +0
Immune elemental traits, fire
Weaknesses vulnerability to cold
 OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft.
Melee slam +4 (1d4 plus burn)
Special Attacks burn (1d4, DC 11)
 STATISTICS
Str 10, Dex 13, Con 10, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 11
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 13
Feats Dodge, Improved InitiativeB, Weapon FinesseB
Skills Acrobatics +5, Climb +4, Escape Artist +5, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (planes) +1, Perception +4
Languages Infernal
 SPECIAL ABILITIES
Burn (Ex)
A fire elemental deals fire damage in addition to damage dealt on a successful hit in melee. Those affected by the burn ability must also succeed on a Reflex save or catch fire, taking the listed damage for an additional 1d4 rounds at the start of its turn. A burning creature can attempt a new save as a full-round action. Dropping and rolling on the ground grants a +4 bonus on this save. Creatures that hit a burning creature with natural weapons or unarmed attacks take fire damage as though hit by the burning creature and must make a Reflex save to avoid catching on fire. See Burn for more details.

Medium Hellfire Elemental
CR 3
XP 800

LE Medium outsider (evil, lawful, elemental, extraplanar, fire)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +7
 DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 Dex, +1 dodge, +3 natural)
hp 30 (4d10+8)
Fort +6, Ref +7, Will +1
Immune elemental traits, fire
Weaknesses vulnerability to cold
 OFFENSE
Speed 50 ft.
Melee slam +7 (1d6+1 plus burn)
Special Attacks burn (1d6, DC 14)
 STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 4, Wis 11, Cha 11
Base Atk +4; CMB +5; CMD 19
Feats Dodge, Improved InitiativeB, Mobility, Weapon FinesseB
Skills Acrobatics +8, Climb +5, Escape Artist +8, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (planes) +1, Perception +7
Languages Infernal
 SPECIAL ABILITIES
Burn (Ex)
A fire elemental deals fire damage in addition to damage dealt on a successful hit in melee. Those affected by the burn ability must also succeed on a Reflex save or catch fire, taking the listed damage for an additional 1d4 rounds at the start of its turn. A burning creature can attempt a new save as a full-round action. Dropping and rolling on the ground grants a +4 bonus on this save. Creatures that hit a burning creature with natural weapons or unarmed attacks take fire damage as though hit by the burning creature and must make a Reflex save to avoid catching on fire. See Burn for more details.

I've been told that Starfinder and Pathfinder will have very similar rules. Does this mean I could play a Solerian in PF with my GM's consent? Technology aside a mystical warrior with Jedi-like powers harnessed from solar cycles wouldn't be TOO out of place in sword and sorcery, especially considering how many sun gods there are.

I support Kobold Press and backed the Kickstarter for Advanced Races Compendium, receiving both the book and PDF. I absolutely adore the crunch, artwork, and detail that went into the product and always make it available for my players whether it be a homebrew setting or an official Pathfinder adventure.

The races in the book are obviously written with Midgard in mind, so I often face the challenge of how to justify these races' existence in Golarion.

Here are the races that are unique to the book and don't have any pre-existing presence in Golarion lore (like Dhampir and Centaurs).

Darakhul, an undead race of quasi-ghouls. Can pass as human.

Dragonkin, a race of humanoid draconic creatures who are a race unto themselves and hold several dragon-like abilities.

Gearforged constructs made of clockwork and powered by a gem that contains the soul of a mortal being.

Jinnborn, an exotic race of blue-skinned, janni-descended beings who have choose an elemental focus.

Shadow Fey strange and enigmatic humanoid fey who hail from the Plane of Shadow.

Tosculi wasp-like, vermin-esque humanoids who dwell in hives under the direction of their queens, but some break free from the hivemind.

Trollkin{/b] the product of unfortunate couplings between humanoids and trolls, ogres, and other creatures. Their name is a catch-all. They possess a tight-knit, tribal culture and are believed to propagate curses.

[b]Werelions a race of leonine, lycanthropic humanoids who can shift between normal, half-lion, or full lion. Comes in natural or afflicted flavors.

Hey.

I haven't run this campaign yet for any group. But I'm interested in putting a massive, setpiece battle in between The Inferno Gate and For Queen And Empire. Specifically, I wish for the Thrune agent PCs to lead the army of Cheliax in a reconquest of Senara from the crusaders of the Glorious Reclamation.

I don't intend to use the mass combat rules, instead having the PCs partake in combat encounters at strategic points around the town. The Thrune troop statblock from A Song of Silver would be used to represent both the Chelish legionaries and the Glorious Reclamation's knights, the latter being modified to possess the Lawful Good alignment. Other fighters would be present on the Reclamation's side, such as mounted cavaliers and Rassophore spellcasters, in addition to a few summoned celestials. The PCs could use their newly gained Inferno Gate to summon devils onto the battlefield in order to aid them.

At the climax of the battle, they will face the Herald of Iomedae as written in Inner Sea Gods. When they are victorious, they will have placed the empire of Cheliax back in control of Senara. The reconquest of the town and the death of Iomedae's herald is more then sufficient to gain Abrogail II's attention, and they are immediately summoned to Egorian.

What do you think of this idea and what would you add to or modify about it?

Hey.

In "The Snows of Summer" the option is given to return to Heldren with Lady Argentea after rescuing her, to ensure the noblewoman's safety and resupply if the PCs need to. However, I'm thinking of raising the stakes by having Heldren be under attack by the forces of Irrisen when they get back there, requiring the PCs to throw themselves into battle in order to save their town from enslavement or obliteration. I'll probably play this in the background.

Here is the unfinished statblock of the Winter Witch who will be leading the assault.

The PCs will be level 2 at the time of this confrontation. The opposition will most likely be a combination of snow goblins, cold fey, winter wolves, and Irriseni human warriors.

How should the flow of battle progress and what kind of encounters should I use? I would see it as the PCs having to reclaim certain locations in Heldren (armory, silver stoat, town hall etc) with allied NPCs like Ionia or Xanthippe fighting on their side.

Suppose I roll up a Hobgoblin PC for this campaign. What would that entail?

I recall that Second Darkness strongly discourages and all but forbids players to play as Drow. This is understandable, given the Drow's origins and their secrecy in the Pathfinder campaign setting. However, while Hobgoblins are almost universally Lawful Evil, they are not bound to evil in the same way that (setting-wise) Drow are.

Thus, one could play as a Hobgoblin in Ironfang Invasion; most plausibly Lawful Neutral or maybe even Lawful Good. He or she could be a defector from the Ironfang Legion or an exile from it. Potential for amusing Star Wars "Traitor!" meme references aside, it could prove to be an interesting option.

Does the AP discourage playing a Hobgoblin? Is there a sidebar explaining why you shouldn't play one or what you should take into consideration if you do?

Disclaimer: This is a Hellknight order I just created about an hour ago; inspired by the new Hellknight splatbook. I thought about it for a minute and made the group's basic info, and then the words just flowed from my brain and through the keyboard. I want to emphasize, strongly, that I am ABSOLUTELY opposed to slavery and that these are meant to be cruel, merciless, EVIL people. This order is not intended as a player option for good or neutrally aligned characters, and anyone attempting to join it should have their alignment switched towards evil.
*****

Order of the Lash
Motto: “The cold eye watches, the slaver’s whip awaits.”
Symbol: coiled martinet in a spiral pattern with a reptilian eye at it’s center
Headquarters: Venomhold, northeast of Osteno, Cheliax
Leader: Viktor Kraul (LE male human warpriest of Asmodeus 8/Hellknight 2)
Members: Slavers, slaves willing to betray their own, torturers, Asmodean zealots
Armor Features: Reptilian patterns and designs; serpentine helms and snake motifs
Favored Weapon: Whip
Reckoning: Labor in a particularly intensive and painful fashion, and/or whip oneself’s bare back so that you may understand the suffering of slavery. Gain a +2 bonus to Intimidate and a +2 bonus on Will saves against fear effects.
Analogous Order: Chain

The Order of the Lash, while a relatively small organization, is feared and reviled across the empire of Cheliax as one of the cruelest and most evil Hellknight orders in existence. The Order of the Lash was founded after the ascendency of House Thrune, and it’s sole purpose is to promote, protect, and preserve the institution of slavery. To the order, slavery is an integral part of not only the Nine Hell’s system of laws but the societies of the mortal world, and that those with power and privilege in society should naturally be able to own and control other sentient beings. Just as commoners are expected to serve their lords, and just as their is predator and prey in nature, so too must there be master and slave. As an organization founded to support slavery, the Order of the Lash has a multitude of responsibilities and objectives: escorting slave caravans, putting down slave uprisings, serving as bodyguards for slavers, hunting escaped slaves, or thwarting abolitionists. Sometimes, the members of order may be contracted to serve as dedicated punishers or interrogators of slaves. While only representing a small percentage of the overall personnel associated with the industry of slavery across the empire of Cheliax, they are nonetheless some of the institution’s most fearsome advocates.

Based in their fortress of Venomhold near the city of Osteno in Cheliax, the Order of the Lash is currently headed by an Asmodean warpriest from Egorian named Viktor Kraul. He was an orphaned boy sold into slavery at any early age and languished in slavery for most of his young life. But rather then be morally opposed to slavery he became mesmerized with the power that slave-owners held over their captives and desired to possess that power for himself. Viktor worked diligently under his master, informed on his fellow slaves when they attempted to rebel, and offered to oversee and punish them. In recognition of his service, Viktor was freed by his master and became an armiger of the Lash. He rose through the ranks of the order and succeeded the incumbent lictor when the aging Hellknight was poisoned by rebels loyal to the goddess Calistria.

In present times, Kraul is concerned about abolitionist organizations such as Andoran’s Eagle Knights or the halfling-liberating Bellflower network. To these ends, he has offered his order’s service in crushing them and is coordinating with House Thrune and the Church of Asmodeus to make this a reality. In Infernal Cheliax, where slavery is a way of life, the Order of the Lash is never wanting for new work or contracts, but they are often stretched fairly thin as a result. Kraul understands that his order, while wiling and capable of combat, does not specialize in fighting in large battles or military campaigns. With the advent of the Glorious Reclamation, the order has not sent it’s Hellknights directly into battle against the Iomedan revolutionaries but has instead confronted the Reclamation when and where the knights attempt to interfere with their duties. There has been many a skirmish between the Order of the Lash and the Glorious Reclamation when the latter has ambushed slave caravans, disrupted slave auctions, and attempted to attempted to punish slave owners. In response, Kraul has ordered his men to capture crusaders of the Reclamation when possible and keep them as slaves so that he may have some leverage over the Iomedans, but the knight’s vow against allowing themselves to be captured by the minions of Hell has made this difficult. Viktor is confident that House Throne will win the war but hopes that Venomhold does not fall and that the order does not become one of the war’s casualties.

The Order of the Lash’s symbology is unique. They chose to use the serpent as a symbol to represent themselves for various reason: the long body of a snake and the sudden, painful manner in which it lunges forward and bites evokes the lash of a whip. The cold, lifeless stare of a snake is eerie to behold and provokes fear in it’s prey, and some snake’s methods of constricting their prey recall the manner a slave is constricted by his or her chains. Lastly, the serpent is the holy animal of Asmodeus and one of the devil-god’s most prominent symbols. When a newly-initiated Hellknight of the Lash completes their devil-slaying test, they receive a suit of armor with heavy snake motifs, featuring a scaly design, snake embroidery winding across their capes, and a helm resembling the head of a serpent through with the Hellknight peers through it’s open maw. Beyond their symbology, the Order of the Lash often uses fiendish snakes as a minions and has alchemically bred snakes with unique properties, such as venom that induces immediate paralysis or one that causes intense, burning, non-lethal pain. Every Hellknight of the Lash carries a whip with them regardless of what their primary combat weapon is. The reasoning behind their reckoning is that they must understand the toil and pain of slavery intimately and thus be able to truly know how to control and discipline slaves. It is also so that the Hellknights may not grow decadent and weak; for maintaining the institution of slavery requires constant ruthlessness and vigilance.

I will probably end up running Way of the Wicked soon, but two of my four players have already played the campaign and one of them has run it. They asked me to make some changes to the campaign so it is different from their last playthrough.

When I asked one of my players what kind of changes he was looking for; his reply was that certain characters could be different (like a different race or class), certain character's genders could be changed, character's motivations could be different, new characters can be added, and some plot elements can be changed.
I don't wish to compromise on things like changing Asmodeus to a different evil deity, getting rid of Mitra, or something like that.

Any other ideas for interesting changes?

I wanted to bring a campaign concept to your attention. If these is the improper place to post a thread like this, then I'll delete it or move it elsewhere. But as it stands, I figure this has a lot to do with Hell's Vengeance.

Basically, I want to know how viable the idea of a Glorious Reclamation campaign is. Hell's Rebels is one of my favorite adventure paths ever, and I think it has great writing, a strong concept, and an interesting "sandbox" setting. However, I don't think it makes a good counterpart to Hell's Vengeance. Rebels does have you revolting against House Thrune, but the goal is not to overthrow Thrune or purge Cheliax of devil worship. Those are far different goals from what the AP has in mind; namely securing Kintargo's independence. Those expecting an epic rout of House Thrune may find the AP unsatisfying.

Why not have a campaign directly opposed to Hell's Vengeance? The PCs are either members of the Glorious Reclamation or allies of it. We got an excellent article in The Hellfire Compact which does a great job of describing the GR's ideology, goals, and structure, with a unique paladin code to top it off. So within those guidelines there's plenty of room to inspire a compelling character. If you don't wish to be a member of the Reclamation, you don't have to: they have shown throughout the adventure path that they're more then willing to work with other rebels and dissidents who cover the gamut of different races, classes, and alignments. You could be a halfling agent of the Bellflower Network, a rebellious priestess of Milani, a renegade Eagle Knight from Andoran, or whoever else may have an axe to grind with Thrune.

The campaign would begin at Citadel Dinyar in the aftermath of the Glorious Reclamation's defeat of the Godclaw. The PCs would arrive there to join the revolution, and from there on would travel throughout Cheliax battling the Chelish imperial army, devils, Hellknights, inquisitors, and assorted Thrune Agents.

I predict that there would be a lot of overlap with Hell's Vengeance because you would end up going to the same places: Longacre, Kantaria, Westcrown and finally Egorian, where Abrogail II would make her last stand. You would undoubtedly end up making use of many of the same maps.

Here's the most important questions which I hope to find some decent answers to: What steps would the PCs most logically follow to weaken House Thrune (in terms of propaganda, infrastructure, morale, logistics, and so forth?), and what path of continuity would the campaign take to get them to Dinyar -> Egorian?

If you could lay it out in six parts, like an adventure path, I would be most appreciative. :)

I'm sure that by now, many of you know that there is an antipaladin archetype in Ultimate Intrigue specific to Lawful Evil characters, as opposed to the class' typical Chaotic Evil alignment. Logically, one can infer that the Tyrant would draw his or her power from any number of lawful and evil deities; with Asmodeus being on the top of that list.

Perhaps there exist "Infernal Paladins" in Cheliax. Grim and fanatical templars of darkness who worship the ruler of the Nine Hells; and who seek to spread his faith and power across the material plane. They could be trained and indoctrinated by the Church of Asmodeus, or sworn to serve House Thrune as knightly enforcers. They are duty-bound and lawful warriors of the divine, like paladins. But unlike Paladins, they wage a never-ending war against the enemies of their devil-god and by extension, those of the Chelaxian Empire. These include, but are not limited to: the Bellflower Network, the Glorious Reclamation, Andoran's Eagle Knights, and Silver Ravens. When chaos corrupts the foundation of Cheliax's lawful society, House Thrune calls in the Hellknights. When the forces of good seek to banish the darkness, the empire's rulers send Tyrants to snuff out the light.

The Tyrants/Infernal Paladins are not as numerous, organized, or regimented as Hellknights. But they have a much closer relation with the Church of Asmodeus and House Thrune then the (technically independent) Hellknights do. They work at the behest of the imperial authorities and are assigned to specific tasks and missions in accordance with their level of skill and the issues at hand. A Tyrant may be sent to hunt down rebels in the wilderness, lead troops in battle, or serve as the guardian of an Asmodean temple. A Tyrant is often used to supplement or command existing forces such as dottari, the Chelish Citizen's Group, redactors, Asmodean priests, inquisitors, or devils. As befits their wicked and unholy nature, Tyrants often seek out paladins, good-aligned celestials, and clerics of good deities to slaughter; proving their devotion to Asmodeus by killing these enemies.

How does this relate to Hell's Rebels? I think a Tyrant would make an excellent enemy of the PCs. While most of these anti-paladins will be busy putting down the Glorious Reclamation, some will find themselves sent to Kintargo. Here are some ways I could integrate them.

What uses could you see for this archetype in Hell's Rebels, in regards to effective NPCs, memorable villains, and where they would fit in with Barzillai's regime?

Hey.

I might be running Hell's Rebels pretty soon, and I was thinking of an introductory, prologue scenario set before Barzillai's occupation of the city where the PCs can meet, work together, and get a good tour of Kintargo and it's major locations.

I was thinking the enemies could be urban criminal gangs, assorted monsters, or low-grade Thrune loyalists. However, this would be before the Citizen's Group is fomed and Barzillai is in power, so I'm not sure what kind of a presence they would have.

What do you think?

EDIT: I had no idea how long this was going to be when I begun writing it. I apologize if the length is obnoxious.

For those of you who haven't read the first volume of Hell's Vengeance, The Hellfire Compact, Cimri Staelish is a cruel, vicious, and manipulative young rogue who initiates the adventure's plot by convincing our would-be villains to partake in a tannery heist on behalf of her mysterious benefactor. Left to her own devices by her alcoholic parents, Cimri has had a rough life in her hometown of Longacre and mostly raised herself. She has acquired a number of different skills and makes her living as a local thief, thug, and smuggler. Cimri wields a kukri as her primary weapon in addition to her sap and daggers, but her main role in Hell's Vengeance is to facilitate the party coming together and to serve as their guide around Longacre.

However, I see a different role for this Neutral Evil cretin. Her backstory mentions her yearning to leave Longacre in seek of adventure and riches but not being able to commit for fear of ending up in a rut or biting off more than she can chew. What if she chose to travel to Kintargo? Cimri may wish to make a name for herself by serving House Thrune and helping crush the rebellious Silver City under the empire's heel.

This scenario assumes that Cimri has moved to Kintargo and enlisted with the infamous Chelish Citizen's Group. Her superiors recognize her talent and assign her to either leadership over a small squad or with low-level suppression, spying, and subterfuge operations.

Cimri would make an appearance early on, showing up at the protest in Aria Park that begins the adventure. Not being a native to Kintargo, few if any recognize her and those that do are unaware of her intentions. Seeing as how the protest is described as materializing slowly and drags on for several hours, it seems plausible to me that Cimri could be informed of the demonstration, briefed on the situation, given her orders and sent out to disrupt it within a reasonable timeframe.

Staelish is here as an agent provocateur to help undermine and break up the protest, possibly identifying insurgents and dissidents in the process. She can attempt to accomplish this in many ways. Here are a few of them:

A) Cimri identifies herself as a member of the Kintargan Libertine Movement and hands out parchment flyers to attending protestors. An opposed Sense Motive check against her +7 Bluff determines that her propaganda, slogans, and announcements sound rehearsed and insincere, but if called on this she simply claims that she is not a great public speaker and that she learned her slogans through rote memorization. The PCs can roll a Knowledge (Local) check to learn more about the Libertines. A result of 10 reveals that it is a small, radical Kintargan nationalist political movement calling for independence from House Thrune. A result of 15 reveals that the group has a reputation for fiery, radical rhetoric but has produced few meaningful results and that many of their members have been arrested and jailed by the authorities. A result of 20 or higher reveals that there are somewhat credible conspiracy theories that the group is in fact a "false flag" organization managed covertly by House Thrune and that it's true purpose is to lure rebels or would-be opponents of Thrune into captivity. If called out on any of this information, Cimri denies such rumors and accuses the PCs of peddling "Anti-Libertine propaganda".

B) Cimri's main reason for being at the protest is to incite violence and help weed out enemies of Barzillai Thrune. Perhaps, when the angry protestors toss manure at Barzillai Thrune after his spiteful announcement, he does not actually order Nox to "..run them off, arrest them, or kill them. I don’t care which!". The fact that Nox and her guards don't immediately advance upon receiving these orders always confused me anyway. Instead, Barzillai simply sneers and recedes back into the opera house, shutting the doors behind him. But not before he issues a sending spell to Cimri, issuing her the order to throw the dagger that, as written, wounds Nox and causes her to retreat into the opera house. Seeing as how Cimri's statblock contains a dagger as her ranged weapon option, this seems highly plausible.

In any case, her dagger toss serves as the signal for the Chelish Citizen's Group thugs in the crowd to reveal their weapons and begin attacking the protestors; triggering the first combat of the entire campaign. At this point, Cimri can take several different actions.

* She may simply flee the protest, her work having been done. The fact that none of the Dottari guards or Citizen's militia pursue her may seem immediately suspicious, but the PCs have a full-scale brawl with Thrune's minions on their hands and might not prioritize chasing her. Ideally, they won't. Emphasize the violence being inflicted on the protestors by the Thrune militia if you want to dissuade them.

If they choose to do so, prepare or improvise a chase scene using Paizo's chase mechanics as she weaves through the streets of Kintargo to avoid them. If cornered, she protests her innocence with a Bluff check. If the PCs can see through her lies and are unwilling to let her escape, she draws her Kukri and fights back.

To even the odds, she may attempt to seek out a Citizen's Group, Dottari, or Redator patrol and hold up her bronze Thrune pendant (which every Citizen's Group member possesses as per their stat-block), shooting out a finger at the PCs and yelling for them to destroy these "rebellious vermin". Roll a percentage dice with your desired parameters to see if she's lucky enough to find help.

* Cimri could instead remain at the protest and observe the fight between the PCs and Thrune forces, maybe partaking half-heartedly against them with non-lethal sap attacks to lend the impression that she is on the PC's side. If her inflicting non-lethal damage on the guards as they try to attack the PCs seems counter-intuitive to you, roll her attacks behind the screen and simply claim that she is missing repeatedly. Or perhaps the PCs may roll a Sense Motive check to notice her deliberate incompetence.

When Nox re-emerges from the opera house with her pet Hellhound in tow, Cimri follows the party's lead as they presumably flee the park. She stays with the party for as long as she deems necessary to gather information about them and report back to her superiors. Cimri participates or observes as the party battles Citizen's Group militia in order to save Rexus Victocora, and accompanies them to Crissali's Fine Tomes.

She might ask for their names or other information on them, under the guise of making an alliance or befriending the PCs. Before too long, Cimri tells the group that she must "Report back to her Libertine comrades" and plan for the oncoming rebellion. In actuality, she intends to report back to Barzillai, telling him the PC's names, likenesses, and any other relevant information.

Her deception can take numerous forms. Cimri might try to retrieve hair samples to enable scrying, inform them of an upcoming "underground Libertine meeting" that is actually an ambush, give them a "useful" item that has an Arcane Mark upon it, and other wicked plots. If she is informed of the PC's intentions to visit the Livery, they may find a squad of Dottari waiting their to greet them (possibly struggling with the strange, poltergeist-like phenomena inside), or they could blockade the exit as the PCs attempt to leave. At your discretion, she may try to prolong her infiltration of the party even further, accompanying them to the Long Roads Coffeehouse and Wasp's Nest. At this point, Cimri's ability to breach the PC's "operational security" is an existential threat and they may find the campaign coming to an early end as Nox Dimension Doors into their hideout to snuff out the rebellion before it can even begin.

In all likelihood, the chances of Cimri being successful to that extent are very remote. At +7, her Bluff is not so high as to be impervious and it is highly likely that the PCs will be able to see through her deceptions quickly. Give the PCs several opportunities to roll Sense Motive checks as she attempts to appear benign or helpful, the first being her rhetoric at the protest, the second being her behavior towards the Thrune units (and vice-versa), the third being her effort to secure the party's allegiance, and so on. Eventually, the PCs will see through her fog and mirrors and lose their patience with her.

When Cimri's true colors are revealed, she may attempt one last Bluff check or could simply attempt to flee. If she is unable to do so, she curses the PCs while drawing her Kukri and making a last stand. Hopefully, having the party gang up on the slimy, lying, disgraceful rogue and cutting down the fool right where she stands should prove amusing.

C) Or maybe she doesn't attempt any grand act of deception, instead serving as the squad leader of the Citizen's Group thugs that face the PCs when the protest turns into a riot. With AC 16 and 13 health points, the NE Rogue 1/Warrior 1 will last a little bit longer than the average thug and provide a tiny bit more challenge, being the first named minion of Barzillai the PCs kill.

In any of these cases, if Cimri escapes her first encounter with the PCs she stays in Kintargo and continues serving Barzillai's regime. She leads a gang of four to six Citizen's Group militia and could run into the heroes once again while on patrol, overseeing a doghousing, or engaging in some act of thuggery like looting the houses of accused rebel supporters. When she sees the party again, Cimri yells "You again! I won't be so easy on you this time, rebel maggots!" and engages them with her comrades.

If you've read In Hell's Bright Shadow, you probably know about the watchtowers situated along Kintargo's wall which serve as strongholds of the Dottari and also house jails for those who violate the laws of the city.

Anyone caught wearing fine embroidered clothing must turn over the clothing to the government and pay a fine equal to 10% the clothing’s market value; failure to do so results in the clothing being impounded and the dissident being imprisoned in a guard tower for 1d4 days before being released.

“I hear the dottari guard towers are so full of prisoners now they’re keeping those they arrest in warehouses. My cousin even said they’re putting prisoners to work in places like Sallix Salt Works.” (Links to Prisoners of Salt on see page 29.)

A PC who is arrested for public disobedience (or other relatively minor crimes) is placed in a cell under one of the numerous watchtowers along the city walls; these PCs are kept for 1d6 days or until a fine is paid (if the crime isn’t associated with a specific fine, 20 gp is standard). For greater crimes, a PC is likely sent to the Holding House for several days until the government decides what to do with the criminal—some are freed, others are sentenced to excruciations, and particularly important prisoners are moved on to Kintargo Keep.

If the PCs comply with the arrest, they’re brought to the nearest guard tower in the city imprisoned for the night—they’re released the next morning if they agree to pay fine of 50 gp per person.

I am interested in these towers for two reasons, if the PCs are captured and taken there, they might seek to escape for whatever reason, or a combat encounter may occur in that context. Second, I think that one mission the PCs may choose to embark upon is mounting raids against these watchtowers to free those imprisoned within. If the rumor above is to be taken literally, the watchtowers are frequently occupied to their capacity (or a large portion of it) with Kintargans arrested under Barzillai's draconian laws, which include not only the Proclamations but a repressive form of governance in general.

So by breaking into a tower, fighting the Dottari, and freeing prisoners, the Silver Ravens can show their defiance against the Thrune regime and spread their reputation as heroes of the people. When the cell doors are cast open and the prisoners scatter back into the city, they can spread word of the Silver Ravens and grant them greater publicity.

Additionally, they can also disguise themselves as Dottari and request a prisoner transfer using false documents...but that's up for the PCs to decide.

Here are the questions I ask:

1) How tall would you imagine these towers are?

2) How many floors?

3) How wide are they?

4) Besides beds/barracks for the guards, jail cells, and a storage area, what might these towers contain?

5) What would be on the ground floor?

6) How many Dottari would be stationed at each tower?

7) Besides a few Dottari, what other threats may they face within or outside the watchtowers?

8) How should I stat out the warden of the watchtower?

9) How should I stat out the torturer/keyholder, if the role is not taken by the above?

10) How long would the response time be for Thrune reinforcements to arrive and relieve the watchtower?

11) How would Barzillai and his lieutenants respond to watchtowers being raided?

I recently backed "Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder". The most recent update concerned one of the developers who had the privilege of playtesting Horror Adventures at the GAMA trade show. He has this to say:

Another feature we tested out was corruptions. Corruptions are basically an affliction (such as vampirism, lycanthropy, lichdom as well as others) that has been bestowed upon a player character. Unlike the normal rules for such things, these rules allow the PC to be affected by the corruption a little and then progress at the player’s choice. Becoming more corrupted leads to having more abilities, but also leads you closer to your character being completely corrupted, evil, and therefore according to these rules, given to the GM to become an NPC.

This sounds very interesting. But one thing that strikes me oddly is the fact that lichdom is portrayed as a corruption. Obviously, liches have always been evil. But I suppose they (Paizo in this case but TSR/Wizards have always been guility of this) finally owe us an explanation as to why putting your soul in a phylactery and turning yourself into an immortal is evil in of itself.

What I'm REALLY concerned about is that I thought the assumption about lichdom is that you become one as soon as you create your phylactery. Corruption is supposed to be gradual, so how does that make sense? Do you incrementally siphon your soul into it, or something?

I don't get it.

One last thing I want to mention is that you apparently get a "Game Over" if your corruption reaches 100%. This is most likely to ensure that corruption has an actual cost and that power-gamers don't immediately succumb to it to get access to dank templates. But personally, I would let them get the template and play as a villain; so they can make one last attempt on the party.

Before we go any further, I do understand the official stance on this is that the Glorious Reclamation is far removed from the events of the campaign, doesn't have a foothold in Kintargo, and that the local Iomedan community doesn't want anything to do with them.

That being said, as a GM I would prefer for them to be involved in Hell's Rebels. They share a common cause with the Silver Ravens, and I feel as though the two APs do not have enough links and common elements between them. But I digress.

My basic foundation for this is that I will offer the Glorious Reclamation as a possible player faction for those that worship Iomedae and/or create a brand new NPC that acts as a "face" of the Reclamation in Kintargo.

Essentially, Lord Marshal Alexeara Cansellarion would identify Kintargo as a weak spot in House Thrune's armor and dispatch an agent there to undermine Chelish rule; or perhaps the agent is a Kintargo native. In any case, this is another person the PCs can work with in order to build resistance against Barzillai. The Hellfire Compact shows us that the Glorious Reclamation is more then willing to work with neutral and chaotic aligned good comrades to achieve their goals. Essentially, some tasks the PCs would have could be helping to convince the local church of Iomedae to throw in with the Reclamation and spread the word of the rebellion. As the result of their efforts, when the time comes to confront Barzillai directly in A Song of Silver, the servants of House Thrune are faced with a sight all too common throughout the Chelish heartlands: a host of Iomedae's champions, carrying the banner of the Glorious Reclamation, and smiting the servants of Asmodeus before their eyes. The holy knights and priests take part in the battle and help the PCs liberate the city.

This is merely the root of an idea, so let me know about your suggestions.

The Silver Ravens are center stage in this this AP and should not be upstaged. But perhaps the Glorious Reclamation can be their sidekick!

I wonder who that is standing to the the left of Abrogail? :)

I backed this on Kickstarter. I highly recommend this book whether you're a player or a GM.

Two takeaways from this!

A) It looks like the Glorious Reclamation's heraldry is based off the Knights Templar.

B) See that Kuthite with the chain? Looks like another evil iconic.

Hey.

I was inspired by the artwork showing the GR besieging Castle Dinyar and fighting the Godclaw Hellknights that I want to run a one-shot centered on it as a prequel to the Hell's Vengeance. The players would take on the role of Glorious Reclamation zealots storming the citadel and defeating the Hellknight order.

Is this possible or practical? Here's some other questions I want to know...

1) What would be the minimum level required of the PCs to seize the citadel while the Godclaw controlled it?

2) Can any of the writers give me hints of how the battle generally progressed? Did the gold dragon from volume 5 kill everyone?

3) Were all of the GR's "heavy hitters" present during the battle?

4) What kind of defensive measures did the Godclaw employ?

As a closing note, I actually want to take the PCs used in this oneshot (whether they be clerics, paladins, or something else) and bring them back as NPCs for the main adventure path to fight the villains. :)

I don't know if anyone else had the same realization that I did.

This is a unique race I engineered by adding some of the dhampir’s undead-esque racial traits to orcs. I was inspired to create gray orcs after reading the entry for the “Black Orcs” in Frog God Game’s Tome of Horrors Complete. I admired the concept of an orc subspecies specifically devoted to serving Orcus, but I thought their stats were a bit overkill and their flavor could be stronger.

These are the gray orcs: a racial off-shoot of orcs who swore a covenant to Orcus, Demon Prince of the Undead. The first to drink from the desecrated well filled with Orcus’ divine blood was an orc warlord now known as “Gorenn the Gray”. Upon partaking in the ritual, his green color faded to a deathly gray, his eyes turned white, his blood ran cold in his veins and his body emitted the distinct scent of a rotting corpse. His followers joined him in receiving Orcus’ blessing, and now the vile gray orc race has proliferated across several regions. They are brutal, vicious, and universally feared.

Most gray orcs are fighters and barbarians, but the more wiser and cunning among them tend to become necromancers, clerics, and antipaladins.

Gray Orc (RP 9)

Standard Racial Traits
Ability Score Racial Traits: Gray Orcs are brutal and savage. They gain +4 Strength, –2 Intelligence, –2 Wisdom, and –2 Charisma.
Type: Gray Orcs are humanoids with the orc subtype.
Size: Gray Orcs are Medium creatures and thus have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Base Speed: Gray Orcs have a base speed of 30 feet.
Languages: Gray Orcs begin play speaking Common and Orc. Gray Orcs with high Intelligence scores can chose from the following: Abyssal, Giant, Necril, Goblin, Undercommon. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.

Defense Racial Traits
Undead Resistance: Gray orcs gain a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against disease and mind-affecting effects.
Resist Level Drain (Ex): A gray orc takes no penalties from energy drain effects, though he can still be killed if he accrues more negative levels then he has Hit Dice. After 24 hours, any negative levels a gray orc takes are removed without the need for an additional saving throw.

Offense Racial Traits
Ferocity: Gray orcs possess the ferocity ability which allows them to remain conscious and continue fighting even if their hit point totals fall below 0. Gray orcs are still staggered at 0 hit points or lower and lose 1 hit point each round as normal.
Weapon Familiarity: Gray orcs are always proficient with greataxes and falchions, and treat any weapon with the word “orc” in its name as a martial weapon.

Senses Racial Traits
Darkvision: Gray orcs can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.

Weakness Racial Traits
Light Sensitivity: Gray orcs are dazzled in areas of bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell.
Negative Energy Affinity: Though a living creature, a gray orc reacts to positive and negative energy as if it were undead—positive energy harms it, while negative energy heals it.

Hey, guys. My apologizes if this has been posted in the wrong board.

Paizo's Wrath of the Righteous and Fire Mountain Game's Way of the Wicked are two very distinct adventure paths. One has you playing as heroes fighting against a demonic onslaught, the other puts you in the role of devil-worshiping villains out to destroy (or control) a benevolent kingdom. One of them uses mythic rules, the other one doesn't. On the surface, there could not be enough different between the two APs. But there is one thing that both have in common...

They both feature antagonists that hate Asmodeus.

In the Wrath of the Righteous adventure path, the Demon Lord Baphomet features prominently. He is portrayed as the patron deity of minotaurs, conspiracies, and cults. He has a secret society at his disposal called the "Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth", a group of infiltrators, traitors, and fanatics bent on destroying the Mendevian crusade from within. Hepzamirah, Baphomet's daughter, is credited with seeding this cult on over thirty material plane worlds...

A key part of Baphomet's backstory is his hatred of Asmodeus: the ruler of the Nine Hells imprisoned the minotaur within a world-sized labyrinth, expecting him to never escaped. But Baphomet not only solved the maze, but transformed it into his own Abyssal realm. Now, the demon lord is biding his time and building his forces with the eventual aim of taking revenge against Asmodeus.

What better way to do that then to sabotage his minion's attempts to seize Talingarde?

As an avowed opponent of Asmodeus and a demon lord (which reflects the "Blood War" in traditional D&d lore which is partially present in Pathfinder; demons and devils are still frequent enemies), Baphomet could fill the role of a "secondary" villain. As Cardinal Thorn's minions begin to overcome Talingarde and Mitra's faithful are filled with doubt, the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth see a golden opportunity to take victory from the diabolists, and began their infiltration of the destabilized kingdom. Their ultimate goal is to destroy or subjugate the followers of both Mitra and Asmodeus, and to transform Talingarde into a demon-ruled bastion of worship towards Baphomet. They could even be so insane as to open up a Worldwound in Talingarde.

What follows is some suggestions for how to integrate Baphomet and the Templars into each book. It is important to realize that many of Wrath of the Righteous' more prominent villains are mythic, so they should probably be placed in encounters that are relevant to their CR.

Hey. Not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I had a concept regarding the aboleths that I want to share. Feel free to use this depiction of them in your campaigns if you wish.

Aboleth Godmind
Alignment: Lawful Evil
Domains: Evil (Fear), Law (Slavery), Water (Oceans), Knowledge (Memory)
Favored Weapon: Flail

Description: Not a deity in the traditional sense, the godmind represents the collective psychic will of the aboleth species manifesting itself as divine power that can be tapped into as though it were an actual god. An aboleth itself can deliberately choose to receive the godmind's spells, and does so with no significant effort. If the aboleth in question acts against the will of the collective, the godmind may rescind it's divine power from it. For other beings who wish to receive the godmind's power, the process is bizarre and traumatic. If an individual knows enough about the aboleth race and shows significant willingness to serve them, the aboleths may reach out and contact him or her through strange and horrific dreams. The person in question will feel the aboleth's influence spreading through his/her mind like a ghostly set of tendrils, and they may experience hallucinatory visions of cyclopean citadels at the ocean's floor, or incomprehensible images of the material plane at the time of it's creation. If they truly submit to the aboleth's power, they will begin receiving spells as though they were a cleric, inquisitor, or warpriest.

Aboleth Cults: When a creature becomes a divine spellcaster serving the godmind, he/she typically cultivates a group of like-minded followers to serve them and work towards assisting the aboleths in their unfathomable goals. Aboleth cultists are most common on island settlements, coastal cities, and amongst the crews of seaborne vessels. No matter where the cult is located, it tries to keep a low profile and build it's influence in secret, gathering more followers and placing members in positions of influence and power. Sometimes, an aboleth cult may openly proselytize, concealing it's alignment with magic and presenting the aboleths as a peaceful and advanced species wanting to impart their wisdom on the younger races. The motivations for joining such a cult vary: Many are admirers of the aboleths who look upon them with fear and awe, others believe that due to them being one of, if not the oldest sentient species in creation, ancient and exotic knowledge can be acquired by serving them. Still more serve them with the expectation that their loyalty will be richly rewarded, and then there are those who merely see their victory as being inevitable and wish to be on the side of their new rulers. In addition to serving as the fifth column of an aboleth invasion, the cults have also been known to operate as human traffickers, capturing either lone victims or sometimes entire settlements before meeting the aboleth masters face-to-face to trade them in as slaves. If someone is kidnapped by aboleth followers and not rescued in time, they can expect to have their bodies morphed into aquatic forms and dragged into the black, lightless depths of the oceans where they will most likely stay enslaved by the aboleths for the rest of their days. There is a general understanding that cultists acting as slavers will be spared the horror of the aboleth's enslavement themselves, but it's not known if this is a promise the aboleths truly intend to keep.

NOTE: To represent an aboleth tapping into the godmind's power, apply eight levels worth of spells from the cleric spell list to the aboleth without increasing it's hit dice, saves, base attack bonus or feats. The Aboleth also receives domain spells and powers from it's selected domains and subdomains (which are any of the above) as if it had taken cleric levels, and does not require a holy symbol as a focus to cast it's spells. For a non-aboleth creature, apply whole cleric levels as normal.

Under the core Pathfinder rules, paladins are restricted to the Lawful Good alignment and will fall if they commit an evil or unlawful act. However, some players utilize the variant paladin rules from the "Unearthed Arcana" sourcebook from 3.5. Unearthed Arcana featured alternative paladins of Freedom (Chaotic Good), Slaughter (Chaotic Evil, which is now the purview of Pathfinder's antipaladin), and Tyranny (Lawful Evil).

In my opinion, the paladin of freedom is a pretty cool alternative to the vanilla paladin and could provide a distinct experience. Being a champion of individual rights and resistance against tyranny, the PoF doesn't have to worry about unlawfully mowing down slavers and instigating peasant revolts. There's also a whole world of possibilities when it comes to the deity you chose to represent: you can be a roguish paladin of Cayden Cailean, a whimsical paladin of Desna, a rebellious paladin of Milani or a highly unconventional paladin of Azathoth (!). Gameplay wise, they get immunity to compulsion effects instead of fear.

However, the PoF has it's own code of conduct:

Code of Conduct

A paladin of freedom must be of chaotic good alignment and loses all class abilities if he ever willingly commits an evil act. Additionally, a paladin of freedom's code requires that he respect individual liberty, help those in need (provided they do not use the help for lawful or evil ends), and punish those who threaten or curtail personal liberty.

Associates: While he may adventure with characters of any good or neutral alignment, a paladin of freedom will never knowingly associate with evil characters (except on some sort of undercover mission), nor will he continue an association with someone who consistently offends his moral code. A paladin of freedom may accept only henchmen, followers, or cohorts who are chaotic good.

Hmmm...this could be an issue. Let us consider two hypothetical scenarios...

1) A paladin of freedom rescues a villager from thugs. However, the villager wants to report the incident to the guards. The PoF can't let him do that, however...because he can't let people use his help for "lawful" ends.

2) A paladin of freedom defeats a villain who then surrenders to her. She can't take him back to the proper authorities for imprisonment, because that would be lawful. She can't kill a surrendering man, because that would be evil.

I can predict that some GMs would treat the PoF just as bad as the standard paladin, if not worse. It's possible that the PoF's code of ethics is even more contradictory then it's Lawful Good counterpart.

What do you think?

In the game that I'm running now, the Empyreal Lords serve the purpose of a good-aligned pantheon, and the villain-groups who have made an appearance so far have venerate Asmodeus, Moloch, and Zura. If and when I run a new campaign, I'm thinking of using Paizo's Golarion deities.

The problem is, some of the Golarion gods are rather setting specific. Most of them are fine, and can be integrated into the campaign with no work. Asmodeus is a D&d classic, and others like Shelyn and Zon-Kuthon have more to do with the overall multiverse then Golarion. I'll list the ones who are more problematic...

Cayden Cailean: Is very tied to the Starstone. I could simply say he was a mortal who got drunk and just suddenly became a god, but that doesn't really make sense. In contrast, I could explain that he was never mortal, but a deity who takes the form of a roguish, heavy-drinking adventurer. This is convenient, but it sort of ruins the point of his character. If my setting lacks a Starstone-analogue, I can't really use his backstory as written.

Iomedae: Besides the aforementioned issue of the Starstone, her legendary deeds and struggle against the Whispering Tyrant (not to mention her role as Aroden's successor) are heavily tied to Golarion. It might be possible to change her deeds or keep them vague, and just have her ascend through pure holiness and heroism.

Rovagug: There is the minor issue of him being sealed within Golarion. Perhaps he is sealed in this campaign world, or within the moon.

So, I have the Pathfinder Chronicles Faction guide right next to me as I type this.

I don't know if I'll ever get the chance to play this AP, but if I do, would an Ulfen Barbarian be a good character choice?

My reasoning is that the Grand Prince of Taldor relies on Ulfen bodyguards for protection, a kind of "foreign legion/secret service" if you will. This is because they are perceived as not having any obligations to the various feuding families that comprise Taldor's political infrastructure. In the faction guide, it says all I need to do is have Ulfen blood in order to join. I don't know if level 1 is considered too weak an inexperienced to join them, but if that's the can be the son of an Ulfen guard who lives in Heldren and serves the Taldor army at the nearby fort. The other reason I would be in this faction (which I wouldn't be able to cash in any TPA rewards on but would be cool flavor) is because the Ulfen hate Baba Yaga for taking their lands. Which would make it very awkward when he and the other PCs need to save her.

So my barbarian, Olaf Ironsworn, would be doing his own thing in Heldren; maybe spending time there after protecting the Grand Prince in Oppara. All the sudden, winter magic stuff starts happening and he's thrust into action against the witches of Irrisen. Now, at last...Olaf can avenge his people.

There's a few other things to consider to, like how he would react when he starts getting shot at by Russians.

Hey, guys.

I had a character concept for this AP: An NG bard from Andoran who wants to propagate democracy and common rule. He sees the Stolen Lands as a new potential staging ground for the democratic experiment, and is determined to establish a new country free from any autocratic or monarchist system.

In the current kingdom-building rules, there isn't any crunch for running a democratic country. I would imagine that it'd be up the GM to determine the specifics of candidates, parties, campaign funding, elections, and all the other crazy stuff that democracy entails. How would you handle it?

One last thing, what if the rest of the party isn't hot on the idea of a democratic country? Am I basically screwed? How would most people in Brevoy or Pitax react to a democratic state on their borders?

I refer to this archetype, specifically.

While it would be thematically appropriate for the campaign, it seems like it would break it in some points. For instance, the chase scene with Trinia Sabor.

It wouldn't be that hard for one of these guys to catch up with her. Just land on the same rooftop she's on, and make a diplomacy roll while shouting, "THERE'S NO TIME TO EXPLAIN, GET ON THE HIPPOGRIFF." Or if you're so inclined, "COME WITH ME IF YOU WANT TO LIVE." Worst case scenario, just beat her CMD and carry her off.

The only issue I can see off hand is that you would look like (and would most likely be a member of) the same Sable Marines that catch her if she evades the PCs. This would lead to a lack of trust. Even if she agrees to come with the PC Sable Marine, the other ones will wonder why he/she's flying out of the city instead of towards the castle, possibly resulting in intense aerial pursuit and combat while the PCs on the ground run around like axebeaks with their heads cut off.

The other issue is that you'd be pretty much useless when you can't use your mount, moreso then the typical Cavalier.

I don't know, what do you guys think?

Maybe they'll be a side quest where our mythic heroes travel to Oklahoma and root out the Templar's presence there..

But no, seriously! This looks awesome. I'm really exited to see Baphomet's stats, and I'll probably end up using them in a different campaign. Since he's so associated with cults, secrecy, and plotting, he would make an ideal BBEG. Or, alternatively...maybe he could work as the patron of the PC's in an evil campaign. I also noticed the "customized summon lists", which is really interesting; do Baphomet-affiliated characters get to summon fiendish minotaurs or something?

It looks like the Templars of the Ivory Labyrinth have been pretty busy lately.

The Satanic Temple, a religious group based in New York City, on Monday unveiled their design for a monument they hope to erect at the Oklahoma Statehouse.

The 7-foot-tall monument would include a goat-headed Baphomet figure sitting cross-legged on a stone slab, flanked by two smiling children. The monument would also include quotes from poets Lord Byron and William Blake.

“The monument has been designed to reflect the views of Satanists in Oklahoma City and beyond. The statue will serve as a beacon calling for compassion and empathy among all living creatures. The statue will also have a functional purpose as a chair where people of all ages may sit on the lap of Satan for inspiration and contemplation,” spokesman Lucien Greaves explained.

The group offered to donate a monument last month, after State Rep. Mike Ritze (R-Broken Arrow) and conservative Christians were allowed to erect a Ten Commandments monument on the statehouse grounds.

Lawmakers in Oklahoma, however, have insisted that the Satanists should not be given the same treatment as Christians.

“This is a faith-based nation and a faith-based state,” Rep. Earl Sears (R-Bartlesville) said. “I think it is very offensive they would contemplate or even have this kind of conversation.”

After other groups — including PETA and the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster — asked for their own displays, the Oklahoma City Capitol Preservation Commission placed a moratorium on new monuments at the statehouse.

But the Satanic Temple insists erecting a monument of their own is within their constitutional rights.

“Our monument celebrates an unwavering respect for the Constitutional values of religious freedom and free expression,” Greaves explained. “Satanism is a fundamental component at the genesis of American liberty. Medieval witch-hunts taught us to adopt presumption of innocence, secular law, and a more substantive burden of proof.

“Today, we are rightly offended by the notion of blasphemy laws and divine fiats. Acknowledging wrongful persecutions has helped shape the legal system that preserves the sovereignty of our skeptics, heretics, and the misunderstood. It has shaped a proud culture of tolerance and free inquiry. This is to be a historical marker commemorating the scapegoats, the marginalized, the demonized minority, and the unjustly outcast.”

The group hopes to raise $20,000 by January 17 to build the monument.

“We trust that this unique monument will also prove a favorite tourist attraction to Oklahoma’s Capitol for years to come,” Greaves remarked

Oh boy, Queen Galfrey is NOT going to be happy when she hears about this. I can just imagine Lucien Greaves (CE male human cleric of Baphomet 15) taking orders from Hepzamirah via a scrying orb.

I wonder if the statue is affixed with an Unhallow spell like the other ones in the Ivory Sanctum.

So, I'm planning on running a WW1-themed oneshot utilizing the modern gun rules featured in Reign of Winter: Rasputin Must Die!. What I want to know is...while automatic weapons fire in "bursts" that call for individual attack rolls against any enemy in a line, would this apply to an automatic weapon that fires spells using the Arcane Gun class feature? I'm assuming that I can't just shoot a huge volley of scorching rays, right?

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/classes/core-classes/wizard/archetypes/paizo---wiza rd-archetypes/spellslinger
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/equipment---final/weapons/firearms/modern-firearms

Depending on what Paizo has to say on the matter, it might determine how viable the "machine gun mage" is as a class specialization.

So, I'm browsing through Rasputin Must Die, and I come to the modern weapons chart. And I think, "Wow! How crazy would it be to run a session in a WW1-esque fantasy setting where the PCs are soldiers fighting in a massive regional conflict?".

Magic is still there, elves are still there, dragons are still there...but there's also tanks, machine-guns, trenches, mustard gas and all the havoc of modern war.

How viable would this be as a concept? I brought it up to some friends, and one of them immediately pointed out how most AC would be useless (guns target touch AC) and how wizards would end up getting "hosed" due to lack of ability to defend themselves, and that people would favor rogues and rangers (and gunslingers, I'd imagine). I'm thinking of starting everyone at 10th level, giving everyone exotic weapon proficiency (firearms) and possibly houseruling that Mage Armor counts as AC against bullets (wouldn't be stretch to make all Deflection AC work against guns. Forcefields block bullets all the time in fiction).

How would having a guns-dominant setting effect the mechanics of the game? In the real world, the invention of firearms reshaped the battlefield and rendered many old tactics of war useless. It might end up doing the same in this campaign...

EDIT: I would very much appreciate it if people would abstain from recommending different games. I'm quite committed to running this in PF.

Sometimes, I like to think that there's a bizzaro Worldwound in some other plane. It's a gaping hole in reality where Elysium is fusing with the material plane, and Azatas constantly pour through it to kill diabolist crusaders.

"Week-old cats"?

And when I say Lucifer, I mean THIS one.

http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/devil/devils-un ique/devil-lucifer-prince-of-darkness-tohc

The Lucifer with an obscenely high CR who was included in Tome of Horrors for reasons I still don't understand. He's too powerful to even be an end-game threat. Is him having stats just supposed to be a formality?

...In any case, with the advent of Mythic Adventures, players are now able to reach legendary levels of power and take on threats that were normally considered unkillable.

So, a party of six level 20/MT 10's. Even balance between casters, martials, et cetera. Can they do it?

Actually, I'll pose the question like this: can any of them beat a 74 AC?

So I was looking through the Bestiaries, and there's the section that introduces the Archons. They have a sidebar with a list of sample "Archon Empyreal Lords":

Asteria, of the Endless Order
Cocidius, Hawk-Keeper
Duellona, the Warrior Maiden
Erlang Shen, the All-Seeing
Hors, the Freezing Sun
Inanna, Princess of the Sky
Lugus, the Three-Faced
Ogoun, of Fire and Iron
Oro, the Flame in the Sky
Radigost, Bringer of Boons
Sheave, the Orphan Lord
Svarozic, the Face of Flame
Tanit, Guardian of Life
Tahmineh, the Wounded Mother

Then there's the Azatas.

Atonga, of Seas and Songs
Aizen Myo-o, the Red Wisdom
Cernunnos, the Stag Lord
Connla, the Wolfhound’s Son
The Forgotten, Free Even from Memory
Itzamna, Who Watches from Clouds
Lada, Lady of Dance
Maahes, the Guardian Beast
Muyingwa, the Seed Thrower
Ibeji, the Twins
Ogma, the Champion
Tsukuyomi, Prince of the Moon
Qetesh, the Sacred Lover
Vikramaditya, Wise and Valorous King

Then there's a shorter list of Agathion "leaders" in Bestiary 2.

Chavod Broken-Spear (cetaceal)
Kelumarion the King Over the Mountain (leonal)
Korada of the Dream Lotus (avoral)
Lady Taramyth the Singing Flame (vulpinal)
Sixlife the Violet Fury (silvanshee)
Walks with Golden Stars (draconal)

What struck me was that all of these guys were introduced as the Empyreal lords, but nothing has been reported about them since. Now, Korada is a notable exception; he's in Chronicle of the Righteous, with an illustration to boot.

But other then him, none of the Empyreals from the bestiaries get any kind of mention. It's as if they completely disappeared.

I'm not trying to criticize Paizo. Chronicle of the Righteous is perhaps the best Campaign Setting book I've ever read and filled a much-needed nice in regards to information regarding good-aligned outsiders. I have a Paladin of Ragathiel in the campaign that I'm running, and two paladins of Olheon and Arqueros are important NPCs. But why is it that none of the "old" Empyreals got any kind of support? Did Paizo just decide, "Nope, these guys are lame. Let's make some better ones."

It would probably be silly to ask for a Chronicle of the Righteous Part 2, but it would be cool if (at some point) we could get domains, favored weapons, and nominal descriptions of the beta-Empyreals. Y'know, just in case someone wants to play a paladin of Lugus or cleric of Connla.

One last thing: If I somehow violated copyright law by posting the excerpts, I sincerely apologize and will take them down immediately.

Staunton Vhane is looking pretty wicked up there. I can't wait to see what he has in store for the PCs... :)