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So I have been working on a Horror themed Home-brew game for a while now, and wanted to share with people what I have come up with. Below is a summary (similar to what Paizo gives us on the back of adventure paths) of each chapter of the adventure. Let me know what you think; which sounds exciting, which sounds dull, and which just sound bad. Obviously, using the Horror adventures book heavily in this adventure.

Part 1: The PC’s are in attendance for the “Last Breath” food festival in Ustalav’s city of Vauntil, where they are tasked by the mayor to keep the peace as the festival progresses. Stopping the expected bribery, and distasteful competitor are only the first steps. Soon, the pc’s discover something more nefarious happening behind the scenes, that seeks to not only disrupt the festival, but also intends to turn the population into ravenous ghouls. Can the PC’s uncover the mysteries surrounding the festival, or will they fall prey to the machinations of this mysterious entity?

Part 2: With the City of Vauntil saved, the PC’s travel north, following the path of the mysterious traveler. They soon discover he made contact with a mysterious dooms day cult in the hills, and then proceeded to the city of Ardis. Upon arriving in the city, the PC’s soon discover that a mysterious murderer has been going on a killing spree. Can the PC’s discover the connection between the cult, the killer, and the stranger? Or will they become the latest victims of the killer?

Part 3: The PC’s have allied with (spoiler) and agreed to help destroy the puzzle box phylactery of the Whispering Tyrant. The third piece they need is held by the Vampire clans of Caliphas. Upon arriving in the city however, they find a city on the edge, as the vampires and a werewolf clan are poised to go into all-out war, with the PC’s, and the rest of the city, caught in the middle. Can the PC’s discover the plot behind the war and forge a truce, or will they be swallowed up by the ensuing chaos?

Part 4: The PC’s and their ally arrive on the Isle of Terror, where the final piece of the Phylactery is located. They soon discover that the final piece is connected to several alternate planes, and they must navigate the Tyrant’s ruined stronghold to unite the phylactery onto the material plane, so that it may be destroyed. Complicating matters further, a Kyton has claimed the Isle, as well as the portal to the plane of shadow, as his own. He and his minions work to undermine the PC’s efforts, and lead them astray. Can the PC’s unite the phylactery, and end the Tyrant? Or will they fall prey to the Kyton, and his dark intent?

Part 5: The Tyrant’s Phylactery was destroyed, but his essence managed to possess the PC’s ally, and he is now set loose upon the world again. In order to save their ally, and destroy the Tyrant for good, the PCs must walk the path of darkness once more, and craft a potent Phylactery of their own to draw in the Tyrant’s spirit, and save their ally. However, gathering such reagents is no simple feat, and push the PC’s past the realms of good and righteousness. Can the PC’s create the phylactery and keep what’s left of their humanity, or will they succumb to the darkness as well?

Part 6: With the Phylactery in hand, the PCs travel to castle Konquest, the home of the Tyrant’s only remaining allies in Ustalav. The PC’s must navigate the dangerous castle, and defeat what’s left of the Tyrant, and his allies once and for all. But the castle has not been idle these last few centuries, and the PC’s must contend with the greatest of the Tyrant’s servants before facing the weakened, but still dangerous, Whispering Tyrant before he is able to reclaim his lost power, and bring about a new age of Darkness?

Let me know what you guys think. Criticism will help make this a truly great adventure!

I had an idea this morning that I wanted to share, and see what people thought. The wendigo is one of those monster's that's really interesting (and terrifying to encounter), but I find that it's at such a high CR that getting it into a game is difficult, because by the point where you could use it, your PC's are generally pretty skilled, and well equipped to deal with the beast. So i thought of creating (or appeal to Paizo to create it) would be to introduce a Wendigo corruption; a gradual change in a person as they fall prey to the corruption. Early manifestations would be pretty straightforward; claws, bite at the cost of lower wisdom (or sanity if you're using those rules). Later stages introducing a 'pale visage' as you're body adapts to the cold (at the cost of fire vulnarability) or even growing antlers. At the later levels it would be out right loosing your feet, and wind walking. Progressing the corruption would be the urge to feast on sentient humanoid flesh, with the addition of tempting others to do the same. Anyways, thought it was a cool idea and wanted to see how others reacted to it.

1: Rise of the Runelords, anniversary edition
2: Wrath of the Righteous
3: Carrion Crown

I would like to see the adventure paths use some of the newer rules that have been recently released, or will release soon. I would like to see an Occult themed path; one that could be centered in Ustalav, or you could even swing it to use Katapesh, Jalmeray and Qadira. Ultimate intrigue will release soon, and they could set an adventure path in really any city; they could use Taldor, Andoran, or even far northern Brevoy. I wouldn't mind returning to Tian Xia for another adventure, but truth be told, by the end of JR, I was a bit worn down by it. I would probably pick it up to read for fun, but I doubt I'd run it any time soon. Arcadia, and Azlant would be two strong contenders for me as well.

So, I sat down with a group to try and playtest this, but the group quickly dissolved into discussion of the class. First off, the dual identity; As a concept, I can see why it came into being; in practice, it's broken, in too many ways. The biggest problem we had with it is the dual alignment of the two identities. The way I always though of it was that an alignment was a person's core beliefs, and while it could change, it was difficult to do so. With this though. Well...let's give an example. A character, who is socially LG, and has a LN vigilante identity could, according to the rules, commit a LE act, and have no moral repercussions for their act. Now, granted that is an extreme case, but the fact that it can be done to begin with is nuts.
Next up is the renown ability, where you gain advantages while being in a community, and changing it takes a week of work. Tell me; how many adventures actually stay put in a single town? there is an adventure coming up, but as for 90% of the published adventure paths, this would put the vigilante at a huge disadvantage.
Now, we each did build separate vigilante's for our test, and while the builds came up ok, but when you compare our party to their base class equivalents, they just don't stack up. The biggest point we came up with though is this; When you think about what a base class should be, the starting point for all other classes, the base line, the vigilante just doesn't fit with the rest. As a prestige class, or maybe even an archetype of other classes, I could see it work; but this hot mess that we've been given? No. We all came to an agreement that if this class is published, we will not use it, at least as is. This class would be better used if it were removed completely, and some of the rules used as new feats, or rules for making a local city as a home, or even reworked into a prestige class. As it is right now though, myself, and at least four other dms will be outright outlawing this class within our games.

Interesting character. I always like seeing a new Iconic character, and learning their story. Still waiting on the Iconic Anti-paladin, but I still like this, and it's encouraging me to take another look into the Occult classes.

The first campaign I ran was Jade Regent; while I eventually did go back and read through RotRL, I never got to run it. One thing I would do if I did, would be to introduce the JR PC's in Burnt Offerings in supporting roles. I would want to fully develop Sandpoint, and give the PC's a sense of belonging there, not just as local heroes. Skinsaw was really well written, so I probably wouldn't do too much with that. Perhaps I would further develop Ironbriar, and have notable NPC's or villains make appearances prior to their introduction. It could also be fun to weave in the other runelords, if only slightly, into the campaign.

I think this adventure path has a lot of potential. There's one glaring point that's making me hesitate though. In most adventure paths, the villains just wait around, sitting on their hands while the PC's level through the books; the rational being they're too busy infighting, or they simply can't find the PC's. This shouldn't be the case here; Thrune has ruled with an iron fist for a long time; I wouldn't be surprised if there were nobles who made it a sport to crush rebellions like this for fun. I'm concerned that there will only be a few sentences in a book saying why they don't, and it be BS (most of the military is working on an invasion of the Shackles, and they can't bring their full force). If there isn't a part where the full force of Thrune comes and wipes out the rebellion, forcing the PC's into hiding to continue it, or if we're given a BS reason why they don't, then I'm done, and will not pick up this adventure.

Crypt Breaker Alchemist, or maybe finally play that Suli Monk I've wanted to do for ages.

This looks promising.

Is it just me, or is this adventure path mirroring Rise of the Runelords a bit? While there's nothing wrong with it, I was kind of hoping they'd visit more locations in the actual adventure, rather than going back to the same city over and over again.