Dretch

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145 posts. Alias of Mike Welham (Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012).



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Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hi there! I had to update my credit card information for this order, which I did shortly after I got the email alerting me to the expired card. The order is still pending, so, if you could push it through, that would be awesome.

Thanks!

RPG Superstar 2012

2 people marked this as a favorite.

I'm doing this giveaway thing once again for a fourth year, where I celebrate the third party companies nice enough to give me work, and you get free stuff!

Here's how it works:

Post in this thread indicting your interest in getting a free PDF (or PDFs).

Each day, beginning on December 13th, I'll use Paizo's dice roller to randomly select a winner and I'll PM the winner to ask them for their choice of PDF(s) from
d20pfsrd Publishing (not on Paizo, but I can definitely use another provider for their PDFs),
Jon Brazer Enterprises,
Kobold Press,
Legendary Games,
Purple Duck Games (I know they're not at Paizo anymore, but we can work something out),
Raging Swan Press,
Rite Publishing,
Rogue Genius Games,
Rusted Iron Games,
Zenith Games, or
Zombie Sky Press.

Please limit selections to $12, but they can be multiple books from across multiple publishers.

If you've been chosen as a winner, you will be out of future rounds to make sure 12 different people receive free stuff. :)

Thanks!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hello Customer Service Folks,

I'm in the process of decluttering, and part of that process includes cancelling my physical subscriptions. Please cancel my Pathfinder Adventure Path, Pathfinder Cards, Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Pawns, and Starfinder Maps subscriptions.

This should leave my Pathfinder Society Scenarios and Starfinder Society Roleplaying Guild subscriptions intact.

Thank you!


3 people marked this as a favorite.

Hello. Patrick Curtin is having an issue where he tried to reply to a post in a thread and got an error. He then tried a couple more times and now he can't post anything on the site. Hopefully, you can help him out.


Hello CS Folks!

I received an email for order 5369854, and it seems to have simultaneously applied my store credit and charged my credit card. Right now, the charges are in pending status on my credit card, so there is some chance they will be removed by Paizo. All the same, I thought I would check in to make sure I don't lose the store credit if my card does get charged.

Thanks!


Hello CS folks,

I would like to cancel my Starfinder Adventure Path subscription now that I have received the first adventure path's final book. Thank you very much!


The Delak!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hey all. I like hearing from you, but not every 30 minutes about the same order. :)

Hopefully, you'll be able to fix this soon.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

I'm GMing a couple of PFS scenarios this weekend, and I had success downloading them all except for Call of the Copper Gate. When I attempt to download it, I get the following error:

The requested URL /download/131665/v5748aid7hxww/v5748a8i4m5gy/PathfinderSocietyScenario9-05C allOfTheCopperGatePDF.zip was not found on this server.

Any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

--Mike

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hello! I’m trying to purchase this as a gift, but when I go through the check out process, I can’t select a recipient. I have been able to do so earlier in the week for other purchases, and the only difference seems to be that it’s a PDF bundle this time.

Please help!

—Mike

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hello lovely customer service folks. Please cancel my Pathfinder RPG and Starfinder RPG subscriptions.

Thank you kindly!

RPG Superstar 2012

8 people marked this as a favorite.

Because it's obligatory to have 3D for your second sequel...

Speaking of which, I'm doing a third-party giveaway once again this year!

Here's how it works:

Post in this thread indicting your interest in getting a free PDF (or PDFs).

Each day, beginning on December 13th, I'll use Paizo's dice roller to randomly select a winner and I'll PM the winner to ask them for their choice of PDF(s) from
Jon Brazer Enterprises,
Kobold Press,
Legendary Games,
Purple Duck Games (I know they're not at Paizo anymore, but we can work something out),
Raging Swan Press,
Rite Publishing,
Rogue Genius Games,
Rusted Iron Games,
Zenith Games, or
Zombie Sky Press.

Please limit selections to $12, but they can be multiple books from across multiple publishers.

If you've been chosen as a winner, you will be out of future rounds to make sure 12 different people receive free stuff. :)

Thanks!


13 people marked this as a favorite.

Hi all! I've been running a somewhat regular feature on a friend's blog (long-time poster Marikurion) called Frightful Fridays! (the exclamation point is obligatory)

I've been posting a Pathfinder monster every week (admittedly, there are some gaps here and there), and it will be celebrating its fifth anniversary this Halloween. To commemorate the occasion, I've been posting and will be posting a monster every day, counting up from CR 1/2 to CR 30.

Here are the first 5 monsters:

Heliumf (CR 1/2)
Kairuku (CR 1)
Arachanine (CR 2)
Lake Kaida (CR 3)
Polar Cat (CR 4)

I hope you'll check it out and follow along the rest of the month!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Who's in this one? I'm looking forward to GMing this for six of you!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hey everyone! I'm the author of We Be Leshys! and I'll be GMing it. I know it's on Monday morning, but I will be hyped to run this for you.

Let me know if you have any questions, and please give a shout if you get this game in the lottery.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

It's out! It's always great to see what Loren and Jason create. Plus, I had a lot of fun working on my group of monsters, especially the Yamato-no-Orochi.

RPG Superstar 2012

16 people marked this as a favorite.

I'm doing a third-party giveaway again this year.

Here's how it works:

Post in this thread indicting your interest in getting a free PDF (or PDFs).

Each day, beginning on December 13th, I'll use Paizo's dice roller to randomly select a winner and I'll PM the winner to ask them for their choice of PDF(s) from Kobold Press, Legendary Games, Purple Duck Games, Raging Swan Press, Rite Publishing, Rogue Genius Games, Rusted Iron Games, Zenith Games, or Zombie Sky Press. Please limit selections to $12 (I can't afford to give away 12 copies of Deep Magic), but they don't have to be books that I've worked on.

If you've been chosen as a winner, you will be out of future rounds to make sure 12 different people receive free stuff. :)

Thanks!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hello!

I received my notification for order 4094206, and I saw that S&H was almost as much as the retail price of the flip map being shipped. I hope that's a glitch and the shipping is considerably less. If you could look into it, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

RPG Superstar 2012

Maybe someone can give them a nice warm hug?

Thanks!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hello,

My daughter bought a couple of things at GenCon, and it was mentioned that she might get double charged. Orders 4034218 and 4034227 hit at pretty much the same time and have the same contents, so it looks like she did. Can you reverse one of the charges when you get a chance?

Thanks!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

2 people marked this as a favorite.

Thank you for the mention of The Mudded Manse!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

This one will be a lot of fun! I'm looking forward to running this for you.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

I'm looking forward to running this! Let me know if you have any questions.

RPG Superstar 2012

15 people marked this as a favorite.

I consider myself lucky that a lot of third-party publishers provide me with gainful employment, so I thought I would give back to them *and* give away free stuff to you.

Here's how it works:

Post in this thread indicting your interest in getting a free PDF (or PDFs).

Each day, beginning on December 13th, I'll use Paizo's dice roller to randomly select a winner and I'll PM the winner to ask them for their choice of PDF(s) from Kobold Press, Legendary Games, Purple Duck Games, Raging Swan Press, Rite Publishing, Rogue Genius Games, Rusted Iron Games, or Zombie Sky Press. Please limit selections to $10 (I can't afford to give away 12 copies of Deep Magic), but they don't have to be books that I've worked on.

If you've been chosen as a winner, you will be out of future rounds to make sure 12 different people receive free stuff. :)

Thanks!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hello Customer Service Folks,

This has never happened to me before, so I'm not sure what the process is, but this order hasn't reached me yet. It could be that I'm being somewhat impatient for its arrival, but it has taken much longer than usual to arrive compared to other Paizo orders.

Please let me know what is going on, and if there's a way I can get the products in this order. Thanks!


Woah! 13.60777 tonnes!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

7 people marked this as a favorite.

I'm Mike Welham and I approve this store blog title.

:)

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Yay! All the giants are here!

I hope this enhances your giant-centric adventures.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Hello! I'm looking forward to running this for you. Unfortunately, due to a glitch in the scheduling system, this got rescheduled for Sunday morning.

The scenario has six kobold pregens to choose from, but you're welcome to bring a 4th-level PFS-legal character to the game.


Hi CS folks!

I just got my invoice for this order, and I noticed that the Pawns weren't discounted with the Pathfinder Advantage. Just to make sure I hadn't misremembered pawns being discounted, I checked previous orders, and they were indeed discounted. I'm not sure if this is a glitch in the ordering system or not, but I was hoping you could give me my discount on the pawns.

Thanks!

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

Budgetary constraints require me to cancel my Pathfinder Adventure Card Game subscription. Hopefully, I'll be back for Wrath of the Righteous.

Thanks!

Liberty's Edge 4/5 Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012

For all Piedmont Triad (and beyond) Pathfinder RPG players, this brand new convention features Pathfinder Society Play. Ron McClung and JustUs Productions (MACE, MACE West, and other fine Carolina conventions) are overseeing the general gaming, and I've put together a slate of low-level PFS scenarios that run the gamut of seasons.

Link to the ConGregate home page: http://www.con-gregate.com/

Link to the PFS schedule: http://ogre.justusproductions.com/index.php/ogre/browseschedule/rpgax

I apologize for the lateness of this thread, but I hope you can make it.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012 , Star Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 9

Congratulations!!! I look forward to reading your module proposals!


1 person marked this as a favorite.

I, for one, welcome our new toadal overlords.

RPG Superstar 2012

I've always heard that change comes from within, but it seems that external forces are preventing my metamorphosis to a beautiful badgerfly. When I try to change my avatar image, I get this message.

Pop Up wrote:

IMPORTANT

That avatar name is already in use by another account.

Please help!

RPG Superstar 2012

It looks like this year's PaizoCon trip will be financially unfeasible for me, so I was hoping I could get a refund for my admission and banquet tickets.

Thanks!

RPG Superstar 2012

I'm nervous and excited about Doom Comes to Dustpawn's premiere.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012 , Star Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 9

13 people marked this as a favorite.

Doom Comes to Dustpawn

An unknown expedition to the stars returns to its point of origin—the unsuspecting village of Dustpawn. Strange disappearances and a blazing object in the sky mark the beginning of trouble for the sleepy village. Can the heroes save the villagers from fiery doom, reality-warping creatures that view the citizens merely as experimental animals, and a horrific threat from beyond the stars?

Doom Comes to Dustpawn is a Pathfinder Roleplaying Game adventure for 9th-level characters, who will advance to 10th level by the adventure's conclusion, which brings the characters directly into conflict with an emissary from the Dark Tapestry.

Adventure Background
Several centuries ago, a cabal of wizards interested in the mysteries of space constructed a craft to travel to worlds beyond Golarion. The group chose a launch site several miles west of Dustpawn, a quiet area where they would not risk discovery. They boarded the star-faring vehicle with their familiars, their apprentices remaining behind to magically receive and document their findings. Five years into the venture, shortly after the craft passed Akiton, communications suddenly ceased. Unable to reestablish contact, the apprentices assumed their masters had died, and moved on with their lives.

Unknown to the apprentices, the craft’s passengers had survived, continuing to record their observations and transmit them back to Golarion. They reached Aucturn and then reversed course for home, intending to present all their research to the astonished masses on their return. Unfortunately, the final planet on their itinerary undid their plans; their craft brushed against a planar breach, exposing the passengers to the Dark Tapestry, its bizarre energies forcing each wizard to merge with his or her familiar. As their bodies and minds warped, the gestalt beings went mad and turned on each other. The mission leader, in a brief moment of lucidity, triggered an emergency spell to place the ill-fated voyagers in stasis. Using a powerful staff imbued with an incredibly powerful word of recall, he shunted himself and four others to their launch site days ahead of the returning main craft. These survivors, still irradiated with dark energies, sought secluded areas near Dustpawn to regroup, unaware their subconscious desires would warp their new-found sanctuaries. The hybrids began abducting townspeople to their lairs, either to transform them into similar creatures or conduct bizarre experiments upon them. Meanwhile, the forgotten craft still hurtles towards Dustpawn, the creature known as the Emissary from Beyond following in its wake to turn the unsuspecting village into a beachhead for an incursion by the Dark Tapestry.

Delayed by the chaotic magic encountered during their journey, the wizards' communications suddenly pour back to Golarion, specifically to their apprentices’ descendants. The first sign of impending doom comes from those afflicted with apparent madness, as years of information floods into their minds.

Getting the Characters Involved
The party may travel to Dustpawn for several possible reasons:

  • Dalviss Crenn, or an associate of one of the characters with an interest in the stars, excitedly contacts the party to inform them about a meteor that will crash in Isger. He beckons them to Dustpawn, the village closest to the meteor’s expected landfall.
  • When the first victim exhibits signs of madness, alternating between reciting obscure data about the planets beyond Golarion and attempting to bash her own skull to stop the voices, Alyssia Turpin contacts the party cleric.
  • The missing halflings found an item during an earlier excursion into Dustpawn's mines. They had arranged for a meeting with the party to sell the item.

Act I: First Contact
When the PCs arrive in Dustpawn, they see the descending ship burning brightly in the sky. The townspeople treat new arrivals warily due to the recent rash of disappearances and Laura Mulvayne's bizarre behavior. Either Dalviss Crenn or Alyssia Turpin greets them.

Dalviss prattles on enthusiastically about the object making its way to Golarion and guides the characters to his makeshift observatory. While at Crenn's observatory, a character succeeding at a DC 30 Knowledge (arcana, nature, or planes) check learns the amount of time remaining before impact. A subsequent DC 30 Perception check informs the character the meteorite will strike Dustpawn. With this advance warning, the party gains the opportunity to evacuate as many villagers as possible.

Alyssia takes the PCs to a home where they hear Laura Mulvayne lecturing, suddenly stopping, and then screaming and throwing herself against the walls. When Laura lectures, she speaks in monotone about the planets in detail, almost too fast for the characters to keep up. During or after this encounter, characters may attempt a DC 35 Knowledge (history) check to remember the cabal who traveled the stars, and a subsequent DC 30 Knowledge (history or local) check reveals the victim’s relationship to one of the original apprentices. Ten minutes after the party arrives, Laura becomes placid and spends a few seconds to look at everyone in the room. She then unleashes a primal shriek that potentially stuns the characters, and her features bubble and shift as she transforms into a chaos beast. This encounter may alternately take place after Dustpawn's evacuation or the crash landing.

sidebar:
For added tension, the DM can designate any or all the PCs as unfortunate descendants of the apprentices. The maddening information flow and the Emissary's intrusions cause Wisdom damage once per day, unless the afflicted character succeeds at a DC 25 Will save. However, he also gains a temporary bonus for the day to Knowledge checks—also allowing him to perform untrained checks without the usual limitations—pertaining to the planets and the Dark Tapestry.

Two hours after the party arrives in Dustpawn, the craft enters the atmosphere, breaks up, and crash lands in Dustpawn, setting the village center ablaze. After the characters battle the blaze and rescue trapped townsfolk, they have the opportunity to explore the craft, where they discover a handful of stasis pods bearing bizarre hybrids that perished in the crash. Searching the craft rewards characters with partial transcriptions about the planets and the information that five creatures escaped. For several days after the crash, a dark haze that blots out the sun covers Dustpawn.

Investigation of the disappearances reveals the missing as: a pair of fishermen; a group of halfling explorers; and a goat herder, his wife, and their entire herd. The fishermen, currently prisoners of the Toad King, routinely fish the Conerica River for a week before bringing their catch back to Dustpawn. They were due back two nights prior to the party's arrival, and the delay has raised suspicions in the village. Meanwhile, the halflings became victims of the Warren during one of their many trips to the spent mines outside Dustpawn. While they normally keep to themselves, they carouse at one of the local taverns after they return from spelunking, so regulars notice their absence. Finally, the herder and his wife fell victim to the Night Hunters. Neighbors only recall hearing the bleating of goats as if something carried them through the skies, but they neither heard nor saw anything else. Individually, the villagers would regard the disappearances as unfortunate accidents, but the cumulative events set them on edge.

As the characters search for missing Dustpawn residents, they may encounter the following events in any order (with the exception of Emissary from Beyond, which occurs last):

Act II: The Toad King
One trail leads to Conerica River, where the expedition leader, now transformed into a human/toad combination (using boggard stats with increased Int and 8 wizard levels), instinctively relocated. The creature's presence warps reality to suit it, so a growing area centered on the creature has transformed into a stinking bog, complete with quicksand and a host of toads singing of the stars. Wishing to remake others in its image, it grabbed the two fisherman and spirited them away to its underwater lair. There the toad king uses its ability to warp flesh to slowly and painfully transform its victims.

The characters must traverse the newly formed swampland to reach the toad king and stop its depredations. On the way, they contend with hostile terrain, a rain of poisonous toads, and a mobogo compelled to serve the toad king. They must then discover the route into the creature's lair and reach its grotto before its victims succumb to the foul experiments.

sidebar:
Due to the reality-altering nature of the creatures in this adventure, their lairs are treated as mildly chaotic-aligned.

Act III: Followers of the Emissary
Various members of Dark Tapestry cults find themselves drawn to Dustpawn as the Emissary's presence grows stronger. Most travel to the village to receive the Emissary's promised gift of power and rebirth, but a handful decide to add to the mayhem in preparation for the creature's arrival.

On a return trip to Dustpawn, the party notices a group of cultists on their way to the village. The cultists lie, claiming they want to help with recovery efforts after the crash and the fire. The cultists' leader owns a seed of madness, a new magic item that bestows greater powers of persuasion upon the bearer and causes his targets to become confused. If the party allows the cultists unfettered access to the craft, they try to murder any NPCs who remain at the site, since they are unfit to bear witness to the majesty of the Dark Tapestry. The cultists will fight only if cornered but will otherwise flee in an attempt to sneak into Dustpawn. Interrogating a captured cultist provides the PCs with the first warning about the Emissary’s arrival.

The characters must also deal with new arrivals of other tormented descendants of the apprentices, who, like Laura Mulvayne, alternate between intoning facts streaming to them from the wizards' mission and screaming in agony. If the party works with these victims, they may discover a means allowing them all to share the burden, with each speaking in turn and gaining temporary relief while the others speak.

Act IV: The Warren
Two of the escapees, close friends before their transformation, journeyed to Dustpawn's abandoned mines. A gnome/rat hybrid (apply wererat template to an 8th-level wizard, except it does not inflict lycanthropy) and a halfling/bat mix (use sabosan stats, except with increased Int and 5 wizard levels). The pair viewed the resident goblins as useless for their purposes and exterminated them, but the rat creature grew intrigued with the possibilities the halfling explorers presented. The pair ambushed the halflings as they finished exploring one of the mines and imprisoned them in a previously goblin-infested mine. While the bat creature does not care about the humanoids, the rat creature experimented on them, vivisecting one, and stitching together two of the remaining victims into a gruesome flesh golem joined at the back of the head, which grants the frightful creature an extra slam attack.

As with the toad king’s habitat, the creatures’ lair has reconfigured itself to accommodate their wishes. On approach to the warrens, the characters encounter large snakes that fled the newly inhabited mine and must negotiate with a large contingent of displaced goblins that blame Dustpawn for their problems. The tunnels have become cramped and difficult to traverse for Medium or larger creatures, and traps the goblins set to keep intruders out have become deadlier. A deathtrap ooze, drawn to the newly transformed dungeon, now haunts its passageways. Even more dangerous than the numerous traps, the rat creature attracted ticks, which reproduce at a prodigious rate due to the chaotic energies that infuse the hybrid. The tick swarm pours out of various tunnels in the warren to protect its new host. The party must then defeat the flesh golem and the lair's owners to rescue the surviving halflings.

Act V: Restless Spirits
Several wizards perished during the first days of madness. While their shattered bodies entered stasis along with the remaining crew, their spirits roamed the craft. They grew bitter as they realized the futility of the journey and envied the survivors. One day after the crash, these doomed spirits rise as spectres, hoping to lash out at their fellow travelers. Denied their revenge, they instead attack villagers in Dustpawn, and the party must intervene again to save the townspeople. Since no sunlight penetrates through to the village, a GM may stage this encounter after the party returns from one of the other excursions.

Dalviss Crenn returned to his observatory shortly after the crash. His telescope still trained to the craft's trajectory, he looks through it and spots the Emissary, which in turn notices him. Dalviss breaks under the strain of the Emissary's attentions and surety of Golarion's oncoming doom. He requests the characters return to his observatory to show them the inky blot that follows the same path as the fallen craft. After a mental assault by the Emissary—something the characters should easily survive—Dalviss cackles and maniacally proclaims nothing the party does will stop the Emissary. He then attempts to commit suicide by throwing himself from the observatory.

Act VI: Night Hunters
The final survivors, an elf/owl gestalt (use stats for a giant owl with 5 wizard levels) and a half-elf/cat combination (apply weretiger template to an 8th-level wizard), escaped southwest to reach the foothills where they would have freedom to hunt. Rather than engaging in monstrous research, this pair merely wishes to revel in hunting intelligent prey. To that end, they captured the goat herding couple—along with the goats for food. On a daily basis, they drop the couple off together or separately, give them a couple of hours to attempt escape, and then harry them until they drop from exhaustion. When the characters enter the creatures' domain, the pair delights in the possibilities of superior prey.

The land has changed significantly where the two creatures lair. A giant tree towers over a clearing, surrounded by acres of tall, reedy grasses that grasp at intruders. As the characters approach the great tree at the center, giant owls harass the party from above, dropping some of the remaining goats on their targets, while a dire tiger stalks them on the ground. The owl creature roosts at the tree, while the tiger hybrid lazes at the base playfully batting at the kidnapped couple. Once the characters draw near, the owl creature announces that it has hostages and proposes a contest: a race to find the couple, one character versus the cat. If the characters refuse, the cat creature slays its captives, and the two creatures spring into action, working together to take down individual foes. They hope to leave some of their victims unconscious so they can hunt them later.

Act VII: Emissary from Beyond
By the time the characters deal with the last gestalt creature and return to Dustpawn, any surviving characters who receive the flood of communication learn the terrible fate of the crew. If the any of the wizards’ descendants still survive, the party gains circumstance bonuses during this encounter. As this revelation presents itself, the Emissary from Beyond arrives at the crash's epicenter. It proclaims the site as the locus for a gateway through which its masters from the Dark Tapestry will emerge, and it commands all in the village to offer their bodies and souls to their new lords. During the adventure's final battle, the PCs must keep panicked villagers out of harm's way as the Emissary's touch transforms the ordinary NPCs into chaos beasts. Additionally, cultists work to defend their master from harm, even voluntarily accepting the creature's touch.

Emissary from Beyond:
A new monster, this aberration possesses powerful transmutation abilities. It renders all terrain in a 30-foot radius sphere around it as difficult terrain, and three times per day may perform a coup de grace to transform its victim into a lesser chaos beast (using the young template).

Conclusion
Assuming the characters dispatch the Emissary, Dustpawn will eventually return to normal. The villagers give the ship's wreckage a wide berth, letting weeds reclaim the land. Any areas formerly inhabited by the mutant creatures revert to their normal states as well. If any of the creatures still live, they prove to be a continuing source of fear for the citizens of Dustpawn. Any characters afflicted by the stream of information find relief when the Emissary meets its demise, but they retain residual knowledge.

If the party fails to defeat the Emissary, it converts the citizenry into an army of chaos beasts, creating a cancerous blot in Isger—one that will slowly spread out and consume the lands around it.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012 , Star Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 9

3 people marked this as a favorite.

EDIT FROM THE JUDGES: Please read this information about playtesting these encounters. We've also added hyperlinks from the encounter's short stat blocks to the full stat blocks in the PRD so you have the information you need to run the encounter.

The Thanatopic Amphisbaena
==========
Early in the war between Geb and Nex, Geb and his followers planned a surprise attack on Nex through the Shattered Range. Nexian spies discovered and reported Geb’s plans, spurring Nex to execute an unexpected counterattack of his own near the present-day border of the Mana Wastes. Nex called a pair of crimson worms (variant purple worms) to devour Geb and his army. After the worms consumed half the combatants, Geb subdued the threat by fusing the two creatures together in a way that each worm's stinger pierced the other's heart, killing both, but not before the conjoined creature’s death throes slew dozens more. Eventually, desert sands covered all evidence of the battle, rendering it a mere footnote from the Age of Enthronement.

Over 4,000 years later, Mehnit, an unusually intelligent Gebbite mummy with an affinity for handling snakes, arrived in western Geb searching far from the heart of the country for her favored reptiles. Mehnit viewed herself as an ascendant serpent goddess, given her gift of immortality and her ability to control snakes, specifically amphisbaenas that she viewed as the perfect representation of the dichotomy between life and death. She happened upon the partially uncovered, preserved corpse, and noted the colossal creature’s resemblance to a serpent. Her curiosity piqued by the creature itself and the susurrus emanating from the worm, she approached the odd war monument. At the mouth belonging to the exposed head, a handful of spectres—remnants of victims of the worms' onslaught millennia ago—greeted her. The spectres taught her the secret of the Wormheart, whispered to them over the ages by the slumbering twin hearts, which would grant her control over the engine of destruction. Without corporeal forms, the remaining spectres could not manipulate the Heart and animate the creature, while the skeletons and zombies still within the corpse lacked the intelligence to operate the Heart. Mehnit, with the aid of her mindless servants, cored out the two stingers—fragments of which she bound to her wrists so she too could inject venom in her foes. She then melded the individual hearts to create the Wormheart and a burgeoning connection with the creature. Upon discovering the second head resting beneath twenty feet of sand, she grew assured of her destiny to bring this Geb-crafted weapon to life. Flush with dreams of becoming a great leader and awakening Geb from its torpor, Mehnit retreated to the submerged head to study the full power of the Heart. Unbeknownst to her, the spectres taught her about the Heart in order to lead to the fused worm's destruction, thus freeing them from their millennia of imprisonment.

Mehnit spent years of study only to achieve basic control of the creature’s inner musculature. She nearly ended her research prematurely when she stepped on a spot inside the worm that triggered an involuntary convulsion, crushing a pair of zombies that accompanied her. After that incident, she meticulously mapped out all the locations of her new home's traps, sacrificing more of the mindless undead inhabitants. She then turned her focus to achieving mobility for the worm. Several weeks ago, Mehnit realized she required a closer connection to the Wormheart to gain greater control, so she gladly placed the necrotic organ within her own chest cavity. Shortly thereafter, she managed to move the creature's aboveground head; today she is certain she will finally get the worm's corpse to move fully. Only by navigating the mostly inert creature and finding the buried head can adventurers stop Mehnit from enacting her plans and bringing the foul creation to complete unlife.

The worm’s interior remains remarkably well preserved, due to Geb’s magic and the corpse’s burial beneath desert sands. The smell of rot pervades the passageways, although not strongly enough to cause nausea. The entirety of the corpse's interior is unlit. The cylindrical passageways throughout the worm are 15 feet wide and 15 feet high, but a handful of chokepoints force explorers to squeeze through dead flesh, and many places on the floor feature an unusual trap where the worm’s muscles squeeze together and crush nearby victims. Skeletons, zombies, and Mehnit’s snakes patrol the interior of the worm, while the spectres remain hidden but report any activity to Mehnit.

6. The Submerged Head (CR 6 or 9)
==========
After squeezing through another small hole, you reach a second head belonging to this eerily conjoined crimson worm. An altar replete with snake motifs stands near the toothy maw. Skeletons mill about, while a mummy standing at the altar frustratedly commands the worm to move.

This area benefits from an unhallow effect (for the low tier, no other spell effect applies; for the high tier, protection from energy (fire) applies). Entering this chamber through the choke point requires squeezing (refer to Pathfinder Core Rulebook 193). The last character going into the worm's head faces a haunt (detailed below).

Creatures: Mehnit has invested too much in her dreams of power—and she is too close to achieving her goal—to let this inconvenience thwart her. She shouts for the skeletons to attack, while her amphisbaena (or amphisbaenas, at the high tier) follows. The front (or only, for the low tier) row of skeletons steps forward 5 feet in order to trigger the worm's involuntary muscular action, potentially crushing hesitant adventurers. The skeletons start the encounter in the row(s) behind the trapped spaces, while the amphisbaena(s) start behind the skeletons. Both use straightforward tactics.

Because Mehnit bears the heart in her chest, she can concentrate on controlling the worm as a move action. She only attacks adjacent foes, unless a competent spellcaster targets her, in which case she moves to attack. Assuming the party does not incapacitate her, the following events occur:

  • Round 1: The worm's head judders, causing every creature to succeed at a DC 10 Reflex save or fall prone. Mehnit and her snakes are immune to this effect.

  • Rounds 3-5: The worm jerks its head up through the sand. This has the same effect as above, except the Reflex save DC increases by 2 each round, starting at 12 in round 3. During round 5, the trap resets itself.

  • Round 6: The worm bursts through the sand, sending everything inside the worm flying. All creatures inside the worm must succeed at a DC 20 Reflex save to avoid moving 5 feet away from the mouth (potentially triggering the trap), taking 1d6 points of damage and falling prone. Mehnit, who reacts with a mixture of surprise and elation, is not immune to this effect.

  • Round 8: Mehnit gains full control of the creature, allowing her to command the worm to grapple one character per round (CMB +24). If the worm succeeds at its check, it crushes its victim in the folds of its walls, dealing 4d8 points of bludgeoning damage.

Low Tier (CR 6):
Mehnit CR 5 LINK
Mummy
XP 1,600
hp 60 (Bestiary 210)
Melee slam +14 (1d8+10 plus mummy rot and plus purple worm poison, Fort DC 19)
Skills Handle Animal +13, Intimidate +13, Perception +16, Spellcraft +13, Stealth +11, Use Magic Device +13

Two-headed Venomous Snake CR 1 LINK
Venomous Snake
XP 400
hp 13 (Bestiary 255)
Melee bite +2 (1d4-1 plus poison) and bite +2 (1d4-1 plus poison)

Skeleton (2) CR 1/3 LINK
XP 135 each
hp 4 (Bestiary 250)

High Tier (CR 9): LINK
Mehnit CR 5
Mummy
XP 1,600
hp 60 (Bestiary 210)
Melee slam +14 (1d8+10 plus mummy rot and plus purple worm poison, Fort DC 24)
Skills Handle Animal +13, Intimidate +13, Perception +16, Spellcraft +13, Stealth +11, Use Magic Device +13

Amphisbaena (3) CR 4 LINK
Venomous Snake
XP 1,200 each
hp 45 (Bestiary 2 25)

Skeleton (5) CR 1/3 LINK
XP 135 each
hp 4 (Bestiary 250)

Haunt: Ancient victims of the worms’ attack have not been laid to rest; some linger near the entrance to the buried head. A haunt targets the last creature squeezing through the opening. For the low tier use the shrieking walls haunt (The Brinewall Legacy 41); for the high tier use the bleeding walls haunt (GameMastery Guide 243)

Trap: Any Small or larger creature stepping on an indicated square sets off the worm's reflexive swallowing. The trap affects all creatures in the row behind the trapped squares (towards the worm’s interior). Use the falling block trap (Pathfinder Core Rulebook 420), except reduce the Perception and Disable Device DCs to 15, and reduce the damage to 2d6. Additionally, any character attempting to pass through the affected spaces must squeeze.

Development: If the characters do not search Mehnit specifically for the Wormheart, a spectre passes through the worm's mouth and exclaims, "Now that she is gone, I shall possess the Heart!" The spectre seeks the Wormheart’s destruction to free it of its long, tormented existence, so any attack drives the creature away. However, any attempt to leave the worm with the Heart provokes an earnest attack by the spectre. The Heart has 15 hit points and hardness 5, but nothing can harm it while it is within another creature.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012 , Star Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 9

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This preternatural humanoid's body parts fade in and out randomly, dripping gore and revealing its bizarre anatomy. A broken blade juts out at an angle in place of the creature’s shinbone. Its demented grin reveals animal fangs, rocks, and glass shards for teeth. The creature’s disturbingly mismatched eyes gleam maliciously.
 
Phasic Ravager CR 7
XP 3,200
NE Medium aberration (incorporeal)
Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17
Aura frightful presence (60 ft., DC 19)
 
----- Defense -----
AC 19, touch 19, flat-footed 14 (+4 deflection, +4 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 71 (11d8+22)
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +10
Defensive Abilities incorporeal
Weaknesses partial corporeality
 
----- Offense -----
Speed 30 ft., fly 40 ft. (average)
Melee incorporeal touch +12 (1d6 plus discorporating touch)
Special Attacks discorporating touch, phasing steal
 
----- Statistics -----
Str —, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 17, Cha 19
Base Atk +8; CMB +12; CMD 27
Feats Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Steal, Mobility, Skill Focus (Stealth), Spring Attack
Skills Fly +15, Intimidate +18, Knowledge (arcana) +14, Perception +17, Sense Motive +13, Sleight of Hand +18, Spellcraft +10, Stealth +24, Use Magic Device +10
Languages Aklo, Common, Undercommon
 
----- Ecology -----
Environment any land
Organization solitary, pair, or congregation (3-12)
Treasure standard (magic items incorporated into the ravager’s body)
 
----- Special Abilities -----
Discorporating Touch (Su) By succeeding at a touch attack, the phasic ravager can draw flesh and blood from its target into itself. The victim takes 4d6 points of damage (Fortitude DC 19 half), and the ravager heals half of the damage it inflicts. The save DC is Charisma-based. Alternately, a ravager can take an unattended item, or execute a steal combat maneuver, and absorb the taken item, healing 2d6 points of damage. If the creature does not use its discorporating touch at least once in a 24-hour period, it takes 2d6 points of damage at the end of that period.
Partial Corporeality (Ex) Due to the phasic ravager’s constantly shifting nature, non-magical attacks targeting it have a 50% miss chance and inflict half damage.
Phasing Steal (Ex) A phasic ravager may use the steal combat maneuver on an opponent’s held or closely worn items. This grants its opponent a +10 bonus to his CMD. A ravager cannot wield any items it steals, but it can otherwise benefit from magic items.
 
A conclave of scholars dedicated to arcane studies developed a ritual that would relocate the entire group to the Ethereal Plane, allowing them to pursue their studies in peace. A crucial mistake in the ritual’s execution set off a catastrophe that warped the scholars’ bodies and forced them to exist in a state of constant flux, birthing a new race: the phasic ravager.
 
Phasic ravagers endure constant, withering pain. Their bodies slough flesh and blood as random parts flicker in and out of existence. After years of observing the ravagers’ search for a cure, Zon-Kuthon's servant Vreet-Hall intervened, teaching them to replace their lost flesh with organic and inorganic material. Seeing no other solution, they gave in to the embrace of their maddening pain. The creatures alleviate their torment by inflicting agony on, and stealing magic items from, their victims. Only death reverts a ravager to its material state, the creature’s body collapsing into a heap of flesh, bones, and stolen items.
 
A phasic ravager’s bizarre condition attracts many unwholesome creatures that wish to study and exploit the ravager’s inherent abilities. A ravager accepts assistance from those offering greater power, but it reacts violently to any creatures proposing to reverse its flickering state.

Liberty's Edge Contributor, RPG Superstar 2012 , Star Voter Season 6, Marathon Voter Season 7, Star Voter Season 9

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Monster Reformation Alliance
Alignment: CN
Headquarters: Kaer Maga
Leader: Cornelius Flynn
Structure: Widespread crusaders for monstrous humanoid rights
Scope: Global
Resources: Individual assets plus access to various monster lairs (ranging from 1,000 to 1,000,000 gp per individual/lair)

When a doppelganger killed and replaced gnome adventurer Cornelius Flynn, it set upon a scheme to convince the world at large that monstrous humanoids deserved inclusion in society. Flynn searched out other doppelgangers and recruited well-meaning, former adventurers grown weary of their lives of slaughter. The Monster Reformation Alliance spread from Flynn’s home in Kaer Maga to other cosmopolitan cities where citizens would be more receptive to their message of coexistence. Monsters have also joined the Alliance to make a show of their worth to society.

Structure and Leadership
Cornelius Flynn heads the Alliance, but he gives his lieutenants plenty of autonomy to handle missions as they see fit. He asks that they set aside 20 percent of any treasure they obtain, which he uses to pay for the services of arcane spellcasters who provide teleportation or divination-baffling spells. In larger cities plagued by monsters, such as Absalom, trusted Alliance veterans have opened small chapters with Flynn's blessing. Even far off Kasai boasts a chapter house operated by a pair of tanuki. Finally, various monsters cooperate with the organization to put on an air of civility.

Goals
Flynn and his inner circle simultaneously seek to gain easy access to hoards of treasure accumulated by their monstrous charges and pull off the most dangerous con game on the population of Golarion. By convincing people that adventurers only have their own agendas in mind when they needlessly slay intelligent creatures, the Alliance hopes to engender sympathy for beings society would normally regard as monsters. At the same time, the organization convinces these creatures to curb their typical activities to gain the public’s trust. Where enough Alliance members gather, they orchestrate events in order to grant one of their monstrous members a heroic reputation.

Public Perception
Most people who have any awareness of the Alliance consider the group a bunch of lunatics who will bring about their own doom through good-intentioned but unwise meddling with deadly creatures. However, some people express sympathy for the organization’s mission. For appearance’s sake, the organization turns away creatures with low intelligence, overly monstrous creatures that cannot alter their appearance, and the utterly insane.


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We've secretly replaced his coffee with poison which will render him temporarily blind.

Let's watch...


I like Crunchberries, myself.

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