***No Unmarked Spoilers in this thread, please - I wish I hadn't read the ones in the playtest! (If you'd like to make broad reference to 'the plan of the evil boss in Book 3 of Mummy's Mask is referenced on Page X, that's fine, just don't actually write the evil plan unless you put a spoiler tag around it***
So, reading through I came across the Gray Maidens prestige archetype (pg 281), which contains some moderately large spoilers about the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path.
Specifically, it tells you who the Gray Maidens are, what happens to them, gives away a couple of secrets from Curse of the Crimson Throne, then tells you how the AP ends. All this is unmarked. While it doesn't reference Curse directly by name, it's impossible to run into the Gray Maidens during the AP and not immediately get the references the playtest doc is making.
Are there other AP spoilers I should be aware of to avoid elsewhere in the document?
And is there any possibility of removing them - or at least marking them - for the finished document? Paizo have a LOT of APs out, and there must be plenty of groups that want to play PF2 who haven't made their way through all of them yet.
For those out there who enjoy Actual Play audio podcasts, we, the Sugar Fuelled Gamers, have been recording our Curse of the Crimson Throne sessions, and these are now available to download as MP3 files from Google Drive. Enjoy!
This thread is for new updates, your feedback and discussion (please feel free to post your comments), and general information. This podcast, unsurprisingly, contains massive ***Spoilers*** for the entire Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign. Our previous AP Podcasts of Paizo products include a solo player Kingmaker campaign, and the first book of Serpent's Skull as a mini-campaign.
The city of Korvosa. Largest in Varisia, greatest of the Chelaxian colonies. Her past rulers have never sat easily upon the Crimson throne. But now a spark of change burns through our city. For good, or for ill? Let us see what is written in the cards…
My name is Zellara Zindane. I am a Harrow reader from West Dock. I am also dead. This is not my story, nor even the story of the heroes who would rise to defend our city in the days to come.
Rather, it is the story of Korvosa.
An Adventure Path set in a sprawling urban city, filled with lies, politics, the quest for power, revenge, and a band of heroes facing the many dangers that threaten to topple Korvosa.
Starring:
Helen as ‘Jac’ Jaclyn Lewis, Gnome Arcane Trickster
Miriam as ‘Flora’ Florence Seren, Human Cleric of Desna
Susan as Mordel Mandravius / Silvyr Rose, Half-Elf Bard
Yerin as ‘Lucy’ Lucyindriel Wintrish, Human Wild Sorceress
Adam as Garrin Silversmith, Dwarven Paladin of Sarenrae
Jared as the GM
System: This is a Paizo Adventure Path written for, and run in, Dungeons and Dragons 3.5.
Special Thanks To:
Paizo, for an excellent Adventure Path, and the Paizo forums for several variations to improve it further.
Frequency of sessions: Varies, but usually once every two weeks or so.
Length of sessions: 2.5 - 3 hours.
Episode Synopses
For those of you who like episode synopses, here they are (spoiler tagged for those who prefer to listen blind!)
Spoiler:
Episode 1 – (Prologue, Part 1) In which we meet Gaedran Lamm, the Black Lamb of Korvosa, and the scars his life has left upon the city.
Episode 2 – (Prologue, Part 2) In which certain citizens of Korvosa unite to tackle a fire, and receive a mysterious invitation.
Episode 3 – In which our heroes are introduced to the art of Harrow by the mysterious Zellara Zindane, and begin their pursuit of Gaedran Lamm.
Episode 4 – Our heroes raid the old fishery and tackle Gaedran’s goons. Are they in time to come face to face with their tormentor?
Episode 5 – In which our heroes deal with a shock, and the city of Korvosa deals with a bigger shock.
Episode 6 – In which our heroes face the riots, sewer monsters, superheroes, and the horrors of Varisian orange juice.
Episode 7 – in which our heroes meet more faces of Korvosa, from the pervy Pilts Lamm to Queen Illeosa herself.
Episode 8 – in which our heroes discover Zellara’s secret, are recruited as Reservists, meet the exhausted Field Marshall Cressidia Kroft, and confront the World’s Dumbest Guards.
Episode 9 – in which our heroes raid All the Worlds’ Meat. Is there a conspiracy to be uncovered, or are they simply depriving the poor of free food?
Episode 10 – in which our heroes attempt to uncover the Arkona conspiracy, find out the fate of tyrants in Korvosa, and Majenko officially joins the party be demonstrating his psy-cho-logi-cal capacities.
Episode 11– in which our heroes meet with Vencarlo Orsini, master swordsman, and seek an audience with the King of Spiders to help bring down Gaedran Lamm.
Episode 12– in which our heroes find the Arkona dagger holds unrevealed secrets, a strike is made at Queen Illeosa, and our heroes’ presence is demanded at the Church of Asmodeus.
Episode 13 – in which Garrin discovers the fate of his old apprentice, Silvyr comes face to face with his parents, and the raid of Lamm’s operations begins.
For those out there who enjoy Actual Play audio podcasts, we, the Sugar Fuelled Gamers, have been recording our Serpent's Skull sessions, and these are now available to download as MP3 files from Google Drive. Enjoy!
Even a simple ocean voyage on Golarion has risks. But who could have expected this? Our heroes awake, cast away on a desert island, with no weapons, armour, supplies, or even food. How did they get here? And where did their ship go? Their last few weeks are a haze of missing memories. They’ll have to find what they’ve lost and forgotten if they hope to survive a desert island filled with cannibals, the restless dead, ancient treasure, greed, and fellow castaways with secrets to kill for…
This audio, unsurprisingly, contains massive ***Spoilers*** for Soul for Smuggler's Shiv (but none for the rest of the Serpent's Skull AP). This is a complete mini-campaign (run in DnD 3.5), adapted from the Serpent's Skull AP Book 1, Soul for Smuggler's Shiv. The first book of Serpent's Skull is really excellent, but the rest of the Adventure Path didn't inspire us. So we took the best bit and adapted it into a self-contained mini-campaign, changing the plot around as needed to make the first adventure book a complete story - emphasizing some aspects of it, and de-emphasizing others. Our heroes must piece together the mystery of their missing memories, find what they've Lost and Forgotten, and survive the treacherous Soul for Smuggler's Shiv.
These files are are now-completed mini-campaign from start to finish. Let us know your thoughts if you enjoy it!
Starring:
Helen as Lydia, Katapeshi streetrat Halfling Rogue
Adam as Richard ‘Tiny’ Nicodemus, ex-gladiator Human Fighter
Episode Synopses
For those of you who like episode synopses, here they are (spoiler tagged for those who prefer to listen blind!)
Spoiler:
Episode 1 – in which our castaways’ time on the unknown island begins with pain, and a mystery to be solved.
Episode 2 – in which our castaways find signs of their lost ship and remember a part of what they’ve lost and forgotten.
Episode 3 – in which our castaways make friends and enemies, track down a cannibal village, and find alcohol and drugs. Life on the island is improving…
Episode 4 –in which our castaways face off with the World’s Dumbest Cannibal™, and learn the fate of other castaways on Smuggler’s Shiv.
Episode 5 – in which our castaways face off with the island’s undead and attempt to excavate an old pirate treasure. To the shock of Dungeons and Dragons players everywhere, it’s protected by traps and monsters.
Episode 6 – in which our castaways face off with the Red Mountain Devil and explore the island further.
Episode 7 – in which our castaways tamper with forces beyond their understanding, and find what happened to the Jenivere.
Episode 8 – in which our castaways finally regain their lost and forgotten memories and learn how their stories interweave.
Episode 9 – in which our castaways deal with more hostile inhabitants of the island, both living and dead, learn to fear the Silent Island, and draw the eternal ire of the cannibal tribe.
Episode 10 – in which our castaways face mass combat, and we break out every combat subsystem imaginable.
Episode 11 - in which our castaways have their final grand melee with the cannibal tribe – will they all make it out alive?
Episode 12 – in which our castaways find what the Tide Stones are built to hide, discover the fate of the Jenivere’s Captain and the remaining cannibals, and receive an invitation to let their greed drive them onwards.
Episode 13 - in which our castaways face off with Mother Thrunefang, creepy dolls, the Flensing Room, and the need to feed.
Episode 14 – in which our castaways discover just how much treasure Captain Quint left behind. Will they escape the island, or will their greed lead them to ruin?
This is the conclusion of our Lost and Forgotten campaign. Thank you very much for listening through!
System Matters:
Interested in what’s happening with the system you’re listening to? (If not, stop reading now).
This is a Pathfinder Adventure Path, run with 3.5 rules (because those are the rulebooks we have, primarily, as opposed to anything being particularly wrong with Pathfinder). In this campaign, we wanted to enhance the survivalist feel by adding some rules we wouldn’t use in a regular DnD campaign.
Equipment Damage – the jungle environment is harsh on equipment. Each day (and each time they fumble or get critted), our PCs have a 25% chance for each piece of key equipment to become damaged (from masterwork ≥ normal ≥ broken ≥ improvised ≥ destroyed, with increasing penalties.)
Morale – On a desert island, keeping up your spirits can be as important as food and water. Many a castaway has died simply from giving up, while those with strong morale fight harder than ever. Each day, those affected must make a DC15 Will save, moving one step up or down on the morale track. Bonuses are applied for finding luxury supplies (like wine), the general stability of the camp, and other such things. Penalties are applied for negative events (like a death, not having a camp, etc).
For those out there who enjoy Actual Play audio podcasts, we have been recording our Kingmaker sessions, and these are now available to download as MP3 files from Google Drive. Enjoy!
This thread is for when updates are posted and general discussion of the podcast. This audio, unsurprisingly, contains massive ***Spoilers*** for the entire Adventure Path.
The River Kingdoms are a constantly shifting group of city-states, kingdoms, and fiefdoms, rising and falling through the machinations of would-be conquerors, wars, assassinations, games of politics, and dangerous monsters. South of Brevoy sit the Stolen Lands – stolen from what and when are a matter of debate – currently overrun by bandits and monsters. Brevoy seeks to aid in the establishment of new kingdoms, buffer states, run by anyone strong and clever enough to carve a kingdom out of the wilderness. Kaylen Thorne, the mercenary who would be king, believes he is that man. Herein lies his tale - of wilderness exploration, monsters, politics, romantic entanglements, ancient gods, and war. Heavy is the head that wears the crown…
Starring: Helen as Kaylen Thorne, half-orc Fighter; Jared as GM / Tristain Thorne (human bard) / Korwin Steelriver (dwarf cleric of Pharasma) / Bryn (half-elf monk) / Michaela Morag (Mysterious Rogue/Cleric)
Special Notes: This is a solo game – one GM, one player. To help our lead character Kaylen out, he gets a rotating cast of four main NPCs as his party. To save us a lot of headaches, only one of them goes adventuring with him at a time, run by the GM. We have previously run through the Jade Regent adventure path – alas, unrecorded – like this previously. We began recording a few sessions into Book 2, and Session Zero is a short recap of what came previously.
Subsystems: A homebrewed version of the relationship mechanics from Jade Regent, where Kaylen gains Relationship Points and bonus abilities with his fellow NPCs, and Harrow cards used as Hero Points.
Frequency of sessions: Varies, but usually once every two weeks or so.
Length of sessions: Usually sits around the 2.5-3 hr mark, but these can vary wildly. We play in and around schedules whenever we have free uninterrupted time, so our game lengths are pretty swingy.
Special Thanks To:
Paizo, for an excellent Adventure Path, and the Paizo forums for several variations to improve it further. Dudemeister's work shines heavily through here, but I've borrowed from any number of sources.
RPGMP3.com, who offer a wide variety of actual play audio and inspired the podcast.
Episode Synopses
For those of you who like episode synopses, here they are (spoiler tagged for those who prefer to listen blind!)
Spoiler:
Episode 0 - in which we recap that which has passed unrecorded.
Episode 1 – in which a rumourmonger comes to town, and Kaylen fights a force that can’t be slain by a sword. Grigori, famed as one of Kingmaker's more memorable encounters, comes to town.
Episode 2 – in which Stagthorne is attacked by a unique monster (a Dandifluer), and Kaylen takes a fascinating side trip to the First World.
Episode 3 – in which the kingdom loses a great asset, Kaylen explores south to Candlemere Island, and a new species is encountered in the Greenbelt.
Episode 4 – in which Kaylen and Michaela encounter the horrors of Candlemere Island. The Cthuhu-ian horrors of the Outer Dark await!
Episode 5 – in which Kaylen and Tristain explore Candlemere, encounter the lizard folk, try to save a child, and start a war.
Episode 6 – in which the lizardfolk army attacks, and the Church of Desna and the Order of the Silver Twilight disagree over the fate of Candlemere.
Episode 7 – in which the Holy Order of Erastil comes for justice for Akiros, high General of Stagthorne. Kaylen makes a move on Bryn, and the mythical Hodag is encountered.
Episode 8 – in which Kaylen returns to the Elven ruin and finds some old and new enemies.
Episode 9 – in which the Baoban Sith is faced in a fierce encounter, Tristain finds love, and Tartuk is tried for his crimes.
Episode 10 – in which the spy within Stagthorne is outed, and the problem is taken care of.
Episode 11 – in which Kaylen is presented with an unexpected - and confusing - opportunity at love, and the Lonely Barrow is raided.
Episode 12 – in which the Lonely Barrow is raided, and Mab’s champion is faced.
Episode 13 – in which two short episodes are combined – Kaylen deals with a choice of women, speaks to Oleg, and the kingdom faces a minor plague.
Episode 14 – a short episode in which Kaylen deals with an outbreak of divorce, and plans for trolls.
Episode 15 – in which Kaylen takes the fight to Hagrulka’s kingdom, slays a “dragon”, meets Jamandi Rull, and frees a load of slaves.
Episode 16 – in which the battle of Fangberry Farm takes place and the battle of Elk’s Rest.
Episode 17 – in which we experience the traditional Lost Episode and Recap session. Here, a councilor is murdered! Not a dream, not an imaginary story, somebody really dies (and then we look at Raise Dead...)
Episode 18 – in which Kaylen meets the swamp witch, is invited to Varn Thorne's wedding, and explores the lower Greenbelt further.
Episode 19 – in which Kaylen finally confronts Hagrulka, in the battle of the Monster Kingdom vs Stagthorn!
Episode 20 – in which tragedy hits Elk’s Rest, Kaylen hits back, and the biggest monster yet is encountered.
Episode 21 – in which Kaylen deals with the destruction left by Hagrulka's parting blow.
Episode 22 – in which Kaylen travels to Varnhold for the wedding of Varn Thorne and Jamandi Rull.
Episode 23 – in which fun and games are had at the wedding. And a tragedy strikes the council.
Episode 24 – in which the conspiracy of the cult of Gyronna is unmasked, and we find out who is on whose side.
Episode 25 – in which King Kaylen deals with the depth of the betrayal of his kingdom.
Episode 26 – in which wedding bells ring. Will anyone object?
Episode 27 – in which a million million kingdom turns occur
Episode 28 – in which Fey Lords and Ladies are consulted, and ill news comes from Varnhold.
Episode 29 – in which Kaylen and Tristain investigate Varnhold. What dark sorcery is responsible for it’s fate?
Episode 30 – in which Kaylen confronts the Nomen Centaurs
Episode 31 – in which Kaylen seeks the gods’ wisdom to divine the plot, and has a diplomatic meeting with the centaur leader.
Episode 32 – in which Kaylen and Tristain explore the Nomen Heights and battle the monsters – and eels! – within
Episode 33 – in which Kaylen and Bryn explore the Nomen Heights, climb Mt Talon, and face the deadly foe of eels again.
Episode 34 – in which Kaylen and Bryn descend Mt Talon a lot faster than they climbed in, and challenge the power responsible for Varnhold’s vanishing.
Episode 35 - in which the gifts of the Queen of Forgotten Time are accepted, and Kaylen is challenged to undertaken a dangerous and already completed task.
Unrelated to Kingmaker, but for those enjoying the audio, we also have The Worlds Most Wondrous Year, a Savage Worlds Pulp Adventure (further details in spoiler tag). Be warned that this audio contains Spoilers of a sort for the Carrion Crown AP's Book 2, Trial of the Beast, which we adapted for the purpose (it's adapted heavily, so I wouldn't be too worried if you plan to play it - nonetheless, a warning for those who like to avoid spoilers of any kind!)
Spoiler:
It is 1899, the turn of the 20th Century. 23 years after extraordinary British scientist Phileas Fogg went around the World in 80 Days, he now seeks to better his own feat – to travel to any seven destinations on the planet, no matter how far, within the year. Fogg will then justifiably become the head of the Royal Academy of Science. There’s just one problem. Phileas Fogg is a cad, philander, murderer, and monster. Only a small group of heroes know the truth, and only they can stop him in an adventurous race around the world!
This is a pulp adventure in the style of Indiana Jones, with our heroes travelling the world and facing adventures from a variety of different pulp-filtered genres, from Mystery, Mummies, Pulp Archeology (death-traps!), light Horror, Espionage, and are heading into Time Travel and Dinosaur Safari.
Helen as 'Pittsburgh' Pete Morrison, square jawed American hero
Miriam as Dr Johnathan Hannah, renowned mummy-phobic Egyptologist with shifty eyes
Susan as Dr Amanda Strange, rich dillentante, occultist, scientist, and general eccentric who believes her cat can talk to her, and is inhabited by her dead husband's spirit.
Mara Priscilla Mimieax, time travelling 10 year old Eloi girl from the ruined future.
Grant as Bernard Pendlebury / James Fogg, allegedly a simply butler, but secretly Phileas Fogg's thought-murdered brother.
Jan as Jeremy Wright, mad clockwork scientist
Yerin as Special Investigator Rosemary Darling, British police officer.
System: Savage Worlds, Pulp Edition
Special Notes: This is a slightly homebrewed version of Savage Worlds, set up for Pulp rules and based on the Thrilling Tales sourcebook. We've made some skill changes and added a travel system, but it's mostly Savage Worlds in all it's glory.
Frequency of sessions: 3 sessions in a month, very consistently
Length of sessions: Around 2.5 - 3 hours, consistently.
Special Thanks To:
Pinnacle Entertainment Group (PEG), makers of Savage Worlds.
Our Egyptian Adventure "The Strange Expedition and... The Secrets of Sekhmet!" is strongly inspired by The Shadows of Sekhmet, an Any-System Key Scenario by Peter Schweighofer.
Our Transylvanian Adventure "The Strange Expedition vs... The True Terrors of Transylvania!" is an adaption of The Trial of the Beast, Paizo's second book of the Carrion Crown Adventure Path.
Our Amazon Adventure "The Strange Expedition vs... The Crocodile Cult!" is an adaption of PEG's free pulp Savage Worlds adventure, The Eye of Kilquato.
Corax the lumberjack appears in Encounter B of Book 2, in an argument-devolving-into-violence with a nixie over logging rights.
As written,
- he's abusive, speaking in words "laced with profanities".
- he hates the fey, whom the PCs might have had several positive encounters with at this point. At the least, it's clear there's enough of them about that the kingdom will have to live with them (indeed, Book 2 offers another quest hook about helping a helpful dryad).
- he's prepared to kill his own charmed men rather than lose face in front of his crew. In the absence of PC intervention, he starts the fight.
- he has negative Charisma.
- his desired role is Ruler (which he's spectacularly bad at, thanks to the negative CHA) - the only NPC with this listed as his desired role.
Many of the other would-be councillors (such as Akiros) our group can see heavily depending on the nature of the past interactions with them, but they all seem potentially plausible. With Corax, we found it hard to imagine anyone would sign him up under any circumstances.
Has anyone run through Kingmaker using story-based leveling rather than XP totals?
We have been using story leveling for other APs and it works very well for our group. Kingmaker, with how wildly it can divert from the plot, seems like it would benefit from story-leveling, but unlike the other APs appear to offer set points at which the PCs should be at X level (probably because it doesn't match with the exploring sandbox nature). (Unless of missed this. The other modules start with this in the front pages, but not Kingmaker - could somebody point me to a page reference if so?)
What have people used as leveling points for XP-less Kingmaker? At the moment, I'm looking at a level per X hexes explored, although that does create the possibility of managing to gain a level entirely by finding empty hexes, or gaining only one from doing all the large dungeon areas... Thoughts?
Traveling through hot or cold environments involves a lot of Fort saves. A lot of Fort saves. While I like the flavour of getting fatigued and damaged while walking through the desert, it seems like the fun will be sucked out of it by getting the players to roll two dozen Fort saves a day.
On the other hand, saving it all up and giving them one Fort save per day vs 24 hours exposure could see them rolling 24d4, then suddenly passing out at the end of the day.
Does anyone have any homebrew rules or suggestions for fun environmental travelling rules that might suit?
The rules as current, for reference::
A character in very hot conditions (above 90° F) must make a Fortitude saving throw each hour (DC 15, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take a –4 penalty on their saves. A character with the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the skill description). Characters reduced to unconsciousness begin taking lethal damage (1d4 points per hour).
In severe heat (above 110° F), a character must make a Fortitude save once every 10 minutes (DC 15, +1 for each previous check) or take 1d4 points of nonlethal damage. Characters wearing heavy clothing or armor of any sort take a –4 penalty on their saves. A character with the Survival skill may receive a bonus on this saving throw and might be able to apply this bonus to other characters as well (see the Survival skill in Using Skills). Characters reduced to unconsciousness begin taking lethal damage (1d4 points per each 10-minute period).
A character who takes any nonlethal damage from heat exposure now suffers from heatstroke and is fatigued. These penalties end when the character recovers from the nonlethal damage she took from the heat.
