Sarcedor's page

Btw the page for Hell's Destiny is up for any interested.

Hell's Destiny.

It would appear that Cheliax gets hit from within and from without, makes sense. I imagine that even if the countries get pull into the conflict because of the Hellfire Crisis i don't think it every conflict in it would end with Cheliax defeat, if lets say Mzali and Vidrian go to war because Vidrian resources are low helping in the conflict and Mzali saw blood in the water that could continue for years. That way be could come back to resolved some other time when the call to write war stories arise again, similarly with what is going on in Molthune/Nirmathas.

The thing about evil adventures is that if you make them reactive there's no problem, but if you make them proactive, people will almost certainly complain, except in obscure areas of Golarion. You're not going to have an AP adventure in Molthune where it conquers Nirmathas because people would say "what about Ironfang Invasion?" (even if Oprak is the enemy in that ap). The same goes for Ravounel, Korvosa, Sandpoint, or any place where AP PCs (not module PCs, since there seems to be more flexibility there) have been; people would complain. You already had people complaining about the Hellknights taking over Hellknight Hill for a week or two in a Society scenario; imagine that, but multiply it by 10. I'd like to see proactive evil adventures myself, but it doesn't seem like that's going to be the case, and eventually you'll have places where you can only have reactive adventures (look at Varisia). So yeah, PCs working for evil organizations can work; they just need to be shown a little respect, that is all. In Second Darkness, you have the Lantern Bearers, who are infamous in my opinion for being a "good" organization (in the sense that you have to help them no matter what, and the drow are obviously the bad guys), but then they're xenophobic jerks to non-elves. How many parties have told them "well, see you later" and had to either create elf characters or not continue the campaign? Interesting thought.

I think a good place to have a "gray" adventure—in the sense that you can help different warring factions, some better than others, but you can choose who you side—is Brevoy. Basically, it would be a mercenary adventure, perhaps a character has their own interests in the conflict, but at the end of the day, the group chooses who to help from several valid options. Half the adventure would involve getting to know the noble houses, what each one does, helping them with their problems, and gaining an understanding of the situation. Then, in the second half, when a civil war breaks out (for example) the group can decide who to support. The stats of the soldiers and monsters would be the same for both sides so the devs don't have to write like seven different statblocks, and what you would do with the maps is that if you go againts one faction, lets call them House Tululu, you have to besiege their castle from the outside. But if you had allied with the Tululu guys, the enemies would be the ones on the attack, and instead, you would have to play defense and protect against an invasion, that way you can reuse maps but with different purpuse and approach. A campaign like this can also be done in the River Kingdoms, in Iobaria or elsewhere, different factions that you get to know, you choose the one you like and they end up fighting probably to the death later so you choose who the winning horse is gonna be.

In #7-14: Brastlewark at War, Part 2: The Gnome Liberation, the introductory paragraph states that the eastern front has advanced enough to be close to the gnome city and be able to liberate it, etc., so the ground advance is progressing well. If Hell's Destiny is on the western front, I suppose we'll sandwich Cheliax until we reach Egorian, where there will be a final confrontation, I assume.

Honestly, I hope that when Cheliax loses, it will manage to accomplish something that makes you say, "Holy crap, i cant believe that happened!" For example, I think this could be done well and an example is with Tyrant Grasp, where you prevent Tar-Baphon's ultimate objective (Absalom) but can't prevent the "secondary" one (Lastwall). I'd like it if, while Cheliax's main objective that we're trying to prevent is stop them from winning the war (obviously) or cause trouble with Asmodeus, they should achieve something secondary, like as an ex. creating a "Radiant Fire" 2.0 with the pieces of Gorum and destroying Augustana in a massive explosion. It doesn't have to be exactly that, but if Andoran and all their allies basically win easily, it shows they could easily wipe out Molthune or Nidal or whoever, and they're not going to do it "just 'cause".

Unless Andoran becomes ultra-militant and interventionist and turns into the "villain" of the region (a bit of a pipe dream, I think), I want there to be more than just the illusion of stakes; I want them to actually lose something, to make it a victory that's more sweet than bitter, but there has to be some bitterness in it.

Will the AP ending be isolated or will it affect other aspects of Ustalav? Obviously, I don't want you to reveal the ending, but my question is whether the campaign events are isolated and everything is resolved here and that's it (like Shades of Blood), or if there's some revelation or something that affects Ustalav, besides the fact that I suppose it won't have to worry about kidnapping carriages anymore. When I think of Bastardhall, Scarwall is the first think that comes to mind, and after Curse, there isn't much to say or see developing there, so I'd like to know.

A level 7-16 adventure where the PCs held some prestigious rank (they were a lieutenant in the army, a merchant lord, the right-hand man in the most important church, or a famous actress) and the antagonists of the AP destroyed their reputations (false accusations of corruption, scandal, etc.). Now, as pariahs of society, they band together to regain their influence (or surpass it).

You could make each campaign trait in the player's guide affiliated with an antagonist (if you choose the military trait, the military antagonist is your nemesis). During the campaign, the party sabotages and fights against the antagonist's subordinates until the final chapter, where the final battle is the PC group versus the antagonist group (who would be working together on some plot to take control of the country or something like that). The idea reminds me of Gaedren Lamm at the beginning of Curse, and the players would have that "It's personal" motivation.

I'm interested to know if anything has changed in the Mordant Spire since Godsrain with Acavna and all. I'd like to see enough aquatic content in the book because an AP build arround the Alghollthu would be interesting since i don't think they've had a significant role in 2e.

One cool thing would be if, instead of exploring more Varisia or New Thassilon, they could do adventures in the past. After all, the Draconic Codex shows us how the Time Dragon can open portals to the past. Although I suppose what I'm saying doesn't have to be limited to Thassilon; we could travel to Azlant, or the Jistka Imperium, etc., to experience what they were like in the past.

I know i am behind the wave here, but a Parallel Worlds AP would be interesting. Imagine going to a world where House Thrune made a pact with Heaven instead of Hell, a world where Karzoug, Areelu, Barzillai, and all the villains won their APs, and the world is terrible. I think it would be great to explore these "what ifs" since, obviously, these worlds aren't part of the "official" canon.

Sarcedor wrote:

-Chapter 3 (9-11): You know who's a level high enough to be a final boss? Illcayna Alonnor, daughter of Urgathoa, attacks with her undead army from the south to return Isger to a nation dedicated to the goddess.

Good job this isn't 1E, Illcayna was a CR 19 creature with 17th-level cleric casting in that system. Well beyond what should reasonably be pitted against an 11th-level party.

I've checked, and you're right, perhaps the threat is more direct from Cheliax. Even so, it's strange because at the end of the campaign, you'll have a powerful daughter of Urgathoa with an undead army in the south, and in the north, there's the cleric of Mammon, both with political or religious interests in Isger. The PCs won't be able to deal with them, will they? Perhaps that will be left for the future.

What interests me most about this campaign duology is seeing what happens with Andoran, since in Shining Kingdoms the more militaristic faction is established, and when the war with Cheliax starts a few months later (and they will likely win), I wonder if it will make Andoran even more interventionist and militant afterward. I find it interesting since in 1e the only ones that adventurers could come into conflict with were the Lumber Consortium, but it would be interesting to see conflicts between Andoran and Taldor or other nations and that in any of them there could be PCs that support them (in a Cheliax vs Andoran only Andoran would receive the support of the PCs as is being seen in the aps and society scenarios).

Taking into account the adventure description, and considering that even though it's a book it will likely be divided into three chapters, my prediction for the adventure is as follows:

-Chapter 1 (1-4): We start small, traveling through the countryside to different villages, solving problems and gaining support while facing hellknights and some undead. The boss of this chapter could be a hellknight from Citadel Dinyar, or perhaps that comes later.

-Chapter 2 (5-8): We've just gathered support and descend on Elidir and other cities in the Conerica Straits. The boss of this chapter is surprisingly Hedvend VI; he should be around level 9 or 10, so he won't be the final boss of the book. At the end of the chapter, we manage to take control of Isger.

-Chapter 3 (9-11): You know who's a level high enough to be a final boss? Illcayna Alonnor, daughter of Urgathoa, attacks with her undead army from the south to return Isger to a nation dedicated to the goddess. This is the only reason I see for including information about Urgathoa in the book. Another villain we couldn't face is the High Priestess of Mammon, since she's level 20 and so on.

An outcome I would wholeheartedly wish for is that Asmodeus continues to be worshipped in Isger. I don't want Isger to become Ravounel 2.0, and given the whole orphanage situation (whose children are now adults), I think it would be good if they worshipped Asmodeus in his "benevolent" form. It would be quite ironic, if in Hell's Destiny the House Thrune falls and Cheliax is torn to pieces, for Isger to be the place that preserves Asmodeus. It would be interesting, and there would be beef with Andoran, which would be nice.