Shalm's page

Hi all. I apologize, but I unexpectedly lost internet last weekend, and it hasn't yet returned. I will get us going again as soon as it returns. Thanks for your patience!

Thanks for your patience, new post is up!

Winters in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings were long and harsh, but that day was particularly frigid. Snow fell sideways and the wind whipped it through the air so few could see farther than their own hand in front of their face. That’s when he found her.

Sigvar was trudging back to his cottage, whistling to himself, when he noticed movement near his front door. Moving quickly, he rushed to the door and saw a child wrapped in heavy blankets and crying. He brought the child inside, started a fire to warm the hut, and went to get more blankets to warm the child up. But when he returned, he found the girl wasn’t cold at all - she seemed perfectly content, and was now smiling happily up at Sigvar.

When his wife returned from town, Sigvar told her what he had found. They agreed to ask around the village, but would raise the child as their own if no one came forward. Sigvar didn’t even think about the woman he had met years earlier, the one with white blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, the one who had so intrigued him - and he certainly didn’t see those blue eyes as they looked into the cottage, full of an evil joy at how easily he had accepted the child.

”We will need the fey, the winter-touched. Their support is crucial.” The man’s deep voice sounded confident, as if he was saying something incredibly obvious.

”Oh, we know you need them,” a piercing voice responded. “But why should they follow you? Why support the queen?” A small, icy humanoid creature with thin, leathery wings, small horns, and a mischievous smile asked the question of the man. Her partner, a large and lanky moss-covered humanoid with an elongated, toothy snout simply nodded in agreement.

”Can’t you see, Izoze, that the fey will be revered under Elvanna’s regime? That they willb e able to move across the whole of Golarion without worry, without torment? They whole world will be their domain, just as the whole world will be ours. All they must do is accept a bit of ice in their hearts.” As though that last bit were a sort of joke, the man laughed a hearty laugh, and was quickly joined by the other two.

These laughs woke Glim from his dream.

A dream, just a dream. Spending time on the surface seems to be driving me a bit insane.

Glim slipped from his bed and headed out the door into the common room of the Silver Stoat, and from there out the door into the streets of the village of Heldren. It was quite cool, but perhaps a bit of a chill was what he needed to forget that evil laugh from his dream. At least he hoped so.

In the small city of Fishcamps, in a modest hut in the middle of the ngiht, an Ulfen man tosses and turns in his bed, dreaming fitfully. He seems a woman in his dream, fear clear in her eyes. She holds the hand of a small doll.

”I’m sorry, little sister! I’m sorry for letting you wander off! Why did you do that to mom and dad, though? They looked for you everywhere! Why?”

The woman bursts into heart wrenching sobs, and the doll looks up at her.

”Mom, what are you talking about? It’s me. It’s Linge. Mom, listen to me!”

The man wakes with a start, dripping in a cold sweat.

My wife, my daughter. Oh, what has become of them?

The man rises from his bed and lights a candle sitting on a table in the center of the hut. The only other thing on the table is a letter, which the man now picks up and reads, clearly not for the first time.

Joakim, we need your aid and your expertise. The people of Whitethrone are oppressed, and few know how to get in and out of the city unnoticed like you do. You can help us smuggle people out and supplies in. Please, we are desperate. Come meet us - you know where to find us.

WIth hope,
The Heralds of Summer’s Return

Despite the hour, the man puts on his traveling cloak, picks up a dagger and sling, and heads out the door.

Hi all,

I know I've been pretty sporadic with my posts recently. It's been a pretty crazy few weeks both at work and in life, and though I've had all the best intentions, it has caused me to be less than reliable.

With all of that said, things have calmed down and I'm ready to get back at it! So, please accept my apology and look for me to hop right back in!

I’m taking the upcoming release of Sandpoint, Light of the Lost Coast as a sign that it’s finally time for me to run this iconic adventure. I’m looking for a party of five adventurers ready to rise from small-town adventurers to planet-saving heroes.

Now, the details:

Adventure Details
I will be running the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition adventure path, as well as prominently featuring much of the content from the upcoming Sandpoint, Light of the Lost Coast campaign setting book. Rise of the Runelords leaves a lot of room for interacting with the people of Sandpoint and really immersing ourselves in the town, and I plan to play up that aspect of the adventure. James Jacobs has also promised adventure hooks for every location in Sandpoint, so players in this game should feel empowered to follow up on as many of those adventure hooks as they’d like!

Character Submission

Due to a couple of factors (the impending release of Sandpoint, Light of the Lost Coast and an upcoming vacation), I won’t be closing recruitment until Sunday, October 21 at 11:59pm EST. By that time, all submissions should include a completed version of each of the following:

• - Stat block built using the Character Creation rules (below)
  
• - 1-3 paragraphs on your character’s background (including your reason for being in Sandpoint)
  
• - 1 paragraph on your character’s look and personality
  
• - If you are aiming for a particular build that isn’t obvious from your 1st-level stat block, please call that out as well

After recruitment, I’ll likely follow up with the selected players on a few other things, but that’s good for now.

Character Creation

Character creation will follow creation rules for a new, 1st level Pathfinder Society character (20-point buy, 150gp starting gold, two traits, etc.) with the following exceptions:

• - Campaign Traits: 1 of your two traits should come from the Rise of the Runelords Player’s Guide.
  
• - Background Skills: We will be using the Background Skills alternate skills system.
  
• - Races: Core races only

Alternate Rules Systems

• - Background Skills: as mentioned above in character creation

• - Automatic Bonus Progression: we’ll be using the Automatic Bonus Progression system from Pathfinder Unchained, which removes +2 ability score belts and headbands, cloaks of resistance, rings of protection, amulets of natural armor, and +1-+5 weapons and armor from the game, but gives you the bonuses they usually provide as part of leveling up. This allows players to use their hard-earned gold on more interesting items!

• - Downtime: if the chosen players are interested, I’m open to using the Downtime rules from Ultimate Campaign to flesh out the downtime portions of the adventure. I think they’re kind of interesting, but I’ll only use them if players want to.

I think that’s all for now. If you have any major questions, try to get them in before the end of the day this Friday, since I won’t be regularly checking the thread after that until the deadline (though I’ll try to check in enough to answer other outstanding questions).

If you have a question that I don’t address before the deadline, choose your preferred answer to the question and submit a character - I will address it when I return and you can make any changes you have to make because of my answer after the deadline.

I hope that all makes sense, and I’m looking forward to a fun adventure!

May I introduce Baron Sandu Randa, graduate of the University of Lepidstadt (thrice over), son of the noble Baron Horatiu Randa of County Varno, quick of mind, quick of sword, quick of wit . . . at your service.

*bows deeply*

Reuhne's blade hits home, opening a gash in the lizard. It's excitement turns to hostility, attention focused on Reuhne.

MAP LINK

You can now update the map as you take your turns. Still waiting on Viswall.

Recruitment is closed. I'll hopefully choose sooner than this, but I'll definitely announce my choices by Saturday. Thanks everyone for submitting!

I've seen a few different attempts and pieces of advice for making a campaign from PFS scenarios, but I thought I'd give it a shot myself. I've created 9 different campaigns (using all the sanctioned material through season 4, along with modules and APs) that could technically be run for the same set of players without repeating scenarios (except for a few repeatable 1st level scenarios).

I would love to hear thoughts/comments/critiques of these, especially from those who have run many of these scenarios and know which ones fit in well with others.

Nya's crossbow bolt whizzes past her target and sticks into the southern door with a thunk that goes unnoticed by the cat.

Round 2
Feline
Thom
Timur
Nya
>>Maqej
Aleithea
Hawkwing

Updated Map

Fresh off your induction into the Pathfinder Society and the completion of your basic training within the organization, you find yourselves in the office of Ambrus Valsin, the venture-captain in charge of daily operations in and around the Grand Lodge. The efficient and straightforward chamberlain greets you curtly and motions for you to sit before jumping straight into your assignment.

"All right, Pathfinders! Listen up. I know you are new recruits eager to make names for yourselves in the organization, but first we need to make sure you are up to snuff and won't get yourself killed out there. I have a number of small assignments for you and your team, and it would be best if you could finish them before the day's end.

"Every day we get some doe-eyed hopeful or some sniveling bootlicker willing to do anything to join up with the Pathfinders. Most of them are good kids, but not all of them have the salt to make it in a world like this. It's rough out there and I'm not just talking about the ruins, tombs, and wilderness Pathfinders find themselves in on missions. We've got people who look down their noses at us, folks who think we squander our resources, and agents who want to take everything we have collected. This wealth of knowledge and these items of lore make us the most powerful organization on the planet. That said, since we are fractured and widespread, it's difficult for that power to light on anything for too long. For every friends of the Society, there are two enemies.

"Your first mission, to test your mettle and loyalties, sends you to meet a few people important to the Society living here in Absalom. These are other venture-captains or close allies of our organization, so follow their orders as you would mine. I've prepared a list of things I want you to do. They're not arranged in any particular order of importance, but I want them all completed as quickly as possible. Only report to me once you complete them all. Included in the envelope you hold in your hands is the list, complete with the name of your contact, and directions to the meeting location."

Here is the contents of the envelope.

Everyone please sound off here! Make sure you post with the alias of your newly created (and registered) PFS character. If you haven't done this yet, let me know and I can help with the process. Also, don't choose a faction, as First Steps allows you to get to know them all and assumes you don't have one.

I'm considering running the section of Burnt Offerings, Thistletop, which is legal for PFS play. Characters would need to be official PFS characters of 3-5 level to participate.

The other thing to note is that this will take a decent amount of time, and if your character is in the middle of a module, he or she cannot play in any other PFS events. So that's just something to keep in mind.

Right now, I'm just gauging interest, so if this sounds like something you'd be interested in, let me know!

The sheriff takes the parchment, breaks the seal and reads. After a few seconds, she nods to herself and rolls it back up.

"This seems to be in order. Before I give you any information or allow you any access, I must remind you that you are now representing the circus, and thus any misconduct on your part reflects on the carnival."

After providing the warning, she turns to Durnim.

"A pleasure to meet you as well, my good dwarf, though these circumstances are not ideal. And a pleasure to meet all of you. I hope that we can bring a swift end to this whole ordeal.

"The deceased is a man named Archivin Walder, the town moneylender and sometimes pawnbroker. He owns...or I suppose owned... a local business called the Locked Box, which is where he practiced his money lending.

"Walder was found mauled while walking to his home late last night. Walder's wife Agnes, who went looking for her husband when he never came home, discovered the body. She informed me of the murder this morning, and also said that thieves had broken in to the Locked Box last night, killed the guard on watch, and stole many of the easily carried valuables in the place.

"Two other guards who had gone with Agnes to carry the body back to the Locked Box glimpsed two humanoid figures fleeing in the night as they carried the body to the building."

The sheriff, after rattling off the details of the murder in a quick, no-nonsense fashion, changes her tone.

"I have to be honest with you, lady and gentlemen. The mood in the town is sour. There are stories all over the place about a great four-legged beast flying over the town last night after the circus closed down, silhouetted across the moon. Of course, I'll be damned if I can find a single eyewitness who actually saw the sphinx. Now poor Walder is left dead in some bushes. It'd be one thing if these deaths were accidental, but the robbery angle has people thinkin' of a Sczarni heist. I'm not proud to say it, but this stirs a lot of unworthy opinions about Varisians.

"I'll be honest with you—I'm not entirely convinced a creature from the circus is responsible for the murder. But the people of this town—my town—are fiercely independent and reactive, and they believe the sphinx to be responsible. I will cooperate with you and with the circus, but remember that I must do what I feel is in the best interest of the town."