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Hello everyone!

I am playing Return of the Runelords with a group of 4 players and we are nearing the end of the third book. So I've been reading the other three books carefully and I'm looking forward to continuing this adventure that seems really epic!

That said, I am having trouble understanding a rather important point in book 6 and would like to know if you have any tips on how to better understand it all. My question comes from Alaznist's modification of the timeline. From what I understand, the players will have to go to the city outside of time to find writings from the past and compare them with what they know in their world/history. They will then be able to identify the 7 wounds caused by Alaznist and repair them before confronting the runelord. But what I don't understand is when does Alaznist use the scepter to alter the past? From my point of view, she does it at the very beginning of the adventure, just after waking up and "killing" Xanderghul. But if this is the case, why is it that the effects of this modification only appear when the heroes return from visiting Xin Edrassil? And the changes in the past can't be done while they are out of time, since otherwise the players would have no interest in going back to the past to find historical writings, they could just study the history in their world.

Anyway, this all confuses my mind a bit, and I hope my questions are explicit enough for you to give me answers

I hope you'll be able to help me, I'm looking forward to read your comments and advices for this adventure!

Hello guys,

(Spoilers!)

I don't understand what exactly is the motivation in the second tome of the campaign to kill or to release Thybidos? Sorshen told the players that they have to kill him. However, if they don't, nothing will change during the campaign? Thybidos can just remain in his dungeon? Moreover, Sorshen tell the players that they could have some information with the ancient runelord of wrath but he don't tell anything to the players?

Is there a way to improve this encounter and to give the players some clues for the future, without spoiling the entire campaign? Do you have some idea?
Another idea should be that the Thybidos Wrath nourish Alaznist power. As the runelord of Wrath, she use the wrath of his prisonner to gain power. Offer the rest to Thybidos could be a way to reduce Alaznist power, and to gain some time for the PC (and time will be useful in book 3, as they have to manage the potnetial return of two more runelords!).

What are you feelings about it

Hi guy,

That's make sense. Thank you for your explanation.
That would means that from books 1 to 4, players are on a second history axis on which the past already changed twice, and they have some memories of thoses changes. And it's the same for Xanderghul.

At the beginning of book 6, they appear on another history axis on which they didn't change the past but Alaznist did. And at the end of the campaign, they are on the "right" history line as there is only one line at this point?

Am I right?

You mean, Xanderghul is in the same status as the PC. As he’s involved in the time paradox, he has some memory of what happened when Alaznist used the scepter of ages ?

In terms of timeline, it would be something like that:
- The PC emerge in the actual world.
- When the adventure path begins, Alaznist rise and kill Xanderghul.
- At the begnining of the second tome, the Sihedron Heroes are trap in the past by Alaznist.
- During the same adventure path, or at the beginning of the next one, Alaznist start to use the scepter of ages to damage the past. By doing so, the PC start having difficulties to remember some event of their past. In fact, at this moment, the PC saved the actual world by remove Alaznist damage. If they didn’t do that, the world would be different from the start of the third tome.
- The PC continue their way in the adventure path and they arrive in the Temple of the Peacock Spirit to confront Xanderghul. They defeat him and stole their notes.
- As Xanderghul is also affected by the damaged time, he has some memories of what Alazsnit did and so, he can give this information to the PC.
- After taking the notes, the PC are ready to go to Crystalian to learn what Alaznist change in the past. When they comeback to the curent time, they have to go to the dimension of time to heal the wounds.

It still doesn’t explain why at a sudden point of the adventures, the damages that Alaznist inflicts to the past affect the current timeline. If they PC resolve those issues, then they shouldn’t appears, and if they didn’t, they should occurs earlier…

Where am I wrong?

Hi guys,

First of all, please be aware that I will spoil a lot of things about the campaign Return of the Runelords and if you plan to play the the campaign as players, please don’t read this thread

So, I have a question for the game masters. I will play this campaign with my group but I’m a bit confusing regarding the timeline of the 5th and 6th adventures of this campaign. It’s about time travelling and it’s always tough to understand everything.

So, for me, the first four books of the adventure path are clears. But what I don’t understand is what Alaznist did with the Scepter of Ages. She damages the past to create a new thassilon. From the moment she damages time, the present changes and some of the historical events are altered (the seven wounds). But how Xanderghul is aware of those changes? He says in his notes (cf Temple of the Peacock Spirit). He wrote that he thinks Alaznist change something in the past even if he can’t prove it. But if Alaznist already changed the past, the present should be different right? Xanderghul says that the timeline must be altered and that the historicals texts changed, but actually they didn’t as the creation of Shiedron for example is still correct in the current timeline (as the Sihedron Heroes wears it).

So the PC must goes to Xin-Edasseril to find what changed in their world, but actually they don’t have to do that as the timeline isn’t altered for now. The timeline is altered only when the PC are back in their world at the beginning of the 6th adventure (Korvosa is destroyed, Magnimar is invaded by sinspawns, etc.).

Basically, I don’t get it. My main question is how Xanderghul could know that timeline changed from use of Scepter of Ages as he lived in a world where the timeline is the good one, not altered by Alaznist ?

I hope this make sense for you, please help me ☹

PS : and sorry for my poor english. I’m French and maybe I miss some key points when reading the campaign.