TheKillingJay's page

Hi James!

I'm running Iron Gods and was thinking of spicing up the on-foot trip between

Would you say that there's too few civilization to have well established paths outside of the 1 crusader road and Chesed to Starfall maybe? Or would the nomadic Kellids have formulated some routes similar to Varisians?

Thanks!

Numeria is a harsh land and place. A lot of written word went into its dangers and many points of interest, fauna, culture, etc. The Iron Gods adventure path has a lot of travel, but no mention of transitional roadways or routes.

There is definitely a confirmed (but unmarked) route Crusader's travel to Mendev. Looking into the region of the Echo Wood, the crusader road actually runs along the West Sellen, which defines the border between Numeria, Ustalav, and the Worldwound/Sarkoris

In word and in the adventure, though, Crusaders certainly travel through Numeria itself to get to Mendev.

Aside from that and roads along rivers, there's no real mention of roadways or trade routes, but there is certainly plenty of that to go along with locations such as Torch, Chesed, and Starfall.

How might these trade routes look? Would actual "roads" exist? How might the nomadic culture of the Kellid people affect them--reinforce their definition and use at all?

I thoroughly enjoyed attending seminars, games, the banquet, and meeting so many great freelancers, 3pp, and paizo staff at each of those events. I completely understand decisions to hold back on things some and make the event smaller for the pandemic. It's the right choice and definitely helps keep your staff safe.

I am far away and got the time off well in advance, making my costs to attend pricey, and now I am asking myself if that interaction with so many awesome and talented people I experienced at PaizoCon 2019 will have a chance to happen at PaizoCon 2022. I support you guys and everyone else in this corner of the industry to the ends of the earth, but I'm really wondering if this event will be as worth the pretty penny in travel and lodging it was before.

I guess pointedly, will PaizoCon 2022 in person be all community staff managers manning the store and moderating the digital event rooms and mostly community self ran and interaction? Will the energy be the same?

It's definitely a hard question, I know.

Hi James! Hope the holidays have been treating you and yours well.

I am running RotR **spoilers ahead** (have been for 3 years now, very RP heavy and slow) and I have a Varisian dancer magus PC who I made a part of Iesha's caravan.

The stuff at Misgivings has past, and a part of the PCs story is that she had to deliver the news about Iesha. Already there are Varisians congregating in the town for Mvashti, who I have played up as sick.

As such, there are going to be some somber moments for the Varisians and my PCs as they attend funerals.

I've read a lot about Varisians, but couldn't find anything solid on how they do funerary rites. I know they are oft buried along the roads they passed upon. I also figure that with how colorful and vibrant the people are, as well as referring to other holidays, that the afair may be more a celebration of life than a somber gathering.

What do you think of how Varisians do funerals? And, bonus one, how important would a body be? The PCs never encountered Iesha, and I'm wondering if I should have the bereaved parents request the PC go back and attempt to find her, though they would know she may be in a ghoulish state.

Sorry this got long! For future questions, was this too much, or just right length wise? I don't want to bog you down much

Super hype! Best birthday announcement ever! Can't wait

Ahhh, curiosity killed the lich!

This was very interesting, I did not see where that was going from the start after just having read many of the other testaments.

I think this was an example of the Seal's disappearance and its affect on the multiverse, yes? So this kind of occurance occurred on many, many levels across many different creatures and situations. This makes me think Shyka was a bit, almost sadistic, in a way. I suppose they set forth with the goal of stopping the lich without violence, but I don't know. Darocath’s seems like an orchestrated tragedy, almost. Perhaps this was Shyka's own understanding of justice coming in to play?

Thanks Ms. Merciel! I just finished a book you signed for me last year, and it was a pleasure to see you authored this too!

Hope you've been enjoying your holidays Mr. Jacobs, and thank you for answering my previous question! I'm not used to not getting notifications on Forums so I completely missed it haha.

That said, I apologize I misconstrued what I read, I'm sure you get that a lot and I'm sorry I contributed to that.

I for one would be really excited to see further adventures in the Sandpoint/Varisia regions; especially The Pit you've hinted at! I don't think the currently released APs that have Sandpoint in them will be the only campaigns I run with Sandpoint starring, its just such a fun place!

I come to you with, surprise, some questions about Sandpoint. I'm running Rise of the Runelords and have some intrigue going on with the Scarnetti family. I've run a social dinner encounter with them, and Titus has managed to get the Heroes juuuust a bit under his thumb, and its looking like they will be so for some time.

Titus is looking to use the Heroes as an instrument to sway votes in his favor on the upcoming election day (RiotR, Neth 7)

1. What kind of issues does the town council meet on to decide? What kind of power does the Mayor have vs the rest of the council?
2. How do the Mayoral/Elected Council seats get decided? Is it like a sort of voluntary/elected caucus that occurs complete with a stage, ballot, and speeches?
3. What crops are grown in Sandpoints hinterlands, aside from the confirmed corn?
4. How much money would you say each of the four houses has and the town has to spend frivolously each year? i.e on PC heroics or some such

All of these things involve the Scarnetti plan and some additions/changes I'm making to RiotR. Essentially, the last mill in Sandpoint is going to sink into the river due to the underground ghoul problem that will be linked a bit to Aldern. Titus is going to turn the bad luck into a profit by making a big public display about personally funding the reconstruction of the mills; that combined with bribing the Heroes of Sandpoint may be enough to sway the election in his favor.

Sorry for pestering, and if you read any of it, thank you!

Hope your new years rings in well, and also I really enjoyed that last live stream you did with Mr. Loza, sign me up for more like it in the future ^_^

Hello Askar hope you are well! I just caught up on the last few posts, and man 100k excess wealth? That sounds exciting, both as a GM and as a player I'd think. Those two items you noted are super cool, and the Axe seems like it could be particularly useful for sure haha

This got really long, just commenting on stuff as I read it. Feel free to not engage in my strange musings and infinite questions haha. I'll spoiler these and hopefully keep up to date so I don't hijack your thread so much!

I noticed there are some different shops and locations in your Sandpoint, like the Witch's store and Polyamoury; were those worked in strictly off PC interest? I wish I could work in a Sandpoint Bulletin... It seems like such a useful tool for the players and the GM, but would be strange to add in mid campaign.

I cannot lie dude, your ideas and modifications to the campaign are really impressive. I'm honestly surprised and confused how all of this has come about in the span of 30 sessions lol

I am very intrigued by your plot with Brodert, the Hellfire Flume, and that entire dungeon, really. Brodert has been an essential NPC in the entirety of book 1 for my PCs, as my players are convinced that everything Thassilon is what RotR centers on, and as such I've been offering the PCs more opportunities to learn about it. Brodert's sent them on two different quests already, and they've listened to his lore filled rants on his theories on what feels like a dozen occasions. Going through my old notes, my own thoughts for the dungeon involved the descendants of Alaznist's Flameshaped Soldiers (From a Wayfinder issue) who managed to survive and thrive through Earthfall in the underdark and formed a primitive society that believes the Surface world to be dead. Due to their literal nature as well as fear of Alaznist, who is a deity to them, they still maintain the Hellfire flume with trained soldiers. I wrote that up before JJ's Sandpoint book, though, and quite frankly your adaptation of that is cooler haha.

I'm a bit confused by the ending to the Underflume, however; is Alaznist actually alive in the Underflume or?

Your weaving of the Lamashtu vs Pazuzu metaplot still never ceases to amaze me. You even throw in so many other third parties in there too, I wish I could remember enough of the setting to keep them all relevant like that!

Anywho, sorry this got so long, and I hope you and your players had and continue to have happy holidays!

TheKillingJay wrote:

Thank you for sharing! I hope you continue to do so, and if you start a log outside of this thread definitely hit me up I'd love to read ^_^

Hi there Jay! I actually do have a campaign log separate for the campaign (I didn't keep it up during Book 2, but it continues after the Sandpoint Raid); it's called Campaign Journal - Some Very Queer Strangers.

Your praise means a lot! - I read some of your message out to my players and they were very flattered that you're enjoying the campaign log.

** spoiler omitted **...

Oh gosh, no notifications on these forums makes me miss a lot!

Thank you for your advice, I come upon it right after beginning to run my Temple of Lissala in the Sandpoint Hinterlands.

The goal of the adventure is to give my studious wizard PC a thirst for Thassilonian lore; one that Lissala herself takes note of as one of her last standing holy sites has her favored species fumbling about some thousands years later. The real reason she actually focuses on the PCs is the Sihedron Amulet; with the Amulet of one of her once championed elite and the fact that the Wizard in the party is seeking to understand Rune magic and Thassilon, Lissala takes the opportunity to slightly speed up fate.

Essentially, IMC the PCs coming into contact with Lissala stirs her from her dreaming and dormant state, and upon discovering that it is knowledge these humans seek, she grants them Runic Literacy after they prove that they are "worthy" of bringing the knowledge back. (These events are what domino into the cults of Lissala coming together in the Pathfinder Scenarios, as Brodert Quink will spread newfound theories and treatises all over Varisia)

We left off in the middle of that challenge (A series of constructs left over in the temple to guard against intrusion) and I was going to continue to have Lissala's actual voice introduce the Runes to the PCs, but after reading your advice I think it will simply be Runes and understanding, which definitely fits *her* better.

I was also considering her Herald to appear, emaciated and wild eyed feverishly searching for her patron, right after the knowledge was given, but maybe that would be too immersion shattering.

Thank you for your time giving me that advice, sorry it took so long for it to be received! I'm going to check out that campaign log ^_^

Hi James! We met at Paizocon this year, at the banquet I was the one pestering you with questions about Runelords and Rune magic.

That whole convention I had a lot of questions and what not going into my mind to ask you about Sandpoint, Runelords, this and that, and one big one that flew from my mind at one of the panels right when it was my turn to ask *finally* came back to me!

What's at the end of the Turandarok river?

Also, I stumbled across your discussion on The Pit as a megadungeon and how some 200 pages were cut from Sandpoint, Light of the Lost Coast and ohhhh myyyy, they really dropped the ball on that one haha. I bet it would have been so much more epic! Any idea if that content will ever be finished? I'd love to get that signed too if it does!

I have some ideas bouncing around about the Pit but man not on the scale you hinted at. I'll have to include Pazuzu and Lamashtu's true showdown and influences in a later adventure I run I suppose!

The Temple of Lissala I was working came out well I think, but real life struggles have decimated actually playing through it.

Sorry this got long, I don't post around here much and don't know the true spirit of this thread yet. Hope life's treating you well, and maybe I'll see you next year!

This is the most exciting and invigorating campaign log I have ever read. I got chills when you recounted the deal with the hags to bring Nualia back-To me, Nualia is one of my favorite villains who's motives really resonated to me and my personal preferences on antagonists.

You have an amazing playerbase, and your dedication to crafting and tuning this epic is inspiring. I sincerely hope I can have half as many immersive threads my players intertwine themselves with as we continue our own story (We've been on a long hiatus and are in between books 1 and 2 with a series of side quests and plots I've designed).

Out of curiosity, how often and through what means do you portray your deities and beings of power influence events directly? I once thought that having direct contact can be cliche and boring, but it seems like you've really brought it together in a way thats both unobtrusive yet tangible.

Thank you for sharing! I hope you continue to do so, and if you start a log outside of this thread definitely hit me up I'd love to read ^_^

Thank you for the reassurance friends, much appreciated. See you at the convention!

As title, essentially. I got the email about the event signup on my birthday, it looks like, and I was working and celebrating that whole day, and missed it.

I have never been to Paizo-con, and am flying from FL to WA for two days for the convention. Am I going to miss out on a lot of the experience because I did not participate in the lottery? What should I expect as someone who missed the sign-up?

I am going to the banquet, so at least I have that going, but I'm a little worried about not having fun ways to spend time because I missed the lottery.

For better formatting and faster response, see my Reddit post of the exact same thing. Formatting there is way easier than it is here. Sorry I'm lazy

Players stay out! You have been warned!
Preface: I have run the entirety of book one, and for any of the resources below or any thing else you might want to know, feel free to reply or PM me at any time.

Hey friends! I recently finished Book 1 of Rise of the Runelords. It took 21 4hr sessions over 8 months for them to kill Nualia. Yea, we're slow. We're now on session 27 and working through a book I created(threw together) and dubbed 1.5 Calm Before the Murders(Creative, I know).

I figured I'd take the time to reflect, and give back to the community that's given me so much. This post will be copied and immortalized to the Paizo forums as well.

To the content! In no Particular Order. Links below headings to original posts/sources.

The Lure of Greed Brodert Quink
Wayfinder 7(With the Lure of Greed to be run before the Catacombs), free on Paizo.com

My Original Post on Lucendi Quink

I loved running this module. It was myself and my player's first "dungeon" experience. It also does a great job at introducting the Runelords to the party earlier and more naturally to me then some random scary catacombs underground. Instead, a friendly old man needs some help, and the characters are sent to a scary old ruin that has much more interesting things going on inside of it, with more roleplay opportunities available.

My PCs have latched onto Brodert Quink as a good friend and source of knowledge and advice. As such, when running this module, I found that the lack of backstory for Lucendi was a major issue. Here's what I've written, feel free to use it as you'd like. Ask away for advice on running the module, and my personal experience. I don't want to make this post any longer than it already is.

The Bounty Board
Original Post by me.

Thanks to /u/Stryxin's Notice Board pack released on his Patreon(in collaboration with Elven Tower, I was able to make this nifty board for RotR. The full album. There's a bit of work that can be done on it still, but overall I'm happy with the results. I found the original versions of the notices on the Paizo forums I think.

Note: If you find yourself wanting to add or change things to this board and are lacking the resources, knowhow, or time to do so, feel free to PM me and I can make you one to order!

Bounty Board Writeup and how they worked in my campaign: Can be found on my original post.

Implementing the board: I'm posting 1 whole copy to my Campaign Discord, but as the board changes it will be doing so on Roll20. Upload the pieces seperate, and you can drag around and mix and match the boards how you please, while still maintaining the quality. Pretty neat.

Risa Magravi's Tales
Original Source of all the tales and their writeup.

This is the first time I'm releasing this.

The tales provided in the link above are a great way to get players involved with Golarion's lore if they're into reading. A lot. On the original post, only about a dozen or so were in handout form. So, I painstakingly spent an entire afternoon fixing that. After the first 5 or so I realized how much time consuming it was going to be if I added pictures and different fonts and stuff to each one, so sorry for the monotony.

My implementation: One of my players is Varisian. His parents died to the Sandpoint Devil and he barely escaped alive. Prior to his parents "settling down" with their new son (the PC) in a Varisian caravan, they were adventurers for a long time. They always found their way back to Sandpoint, however, and were good friends with Risa Magravi. Much of the tales written were shared to her by the PCs parents. When the PC started making a name for himself around town (prior to becoming a hero a farm nearby raised him after his parents died), Risa Magravi heard a name she hadn't heard in a very long time. In a very hearfelt scene between Risa, her daughter, and my PC, Risa passed on the book of tales to him, saying that she was returning a favor for an old friend long ago, and telling him to stop by her tavern sometime.

I actually cried as Risa delivered the book to him. It's one of my proudest moments as a GM; and, a secret shame.

Sandpoint Street Encounters
Original Source of all street encounters.

My Homebrewery PDF of the Street Encounters with minor changes.

My Suggestion on implementation: DMing online with this is much easier and less time consuming. I have a Sandpoint map that my players can all see on Downtime/Sandpoint days. I tell them to draw out the route they are taking to their destination, collect the street names, then roll on the table and describe what they see on their journey.

If you are a Roll20 Pro user, I can give you some advice that can let you click on the Street names and it instantly give you the roll results in chat without players seeing. Otherwise, rolling by hand or even digitally without the macros can be a little tedious. Personally I think its worth it, but /shrug.

Maps
I have, a lot of maps. Since I DM on Roll20, I can offer you Roll20 compatible conversions of most (if not all) maps in Book 1. I'm pretty sure I edited them all personally to ensure complete compatibility, it's been a while.

Here are some custom maps I made for Haldir's The Toadstool Goblins module using Forgotten Adventure's assets (Check them out, they're awesome).

If the link to Haldir's Toadstool Goblin ever dies, feel free to PM me at any time.

Implementation: None. I used none of these maps I spent hours creating on. My PCs did not like Shalelu for... various reasons... and still don't. So, they stood her up and she had to deal with the problem on her own. The rest of the book swept through after that, and I just haven't given much thought to going back and running the aftermath.

Prayerbook to Lamashtu
Here is a link to the original ideas/source for the Prayerbook.

The reason I am including this in my OC post is that I added some pages to the book. It took me a while to make the drawings look like drawings, but I like the end result.

Implementation: I gave it to them in infernal from the Catacombs. They gave it to Brodert to translate, and he told them that it was some f$+!ed up shit and he'd see what he could do. I still have not decided on whether or not Brodert would give it back to them, and the PCs seemingly forgot about it. Yay.

Advice
Lastly, feel free to discuss any of the above, or anything regarding to RotR in the comments or the DMs. I have only run book 1, and not fully canonical, with a lot of changes and additions. Like I mentioned before, I am working on running my PCs through 1.5 Calm before the Murders now, and if you aren't afraid of content bloat or the campaign being extended "unnaturally" in your own campaign feel free to ask about that as well. I will likely be posting asking about ideas in the coming weeks. By the end of this campaign, you won't be able to google "Rise of the Runelords Reddit" without seeing my posts, which hopefully is a good thing lol.

I made a notice board for the first 2 books of RotR(room for more, but hey.) The full info on it can be found here. The formatting on the forum is really annoying to chug through, so I apologize to the mods if this isn't a good post.

Does anyone still have a copy they could direct me to? Or, alternatively, anyone have any good adventures that culminate in fighting the Sandpoint Devil?

Thanks!

I've been looking for this for months, but I haven't made a post about it. I hope that this ends up being fruitful. If not, I have my backup in case I can't think up anything creative enough to warrant a whole mini adventure.

In The Chopper's Isle sidequest the players encounter the remains of a creature the devil has taken. I figure that's one of its favorite places to eat pray, maybe hoping to spot someone wander off toward the isle, or maybe even some goblins skulking around near the trash heap at Junker's Way. Either way, that's a place where the fight can be. A hook could be one I just made up [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/Pathfinder_RPG/comments/90nb17/rise_of_the_runelo rds_bounty_boardgm_resource/) I found your post coming to make my post). The part about the Sandpoint Devil

Perhaps when the runes are created physically created and inscribed on items, for the "space ripple" to occur the runes must be "attuned" to "resonate" with certain material, plane, etc, with an extra layer of enchantment and conjuration magic that is too delicate, resource intensive, and time consuming to create on mundane objects and such?

I'll be honest, I haven't read into Magic lore/physical mechanics at all, and the same goes for Rune magic.

I really like the idea you have here. Think that explanation could work?

Hey all! I'm finally able to give back to the community that's given so much to me. I know this is "small", but I'm sure I'll be contributing more in the years to come whilst I run this campaign.

My group is very RP focused. Much of the plot has been changed because of the details the book leaves out that my group finds important or strange as the day's in Sandpoint go on. As such, I find myself writing up and filling in a lot of backstory for various NPCs and plot points.

One such NPC is Lucendi Quink, from Wayfinder #07. My PCs have latched onto Brodert Quink as a good friend and source of knowledge and advice. As such, when running this module (The Lure of Greed, from Wayfinder) I found that the lack of backstory for Lucendi was a major issue.

For player's, I encourage you stop reading here and recomend the module to your DM. It could essentially be run at any point in the campaign with some tweaks. This way, if your DM uses this, you won't be spoiled :)

Otherwise, please give me feedback on plot holes or things you think could be improved. I used information from the Anniversery book and Wayfinder 07 to write this. It's a bit rushed(I just finished it, and the session is in an hour), yes, but should work well enough.

Without further ado, Lucendi Quink's Backstory:

Lucendi grew up in Magnimar. Born to a common family, she would be the distinguished scholar she is today if it wasn’t for her uncle Brodert. Brodert was a cataloger at the Founder’s Archive in Magnimar for three decades, during which time Lucendi was growing up. Brodert was at odds with Lucendi’s family for quite some time, as he refused to help them with their financial struggles in one of the lower class district, Beacon’s Point.

Brodert was too focused on his job and studies of Thassilonian lore to care much about the family he left behind. Occasionally he would visit, and offer his young niece some gold for sweets and the like. Lucendi at first only spent time with the man at her parent’s behest(they hoped she would tell them something of Brodert that they could use to get money out of him), and for the sweets, but found herself growing appreciative of his ramblings as the years went on. In time, she looked forward to his visits in between hours spent working in her parents bakery. Brodert soon began to teach her to read, assigning her small books and assignments to work on.

When Lucendi was about the age of 16, Brodert began to change. He was growing increasingly upset that his learning and obvious intelligence wasn’t distinguishing him more amongst his peers at the Founder’s Archive. Up until Brodert told her of his plans, Lucendi noticed that he was becoming increasingly eccentric in his research and findings. He would spend most of their time together working on a thesis involving the Old Light and its supposed previous use as a war machine capable of spewing fire to a range of more than a mile, and would ramble on and on about evidence and support he seemed to pull from the smallest of links.

About a week after he finished the thesis (with Lucendi being the one to “peer review” the thesis), Brodert forlornly paid a visit to Lucendi once more. His peers had scoffed at Brodert, or so Lucendi was told the day he came to see her one last time before leaving. He told her what his peers had thought of his findings (or lackthereof), and his decision to move to Sandpoint so that he could study the Old Light more closely, and perhaps find evidence to support his claim and elevate his status as a true Thassilonian scholar.

Before Brodert left, however, he left Lucendi with a gift: a strongbox full of gold. He told her that the money was hers, and hers alone, to be spent on a proper education so that she could contribute the bright mind he knew she had to the scholarly world. She promised that she would do whatever it took to follow in his footsteps, and to become a proper Scholar.

Although Lucendi’s parents could have used the money to invest in the bakery, they were well enough off at this point to allow their daughter to reach out and try to find her own place in the world, an opportunity that they had missed in the past. About the age of 19, when the bakery was stable enough to do without their daughter’s help, they blessed her pursuit of knowledge, and of she went to find her place amongst Acadamia.

What Lucendi did not realize, however, was how boring becoming a learned citizen could be. While she did enjoy reading occasionally, and definitely enjoyed the stories and theories of ancient Thassilon and other interesting entities of old, she did not realize how droll open study could be. Most scholar’s above her insisted that she focus on learning more about the real world and the state of politics before focusing on the past. She found this boring and uninteresting, but trudged through countless treatsies and histories on Avistan and Garund. For a year she studied these boring topics, gradually losing focus on her goals, until one day she met an individual who completely changed her life’s direction.

Charming, knowledgeable, and full of interesting idea’s and theories, Lucendi met Mersoolian Threce by chance in the Archives. She had once more found her way to the Thassilon section of the libraries, and was pouting at the thought of having to read yet another report on the current state of the River Kingdoms when the man approached her. The two hit it off immediately, with Mersoolian utilizing the setting as a way to broach topics he knew Lucendi would be interested in.

A cleric of Nethys, Mersoolian was just the kind of man that could spark Lucendi’s internal thirst for knowledge. Mersoolian began courting her within the month, and by the end of the year the two were toying with the idea of marriage. In between Mersoolian’s work of upkeeping a small shrine to Nethys and sales of scrolls and maps and Lucendi’s studies, the two planned the details of their marriage.

With the left over money from Brodert, and the money Mersoolian had been saving for years, the two planned a joint expedition into Sandpoint’s hinterlands to attempt to locate an Thassilonian structure that Lucendi managed to come up with a vague location for. Upon returning with new Thassilonian artifacts and knowledge, the two would marry in the Archives.

To Lucendi and Mersoolian, this was the most romantic way they could go about officializing their union.

At this point, pick up from the module where things are left off. Mersoolian most likely dies by the PC's hands(As he ended up turning evil), and now Lucendi is left with nothing but injuries, regret, and a dead husband. I'm planning on having her stay with Brodert for a while, and maybe returning to Magnimar if the PCs don't really care for her after.

Thanks for reading!

It's here: Golarion Megamap

Enjoy!

This map is amazing! I love it, thank you so much for all your hard work!

Any idea on how the scale is for this? I am considering uploading it to Roll20 in pieces for a campaign but I'm not sure where to start with for distance scales.