The Smiling Bandit's page

Sorry to say I'll be sticking with PF1 for my adventures going forward. The system seems ok, but I think Paizo tried too hard to satisfy rules lawyers and codify literally everything into a rule somewhere. Just doesn't feel right to me.

I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that it feels like the devs tried to rip off DnD 5e while still trying to be a different system. It just doesn't work. 5e was made to be easily digestable and quick to pick up and play with just enough customization to add some flair whereas PF2e seems to take a lot of that design philosophy and smash it together with widely varied customization options.

I think I'll be skipping this one, sorry.

Is it possible to play a good character who practices necromancy, or is the act of raising the dead evil in and of itself? I would argue that no magic is evil unless the casting of the spell required an inherently evil act, such as murder of an innocent.

Yes, you can play a good necromancer. Just not one that raises the dead. Nercomancy is a school of magic that alters the living and the dead. This means that one of the best ways to combat the undead, is with a necromancer.

I wouldn't play the undead raising kind of necromancer if you were going for non-evil, but there are plenty of other spells in the necromancy repertoire.

There is an app available on the Google Play market called GM Toolkit. It's got great versatility and can be used with almost any game system. Unfortunately a lot of information has to be entered by hand, but it makes a great campaign building tool and is really good for organizing notes.

The developer is also starting a kickstarter project to make the app even better. If anyone is interested the kickstarter is located here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/architect0317/tabletop-rpgs-meets-andro id-army

while the app website is here: http://www.mygmtoolkit.com/

if you want to look at the developer's roadmap for the app and see what is in store for the future.

The app has really helped me get my games organized, give it a look if you're tired of cluttered notebooks for your campaigns.

Smiley

Is the iPhone App, Siri, Magical?

I just wanted some clarification on this subject. Is there any bonus to hit associated with attacking from concealment or is your opponent denied their dexterity bonus? Invisibility and Hidden are conditions that clearly state they grant a bonus to attack rolls. Concealment does not, though it is a very similar condition. Am I to assume that concealment offers no offensive bonus just the 20% miss chance?

There is an alchemist discovery called Doppleganger simulacrum. Basically it creates a double of you that you can bounce your consciousness between at any time. If your copy gets killed you bounce back to your original. If your original dies, you're screwed. It's not available till level 10, but it effectively makes you immortal.....as long as you can hide your real body extremely well. Either way the survivability drastically increases for you.....not that alchemists had a problem with that anyway.

Smiley

I haven't been keeping up with these so here's a whole slew of deaths.

Name: Ahtt
Class: Monk 11
Adventure: Fortress of the Stone Giants
Catalyst: getting a hold on Mokmurian

Name: Johnathan Hades
Class: Ranger 11
Adventure: Fortress of the Stone Giants
Catalyst: Failed reflex save

Ok, I modified the encounter with Mokmurian slightly by building Mokmurian from the ground up using the Pathfinder rules. His feats changed quite a bit and his stats got a decent boost as well from his transmutation specialty. The entire room was filled with solid fog via the widen spell feat and Mokmurian had loads of fun softening up the group as they moved in to the chamber. Eventually the group cleared away the fog and Ahtt, seeing that Mokmurian was airborne, elected to do some crazy monk stuff jump up and grapple the Giant to try and move him down to the ground. Unfortunately for him....it worked. Since I had reworked Mokmurian's feats he had several still spells that allowed him to pulverize the monk in to unconsciousness within a round. When Mokmurian was finally pulled to the ground he was quickly dispatched. Unfortunately contingencies placed on him by Karzoug (my addition) caused him to erupt with magical power. Most everyone made the save....except for poor Hades and Ahtt. Ahtt became a very crispy skeleton while Hades was merely blasted in half.

Name: Igman
Class: Monk 12
Adventure: Sins of the Saviors
Catalyst: being the only target within reach of the Scribbler

The group was tasked with exploring this sinkhole below Sandpoint. They moved in and encountered a rather grotesque and curious man calling himself Xaliasa, Lamashtu's hand of this world. Rather than attack this obviously unholy creature they followed him in the hopes that he was leading them to information about Karzoug. The trap triggered which split the group. Once the group reformed in the kennel the Barbarian was already horribly wounded. Igman bravely stepped forward to draw the Scribbler's attention away from his companion. In one round he dropped unconscious, but was brought back by the party priest. This continued until the Glabrezu joined the fight. the demon easily picked up the monk that had been badly beaten by Xaliasa and literally tore him in two. The party was forced to retreat or face destruction.

Name: Kyliq
Class: Cleric Sarenrae 12
Adventure: Sins of the Saviors
Catalyst: double criticals from the Fanged Falchion

Returning to the Scribbler's temple with one of Sarenrae's angels the group entered in to the main chamber and was ambushed by the Scribbler and his Glabrezu. The Scribbler recognized Kyliq as a priest from their last encounter and focused all of his attention on her. With the surprise round over, normal initiative took over and the Scribbler went first. With a full attack and haste, the divine guardian scored two critical hits unleashing astounding amount of damage and killing the priestess before she could even react. Sarenrae was understandably upset at the loss of her servant and sent another angel to help destroy the servant of Lamashtu.

I could have been a little more vicious and had Xaliasa retreat to his sanctum to funnel the characters in through a narrow channel, but I decided they lost too much already. Apparently I get vicious in these adventure paths. I thought The Scribbler would be a simple fight.

As the hags retreated out of the hold they cackled a warning to the group.

"Be wary Pretties! The giant you seek has powers beyond even us and keeps dangerous company."

With that, the hag sisters vanished. The party moved cautiously towards Barl's lair. As they neared the giant's throne a booming voice echoed through the Clan Hold.

"Barl! the little ones are coming!" The voice betrayed just a hint of fear.

"These tiny creatures will not get in the way of Mokmurian's great plan! They are insects and we will crush them!" The voice seemed hollow but held great power.

As the heroes entered the grand throne room they beheld a terrible sight. A giant of tremendous girth covered in grisly fetishes waited at the end of a shallow gorge that lead to a plain looking stone throne. Another giant stood above the gorge with a rock the size of a man's torso readied. Another giant, head lolling impossibly to one side, stood beside the necromancer.

The battle went well for the first few moments, until Lucrecia appeared behind the group and began sapping the mental faculties of the rearmost members of the group. As the giants pressed the assault from the front, the heroes began to falter. As the heroes called for a retreat, Lucrecia moved in and forced Apollo unconscious with her mind twisting touch.

Grieving at the loss of another comrade the group started towards Whitewillow. At least some good came from the venture in to the Hold, a lock of Lamatar's hair recovered. Perhaps the Nymph of Whitewillow could rest peacefully now. As the apparition took the lock of her lover's hair, a single tear rolled down her cheek.

"thank you for returning my beloved to me." As the woman spoke, the ghostly form of Lamatar appeared; smiling.

"We can offer little consolation for the loss of your friend. Our hopes go with you as face the master of the Kreeg. Our spirits will aid you as best as we can." The two apparitions disappeared in a flash. All that remained in their place was a faintly glowing white staff. As Kyliq lifted the staff, a wave of energy pulsed out from the pool revitalizing Whitewillow.

After a brief rest in Turtleback Ferry, the group made their way to Fort Rannick. The Hellknights that had taken over the keep allowed one of their own to accompany the group to determine the fate of the remaining Neville and see if their might be a larger conspiracy afoot. Instead of attacking the Clan Hold head on Oghan, the druid, convinced a local fey to show them a back way in to the caves. The approach lead the group to Lucrecia's home in the defaced shrine of Lamashtu.

A brief exchange revealed that she was in no mood to bargain and the battle was joined. Still using twisting touch to great effect, the Matriarch continually felled Bahzel after he was restored by the cleric, Kyliq. Lucrecia was eventually done in by a twin arrow strike from the Hellknight, Johnathan, just as Barl and his bodyguards approached the cavern.

The giants burst through the fog obscuring the cave entrance and began assaulting the party. Barl once again used the majority of his magics on the Paladin, Bahzel, while his minions accosted the remaining group members. The exchange was brutal. Calling upon the divine grace of Sarenrae Bahzel cut the mighty giant necromancer to his knees.

"Mokmurian will destroy you all! Just as he did before," the rotund giant spat,"Your actions here mean nothing." The necromancer's laughter was cut off as he collapsed in to the growing pool of blood beneath him.

Name:Apollo

Class:Cleric of Sarenrae 8

Catalyst:Not killing Lucrecia in Fort Rannick

Adventure:Hook Mountain

Story: The group had just managed to take down the hag covey and learned about Barl's capacity as a Necromancer and that he is a big nasty stone giant. Moving in to engage the Kreeg's leader the party elected to have the Paladin and the druid's animal companion hold off the giant zombie (I added the zombie since I'm dealing with 6 players)and Barl while the rest of the group dealt with the stone giant bodyguard.
Having not killed Lucrecia at the Fort she was near Barl which had been discovered by the Diviner earlier in the adventure. Unfortunately she was using invisibility (I amended her spell list a bit) to remain and hidden and surprised the rear ranks of the group.

Now, I decided that since she was having difficulty hitting the very high AC members of the group that her tactics would switch up a bit. She started using her melee touch ability as her primary attack to sap Wisdom from players while her off-hand attack was still the dagger. Needless to say since she had quite a few attacks player wisdom was a precious commodity. A retreat was called but Apollo was not fast enough and took a pair of critical hits from Lucrecia's wisdom drain. The rest of the party fled as Barl crushed the poor cleric's head with his earthbreaker.

Wow! I haven't posted in waaaaaaaaaay too long. Posting everything up to the current session would take me forever and I have not the patience for writing that some of you do. So I will summarize.....a lot.

There was a lot of harrying experiences in the haunted manor, player paranoia was at an all time high with all the haunts popping up (love those things BTW). The group released Iesha from her self-pity unfortunately the monk decided to stand in her way when she started chasing after Aldern. After some blows were taken, he moved.

Iesha and the party engaged Foxglove in the caves along with his "new love" which was a former character who was killed in the first book that was supposed to have been Aldern's obsession. The fight was rather one sided despite me beefing up Aldern a little (Iesha hits HARD) and the group was able to continue on to Magnimar to find the mysterious master behind all this foul business.

Once in Magnimar (Did I mention most of the party is wanted for mass murder?) there are some harrying chases through the streets with guardsmen chasing and Brandark, the dwarf, getting captured. Instead of wasting a lot of time on spotlighting what happened to Brandark I went over the scene in an e-mail so we could get on with the adventure as a whole. He was tortured by a Kyton servant of the Hellknights and the Paralictor tasked with bringing the Nevilles to justice.

The Group found some evidence once they were able to infiltrate Aldern's townhouse and after a brief encounter with two Faceless Stalkers disguised as Aldern and Iesha (that made for some interesting dialogue).

Following up on the evidence proved a little difficult but eventually Switch was able to locate The Seven's Sawmill. Since the group elected to attack at night all of the cultists were in the ritual chamber. The chaff were no problem but Justice Ironbriar proved a formidable foe using his invisibility and sneak attacks to full advantage. The Nevilles were victorious in the end and were able to continue their search with yet more evidence found in the sawmill.

At this point I elected to change the end encounter as I thought Lamia Matriarchs were more sinister manipulators than combatants and chose to hold the final encounter in a noble manor house instead of the Shadow Clock. I decided Xanesha was more concerned with being freed of Karzoug's control than destroying the Nevilles. Revelations were brought forth in the social encounter that the Nevilles had worked for Xanesha in the past and she would offer aid in clearing their names of the Red Harbor massacre in exchange for her "freedom" which would involve killing her half-sister Lucrecia.

I believe making the final encounter a revelatory social encounter rather than the murderous orgy of destruction common in soooo many adventures was a good change of pace and the players seemed to like it so all is well.

Moving on to Turtleback Ferry where Lucrecia was said to be hiding the group was accosted by fey and beasts that seemed intent on their demise. It seems they are a bit angry with the Nevilles for killing one of their Nymph princesses of Sanos forest (I added this part of course). The Nevilles eventually arrive in Turtleback Ferry but are told that Lucrecia died when the Paradise sank to the bottom of the lake. The townsfolk are worried about the absence of the Black Arrows since nothing has been heard from Fort Rannick in quite some time. This prompts the party to investigate the fort.

A minor detour leads to the death of two of the Nevilles and the capture of a cleric Sarenrae at the hands of the Grauls (I amped up their challenge a bit adding a few more ogrekin and pretty much maxing out their hit points). After a period of mourning for the lost the remaining Nevilles gather some help in the form of a Cleric and Paladin of Sarenrae and an elven Wizardess to aid in destroying the Grauls and investigating Fort Rannick.

The party rescues their captured companion at the Graul farm and slaughter the whole debauched lot of ogrekin then move on to Fort Rannick where they encounter much stiffer resistance from the Kreeg ogres. Eventually Jaagrath is slain and the Fort retaken.

This has to be mentioned just for humor's sake. During the fight with Jaagrath the Cleric who was captured by the Grauls dcides that after Jaagrath has been taken down she wants to make sure he's dead and casts a searing light at him. She rolls a crit with the spell and we use the crit cards so I pull the transposition card which then teleports the poor cleric right next to Hookmaw and Dorella ( I decided they would be in the encounter with Jaagrath due to party size) and very nearly dies. Everyone was laughing our asses off...except of course for the poor player of the cleric. Did I mention we have to use Skype for this player since he is about 100 miles away? Iwarned the player several times that Jaagrath was already down, but he insisted. Ahhhh the irony. Moving on!

Hellknights are eventually brought in to take over defense of Fort Rannick and a brief bu brutal battle with the great Black Magga tells everyone something is very wrong at Skull's crossing. The Nevilles once again rise to the challenge and find ogres trying to destroy the dam. The ogres are driven off easily but investigating the inner workings of the dam proves problematic as trolls are very territorial. Wet Papa Grazuul is eventually defeated (not slain) and after some bargaining with the nearly dead pit fiend in the magical prison it is agreed that the pit fiend will be released in exchange for two more devils to be summoned in to power the dam.

Heading back to Turtleback Ferry a pixie named Yap begs the party for help with his mistress in Whitewillow. Well, Whitewillow isn't so white anymore and instead of distraught fey the group finds the haunting form of a spectral nymph. Rather than fight the group elects to speak with her (most of them were blind at this point anyway). She just wants a piece of her beloved Lamatar so she can be at peace. Myriana tells the party where Lamatar can likely be found and sends them away.

At the entrance to the Kreeg Clan Hold a lcuk y critical hit by one of the entrance guards fells another of the Nevilles forcing a retreat after they kill the offending ogres.

Returning once more after finding a druid who is also searching for Lamatar (and the recently killed monk) and decides to aid the party in their task the group continues the assault on the ogres destroying the, now zombified, entry guards they push in to the hold destroying a half-dozen more ogres before encountering the Hag covey. The magical powers of the hags prove difficult to overcome, but eventually the party fells one of the foul creatures causing the other two to surrender in fear for their lives. They talk of the true master of the Kreeg ogres, Barl, who is a great necromancer. They also speculate that the great stone giant has a master of his own, but cannot offer anymore than that and are allowed to go free.

Well, that's where we are now. I would also like to ask if anyone out there has players that have problems speaking with some of the NPCs? One of my players constantly insults and belittles NPCs then gets shocked when they refuse to help him. Some of it is rather funny, but for the most part it just frustrates the other players. Anyone else have this problem? If so, how did you deal with it? I'm just giving him consequences for his blatant arrogance and confrontational behavior. Can't wait for the next time he insults a Hellknight (hehe).

Here is the current group.

Tia- Elf Diviner 8 (Information saves lives)
Apollo- Human Cleric of Sarenrae 8
Kyliq- Human Cleric of Sarenrae 8
Bahzel- Human Paladin of Sarenrae 8 (This be the smartass)
Switch- Human Rogue 8 (Graduate of Spring To Flank University or STFU)
Oghan- Half-orc Druid 8

Ok, I've been running RotRL for a while now. Had 4 character deaths and we're just finishing out book 3 now. Here's the details.

Character: Shan Wei Half-elf monk 1/ Paladin 1

Location: Catacombs of Wrath beneath sandpoint.

What Happened: I changed the encounter with Erylium slightly and gave the effect of the pool a 10' radius to add a more tactical element to the fight. The barbarian was the first through the field along with the rogue. Rogue made his save. barbarian did not. After some attempts to subdue the barbarian while still fighting Erylium and her Sin Spawn. Shan Wei essentially sacrificed herself to stop the barbarian's madness.

Kill 2 and 3

Character: Brandark Dwarf Cleric 7
Varg Barbarian 7

location: Graul farm (hook mountain)

What happened: After some hard fighting against Crowfood, Sugar,Hograth,and Jeppo the group continued in to the barn and engaged Biggun! the Graul's pet. Tired and virtually depleted of spells the group elected to rest inside the barn rather than drag one of their paralyzed companions back to Turtleback Ferry. I decided that the Graul's didn't like squatters on their turf so they came out to restock their food stores with some adventurer meat. Brandark was demolished by lucky Graul as he seperated himself from the group while simultaneously calling for healing.

Varg went down moments later under the combined assault of three zombie Graul's and Mammy. The remainder of the group retreated leaving their paralyzed companion to her fate. Rather than kill a third character I elected to have the Graul's torture her while the remaining characters came up with a rescue/attack plan.

kill 4

Character: Ahtt Monk 8

Location: Kreeg Clan Hold entrance

What happened: After the diviner's Arcane eye was noticed by the denizen's of the Kreeg Hold an alarm was raised and the ogres began setting up a defense. The two front guards now noticed the party and readied themselves to stop these invaders. They performed admirably. After one of the ogres fell, his cousin in a fit of rage tore out Ahtt's heart with a well placed blow from his hook (Triple damage critical hit).

Thank you sir. I realize that both myths are not mutually exclusive since there was a certain "fuzziness" with the myth in the Prince of Darkness book.

Maybe it's just me, but there seems to be two different creation myths for the Goddess Sarenrae. One is stated in AP #20 as her being an angel, then Empyreal lord, and finally gaining her Godhood as she cast Rovagug down into the pit.

The second has her as a Goddess near the beginning of creation when Asmodeus slew his brother Ihys after which there was much chaos and turmoil and when Rovagug tried to destroy all the creations that had come to be, both Sarenrae and Asmodeus cast the Rough Beast in to the Pit of Gormuz.

I'm inclined to use the second myth since it came from a later book and, for me, is much more interesting than the previous myth. Just figured I would ask and see what the official ruling is on this. Just for the sake of my own curiosity.

After a few days of merriment amongst the grateful townsfolk of Sandpoint, The Nevilles head south to Magnimar for answers. On the way they encounter a distraught farmer babbling about cannibalistic creatures butchering livestock and farmer alike.

The group elects to stall their trip to Magnimar to investigate this foul occurrence only to find the farmstead populated by vicious ghouls. After a brief, violent battle the undead are slain and the house is burned after the Nevilles (and Kyliq) search for clues to the atrocity.

Returning to Sandpoint after the encounter with the ghouls the sheriff finds the group and leads them to a grisly murder scene. The murderer likely knows one of the group as he/she left a note with Varg's name scrawled on it. Could this murderer have information about the Neville's mysterious past?

Investigating the murder scene leads the group to the Sanatorium where they try and pry information from a sickly madman named Grayst. The discussion is mostly fruitless, but Kyliq would like to return the following day to attempt to break through the man's insanity. Unfortunately, upon their return, the Sanatorium is empty save for the corpses of those lucky enough to have been killed by a raving mad ghoul. Tracks from the Sanatorium lead southwest in to the marshes. the Nevilles doggedly follow the beast hoping to end these horrific murders.

A short time after entering the swamp the Nevilles Encounter a boggard village, the well-armed adventurers slay many of the beasts before the bloated priest-king of the village floats out of his hovel to entreat the Nevilles to end their bloody crusade against his people. The Corpulent frog points the group to a witch living elsewhere in the marsh that may be able to assist them and warns the group to never again harass his tribesmen.

Upon finding the eccentric witch Morvane deep within the marshes the Nevilles eventually convince her to attempt to divine the location of the murderer of Sandpoint. Morvane says that murderer can be found to the southwest but her divinations were unclear as to the precise location. Rather than brave the marshes at night, the group returned to Sandpoint for a good nights rest before setting out for lands beyond the marshes.

In the morning, the Sheriff finds the group and explains that there has been another murder and gives another note to Varg. The note mentions a place called The Misgivings, but no one in the group can recall ever hearing of such a place and so they head out in hopes of tracking down the murderer.

The trail eventually leads to a darkened, foreboding manor overlooking the sea. As the Nevilles approach strange carrion birds begin to flock to a burned out shell of a building. The creatures seem intent on the group, staring unblinking in to their eyes.

Ok, I'm going to give very brief summaries of the next several sessions so I can actually catch up to where the players are. So much pressure.....

The group was not allowed a night's respite after the death of their "sister". The Quasit Queen Erylium sent more sinspawn minions to terrorize the townsfolk above. The heroes returned to the catacombs more prepared for the tricks of the tiny demoness and Vaarg crushed her tiny frame with a devastating blow from his greataxe. As the group emerged from the depths they were greeted by a young priestess of Sarenrae that was sent from Magnimar by Sandpoint's Sheriff Hemlock.

After some debate, and the intervention of Shalelu, The group elected to attack the goblin stronghold of Thistletop. Goblins proved to be the least of the party's worries as two Yeth hounds nearly killed the monk, Ahtt. Retreating from the hold proved little help as the bugbear Bruthazmus harried the party after they made camp along with the two hounds and several goblins. The goblins and hounds were killed, but Bruthazmus escaped back to the fortress.

Deciding to waste no more time, the assault continued. Bruthazmus nearly claimed another of the Neville family along with the Mercenary Orik and Magus Lyrie. Orik surrendered after a brutal exchange with Vaarg while Lyrie and Bruthazmus were slain. After recruiting Orik to aid them in ending Nualia's plot, the group rested to prepare for the horrors that lay in the catacombs below.

A harrowing crawl through the depths of Thistletop ended with the destruction of several Shadows guarding a tomb and Nualia giving her best to destroy those that would disrupt her plans for revenge. Though she had the great Barghest, Malfeshnekor, at her side; the party was victorious. Battered and scarred the Nevilles emerged from Thistletop to give news to Sandpoint that Nualia's threat was now over. As they approached the town a tremor shook the earth and the sound of a rockslide nearby at the Devil's Platter. Rather than risk investigation in their injured state the heroes returned to Sandpoint to rest for a time.

Rested and recuperated the Nevilles and their new companion, Kyliq, moved to investigate the rockslide at Devil's platter. The Rockslide uncovered the entrance to a forgotten outpost used by members of a strange cult that bore the Sihedron rune upon their robes. The cultists appeared to have succumbed to some sort of covetous paranoia for a creature they had summoned some weeks ago. Only their undead husks remained along with a few Lemures and the architect of the cult's demise, a Kyton by the name of Sylissara.

Sylissara proved to have quite a knack for creating undead and her greatest creation Bartomus, the cult's former leader, rushed to aid her against the Nevilles. After a grueling fight our heroes vanquished the Dread ghoul Bartomus and forced Sylissara to flee, but not before she whet their curiosity that the Nevilles had worked for this particular cult in the past.

With yet more questions and very few answers the party returned to Sandpoint once more to try and puzzle out their pasts. Perhaps a trip to Magnimar to search the archives for references to the strange rune that appears central to many things in this forgotten corner of the world. Time will tell if they succeed.....

Still not quite caught up, but we're getting close. Sorry this one is a little short on the details. Had to summarize A LOT.

Here's the new group as of this moment
Vaarg: Half-orc Barbarian 4 (Of DOOOOOOOOOM!)
Brandark: Dwarf Cleric of Chaos 4
Ahtt: Monk 4 (nearly died twice in two days. Yikes!)
Zedd: Monk 2 Sorcerer 2
Switch: Rogue 4
Kyliq: Cleric Sarenrae 4

Still kind of a rag-tag group, but the sheer healing potential of two clerics is astounding. Definitely have to rework later encounters. Also, you may have noticed that I Nualia freed Malfeshnekor at Thistletop. I figured since the group had to retreat a couple times that it was prudent Nualia got some back up of her own. Malfeshnekor added a whole new dimension of pain to this "boss" encounter. Clerics were frantically healing their comrades as the beast tore in to them with a vengeance. All said, adding Malfeshnekor to the encounter was a sound move that really gave the ending the climax it needed.

Ok, tried to post this a few weeks ago but for some reason when I hit post the site booted me out. So we'll try it again.

After the assault on the Glassworks, our heroes returned to the White Deer to get some much deserved rest. The delve in to the hidden catacombs below Sandpoint would have to keep till then.

Awakening in the morning, everyone say down for a hearty breakfast and discussed their plan for the day: Scout the Catacombs and find whatever creature Tsuto mentioned in his journal. Making their way through the tunnel below the Glassworks, they discovered a passage that led off to a broken down brick wall. Continuing inside they were ambushed by a pair of monstrous creatures that seemed to radiate malice. with only a few minor scrapes these creatures, Identified as Sinspawn, were slain.

Moving deeper in to the catacombs the group came upon an intriguing statue of a woman howling with rage and brandishing an ivory ranseur. Switch, the party's rogue, sought to pry the weapon from the statue's hand while the party debated on which path to take as well as on the possible danger posed by the statue itself. Several members of the party chastised Switch for his theft, but in the end it was "no harm, no foul".

Everyone continued on to a chamber that looked like it could have been a jail. Brandark began moving off the platform to inspect the cells and was attacked by a lurking Sinspawn sparking off another battle with a quartet of the beasts. Varg made short work of three of the creatures while Zedd, Ahtt, and Brandark dealt with the fourth. finding nothing of worth in the room their journey onward.

This time, the passages led them to the lair of a goblin twisted by some forbidden magics in to a terrible monstrosity. Varg rushed to engage, weaving in between covered pits that echoed with sorrowful moans. The rest of the group was set upon by a pair of Sinspawn who dropped from the ceiling above to surprise them. The goblin proved a formidable foe, though Varg bested him in the end with a vicious stike, severing one of the creatures three arms and sinking his great axe deep in to it's chest.

Now backtracking through the catacombs Varg entered a small chamber with a black altar set to one side. Brandark and Shan Wei immediately identified markings on the altar as symbols of the monster goddess Lamashtu. Without thinking of consequences Switch ran up to the altar shouting Calistria's praises and began to carve her symbol in to the black stone. As he did so, the altar let out a terrible howl and Switch's dagger melted. The now molten pieces of his weapon poured up his arm and found their way into his ears and mouth. An unholy curse echoed through the halls and Switch was brought to his knees feeling his sanity slowly slip away.

A shriek of alarm was heard beyond a pair of double doors leading out of the shrine of Lamashtu. The group knew now that they had no hope of surprising whatever lay beyond those doors. Varg crashed through door Axe in hand followed by everyone else. They saw before them a tiny demonic creature and five more Sinspawn. The demon cursed the intruders with an unknown language before telling them that they were to be the newest sacrifices to the runewell. Muttering some fiendish incantation the pool just below her platform sprang to life with some eerie blue light and the Sinspawn moved to attack.

The battle tested the endurance of the heroes who mustered all their courage to rid the town of this terrible blight. Unfortunately as Varg approached the strange glowing pool rage overtook him and he began slashing about wildly. Switch narrowly avoided the barbarian's terrible blows and attempted to escape from the crazed half-orc. After running to one of the Sinspawn, the creature sensed Switch's presence and wheeled on the man laying him low. The creature howled in triumph as Varg continued his rush and split the creature in two. Shan Wei moved up to the enraged half-orc as Ahtt grabbed Switch to pull him to safety. In a single terrible blow, Varg sent Shan Wei's body crashing against a nearby wall. The shock of killing one of his closest friends brought the man out of his frenzy.

A game of cat and mouse played out for a short while as the demon continued her attack. After seeing that she would need help in defeating these heroes, the creature turned invisible once more and retreated from the battle, gloating as she did so. Mourning the loss of their "sister" The group left the catacombs before the demon could return.

To be continued........

This session is probably one of the most emotional I have seen in any of my games. The death of Shan Wei was unbelievably emotional for the party. She sacrificed herself to save her family. Truly one of the better moments I have seen in any campaign.

Some of you I'm sure have noticed that I modified most of the encounters in the catacombs. A group of six people makes most of these battles too easy. Erylium herself was not changed, but some dynamics of the encounter were altered. The pool now shed it's mind altering influence out to a range of ten feet. Let's face it no player is going to run through a pool of glowing water especially when enemies have no reason to be near it in the first place. Giving it an aura forced the players to have to think about their movements instead of just charging headlong in to the fray. All-in-all great campaign so far.

Ooops, almost forgot group has levelled up by this point so here's the group make up

Varg- Half-Orc Barbarian level 2
Ahtt- Human monk level 2
Shan Wei- Half-elf Paladin level 1 monk level 1
Zedd- Human Sorceror level 1 monk level 1
Brandark- Dwarf Cleric level 2
Switch- Human Rogue level 2

It's a pretty eccentric group I'll admit. We'll see how they do.

After the goblin raid, the town sheriff asked if the PCs could help watch over Sandpoint while he left for Magnimar to see about getting some fresh troops in case something like this were to happen again. The group agrees and sets about working out with the watch when they should take patrols and what not.

The townsfolk are very appreciative of the PCs and several vendors catch up with the group to offer them discounts on various wares in their shops and Ameiko offers them free rooms at her inn. A noble by the name of Aldern Foxglove appears smitten with the female paladin of the group and spends much of his time trying to woo the young maiden.

A few days pass rather uneventfully (I skipped past a lot of the character spotlighting that the adventure called for) before one of the townsfolk comes to the PCs in a bit of a panic. Some sort of monster, possibly a goblin, had attacked her son. Her husband was now trying to deal with the beast but she is not sure that he is capable. The group rushes to the home only to find the husband dead with his face half eaten by a starved goblin commando. The little nipper gives the group some trouble but is eventually crushed by the barbarian in a spectacularly bloody display.

After telling the woman of her husband's fate, she becomes irate that the PCs did not do a more thorough job of killing the monsters when they raided the town those few days ago. She is pulled away by the guards, weeping for her dead husband.

The following day an elderly halfling woman (For the life of me I can't remember her name) finds the PCs at the White Deer Inn. She is distraught because she cannot find her boss, Ameiko. When it was discovered Ameiko was not at the Rusty Dragon preparing breakfast , the woman checked her room and saw that the bed had not been slept in and a note was left atop the night stand. The note was from Ameiko's estranged brother, Tsuto. He requested to meet with her to discuss disturbing knowledge of their father, Lonjiku, at the glass works.

Rushing to the glassworks after warning the town guard of what is going on, the group rushes in, only to find a small troupe of goblins ransacking the place and making a general mess of things in the wrokroom. At the center of all this mayhem, Lonjiku Kaijutsu sits bound to a chair and covered in now hardened glass. The group makes short work of the goblins, though the little buggers do get some good hits in, and one of them manages to retreat to the basement. The PCs follow hoping to put an end to this threat once and for all.

All is quiet in the basement, so the rogue and one of the monks decide to creep ahead of the group to find the goblin. One of them kicks some rubble that has been strewn about the floor as they near one of the rooms. Suddenly, two goblins rush from the room and assault the two PCs while a half-elf (Tsuto) fires at them from the cover of the door way. The cramped quarters of the hallway prove to hamper the players more then the goblins, and with the help of Tsuto manage to bring down the monk before the barbarian can get in to the fight. After breaking through the Goblin lines the PCs continue the attack on Tsuto who is making a fighting withdrawal toward a rough carved tunnel. A few stout hits from the barbarian nearly cleave the frail in two and the day is won.

Searching the room where the goblins sprang their ambush they find a journal belonging to Tsuto which talks about some ancient evil creature that resides in catacombs below Sandpoint as well as plans for another attack on Sandpoint. Also contained within are several drawings of a striking young woman and several entries fawning over the beauty.

The Group helps search the remainder of the Glassworks and finds Ameiko bound in one of the storage rooms in the basemant. When told of the fate of her father and brother she simply nods and thanks the PCs for their help before returning to her home to grieve in private.

To be continued........

Well, as of yesterday, the first adventure in the path has been completed. So far things are looking good. I've had to make some adjustments to several of the encounters since I am dealing with a group of six PCs. Also, you may have noticed from the brief narrative above that Tsuto was obviously not the split monk/rogue that he was listed as in the book. I instead made him a ranger of equal level this allowed him to support his goblin minions from afar giving the encounter a much more desperate tone. I'll try to update more frequently to catch up to where the group is in the Path. We only get to play every couple of weeks so it shouldn't be too difficult. Thanks for reading!

Greetings Everyone! I know Rise of the Runelords has been out for an unbelievably long time, but this is my first chance to run Pathfinder for an actual group and I didn't know this AP was even out there when i started concocting a campaign about the resurrection of the Runelords of Thasillon.

Seeing as Rise of the Runelords centers around the resurrection of a very nasty Runelord the marriage of my campaign and this AP only seemed logical.

The campaign started out with all the characters in prison in the town of Wolf Ear charged with some heinous crimes against their old home town of Red Harbor (the town is made up). As the characters are being marched to their execution they try a bold escape so that they can clear their names of whatever horrendous acts they are being framed for.

After a very narrow escape the group moved off to Riddleport where criminals are easily hidden. When they arrive Lavendar Lil (I borrowed her from Second Darkness) showed up and said she had a package for the PCs. Lil knows the PCs from earlier, but the characters cannot remember her. The rogue wastes no time in trying to get on Lil's good side, but she says that he still owes her for the last time. when the character's are given the packages and examine the contents memories come flooding back in to their minds of a different life (Did I mention all the PCs started out as commoners?). Now that everyone had begun to remember pieces of their real life the true adventure begins.

After talking more with Lil the group decides to head off to Sandpoint to find the courier of their belongings, A Kellid tribesman by the name of Skrag. When they arrived at Sandpoint a great celebration was underway to commemorate the construction of a new temple. The half-orc barbarian immediately forgot what the group had come all this way to accomplish and joined the festivities along with the rogue. The rest of the crew set about trying to locate Skrag.

After a time Skrag was located trading furs and various tribal items in the bazaar. When questioned about the party's belongings, he had no recollection of bringing them to Lil. After some tense sense motives on the part of the group, they left satisfied that the man truly did not remember what he had done. The hour was getting late and the dedication ceremony was about to begin.

Disaster strikes and vicious little goblins raid the town causing all manner of havoc and mayhem (the dog population was drastically reduced). The group leapt in to action with the Barbarian thrashing the little anklebiters with all manner of chairs, tables, and assorted furniture (he left his gear back at the inn). In the end the heroes were victorious in driving back the goblin raiders. The townsfolk lauded them as heroes and they were treated to the best comforts that Sandpoint had to offer.

That was just the first two sessions, more to follow.

Here's a summary of the group composition at this point in the adventure. We have had one death after this point in the adventure, but I'll detail that later.

Varg- Half-orc barbarian of DOOOOOOM!!!
Ahtt- Mute human monk
Shan Wei- Half-elf monk/paladin (just monk at this point)
Zedd- Human Sorceror/monk (Just sorceror at this point)
Brandark- Dwarf Cleric (Newbie players should not play clerics imo)
Switch- human rogue (Kleptos are always fun)