Zesdead's page

Paint hides the decay, the rot lurking just below the make-up. Grease paint holds the whole, hollow mess in place.

Opium dens and insectum houses flourish here. Their foreign masters smile as they welcome customers and promise to take away their unhappiness, their monotony, their being, and make something new. Here dreams really do come true, in a sense - illusion creates the possible, and here forbidden illusory magicks have become something deeper, something darker.

The Fetch - the undead of the city - thrive here. Their own souls are so near to the lands beyond life, they are almost able to touch Heaven. So close, so achingly close, that its presence drives them mad.

From the gifted painter to the anarchist puppeteer, all find a home here, cringing below the madness of the Jumble, offering relief from Toiltown, and bringing a smile to faces that have forgotten how to grin. Everything can be found here — everything — from the music halls, to the drug-pits, to the murdering quarters, all things are commodity and; therefore, have a price.

Enter this jumbling madness carefully my friend, and don’t look too closely behind the face-paint, what lurks there might wipe the smile from your face…

Oh yes, this place - this smear of cultures beneath the shadow of the Capitol on the opposite bank of the Lyme - is a world away from the parochial pleasures and tranquility of Wicken… was it what they expected? Those travellers? Lodgings had been easy to find, there are as many taverns and inns within Castorhage as there are vile names for the inhabitants of this Blighted city… a days exploration through the city had led them to this place, the ‘Dancing Angel’ drinking house in the district of Artist’s Quarter - their travelling gear stowed and their victuals chosen for an early evening meal, the group of travellers - so obviously new to the city - relax…

Time for a little bit of party RP to re-establish your characters I think!!! And your storyteller will throw some plot into the mincing machine soon!!!

So, each of you has caught the gaze of the Storyteller… post here in the discussion thread and say ‘Hi’ to your fellow victims… and once you are all assembled, it’s time to start thinking about what you might like to play… totally fine with you keeping your characters from the first recruitment although you may want to discuss party roles / balance (I haven’t looked at that at all!!!)

If you want to keep your characters as having originated from Wicken then that’s cool… just as long as, from a story assumption, I can move them along to having arrived in Castorhage and hearing something about the hooks with which I shall draw you into the tale that I shall tell…

This closed recruitment is restricted to those who have received invitations to apply - Eric Swanson, Chobo, LadyGrayRose, Gerald and Harakani.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I bid you welcome… once more, to the Blight.

It’s Clark Ashton Smith and China Miéville, Lovecraft and Dickens, Shelley and Carroll all in a festering brew of toil, tears, and injustice just screaming for heroes to clean up the streets (more likely to die — or worse — trying) or anti-heroes to clean up the streets (or, at least, a little corner in which to set up their own rackets). Castorhage is a city that never sleeps but is never fully awake, living in the shadow of its own dark dream. An insane royalty, a corrupt judiciary, a decadent aristocracy, and a half-living proletariat all jumbled together amid a thousand thousand monsters…some of them not even of the human variety.

…and the unlovely name by which Castorhage is known to those who have the misfortune to scratch out an existence within its darkest, dankest and most terrible districts? …the Blight.

The Crooked Nail

For decades, Theatre Infernalis offered shocking and frightful entertainment to customers who entered its gaping demonic facade and saw a frightful portrait of the eternal tormants that await all sinners. Now rumours tell of the ageing and supposedly cursed proprietor’s deteriorating health and the theatre’s impending sale, and the Artist’s Quarter has been abuzz with those seeking one final fright with a walk through the crucible-licked walls of the infernal house of the macabre before its final curtain call.

But are the theatre’s smoke-and-mirrors and cheap scares hiding a truly wicked secret?

What is the nature of the curse and illness that afflict the owner?

And did foul and profane rites once take place between its walls that outside forces now seek to exploit?

What happens when the spookshow’s fun and games transform into a terrifying reality, threatening to spill forth an infernal malevolence onto the streets of the Blight?

Wicken was always a fine place to live… the seasons came and went as really the only marking of the passage of the years. Winters forced villagers to huddle around their hearths and those of their neighbours, or to enjoy the smiles, laughter, and singing over mulled cider in the Smiling Pig Tavern. Winters soon became warm springs, but Wicken was far enough from the city — the one known as ‘the Blight’ — to enjoy clean air, so villagefolk could enjoy the newly arriving warmth and greenery. Summers were a blur of festivals and heat, lazing in the fields of barley, and waiting for the harvest and orchards of sweet apples to ripen under the sun. When harvest-time came, and the nights began to draw in, the larders were filled and made ready for a cosy winter.

The peaceful hamlet lay beyond the city walls, a small group of cottages that in spring and early summer were a riot of wisteria: the heady perfume dancing across the meadows around the hamlet itself. At its heart lay a church with a grand spire - this church was built within and about a stone circle, and once a year the locals would thank the older pagan gods for the harvest — a week of celebration would be held. Cider would flow, pigs were roasted, and thanks were made. Even old Father Gromwell, the great painter of angels, joined in with the celebration; he believed the old gods still walked the world.

Yes, Wicken was a fine place to live. Until they destroyed it.

One autumnal day, the soldiers arrived. They rounded up the locals, took them away in wagons, and despite their heroics and bravery, even the strongest of the villagers were taken. The last sight of Wicken was in the warm sunset light, as a group of men with crimson robes over their bright armour strode into the village like conquering heroes.

Since that day, the life of those taken has been a blur. Transported in chains to the city and unceremoniously moved from holding cell to holding cell, until, at the last, a handful of Wicken villagers (maybe the last alive who could be called that) arrived at the notorious prison hulk ‘Redemption’, a stitched mass of boats crushed into one, a place without hope, where people go to die. Those very few who have survived to now have found themselves convicted, imprisoned, and condemned... one more nameless, forgotten victim in the Blight.

Situated near the centre of the sleepy hamlet of Wicken, the Smiling Pig is a typical country tavern… Smoke gently rises from the chimney of the thatched building as the autumn evening draws in, and a warm glow from the fire can be seen through the windows. Stepping through the heavy front door and directly into the taproom, visitors are greeted by the friendly smiles of the landlord and his wife - the enduringly jovial Redmanes, gnomes who have called this place home for longer than many can remember.

The bar is cosy with simple wooden tables and chairs arranged around the roaring fire which, tonight has a generously proportioned hog roasting on a spit over it. Well‐polished horse brasses and a few tarneished weapons provide the bulk of the decoration in the inn, although it’s the magnificent display of huge, prize‐winning vegetables that catches the eye of first-time visitors. The smells, the sounds and the fare of this place, a second home to many of Wicken’s folk, are somewhat parochial… and are cherished by all.

Many are the tales told here of the Blight, the great shame that lies no more than three hours hike from here… yet few of this place’s regulars have ever had cause to venture into the great city - and fewer still have come back untarnished by the experience.

This early in the evening, the Smiling Pig is rather quiet, in fact - beyond a pair of men, who from their attire don’t seem to be locals, minding their own business near the bar - the only other patron so far is Hervel, the villager who grew the enormous marrow that occupies pride of place at the centre of the vegetable display. A half-full tankard on the table in front of him and a rosy glow in his cheeks, Hervel is keen to talk to anyone who comes into the bar… and, as he does every year, he loves to boast of his prize-winning vegetables.

Welcome then to the Smiling Pig… a place for In Character Discussion during the recruitment phase of The Levee. Whilst the Recruitment thread should be used to discuss character builds, party options and suchlike, I thought it would be fun to have a parallel thread where you folks can get a little bit of flavour of the Blight (noting that it mostly will be told from the perspective of the villagefolk and, as such, woven with superstition, exaggeration and downright lies!!!) and also somewhere where you can expand on your own backgrounds, relationships and character.

So come on in… the fire is roaring, the cider is fine and the fare, whilst simple, is hearty.

"The Blight?"

The Blight is a city; a vast corpulent, mad, ugly thing, but it is so much more than that.  Its veins seep into other places, drawn across the Between, which rips at its fabric and tosses it about like a child throwing a ball.  Maybe you have found a curiosity shop from the Blight crammed amongst the mighty tenements of some other city, a horrific character staggering along the streets of an otherwise normal town, or perhaps even a whole block perched within another city like a cuckoo in a nest. Her polite name is Castorhage; named after the grotesque Royal Family that rules here, a family even worse than those who would depose them. It has been called lots of other names, other oaths have been flung at her and her constituent filthy, chymic poisoned parts.  

From Sister Lyme to the chaos of Toiltown, through the throttling alleyways of the Jumble to the airy madness of the Hollow and Broken Hills, every facet has a story, and every story a dark edge. Yes, the Blight is a place, but it is a place that touches others, like a cancer, suddenly infesting a brighter place and poisoning it. There is no escaping its touch, and once it draws you in, you may never escape. Welcome then, to the city that Richard Pett's unlovely dreams have given to this world...
 
*****************
 
Having dipped my toe into the world of the Blight whilst telling the cautionary tale of Bloody Jackand his trail of wicked murder across the city and then of the Crucible and of dreams of fire that could consume a city, it is time to yield entirely to fevered visions… it is time to open ‘The Levee’…
 
’There was an ocean above us, held in by a thin sac that might rupture and let down a flood at any second.’ – Stephen King, Different Seasons (1982).
 
"What is 'The Levee'?"
 
The Levee is an Urban Horror Adventure Path (running across nine chapters and progressing characters to Level 10) that will send its players across, through and into some of the darkest districts of Castorhage… set against the inexorable turn of the seasons within the city, the players will feel themselves slowly drawn into plots, secrets and dreams that are far bigger - and far more catastrophic than anything they could have imagined.
 
"Where is Castorhage?"
 
Note that, as I have no other Frog God / Lost Lands Campaign Setting materials, I shall be running the Blight in Golarion… Castorhage is, in my world, a self-governing city state geographically located in the nation of Taldor… and replaces Cassomir on the map. Having said that, the adventure will be predominantly self-contained within the Blight so this placing of Castorhage within the Golarion map should only really impact those who choose to develop backgrounds that have them originating from far beyond the city… 
 
"Are there heroes in this story?”
 
The story starts with the players living their lives blissfully ignorant of the horrors of Castorhage, having grown up in (or maybe moved to) the small farming hamlet of Wicken, they will likely have heard rumours and stories – some of which are likely tall-tales whilst some shall be sadly true – of the city that squats at the edge of the sea some ten miles to the south of their homes… but none, at least until now, have ever had cause to venture there…
 
”…and what do these folk look like?”
 
I will select up to 6 players for the Adventure Path.
 

• Characters start at Level 1,
  
• All Paizo published classes are acceptable,
  
• 15-point ability buy (no stat lower than 8 / higher than 18 AFTER racial bonuses / penalties),
  
• Maximum HP for your class at Level One,
  
• Core races only,
  
• Two traits may be selected – note that selected players may change one of their traits to a campaign specific trait after recruitment has finished,
  
• Average starting gold for your class,
  
• Background Skills (from Pathfinder Unchained) may be selected,
  
• Non-evil alignments only,
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products or from products specific to The Blight.

Interplanetary Adventure, New Worlds, Ancient Civilizations, Alien Species, and more, with a delightful mix of magic and technology, Legendary Games brings you a sword-and-planet adventure path; authored by some of the biggest names in the RPG business. Legendary Planet will take your characters across the multiverse, traveling alien gateways created by ancient, god-like beings to exotic worlds and back again in an incredible campaign like none other. Sword-swingers and spell-slingers stand alongside scoundrels and seekers for cosmic enlightenment as they unravel conspiracies and cryptic alliances bent on universal domination... or annihilation!

To Worlds Unknown is the first main chapter in the Legendary Planet Adventure Path, bringing your heroes into the midst of a battle beyond the stars for supremacy over myriad alien worlds and alien cultures. Against the backdrop of great powers both ancient and new, small-time power players and petty criminals vie in the grungy back alleys of a crossroads world, and the heroes must discover who can help them find their way to safety through an impossible network of planetary portals before their erstwhile allies betray them to those whose secret schemes are far more sinister.

I am looking for players to join my ‘An Adventure Beyond This World’ and 'Goblins in Spaaaace!!! Legendary Planet campaigns… both groups (each of which needs at least one new player) have played their way through the Prelude Adventure 'The Assimilation Strain’ and are at different stages of the first true chapter of the Adventure Path...

The gameplay thread are An Adventure Beyond This World - HERE and Goblins in Spaaaace!!! - HERE for those folks who want to get a feel for the game style.

...and so, to... The ‘Crunch’

• Characters start the adventure as Level 3
  
• All classes are acceptable (including the oft-maligned Gunslinger, Samurai, Ninja and Summoner – note that the Pathfinder Unchained version of the Summoner is preferred to the original APG version),
  
• 20-point ability buy (no stat lower than 8 / higher than 18 AFTER racial bonuses / penalties),
  
• Maximum HP for your class at Level 1 with a Level 2 and Level 3 increase in HP of average for class rounded up,
  
• One trait maybe selected – a further campaign trait from the Legendary Planet Players Guide shall be available and I’ll provide a link to those when I’ve chosen players,
  
• Note that we are using the Automatic Bonus Progression from Pathfinder Unchained and so, at Level 3 you will gain a +1 resistance bonus to all saves,
  
• Whilst on the topic of Pathfinder Unchained, we are using Background Skills,
  
• Also, new players will gain Mythic Tiers at some point during this first part of the Adventure Path (note that some of the players have already gained a Mythic Tier),
  
• Starting gold is 1,500gp,
  
• Non-evil alignments only,
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; or Legendary Games material written for this Adventure Path - no other 3rd Party Materials.

Your character won’t originate from Golarion (the rest of the party do) and therefore the options for Race are quite open...

Any of the Core, Featured or Uncommon races from the Advanced Race Guide are fine... and, furthermore; Android, Lashunta and Triaxians from Inner Sea Bestiary are fine... and, even more, any of the races from the Legendary Path Player's Guide (if you have it) are also fine... and, guess what, if there are any 0HD races in the Bestiaries that you'd like to propose, feel free to check in with your idea.

And, if you want to go really wild, I’ll even let you build your own race using the Race Builder from the Advanced Race Guide (maximum number of Race Points shall be 15)

When deciding what you may wish to propose, note that we currently have:

Legendary Planet - Adventures beyond this world
A Human Savage Technologist / Gunslinger
An Android Paladin
A Ratfolk Alchemist
A Human Telekineticist
A Half-Elf Bard

Legendary Planet - Goblins in Spaaace!!!!
A Human Summoner,
A Goblin ,
A Monkey Goblin Alchemist,
A Goblin Fighter,
and, just about to join us, an Auttaine Shaman

I'll keep this recruitment thread open until the 29th January at least, I’ll be around to answer questions on a regular basis – now go and have fun creating an interplanetary adventurer!!!

This morning brought with it yet another spring shower - miserable, frigid and persistent throughout the entirety of the last week, the rain has at least dampened the stench rolling in from the Great Lyme River.  Through the greyness of the day, the dulled sound of bells, ringing through the cold murk heralds the turning of each hour… it is before the eleventh hour is chimed, in the various districts where our unwitting heroes are going about whatever business they have in the city, that the echo of hard-heeled boots heralds the approach of a man in uniformly black attire.  With a cloak wrapped up around his neck in a futile attempt to keep dry, the man removes a sodden top hat and, with the coldness of officialdom, hands a piece of paper to its intended audience.  

The paper, dry within a waxed envelope, contains a scrawled note… ’Ms Mactavishes Pastries and Sweetmeats, Slipway Lane, Nr. Town Bridge.  Discretion required, arrive before one hour past the Noon tolling’. and is signed ‘Your humble servant, Mr Euphraideze - Community Outreach Committee of the Honourable and Most Holy Guild of Crematoria Masters (secretary)'.
 
What your normal business is, whether you are on your own or with other members of the party and what you do between receiving the letter and arriving at Slipway Lane… is entirely up to you… use it to add a little more of your character within the context of the streets of Castorhage. I’ll pick the story up as you arrive at your destination.

Welcome to Richard Pett's 'The Crucible' - Dark things, watching from the shadows with a growing hunger, await you...

This closed recruitment is restricted to those who have received invitations to apply - Eric Swanson, Lady Ladile, Adam Warnock, Tazo and Deevor.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I bid you welcome… to the Blight

It’s Clark Ashton Smith and China Miéville, Lovecraft and Dickens, Shelley and Carroll all in a festering brew of toil, tears, and injustice just screaming for heroes to clean up the streets (more likely to die — or worse — trying) or anti-heroes to clean up the streets (or, at least, a little corner in which to set up their own rackets). Castorhage is a city that never sleeps but is never fully awake, living in the shadow of its own dark dream. An insane royalty, a corrupt judiciary, a decadent aristocracy, and a half-living proletariat all jumbled together amid a thousand thousand monsters…some of them not even of the human variety.

…and the unlovely name by which Castorhage is known to those who have the misfortune to scratch out an existence within its darkest, dankest and most terrible districts? …the Blight.

The Crucible

Don’t go to sleep.

Some say dreams of fire are haunting the night, and that if you dream of burning, you awaken on fire.

People in the Blight begin to awaken at night burning with an all-too-real fire. Most of them die horribly, spouses or lovers staring in shocked horror at their sudden death throes in the grip of consuming flames. A few of the truly unlucky actually manage to survive — if living in such a state can be called survival. There seems to be no rhyme or reason in the victims of these incinerating dreams, as those among the high and low fall victim to its touch, and the locals each pray that he or she will not be next.

And now, no one dares to sleep.

The GM, a crazed look in his eye, brings the wreck of a rowing boat to the shore... steps out knee deep into the mire and filth of Sister Lyme and wades to the least rotten mooring post. Cursing beneath his breath as his cold fingers work a tight enough knot in the rope, he makes sure his vessel, his livelihood and home, is not taken by the great river. And then, smiling with black lips and rotten teeth, he bids you step aboard and take the short trip across the swollen river... to the very worst of cities.

I will, when it arrives next year, almost certainly run the Adventure Path that accompanies Richard Pett’s “The Blight” …but the second of the smaller adventures set in the decaying city, Richard Pett’s “The Crucible”, has been siphoned from the madness of its author… and the time has finally come to enter… the Blight.

The ‘Crunch’

• Characters shall be Level 7,
  
• All Paizo published classes are acceptable,
  
• 20-point ability buy,
  
• Maximum HP for your class at Level One with four further level increases in HP at average for class rounded up (i.e. d6 classes get 4, d8 classes get 5, d10 classes get 6 and d12 classes get 7),
  
• Core races AND Featured races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable (Uncommon races and Custom races will not be considered),
  
• Two traits may be selected,
  
• Character Wealth is 23,500 gp (WBL for Level 7),
  
• Non-evil alignments only,
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials will be considered.

Any further questions / requests re: character creation and allowable options, please feel free to ask in the recruitment thread.

"Who are you… that comes knocking at my door at this late hour?”

Note that, as I have no other Lost Lands Campaign Setting materials, I shall be running the Blight in Golarion… Castorhage is, in this world, a self-governing city state geographically located in the nation of Taldor… and replaces Cassomir on the map. Having said that, I anticipate that the adventure will be entirely self-contained within the Blight so this placing of Castorhage within the Golarion map should only really impact those who choose to write backgrounds that have them originating from beyond the city…

This is a stand-alone adventure and, as of yet, our knowledge of Castorhage is limited to what is within this module, and Bloody Jack that came before it… with that in mind, no-one need write a magnum opus for their character background (unless they want to of course!!!)… but I will be looking for two things in particular…

• Are you a resident of Castorhage? If not, what possible reason have you to come to this decadent city? …and if you are from Castorhage, how have you scratched out an existence?
  
• Are you known to the authorities here within the City? (Note that at least one person will have a non-criminal connection with the City’s “Office of the Watch”… be that a personal or professional connection… or maybe some kind of reputation as someone that can get things done).

I will leave this recruitment thread going whilst you folks work on your characters - everyone who previously submitted something for Bloody Jack can, by all means, use them here - although there will be a bit of levelling to Level 7 required. I shall, in the background, be reading through the adventure and, when it looks like we are ready... I shall set up the appropriate Gameplay Thread.

A cold fog clings to the tight streets of East Ending as morning gradually insinuates itself over Castorhage. The dull sound of cracked bells, ringing through the cold murk, accompanies the sound of a weary populace making its way to some godforsaken place to scratch out a living. The pedlars, the labourers and the vagrants are far from being the only folk abroad at this early hour…

Across the city, in the various districts where our unwitting heroes are going about whatever business they have so early, the sound of hob-nailed boots heralds the approach of an officer of the watch. With a cloak wrapped up around his neck in a futile attempt to stave off the cold, the officer gruffly hands a piece of paper to its intended audience. The paper, stamped with the official crest of the Office of the Watch, contains a scrawled note… East Ending, St. Swithin’s Lane. Come as quickly as you can… and tell no-one.

The note is signed ‘Muncy’… a familiar name to each of our heroes, Inspector Muncy is a mid-level detective who has built a small reputation within a mis-trusting people for working almost inhuman hours doggedly pursuing lost causes… and, in one or two rare cases, actually finding justice for those who thought it long gone.

What your normal business is, whether you are on your own or with other members of the party and what you do between receiving the letter and arriving at St. Swithin’s Lane… is entirely up to you… use it to add a little more of your character within the context of the streets of Castorhage. I’ll pick the story up as you enter St. Swithin’s Lane.

Welcome to Greg A. Vaughan's 'Bloody Jack' - Dark things, watching from the shadows with a gnawing hunger, await you...

This recruitment is restricted to those who have received invitations to apply.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I bid you welcome… to the Blight

It’s Clark Ashton Smith and China Miéville, Lovecraft and Dickens, Shelley and Carroll all in a festering brew of toil, tears, and injustice just screaming for heroes to clean up the streets (more likely to die — or worse — trying) or anti-heroes to clean up the streets (or, at least, a little corner in which to set up their own rackets). Castorhage is a city that never sleeps but is never fully awake, living in the shadow of its own dark dream. An insane royalty, a corrupt judiciary, a decadent aristocracy, and a half-living proletariat all jumbled together amid a thousand thousand monsters…some of them not even of the human variety.

…and the unlovely name by which Castorhage is known to those who have the misfortune to scratch out an existence within its darkest, dankest and most terrible districts? …the Blight.

Bloody Jack

Bloody Jack Carver went down to the harbour,
Taking some children to play.

An eel popped up its head… and ate them instead,
While Jack tip-toed away.

All the children of the Blight know the nursery rhymes about Bloody Jack Carver, cautionary tales for naughty or overly inquisitive children to mind their manners and obey their parents. However, their parents know the true horror of those times 30 years ago when the lunatic serial killer known as Bloody Jack Carver stalked the fog-shrouded streets of the Blight and abducted children to murder and mutilate. The killing spree finally ended, though not before the number of dead and missing children had reached into the scores, but the perpetrator himself was never caught or identified. The parents and the Watch gave a collective sigh of relief, hoping that one of the haunted city’s other horrors of the night had perhaps claimed the life of the blood-drenched psychopath and ended his reign of terror once and for all.
 
When the PCs are deputised and called in to assist in a homicide investigation, though, they find terrifying clues that point to the three-decade-old Bloody Jack killings and signs to indicate that they were just the beginning. Now the PCs are in a race against time across the breadth of the decrepit and deteriorating city that is the Blight as they attempt to stop a killing spree by the child murderer before it can start anew. The PCs’ investigation takes them from the halls of the Capitol and the seedy streets and alleys of Toiltown to the garish carnival piers of Festival and the pollutant-crusted banks of the Great Lyme River. Only they stand between the children of the decayed city and new nursery rhymes being written in their blood.

The GM, a crazed look in his eye, draws aside a pair of blood red velvet curtains that have certainly seen better days… he smiles, black lips and crack toothed, and bids you to take a seat at the very worst table in the house…

I will, when it arrives next year, almost certainly run the Adventure Path that accompanies Richard Pett’s “The Blight” …but the first of the smaller adventures set in the decaying city, Greg Vaughan’s “Bloody Jack”, has been wrested from the ink-stained claws of its author… and the time has finally come to enter… the Blight.

The ‘Crunch’

• Characters shall be Level 5,
  
• All Paizo published classes are acceptable,
  
• 20-point ability buy,
  
• Maximum HP for your class at Level One with four further level increases in HP at average for class rounded up (i.e. d6 classes get 4, d8 classes get 5, d10 classes get 6 and d12 classes get 7),
  
• Core races AND Featured races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable (Uncommon races and Custom races will not be considered),
  
• Two traits may be selected,
  
• Character Wealth is 10,500 gp (WBL for Level 5),
  
• Non-evil alignments only,
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials will be considered.

Any further questions / requests re: character creation and allowable options, please feel free to ask in the recruitment thread.

Who are you… that comes knocking at my door at this late hour?”

Note that, as I have no other Lost Lands Campaign Setting materials, I shall be running the Blight in Golarion… Castorhage is, in this world, a self-governing city state geographically located in the nation of Taldor… and replaces Cassomir on the map. Having said that, I anticipate that the adventure will be entirely self-contained within the Blight so this placing of Castorhage within the Golarion map should only really impact those who choose to write backgrounds that have them originating from beyond the city…

This is a stand-alone adventure and, as of yet, our knowledge of Castorhage is limited to what is within this module… with that in mind, no-one need write a magnum opus for their character background (unless they want to of course!!!)… but I will be looking for two things in particular…

• Are you a resident of Castorhage? If not, what possible reason have you to come to this decadent city? …and if you are from Castorhage, how have you scratched out an existence?
  
• Are you known to the authorities here within the City? (Note that at least one person will have a non-criminal connection with the City’s “Office of the Watch”… be that a personal or professional connection… or maybe some kind of reputation as someone that can get things done).

Recruitment will last through until the 25th November.

Interplanetary Adventure, New Worlds, Ancient Civilizations, Alien Species, and more, with a delightful mix of magic and technology, Legendary Games brings you a sword-and-planet adventure path; authored by some of the biggest names in the RPG business. Legendary Planet will take your characters across the multiverse, traveling alien gateways created by ancient, god-like beings to exotic worlds and back again in an incredible campaign like none other. Sword-swingers and spell-slingers stand alongside scoundrels and seekers for cosmic enlightenment as they unravel conspiracies and cryptic alliances bent on universal domination... or annihilation!

To Worlds Unknown is the first main chapter in the Legendary Planet Adventure Path, bringing your heroes into the midst of a battle beyond the stars for supremacy over myriad alien worlds and alien cultures. Against the backdrop of great powers both ancient and new, small-time power players and petty criminals vie in the grungy back alleys of a crossroads world, and the heroes must discover who can help them find their way to safety through an impossible network of planetary portals before their erstwhile allies betray them to those whose secret schemes are far more sinister.

I am looking for a sixth player to join my 'Goblins in Spaaaace!!! Legendary Planet campaign... you will be joining right at the official commencement of the Adventure Path (the rest of the group have nearly played their way through the Prelude Adventure 'The Assimilation Strain')...

The gameplay thread is HERE for those folks who want to get a feel for the game style.

...and so, to... The ‘Crunch’

• Characters start the adventure as Level 2
  
• All classes are acceptable (including the oft-maligned Gunslinger, Samurai, Ninja and Summoner – note that the Pathfinder Unchained version of the Summoner is preferred to the original APG version).
  
• 20-point ability buy (no stat lower than 8 / higher than 18 AFTER racial bonuses / penalties).
  
• Maximum HP for your class at Level 1 with a Level 2 increase in HP of average for class rounded up.
  
• One trait maybe selected – a further campaign trait from the Legendary Planet Players Guide will become available when you start the adventure.
  
• Starting gold is 1,000gp
  
• Non-evil alignments only.
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; or Legendary Games material written for this Adventure Path - no other 3rd Party Materials.
  
• …and, the number one important rule…build a character that you care about…and have fun!!!

When deciding what you may wish to propose, note that we currently have:

A Human Summoner,
A Gnome Oracle,
A Goblin Gunslinger,
A Goblin Bard and,
A Goblin Fighter...

Your character need not originate from Golarion (the rest of the party do but that's going to become less of a concern shortly!!!) and therefore the options for Race are quite open...

Any of the Core, Featured or Uncommon races from the Advanced Race Guide are fine... and, furthermore; Android, Lashunta and Triaxians from Inner Sea Bestiary are fine... and, even more, any of the races from the Legendary Path Player's Guide (if you have it) are also fine... and, guess what, if there are any 0HD races in the Bestiaries that you'd like to propose, feel free to check in with your idea.

I'll keep the recruitment thread open until the 14th May at least...

Ships and sailors avoid Hellmouth Gulf along the western coast of Cheliax for good reason. Sharp rocks jut from the waves all along its inhospitable coastline, like the gaping maw of some foul beast - ready to drag the foolhardy and the foolish to a saltwater grave. For those who wish, or need, to make the journey between Pezzack to the north and the Ruins of Narona to the south, a rough road runs the full length of the coast, providing a far safer choice for those averse to traveling across the sea.

The coastal road follows the rugged coastline atop these cliffs; some stretches are hundreds of feet tall, and only occasionally do breaks in the cliff wall expose entrances to small coves and inlets. Dark sand and jagged rocks cover the coast’s small, spare beaches, and the incoming tide carries with it a sulphurous grime...

A low fog hangs along the shore, refusing to release its grip in the pervasive gloom of an overcast morning. The surf crashes against nearby cliffs, and the cold wind carries a spray of fine mist - a mist that soaks through the clothing of the six travellers heading northwards... the sullen mood of the weather echoed on the faces of three of those northward bound folk whilst the other three, focussed on either their duty or the promise of a bounty, press on with grim determination...

Welcome to the game, drop in, say hello... meet the other players and, once we are all here, I'll kick off proceedings.

The deep waters of the Hellmouth Gulf have long concealed ancient mysteries, both wondrous and terrible. But these secrets have been submerged for too long, and the remote coastal village of Blackcove has accidentally awoken a slumbering horror from a bygone age. Strange creatures now venture from beneath the waves to steal townsfolk away in the dark of night.

Can the PCs discover the fate of Blackcove’s lost villagers? What secrets still lie hidden on the mysterious, ruined island just offshore, and what now lurks in the flooded temples beneath the isle? And what horrific fate lies in store for those unfortunate souls who fall prey to the Island's eldritch influence

I currently have a number of long running campaigns on these boards but I have got the urge to run one of Paizo’s shorter modules – having previously enjoyed running ‘The Godmouth Heresy’, ‘Wardens of the Reborn Forge’ and the ‘Feast of Ravenmoor’ on these boards, I’d like to try out ‘From Shore to Sea’. I am looking for 4 – 5 adventurers to play Brandon Hodge’s Lovecraftian adventure with me.

The ‘Crunch’

• Characters shall be at Level 6
  
• All Paizo published classes are acceptable (other than the Vigilante from the Ultimate Intrigue Playtest)
  
• 15-point ability buy.
  
• Maximum HP for your class at Level One with five further level increases in HP at average for class rounded up (i.e. d6 classes get 4, d8 classes get 5, d10 classes get 6 and d12 classes get 7)
  
• Core races AND Featured races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable (Uncommon races and Custom races will not be considered).
  
• Two traits maybe selected
  
• Character Wealth is 16,000gp
  
• Non-evil alignments only.
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.

Character Background is important however no-one need write a magnum opus!!! Please note that the adventure will start with you trekking along the western coast of Cheliax… We’ll work together, once recruitment is complete, to tie the chosen character’s stories together as required.

Recruitment will be open for a little over a week, during which time I will try and answer any questions, with an expected close date of 12th March, Midnight GMT. I will make my selection based on interesting characters (background and/or character concept), party balance and what looks like fun to play.

I will look to start the adventure on or around the 14th March. The selected persons must be able to commit to posting at least once per day during the week.

I look forward to seeing some interesting characters ready to explore the mysteries of the Hellmouth Gulf.

One of Avistan’s largest wetlands, the swath of swamp known as the Mushfens stretches along the entire southern border of Varisia. This trackless region has resisted every attempt at colonization so far, and to this day remains a wildland in every sense of the term.

Boggards, marsh giants, and stranger creatures are said to rule here.

"Stupid Gazetteer and Longshanks know nothing!!! Goblins rules in the Marshes and Breakbag tribe rules most of all. Chief Smashface Oddle of Breakbags saw star fall from sky three moons ago... gone to fetch it for great power that going to make Breakbags master of all of marsh...maybe one day rule even more than marsh then we can stop eating filthy toads and swampboggles"

"Problem is no one seen chief for a while... maybe me be new chief!!!"

Several Days Later

5th Lamashan, 4715AR

It's been days since anyone has seen or heard the goblins of the Breakbag tribe - stories swept across the fens of their great chief having pulled a star from the sky...and then silence; undoubtedly a relief to the few human families scratching out an existence in this forsaken region of Varisia but, to some who had heard tale of this story of the fallen star - and coveted the star's power for themselves - a mystery that must be solved.

midday-ish

...two such groups seeking the same prize arrive at the sodden trail that, to the south, leads to the Breakbag village...

Welcome to the Legendary Planet Adventure - a Universe of Strange Worlds, Amazing Machines and Fantastical Creatures await you...

...and about those Fantastical Creatures...Yeah, most of them probably want to eat you... Sorry about that.

This is a semi-closed recruitment thread for my second table of the Legendary Planet Adventure Path.

The following characters from the first recruitment round have been pre-selected for the adventure:

• Kaloora Plimp, Goblin Gunslinger (played by adsapiens)

• Ravboom, Goblin Barbarian (played by mdt)

• Sparky, Goblin Rogue (played by gobo horde)

And the following folks are invited to pitch either their original characters (background modified to have some association with a group of goblins) or a goblinoid character:

• Mimesyne

• Chainmail

• DekotheBarbarian

• Tangefree

• Mr. Whatever

• Lady Ladile

• Evgeni Genadiev

• TheWaskally

• Warhawk7

• Redblade8

• Artemis Moonstar

• Tharasiph

Recruitment will be open until the 30th September, midnight GMT.

Just to reiterate – especially as things moved around in response to people’s requests, the character requirements / house rules for this adventure are:

• Characters start the adventure as Level 1.

• All classes are acceptable (including the oft-maligned Gunslinger, Samurai, Ninja and Summoner – note that the Pathfinder Unchained version of the Summoner is preferred to the original APG version).

• 20-point ability buy (no stat lower than 8 AFTER racial bonuses / penalties – No Upper Limit).

• Maximum HP for your class (further level increases in HP shall be average for class rounded up).

• Core and Featured Races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable – other Paizo published races from the Campaign Setting are subject to GM discretion.

• One trait / Two traits with a Drawback maybe selected – a further campaign trait from the Legendary Planet Player’s Guide will become available when you reach Level 3 and start the ‘To Worlds Unknown’ adventure.

• Background Skills from Pathfinder Unchained: Characters get an additional 2 skill points which must be spent on Background Skills.

• Average Starting Gold for your class.

• Non-Evil alignments only.

• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd party Materials…

Note also that we will be using:

• Hero Points.

• Variant Multiclassing from Pathfinder Unchained – note that Core Rulebook Multiclassing remains a valid option.

• Automatic Bonus Progression from Pathfinder Unchained.

The road between Riddleport and Magnimar is well travelled – at any time, someone on the road could expect to encounter trade looking to avoid the perilous sea crossing, the movement of agricultural products from the rich farmlands into the cities and, of course, Varisian caravans moving along the open road. There are few towns along the way and, of those few, it is probably only Galduria that could be described as any approaching ‘interesting’.

Positioned approximately halfway in between the big cities, Galduria is a lake-side town more famous – or possibly infamous - for its arcane college than for anything else. The Twilight Academy within the town is, of its own right a destination for certain travellers, but for most folks Galduria simply offers a degree of respite from the long roads between Varisia’s cities – respite to folk who have endured nights beneath the open sky or within one of the many road-side inns that exist only to shelter travellers…

…it is at one of these inns, no more than twenty miles north of Galduria that our story starts…

The ‘Stars above the Lake’ is a grand name for an inn which has not been described as grand for a long time… if it ever has. Squatting next to the shore of Lake Ember, it is an unremarkable two storey building providing little more than a bar with simple fare, over two dozen inexpensive rooms and ample stabling – its location next to one of the larger rivers feeding into the lake suggests that, at one time, it may have been a place where a short ferry crossing was needed to continue your journey – but these days, a stone bridge arches above the river and the Inn has fallen upon fallow times.

25th Rova, 4715 AR

…the sun is setting from a golden autumnal sky as you crest the hill that approaches yet another anonymous river on your map – Galduria is still many miles away whilst at the foot of the hill - next to a river of such little consequence no one can recall its name, soft light glows through the windows of a tavern…

…it seems that this is where you will spend the night…

Welcome to the 'Legendary Planet' Adventure Path - Excitement, Wonder and Fantastical Beings await you...

Interplanetary Adventure, New Worlds, Ancient Civilizations, Alien Species, and more, with a delightful mix of magic and technology, Legendary Games brings you a sword-and-planet adventure path; authored by some of the biggest names in the RPG business. Legendary Planet will take your characters across the multiverse, traveling alien gateways created by ancient, god-like beings to exotic worlds and back again in an incredible campaign like none other. Sword-swingers and spell-slingers stand alongside scoundrels and seekers for cosmic enlightenment as they unravel conspiracies and cryptic alliances bent on universal domination... or annihilation!

This epic saga begins with a prelude adventure beginning the campaign in a more traditionally prosaic fantasy setting, a pastoral world to which only the first fingers of alien influence have yet been stretched… Golarion…

A strange sickness afflicts the frontier settlement of Holver's Ferry - a nearly forgotten village in the Varisian forest of Churlwood - threatening to overwhelm its citizens with an alien madness. Already the town has nearly torn itself apart, and the local sheriff is missing. When the PCs brave the surrounding wilderness as the village's latest newcomers, the beleaguered townsfolk desperately turn to them for assistance. But can these erstwhile heroes trace the diseased carrier to its source and solve the mystery before they, too, succumb to The Assimilation Strain?

The ‘Crunch’

• Characters start the adventure as Level 1
  
• All classes are acceptable (including the oft-maligned Gunslinger, Samurai, Ninja and Summoner – note that the Pathfinder Unchained version of the Summoner is preferred to the original APG version).
  
• 20-point ability buy (no stat lower than 8 / higher than 18 AFTER racial bonuses / penalties).
  
• Maximum HP for your class (further level increases in HP shall be average for class rounded up)
  
• Core and Featured Races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable.
  
• One trait maybe selected – a further campaign trait from the Legendary Planet Players Guide will become available when you reach Level 3 and start the ‘To Worlds Unknown’ adventure.
  
• Average starting gold for your class.
  
• Non-evil alignments only.
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.
  
• …and, the number one important rule…build a character that you care about…and have fun!!!

Your characters will start their adventure at an inn on the road between the Varisian cities of Riddleport and Magnimar - why they are travelling between the cities and whether they know each other is entirely up to you...

Recruitment will be open for a week and a half, during which time I will try and answer any questions, with an expected close date of 19th September, Midnight GMT. I will make my selection over the following weekend and look to start the adventure around the 23rd September. The selected persons must be able to commit to posting at least once per day during the week.

Seeking new players to delve the depths of the Emerald Spire!!!

I have two well-established games of the Emerald Spire (we have been playing for about a year and have made it down to the sixth level of the ‘superdungeon’) that, through the ravages and challenges of real-life, have each lost a player – I am looking to recruit a replacement into each of these games:

The Emerald Spire

Stirrings in the Deep

Both parties currently comprise:

• A Fighter / A Ranger (fulfilling similar combat roles)
  
• A Cleric
  
• A Sorcerer
  
• and a Rogue

So, with the main ‘classic roles’ already covered, applicants have a reasonably free hand in selecting a class….

Character Creation Rules

• Characters to be Level 5.
  
• All non-playtest classes are acceptable (other than Gunslinger, the Samurai and the Ninja).
  
• 15-point ability buy.
  
• Maximum HP for your class at Level 1 with four further level increases (to Level 5) at average for class rounded up.
  
• Core races AND Featured races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable (Uncommon races and Custom races will not be considered).
  
• Two traits may be selected – one of which must be from the Fan-Made Emerald Spire Player’s Guide.
  
• Your Character Background should preferably incorporate a reason why you are in the vicinity of Fort Inevitable (the Hellknight run town near the Emerald Spire) or in the Echo Woods surrounding the Spire.
  
• 50% of Wealth By Level.
  
• Non-evil alignments only.
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.
  
• Selected player must be able to commit to a good posting rate – the expectation is for daily posting (both groups have maintained really good posting rates).

Note also that we are using the Automatic Bonus Progression rules from Pathfinder Unchained – at Level 5, your character will have:

• a +1 deflection bonus to AC
  
• a +1 enhancement bonus to an ‘attuned set’ of armour
  
• a +1 resistance bonus on all saving throws.
  
• a +1 enhancement bonus to an ‘attuned’ weapon

Looking forward to meeting some fun new characters and, of course, I will be around to answer any questions as they come up during recruitment.

Recruitment shall be open until the 4th September and I shall select characters by the 7th September

This is the discussion thread for our The Godsmouth Heresy game.

We can use this thread for off-topic or 'Out of Character' discussions....

The City of Kaer Maga sits in the heart of Varisia, a vast stone hexagon of unknown origin perched high atop the cliffs of the Storval Rise. This cyclopean structure has existed for greater than 10,000 years and today it is a city of wonder, of intrigues and of mysteries.

Carved on the cliff face below the city are numerous representations of gigantic bodies and faces, though who these titanic carvings actually represent is a matter of some conjecture - the vanished runelords of ancient Thassilon, forgotten kings, dead gods, or someone else. Some of these massive sculptures lead into the Undercity, a dizzying network of caverns, tunnels and chambers, both natural and man-made, that riddle the cliffs beneath Kaer Maga.

One of the most famous entrances to the Undercity lies in the mouth of one of the giant faces known as the Unnamed King, and opens onto a series of ancient catacombs where the honoured dead of Kaer Maga are interred. From their cathedral in the Bottoms district of the city above, the clergy of Pharasma oversee the Godsmouth Ossuary, the most prestigious place in Kaer Maga to be buried - and the Pharasmins charge a hefty price for the honour.

For generations, Kaer Maga’s wealthy and powerful have been laid to rest in the Godsmouth Ossuary, thus far, their repose seems to be peaceful. Furthermore there seems to be no limit to the number of bodies that can be stored there – the Ossuary has existed for thousands of years, before the founding of the current city, and has yet to run out of room.

Deep below the anarchic city of Kaer Maga, someone—or something—has begun stealing corpses from the city’s most prestigious tomb, the Godsmouth Ossuary. Fearing the worst, the clerics of Pharasma in charge of maintaining the crypts quietly call for aid, not wanting to risk their own members in combating whatever horrors may have crept in from the tunnels and hidden chambers of the legendary Undercity.

I am looking for 4 – 5 adventurers to accept this call for aid and to investigate the Godsmouth Ossuary. I will make my selection based on interesting characters (background and/or character concept), party balance and what looks like fun to play.

This adventure takes place in the Varisian City of Kaer Maga. All characters should have a tie to the city and should either be living or newly arrived in the city when the quest starts. Your ‘employer’ for the adventure will be the Church of Pharasma. Your character should be known to the Church in some way.

The ‘Crunch’

• All Paizo created classes other than Gunslinger, Summoner, Ninja and Samurai are acceptable; all characters will begin at level 1.
  
• 20-point ability buy.
  
• Maximum HP for your class.
  
• This being the ‘cosmopolitan’ City of Kaer Maga, Core races, Featured races and Uncommon races from the ARG will be considered (Custom races will not be considered).
  
• Two traits maybe selected (preferably thematic to Kaer Maga, Varisia or your Character’s background)
  
• Average gold for your class.
  
• Non-evil alignments only.
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.

Recruitment will be open for about a week, during which time I will try and answer any questions, with an expected close date of 12th February, Midnight GMT. I will make my selection over the following weekend and look to start the adventure on the 16th February. The selected persons must be able to commit to posting at least once per day during the week.

I look forward to seeing some interesting characters ready to delve the Ossuary.

Seeking replacement player for an established Emerald Spire campaign

My group of intrepid adventurers have just lost their Shaman companion and, before heading into the third level of the Spire dungeon, will be heading back to civilisation to recruit another party member. The team is currently made up of a Tiefling Rogue, a Human Fighter, a Human Cleric and a Human Sorcerer.

This is a link to the Campaign so you can check play style, etc.

• Characters to be Level 3
  
• All classes are acceptable (other than Gunslinger, Samurai and Ninja). I will NOT, at this stage, consider Occult Adventures Playtest classes.
  
• 15-point ability buy.
  
• Maximum HP for your class at Level 1 with two further level increases (to Level 3) at average for class rounded up
  
• Core races AND Featured races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable (Uncommon races and Custom races will not be considered).
  
• Two traits maybe selected
  
• Average gold for your class at Level 1 with further funds to come from the Party
  
• Non-evil alignments only.
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.
  
• Selected player must be able to commit to a good posting rate (the group has generally posted at least daily)

Hoping to get some interesting characters proposed and to have made the selection by Midnight (GMT) on 14th December. Selection of the replacement character will be by myself but I will canvas my players for their opinions.

Several weeks ago, you each received an anonymously delivered scroll inviting you to Sothis and suggesting that great riches could be found in the Contemptible Crypts. As with any family, even the line of Osirian pharaohs had secrets to hide. Whatever the reason for their dishonour, undesirable members of the Osirian royal family were interred in a series of secure, secret burial chambers within Sothis’s Necropolis of the Faithful known as the Contemptible Crypts.

Whatever the motivation for your response, wealth, curiosity or theological, it is through invitations, audiences and no small amount of bribery, you find yourselves at the imposing doors of the Contemptible Crypts in the Necropolis of the Faithful at Sothis...a small group of like minded individuals each with the same scroll...

The large, sandstone double doors into the crypts are unmarked and possess no clear locking mechanism. The doors are magically sealed to prevent both escape from within and unauthorized access from without — a specially keyed scarab medallion must be held against the doors to open them. Fortuitously you were able to obtain such a medallion from within the upper echelons of Pharasma’s clergy in the Necropolis of the Faithful.

...and, placing the scarab against the doors, there is a tumultuous crack and the doors open inwards slightly...stale air whistles out through the gap...all is dark within...

Welcome to the playtest!!!

This is the Discussion Thread... a place to say Hi, to discuss 'OOC' and to share opinions on classes / mechanics, etc

When I lived, all I required of Pathfinders like you was that you surrender your prize. Now I also require that you surrender your life...

Through invitations, audiences and no small amount of bribery, you find yourselves at the imposing doors of the Contemptible Crypts in the Necropolis of the Faithful at Sothis...a papyrus scroll in your hand hints of an ancient Artifact hidden within the tombs...

.......….............

I am looking to run a PBP playtest of the Occult Adventures classes - I have invited a few people from my existing games and have at least two players but I would like a party of four to have a bit of fun exploring these new classes...

...there isn't any need to create a huge backstory for your character, just as much as makes it fun for you...

Note that, as it is a tomb that you are headed into, the encounters are likely to be a little undead heavy!!!

The ‘Crunch’

Occult Adventures Playtest classes / Level 8
20 point ability buy.
Maximum HP for your class at level 1, level increases in HP up to level 8 average for class rounded up
Core races AND Featured races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable (Uncommon races and Custom races will not be considered).
Two traits maybe selected
Starting gold: 33,000 GP
Non-evil alignments only.
All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.
Recruitment will be open for a week, during which time I will try and answer any questions, with an expected close date of 7th November, Midnight GMT. I will make my selection over the following weekend and look to start the adventure on the 10th November.

The selected persons must be able to commit to posting at least once per day during the week.

If I have four good applications, I may close recruitment early....

15th Rova, 4714

Built in the shadow of megaliths, Magnimar endlessly endeavours to surpass the overwhelming scale and grandeur of the ancient wonders that litter the Varisian landscape. A place of great opportunity,
social stress, and cold beauty, the city exudes the air of a southern metropolis, seeking to rise above its ignoble beginnings as a refuge for Korvosan outcasts to become a beacon of culture and freedom in an unforgiving land. Yet its towering monuments, elegant gardens, ostentatious architecture, and elaborate sculptures form but a cracked mask over a struggling government and a desperate people in need of heroes.

…heroes who, unaware of their impending destiny, are going about their normal business on this cool autumnal day when the letter that will change their lives forever, and the lives of hundreds of thousands of Varisians, arrives…

Sealed in wax with the sigil of the Pathfinder Society, there can be little doubt as to where the message comes from…tentatively opening the letter, the script inside is elegantly written yet enigmatic in its content.

Greetings, fellow seeker of adventure!
I am Sheila Heidmarch, Venture Captain of the newest Pathfinder Society lodge—and the only such lodge in Varisia at this time. You have come to my attention as someone who possesses a certain amount of skills and interests that make you an excellent addition to a highly specialized team I’m putting together for a matter of grave import, not only to the Society, but to Varisia as a whole. Please report an hour before noon on the morrow to Heidmarch Manor—you will be compensated for your visit, but that reward will pale in light of the riches that await you should we come to an agreement on my proposition to you. I look forward to meeting you soon!
Sheila Heidmarch

This is our Discussion Thread for all kinds of 'Out of Character' chat - social, rules clarifications, etc

From the ashes of Thassilon, an ancient power shall rise again!

The ancient empire of the runelords may be long dead, yet the legacy of Thassilon continues to haunt the frontier realm of Varisia. With the rise of one runelord only narrowly thwarted, Korvosa reeling after the curse of the Crimson Throne nearly brought the city to its knees, and Riddleport rebuilding after a close call with a falling star, the people of Varisia fear that the greatest threat to their land has yet to play its hand.

When agents of the newest Pathfinder Society lodge in Magnimar learn of a fragmented artifact scattered throughout the lands of old Thassilon, it falls to a new band of heroes to step in and gather up the seven fragments of this Shattered Star. For if the greatest prize of Thassilon's first ruler cannot save Varisia... what can?

I am looking for 4 – 5 adventurers for, what is likely to be, a long exploration through the Shattered Star Adventure Path. I will make my selection based on interesting characters (background and/or character concept), party balance and what looks like fun to play.

Your character will start in the City of Magnimar and should be known to the Pathfinder Society for some reason – your Backstory should reflect this.

• The ‘Crunch’

• Characters start the adventure as Level 1

• All classes are acceptable (including the much-maligned Gunslinger, Samurai, Ninja and Summoner). Classes from the Advanced Class Guide are also acceptable.

• 15-point ability buy (no stat lower than 8 / higher than 18 AFTER racial bonuses / penalties).

• Maximum HP for your class (further level increases in HP shall be average for class rounded up)

• Core races AND Featured races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable (Uncommon races and Custom races will not be considered).

• Two traits maybe selected (or three traits with a drawback) – at least one of those traits must be from the Shattered Star Players Guide / the other(s) reflected in your backstory.

• Average starting gold for your class.

• Non-evil alignments only.

• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.

• …and, shamelessly copied from someone else’s recruitment, the number one important rule…build a character that you care about…and have fun!!!

Recruitment will be open for a week, during which time I will try and answer any questions, with an expected close date of 13th September, Midnight GMT. I will make my selection over the following weekend and look to start the adventure around the 16th September. The selected persons must be able to commit to posting at least once per day during the week.

It starts as these things so very often do in a tavern. There are two inns in Fort Inevitable; the smaller Red Shield Tavern, popular with the town's off duty garrison guards and the larger and more comfortable Juliver Arms. The Juliver has been owned and managed by a veritable clan of bustling halflings for as long as people can remember...the Reedbanks are typical of their race, welcoming, jovial and never short of time to spin a yarn. It is here, in the most friendly and welcoming of places, where a chain of events will occur, where strangers will meet...where a quest into the darkest depths of the earth...and history...will begin.

The month is Abadius and the weather is typical for this time of year...the snows have set in and trade along the Crusader Road is slow. The few travellers that arrive at Fort Inevitable are either heading north to join the fight at old Sarkoris or are caravans of merchants plying the trade routes through the River Kingdoms. Needless to say, new faces in the town are unusual whilst the snows hamper travel and, until trust has been gained, will draw the attention of Fort Inevitable's Hellknight guards. Tonight the weather is particularly bitter, a harsh wind whistles through the streets and a shower brings fresh snow...yet the winter can be briefly forgotten within the warmth of the Juliver Arms...a small crowd of locals crowd the bar, huddle around tables or warm themselves against one of two roaring fires. A night like any other night beneath this roof...yet all of this was about to change...

I thought that, given this is a good old-fashioned dungeon delve, we could have a traditional 'you are in an Inn...' intro. You can either already be in the Inn or arrive at some time during the evening...if you are from Fort Inevitable then you will undoubtedly know some of the locals (feel free to make some up if you want)...if you are new to town then some backstory about what you are doing in town should come through in your first posts or interactions.

It starts as these things so very often do in a tavern. There are two inns in Fort Inevitable; the smaller Red Shield Tavern, popular with the town's off duty garrison guards and the larger and more comfortable Juliver Arms. The Juliver has been owned and managed by a veritable clan of bustling halflings for as long as people can remember...the Reedbanks are typical of their race, welcoming, jovial and never short of time to spin a yarn. It is here, in the most friendly and welcoming of places, where a chain of events will occur, where strangers will meet...where a quest into the darkest depths of the earth...and history...will begin.

The month is Abadius and the weather is typical for this time of year...the snows have set in and trade along the Crusader Road is slow. The few travellers that arrive at Fort Inevitable are either heading north to join the fight at old Sarkoris or are caravans of merchants plying the trade routes through the River Kingdoms. Needless to say, new faces in the town are unusual whilst the snows hamper travel and, until trust has been gained, will draw the attention of Fort Inevitable's Hellknight guards. Tonight the weather is particularly bitter, a harsh wind whistles through the streets and a shower brings fresh snow...yet the winter can be briefly forgotten within the warmth of the Juliver Arms...a small crowd of locals crowd the bar, huddle around tables or warm themselves against one of two roaring fires. A night like any other night beneath this roof...yet all of this was about to change...

I thought that, given this is a good old-fashioned dungeon delve, we could have a traditional 'you are in an Inn...' intro. You can either already be in the Inn or arrive at some time during the evening...if you are from Fort Inevitable then you will undoubtedly know some of the locals (feel free to make some up if you want)...if you are new to town then some backstory about what you are doing in town should come through in your first posts or interactions.

This is the discussion thread for GM Zed's 'Stirrings in the Deep'.

The party for this adventure are:

Zedth - Grayface, Human Fighter
Tazo - Yasmin Al Akbar, Human Sorcerer
Spinning Dice – Emerald, Oread Shaman
Escharid Blackrose - Ea Zalinsel, Human Cleric of Pharasma
Grimdog73 – Rallos, Tiefling Rogue

Please drop in to say Hi and, in the meantime, I'll get our Gameplay thread up and running...

This is a closed recruitment thread for Group B of my Emerald Spire game

Successful applicants for this group are:

Zedth - Grayface, Human Fighter
Tazo - Yasmin Al Akbar, Human Sorcerer
Spinning Dice – Emerald, Oread Shaman
Escharid Blackrose - Ea Zalinsel, Human Cleric of Pharasma
Grimdog73 – Rallos, Tiefling Rogue

This is the discussion thread for GM Zed's 'The Emerald Spire'.

The party for this adventure are:

Gypsy Mischief - Marian Ceville, Human Barbarian
Chakka - Conner Kordson, Human Magus
Whtknt - Drusellia Malacore, Drow Sorcerer
Chainmail - Luther Lightblade, Aasimar Cleric of Abadar
Daniel Stewart – Symon, Fetchling Rogue

Please drop in to say Hi and, in the meantime, I'll get our Gameplay thread up and running...

For ages untold, a gemstone monolith has pierced the heart of the Echo Wood. Now, as civilization intrudes upon this enigmatic splinter, a strange life once again stirs in the depths—one with ties to undying evils and a might beyond time itself. The promise of wealth and power calls to glory-seekers from across the Inner Sea region, tempting them into a labyrinth of monster-haunted vaults, defiled tombs, arcane laboratories, and worse, as they seek to unveil the secrets locked below the legendary Emerald Spire.

I am looking for 4 – 5 adventurers to explore Paizo's superdungeon. I will make my selection based on interesting characters (background and/or character concept), party balance and what looks like fun to play.

The ‘Crunch’

• All classes are acceptable (other than Gunslinger, Samurai and Ninja). Playtest classes from the Advanced Class Guide are acceptable but will require to be revised, where appropriate, when the ACG is published and final versions of the class are available.
  
• 15-point ability buy.
  
• Maximum HP for your class (further level increases in HP shall be average for class rounded up)
  
• Core races AND Featured races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable (Uncommon races and Custom races will not be considered).
  
• Two traits maybe selected
  
• Average gold for your class.
  
• Non-evil alignments only.
  
• All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.

Recruitment will be open for a week, during which time I will try and answer any questions, with an expected close date of 21st June, Midnight GMT. I will make my selection over the following weekend and look to start the adventure on the 23rd June. The selected persons should be able to commit to posting at least once per day during the week.

I look forward to seeing some interesting characters ready to explore this huge dungeon....

This is our discussion thread....a place to talk out of character, to say hello or to let others know that you may be absent for a while....

Say Hi and then toddle over to the Gameplay thread....

An isolated bastion of civilization in the magic- blasted wasteland known as the Mana Wastes in western Garund, the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar is one of the most unique cities in the Inner Sea region. Alkenstar stands atop a massive cliff overlooking the Spellscar Desert, the mighty Ustradi River bisecting the settlement as it flows over the Alken Falls on its way north to Nex. The city’s mastery of science amid the unpredictable magic of the Mana Wastes has Alkenstar’s influence extend beyond its local region, and its innovations such as firearms, clockworks, and alchemy keep it a relevant part of the larger economy.

....at least that's what the text books say about this place...

Ask a citizen and it's a different story, they'll tell you of the stifling heat, the endless days of humid smog, being afraid to step beyond the city walls for fear of what lies beyond....

Still, whatever they may call it, it's a home for you; at least for now.....

...and today finds you in the Ferrous Quarter; this grimy district in Smokeside is the location of many of Alkenstar’s most famous taverns and small artisan workshops. Adventurers flock to the quarter’s myriad rumormongers and city criers in search of the latest gossip, though trustworthy leads are in scarce supply. More prevalent are the delicacies and powerful ales served at the many inns, taphouses, and eateries lining Ferrous Quarter’s primary thoroughfare, Hammer Avenue. Visitors with sufficient coin can find nearly any sort of Garundi traditional food for purchase along this main street.

One of the oldest markets in Alkenstar has grown up in a large square where Hammer Avenue bisects the Lane of Alloys and it is here, amongst the gaudily decorated stalls and the throng of citizens and traders going about their daily business, that our story starts...

Why are you here at the Market? What are you looking for? Who are you talking too? (if anyone) Have you been here long?

Once everyone has checked in, I'll set the clockwork wheels in motion

This is a closed recruitment thread for Group B of my 'Wardens of the Reborn Forge' recruitment.

This is our discussion thread....a place to talk out of character, to say hello or to let others know that you may be absent for a while....

Say Hi and then toddle over to the Gameplay thread....

An isolated bastion of civilization in the magic- blasted wasteland known as the Mana Wastes in western Garund, the Grand Duchy of Alkenstar is one of the most unique cities in the Inner Sea region. Alkenstar stands atop a massive cliff overlooking the Spellscar Desert, the mighty Ustradi River bisecting the settlement as it flows over the Alken Falls on its way north to Nex. The city’s mastery of science amid the unpredictable magic of the Mana Wastes has Alkenstar’s influence extend beyond its local region, and its innovations such as firearms, clockworks, and alchemy keep it a relevant part of the larger economy.

....at least that's what the text books say about this place...

Ask a citizen and it's a different story, they'll tell you of the stifling heat, the endless days of humid smog, being afraid to step beyond the city walls for fear of what lies beyond....

Still, whatever they may call it, it's a home for you; at least for now.....

...and today finds you in the Ferrous Quarter; this grimy district in Smokeside is the location of many of Alkenstar’s most famous taverns and small artisan workshops. Adventurers flock to the quarter’s myriad rumormongers and city criers in search of the latest gossip, though trustworthy leads are in scarce supply. More prevalent are the delicacies and powerful ales served at the many inns, taphouses, and eateries lining Ferrous Quarter’s primary thoroughfare, Hammer Avenue. Visitors with sufficient coin can find nearly any sort of Garundi traditional food for purchase along this main street.

One of the oldest markets in Alkenstar has grown up in a large square where Hammer Avenue bisects the Lane of Alloys and it is here, amongst the gaudily decorated stalls and the throng of citizens and traders going about their daily business, that our story starts...

Why are you here at the Market? What are you looking for? Who are you talking too? (if anyone) Have you been here long?

Once everyone has checked in, I'll set the clockwork wheels in motion

Alkenstar, City of Smog, is a bastion of civilization in the magic-warped region known as the Mana Wastes. Its ingenious citizens survive in the treacherous Spellscar Desert with the help of canny inventions like guns and clockwork automatons, but now their construct protectors have begun to run amok within the city. It falls to you to venture beyond the city walls to find the source of their strange behavior. Will you uncover the mastermind behind the plot and put an end to this madness, or will you instead fall victim to the primal magic and savage tribes of Mana Wastes mutants that beleaguer the city?

I am looking for 4 – 5 adventurers to accept the call for aid. I will make my selection based on interesting characters (background and/or character concept), party balance and what looks like fun to play.

This adventure takes place in Alkenstar. All characters should have a tie to the city and should either be living or newly arrived in the city when the quest starts. Your ‘employer’ for the adventure will be the Guild of Brass in Alkenstar. Your character should be known to the Guild in some way.

The ‘Crunch’
All Paizo created classes other than Summoner, Ninja and Samurai are acceptable; all characters will begin at level 12 with a 15-point ability buy.
Maximum HP at Level 1 for your class (and average HP per level thereafter; 3.5 for d6, 4.5 for d8, etc...round up at level 12.
Core and Featured races from the Advanced Race Guide are acceptable (Uncommon and Custom races will not be considered).
Two traits maybe selected (preferably thematic to Kaer Maga, Varisia or your Character’s background)
Starting gold is 108,000 to be spent how you wish.
Non-evil alignments only.
All character options must originate from Paizo published Pathfinder products; No 3rd Party Materials.

Recruitment will be open for ten days during which time I will try and answer any questions, with an expected close date of 10th January, Midnight GMT. I will make my selection over the following couple of days and look to start the adventure as soon as possible. The selected persons should be able to commit to posting at least once per day during the week.

I look forward to seeing some interesting characters ready to solve the mystery of the malfunctioning guardians.

These are the Skull and Shackles Dice (and very nice they are too)...product description has them as Shattered Star.....

This is the discussion thread for the Heresy beneath Kaer Maga game.

We can use this thread for off-topic or 'Out of Character' discussions....

The City of Kaer Maga sits in the heart of Varisia, a vast stone hexagon of unknown origin perched high atop the cliffs of the Storval Rise. This cyclopean structure has existed for greater than 10,000 years and today it is a city of wonder, of intrigues and of mysteries.
Carved on the cliff face below the city are numerous representations of gigantic bodies and faces, though who these titanic carvings actually represent is a matter of some conjecture - the vanished runelords of ancient Thassilon, forgotten kings, dead gods, or someone else. Some of these massive sculptures lead into the Undercity, a dizzying network of caverns, tunnels and chambers, both natural and man-made, that riddle the cliffs beneath Kaer Maga.

One of the most famous entrances to the Undercity lies in the mouth of one of the giant faces known as the Unnamed King, and opens onto a series of ancient catacombs where the honoured dead of Kaer Maga are interred. From their cathedral in the Bottoms district of the city above, the clergy of Pharasma oversee the Godsmouth Ossuary, the most prestigious place in Kaer Maga to be buried - and the Pharasmins charge a hefty price for the honour.

For generations, Kaer Maga’s wealthy and powerful have been laid to rest in the Godsmouth Ossuary, thus far, their repose seems to be peaceful. Furthermore there seems to be no limit to the number of bodies that can be stored there – the Ossuary has existed for thousands of years, before the founding of the current city, and has yet to run out of room.