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The dual identity allows each to be scried separately. I have a Vigilante "Rovagurl". If you're looking for her social identity while she's in vigilante mode, you get nothing. Looking for Rovagurl while she is Rovagurl works fine though. Looking for social while she's social works fine.

Do the players /only/ know his social identity?

Isaac, yes. As he expressed a desire to help the halflings, he was ‘kidnapped’ and taken for training. This was his first mission as a vigilante. He did meet his friends before, but chose not to tell them where he was going. (Side note: he lives with his BFF,-another pc-but upon returning after 6 weeks, said BFF didn’t even bother to ask what he had been doing

Dave, I would concur, but he just turned lvl 2, so I almost want to give some opportunity for rescue.

Sounds good-I’ll try that tomorrow!

A PC wanted to play vigilante, but a botched rescue mission left him unconscious. He chose to go just with his mentor and not let any of the party know. I've told him he's tied up in a location, and I have an out if the PCs look for his mentor. Failing that, I don't have any ideas how of he could located in vigilante form. Any thoughts?

I've got a (growing!) group currently playing in Council of Thieves. Many of them are new to Pathfinder and to tabletop RP. To make it easier I've been more descriptive than rules heavy, but what's happening now is many of them are overlooking the fact they can do Sense Motive, Knowledge, and other checks, which is vital for the AP. A senior player in the group suggested taking time at the start of the session to highlight and explain one or two skills. I was also thinking of having some sort of NPC in Westcrown that could teach them (think in-game tutorial). Any ideas or votes on these? I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I have a cleric of a lawful good god in one of my games. The short version is that he did a number of things the god would probably not approve of. He was given a few warnings and then stripped of his power.

Every session that he acts in a way that his god would approve of he gets back a D4 caster levels.

Thanks-that gives me another look. We play again on Tuesday, so I think if he meditates he'll get a vision where he gets to choose. As he's L3 and to make it easier, I'll say he gets his orisons and channel back. Good acts will restore his caster levels. However, bad acts will 'poison' his channels and pull him closer to Asmodeus.

Mysterious,
The were rescuing a friend, but I read the act more as CE rather than LE. I did warn the character after chopping off the victim's nose there would be repercussions before the executions.

Side note: This isn't the first beheading of the group-it's how they ended up in Westcrown.

Wheldrake, I think you're right and I'll 'return' the powers next session. But I do think I'll keep the temptation gambit in play. I'm interested in teasing out the 'destroy everything' and where it leads. However, I think I'll keep the powers out for longer if he continues on this path.

I'm GMing Council of Thieves, and some of the characters were brought it from a 5e module. There, a dwarf cleric of a custom deity (LN) cut the nose off, then beheaded a man that was tied up because he wouldn't give answers. Consequently, I've had his powers removed, and in his meditation, Asmodeus has said he would be better to worship him rather than 'Bob' as they both desire to destroy everything that gets in their way.

In this order only male dwarves, everyone is known as Bob. Gametime wise, they've spent 6 months in Westcrown, and the dwarf has met Arael, who's offered to help him restore his connection with Bob. He's also met another Bob-this one left the order and now serves Milani. This Bob has helped our Bob learn to resist the calling of Asmodeus (Demon Hunter Trait) and has suggested to him that there are other ways of fighting evil other than destruction.

Bob doesn't trust anyone that isn't a male dwarf, and thinks that because of the evil in Westcrown, the city should be destroyed. I've used this as a way for Asmodeus to continue tempting Bob, but in classic dwarven pride, Bob thinks he's repented enough.

I'm looking for ways to go beyond just removing his powers and make it clear that it's not just repenting, but this pride, this stubbornness will be his downfall. Should I have him start to channel negative energy? I'm thinking of a story that would lead him down to serving Asmodeus directly if he's not careful. Have you encountered this in your game(s)?

Thanks @Shorticus-I'll work on that. I don't know how familiar you are with D&D beginner box, but they've just cleared the Redbrand hideout and slayed Glasstaf. I've an instinct to make the Black Spider someone exiled from Chelix and is creating the portal back. This should take them up through wave echo cave and level 4-5. Any suggestions otherwise?

Thanks! I'm toying with the idea of them being gathered by Janiven, then quickly brought up to speed and hearing about adventures 'that didn't do as well'. I may introduce some downtime to allow them to adjust to their new environs (and pick up new traits as well)

As I mentioned previously, I wanted to bring my characters into Pathfinder from D&D. They're currently playing through the beginner box (Lost Mines), and I think I've a way to teleport the characters into Chelix. However, they'll be level 3/4 when they arrive, which would be pretty much past book one. Should I move them into book 2 automatically with a brief summary, or would it be better to start from the beginning, and make adjustments in difficulty?

Thanks guys!
Richard-completely understand the electronics at the table bit. Right now I've got Sirynscape on my ipad, and already it's a bit fiddly (great for atmosphere though)
TimD and and Meraki, love the post-its and 3x5 (I've tons of those)

Eltacolibre, like the good docs idea too, and making it offline is great.

Currently the party takes turns hosting, so what's important is that I can stay as agile as possible. Currently I look like and adventurer with my books, chest of die and stands and maps!

Hi everyone,
I know there's no right/wrong way to take notes and prep for a session, but as a new GM, I'm curious to what's everyone's workflow? Currently taking my group through 5e to then jump into a Pathfinder campaign. At the moment I'm reading up, planning encounters with HP, noting and interactions that could happen. For enemies, I'm taking snapshots on my phone to reduce dragging the monster manual around. Any thoughts/ suggestions welcomed!

Great-thanks so much!

Crypt of the Everflame was the first module released after the Pathfinder rules, and it has lots of good explanations. The module is fight heavy, but the sequel is very intrigue base.

Thanks! I tried to find the sequel-might you have the name?

I'm currently running a group, some of them brand new to tabletop RPGs, and they love it, which is great. It's also my first time as DM, though I have been playing in 2 Pathfinder campaigns previously. What I'm realising is that DnD 5e lacks a lot of the flavour I've come to expect and I'm looking to move everyone once we've finished the starter story.

As I'm still new to DM-ing, I'd like to find a campaign I could move onto (after the beginner box) that would still help be get a hold on all the rules (I'm still lugging around the Players Guide and Monster Manual). In addition, the group isn't heavy on fighting-they quite like plot intrigue and talking their way through situations. I'm fine with that, but having played RoTRL and RoW, I'm not sure if there's as much resolution with words (could be just the DMs). Any suggestions that would satisfy these conditions? Thanks!

I don't know if anyone else has the same problem, but I can't seem to proceed. I've finished 'Brigadoom' on Legendary, but when I try to sort out the deck, I can get the Deck numbers to agree for the characters, but the some of the bottom numbers are still in red and I can't proceed. Any thoughts?

Update-had a look at the story screen and it seems my characters have been duplicated. I don't see a way to edit them without restarting. Shame :/

I don't know if anyone else has the same problem, but I can't seem to proceed. I've finished 'Brigadoom' on Legendary, but when I try to sort out the deck, I can get the Deck numbers to agree for the characters, but the some of the bottom numbers are still in red and I can't proceed. Any thoughts?

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the replies everyone-it seems the take home is the get everyone to chip in and see if I can get another box going so I don't have to swap cards around as much.

@Frenciois, I like that idea. I'll see how that works.
@skizzerz and @Longshot11 I've been adding the cards from the previous scenarios-I thought maybe that was contributing the the card amount.

I got the S&S set for Christmas, and have enjoyed playing it. I also run a games night at work sometimes, and have got others, 'on board'-so much so they bough either the same game or Wrath of the Righteous.

I notice two 'issues' when trying to get the game start, and mainly it's around the card setup. Even with the base and character set, it's taking at least half hour to set up all the locations, which can be daunting when showing people for first time. I notice this scales considerably as I'm up the third scenario(Tempest Rising). I currently separate the scenario decks, but any thoughts or suggestions on how to speed up setup/teardown would be great. Playing it is great, but spending almost 90 min to setup and play a 90min game can be intimidating.

Also, as a random aside, should playing scenario 3 also include the cards from the previous scenarios as well?

I haven't read everything, so unsure if it's been said (it almost certainly has haha), I REALLY want and hope for an Eldest/Archfey path. Whether or not becoming fey or just kind of channeling the power and becoming the embodiment of fey nature.

According to her creator, Desna is neither an Outer God nor a Great Old One.

Oooh thanks for that link and clarification. That makes sense and is fair. I can settle for "she is an alien entity" at least haha

I am literally so hyped for all of this!

The tanuki ability makes me laugh, and the region of Wanshou has me so intrigued and terrified.

I'm also absolutely thrilled that Arazni is joining the Core 20. I'm not convinced that Urgathoa is biting the dust, but I'm stoked to see the ambiguity of Arazni gaining prominence.

I definitely won't be able to play this character during the playtest, but I put together an exemplar character from the Land of the Linnorm Kings, a big ol brute of a viking. His name is Hafthor Halfhand, and is definitely based on the positive side of Karsa Orlong from the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Basically, he believes he is is destined to kill a linnorm, but also unite the entire region under his rule. He is not smart.

I will second the wiki for most things.

I have said before that I am a newbie to this world, but I dive into lore as it is my favourite part about a fantasy game. I have really found a lot of use from reading the wiki on different regions and such, and when those are only stubs (ie fetchlings, one of my favourite ancestries), I turn to the blurbs on Archives of Nethys and the books that have a bit more. Not perfect, but it helps.

There are definitely sections that I personally would love more info and details.

As to your example characters:

1 - Belkzen is really cool and excellent, and with the recent push to change their scattered ways, it is possible that group of orcs would be more willing to accommodate one of their own using assistive technology which would likely be brought over from Ustalav. But that said, orcs are all over the place in the Inner Sea (yay common now!), so it might make more sense, culturally, for this character to hail from Alkenstar, Ustalav, Numeria, Absalom, or another region that is more prone to tech and adjustments. That said, orcs in Golarion will likely see a shift in their religion, I foresee, with the fact that the orc gods have all been evil (at least the ones named and mentioned), but they also worship the main 20 gods as well.

2 - Elves are also all over the world, so it depends on how invested into their elven-ness you want this character to be. Are they from the elf capital of the Inner Sea? Kyonin is the bet there, which is really fascinating and leans into the alienness of elves on Golarion. But if you want more of "academic student" there is the big school in the Mwangi Expanse, The Magaambya, which is kind of like a huge university in Sub-Saharan Africa, and there are local elves in Mwangi as well if they are from the area (Lost Omens Mwangi Expanse and the player's guide for Strength of Thousands would be excellent tools). But there are other universities as well, I think Nethys has a university in The Golden Road, and there is a formal university (less magic more regular uni) in Ustalav (I think in the Palatinates). That said though, it would make sense for that kind of character to find a home in Absalom, as a huge mega city with opportunity, as well as the nation of Andoran (from a free spirit perspective), but also might find a place on the High Seas. I could see a Laughing Shadow magus fitting right in up in the River Kingdoms as well!

Aroden went Outside because he needs Dou-Bral's knowledge to repair Rovagug's Cage before it breaks.

I think this is my favourite option if you are going with "He is still alive" since it creates a reason why his connection to Golarion is either faulty or non-existent.

Plus it brings in Zon-Kuthon which is such a unique part of Pathfinder lore (even if I rarely consider using him in a campaign due to my current table's and the trauma involved in Zon-Kuthon).

I am a newcomer to Pathfinder and Golarion, having joined just a bit earlier than the larger 5e exodus, but I am a huge fan of world lore and I try to read just about anything (but I miss a lot since I am playing catch-up).

There are a lot of deities that I absolutely love and adore because they are fresh and are not just reimagining old tropes (others in this thread mentioned how it is so nice to have "death god who is not omnicidal" and "sun god who is not just wise old man who is law and order"), but there are also cool twists and changes too that keeps others feeling unique.

Last disclaimer, I have a lot of trouble connecting with the most popular deities. I still think they are cool and appreciate them, but I have a hard time planning characters with ties to like Cayden Cailean, Pharasma, Iomedae, etc. I love them and will fully use them in my DMing, but I don't like going the expected route for my characters. So I love them, but they are not my favourites.

People keep talking about Thuvia in a way that clearly tells anyone that has read the Enmity Cycle they haven't actually bothered to pick up the book. It's kinda sad.

I'll be honest, that is definitely the case for me. I have read the Lost Omens books, and several of the rulebooks, but basically only two Adventure Paths, none of the standalone adventures. I had not even looked at The Enmity Cycle until you mentioned it. It looks really interesting from the blurb! If I wasn't about to move across the world I would try to run it! But unfortunately, I won't have the time for awhile to GM... Maybe I can con someone to run it for me to play haha

As a huge fan of Vietnamese history (it is so hard to find history in English! haha) I am VERY excited to see Xa Hoi! So many cool possibilities for the way the history is represented with their dragon emperors, the surviving against Lung Wa, their proximity to Nagajor. I am very excited to see the lore.

I would especially like to see the internal politics of the region, and their reaction to the Successor States, will Xa Hoi try to fill the vaccuum themselves? Or remain fairly oblivious to the others?

As a lot of those have already said, I like the feel of the region, but feel they are mainly 2 dimensional. I am not gonna rehash what has been said, here is just my quick thoughts.

I love the aesthetic of Osirion, or at least its start. I have no problem with the use of the Egyptian pantheon, but I feel like it either needs to be explored, or ignored entirely. As it is now, its basically just a "yeah, it's Egypt so here are some Egyptian gods" when it could be so much cooler. What I would love to see is the return of these gods, maybe in different styling than before, as they seek to reclaim dominion over their land. Maybe as a way to show the locals are rekindling their connection to their past and seek to ignore and expel the foreign gods. This could be interesting with their current pharaoh being a cleric of Abadar. I would also like to see more about Nethys and his connection to the region. That is just ripe for a local university or something.

I like city states, so obviously I like the idea of Thuvia, but again feel it falls flat. I want to see the intrigue and politics that comes from a nation built on the sale of one export. I want to see how these city states cooperate with eachother. I would personally like to see an exploration of the different cities having ties to foreign powers, like being in the pockets of Absalom, Cheliax, Rahadoum, etc to highlight that the alliance is kind of hanging by a thread.

For Rahadoum, I feel like the topic is so cool and interesting. By far my favourite. I would be interested in if they have had a flood of immigrants since the Age of Lost Omens, as I would assume many of the small folk might have a lack of respect in the gods now and seek new alternatives. With a flood of new people, Rahadoum might start looking to expand its borders.

Katapesh. So much potential that just gets relegated to "drugs and slaves" which is not great. I think there is some cool alternatives of an uprising, or internal coup attempt against the Pactmasters. An Andoran funded rebellion would be interesting. But yeah, ultimately its just "bazaar the country" currently.

Qadira is really fascinating as a concept, but I just want to see it done justice from writers who are sensitive to the topic. Too much potential for problematic writing. Please just be respectful is all I ask.

Beyond those, I mainly just want cultures for existing ancestries, not that I am opposed to NEW ancestries and heritages I welcome them, but I want to read about desert elves, halflings that live in oases, desert goblins, etc.

Mainly, I just want good respectful lore. I am also a huge fan of internal political struggle. We don't have a lot of "this country is at war with this country" type of thing. I really like those as backdrops for campaigns and I would love to see it in the setting as a guide.