norsethunder's page

While clearing the pugwampi monastery, the players can run across a book that gives the names and descriptions of the Five Templars. At the start of Book 2, a mysterious stranger named Zayifid appears, but any PC taking notes will notice that he shares a name with one of the templars (because he is one). Did you guys play it off as it being a common name? I was thinking of pulling an Alucard and see how long it takes my PCs to figure out Difiyaz's true identity.

My regular groups are all on hiatus so I decided to scrounge players from both groups and run a one-shot or two so I can get my Pathfinder fix in the meantime. I'm totally down to run a module, but there's an idea for a one-shot I've had stewing in the back of my mind for a while that I want to try out. It's still a bit bare-bones though, so I was hoping I could get some help fleshing it out.

Basically, I want to do a story based on The Axeman of New Orleans. If you're unfamiliar, he was a serial killer in the 1920s who would sneak into people's houses and butcher them with an ax. Eventually he sent a letter to the newspaper claiming to be a demon from hell. While he loved killing mortals, he had also come to enjoy jazz music, so he offered the people of New Orleans a deal: "anyone who is listening to jazz music when I visit will be spared." All the clubs were filled and no one died that night. I think this would be a really interesting set-up for a murder mystery, especially in Golarion, where demons and devils actually exist.

The general shape of the adventure is as follows: players arrive in town seeking a bounty placed on the Axeman by the sheriff. Investigation reveals that most of the Axeman's victims have been in the poorer section of town near the docks, except for a journalist who lives far outside the normal area of the attacks. PCs investigating the journalist's apartment will find evidence he was working on an expose uncovering the true identity of the Axeman but wanted to interview some people first. A paladin returning home from the Worldwound and a demonologist from Ustalav can both offer the PCs specifics about demons, daemons, devils, and qlippoths, which cause the PCs to realize the killer is not actually any of those, but just a normal person. The PCs can also piece together that most of killings take place along a route from the docks to a road out of town that leads to the plantation of a wealthy businessman. The businessman will deny all allegations, but eventually he can be uncovered as the mastermind behind the attacks. He is smuggling items in at night, and the initial killing was merely an overzealous thug protecting their privacy. The businessman eventually came up with the idea to pretend to be some extraplanar entity with an interest in jazz who would spare victims if they spent all night at the jazz club. This helps him two-fold: he owns the jazz club and gets some extra income, but also insures no one is home to spot his smugglers moving through town.

So, here are the major things I need help with.

1. Where in the world does this take place?

My initial instinct for where fantasy New Orleans is located on Golarion was Nirmathas. It's close to both the Worldwound and Ustalav, giving the experts a decent reason to be there. It also has access to water, making a dock-side town possible. I found this thread that suggests possible locations for a New Orleans facsimile to be anywhere from Cheliax to the River Kingdoms. I'm concerned about this mostly in regards to the next question.

2. What are they smuggling?

I feel like a lot of smuggling in real life was/is illicit substances, like alcohol during Prohibition. It feels a bit excessive to commit numerous murders just to cover up the movement of drugs, especially in a small town where a wealthy businessman like the antagonist could easily just pay off the sheriff. My other thought was slaves, since they would be difficult to move easily, but given how Southern the inspiration for this already is it feels a bit cliche. If this takes place in Nirmathas, I could see the businessman smuggling in weapons for Molthune, but that requires it to be set in Nirmathas, which may not necessarily be the best fit.

3. Who's the final boss?

A businessman is probably not going to have class levels or want to get his hands dirty, so I feel like he wouldn't make an interesting final fight. I would like if he somehow summoned a demon/devil to tie back in thematically but I'm also open to suggestions.

Any and all ideas would be greatly appreciated!