rokeca's page

My PCs are 50/50 roleplaying & tactics, so I don't know if our perspective would apply to your group. We've been having a great time with the AP - and I've run it largely as written. However, I've reskinned many of the roleplaying encounters to play up the comedy of this campaign. This approach was inspired by Berline in book one.

This tone hasn't been picked up as well in other books, but to compensate I've kept the statblocks the same, but reimagined the NPCs, sometimes playing them against type. Or sometimes leaning into the obvious - like making The Rhino in the current book a kind of female Schwarzenegger, who teased the PCs for being manly-weak. I had Seldig speak his frustration at always returning to the party for an expository role. And when the PCs were a bit short of XP at the end of Field of Maidens, I had a side quest before going to Mechatar, taking them to Geb's best kept secret, the hamlet of Hamster Fiesta (think of a year-round Cinco de Mayo with undead hamster ratfolk variants).

While the costs of shipping may be understandable, to me it at least closely approximates gross negligence to not tell the purchaser, up front, what the TOTAL cost of their shipment will be. Including delivery, taxes, collection fees, etc.

There really is no excuse for the purchaser to be taken by surprise.

Edit: If there is some reason that the exact price isn't known ahead of time a fairly accurate estimate should be provided.

Have to agree with pauljathome. Paizo has damaged good will with some Canadian customers since the shift to DHL from Mail Innovations International (which seemed to take place around the launch of the website). I saw my price to purchase a single AP go from about $40 CDN to over $75 CDN.

What was most frustrating was the lack of notification about this change. I only learned of the increased shipping charge when I got a credit card notification, followed by an invoice for customs/duties. As a Canadian, not being informed felt negligent and disrespectful. And the absence of a response from Paizo leadership acknowledging and explaining this - well I'd actually say it hurts.

As The Roguish Chef has pointed out - the increase in price with shipping is not directly related to tariffs. But tariffs do cast a shadow over this. Many Canadians are doing their best to boycott US products since the introduction of tariffs. My wife and I actually had a dinner table discussion: do we still continue to support Paizo? We decided yes, because of Paizo's values. However, the sense of not feeling valued or having our concerns adequately recognized is giving us second thoughts.

I'd started earlier thread when I first received DHL's invoice for customs & duty. There, Maya advised I reach out to Customer Service. When I did receive a response, it did not answer my questions regarding lack of notification to the shipping change and lacked understanding regarding why I was frustrated. Because my package was damaged by DHL, Paizo did send a replacement copy (which I'm thankful for). However, when the shipping/duty was 'refunded', the refund was for less than what I'd paid initially, then I had to pay shipping and duty all over again at the higher rate.

Another issue I've had is lack of transparency. Can someone break down why DHL? And why Mail Innovations International is no longer an option? In the other thread, Maya was quick to respond and did her best. But absent from that thread was a statement from Jim or other leaders behind the decision. I felt that I learned more about possible reasons for the shift to DHL from other customers than from folks at Paizo.

To be clear, in the other thread there are customers who prefer DHL because of tracking details and past issues with Mail Innovations International in their area. However, in our case, purchasing physical products from Paizo is no longer viable, even with deep discounts and I suspect I'm not alone. My hope is that someone from Paizo leadership addresses and recognizes the break in trust this represents to some of us here.

@Maya - a short update. Unfortunately, DHL delivered my package damaged. With Mail Innovations, I did receive one package damaged (when our local mail carrier decided it was OK to bend the cardboard envelope to place in our regular mailbox). So in terms of package delivery, Mail Innovations was 219 out of 220 APs received in good condition. DHL is 0 for 1.

I have sent an update on my ticket to customer service. I know they are overwhelmed, so hopefully they can offer some sort of solution once the store transition overwhelm is tamed.

Reading other responses here, the theme I'm seeing is 'choice is good'. Those with poor experiences with Mail Innovations in the past value DHL and the tracking. Using DHL may also make sense for supersubscribers or those with big orders to distribute the increased DHL costs over multiple products. For some international customers who make smaller orders though, the math may no longer works to purchase physical products from Paizo. Which I feel sad about and I hope a solution can be found.

Hey there, rokeca! In the long term, international shipping is something we're still working through. We know it's not ideal for a lot of people, and we want to make it so, but it's taking us some time. In the short term, you can reach out to Customer Service at customer.service@paizo.com to see if there's anything they do about this specific shipment!

@Maya - an update on my end. I still haven't heard from Customer Service. Like Steel Wind, I have elected to pay the duty so that I can have my complete set of APs. But I have to be honest, I don't feel good about it for all the reasons I've mentioned above, I have made the duty/brokerage payment because I am making a leap of faith that Paizo will do something to make this right once the chaos from the store changeover settles down.

I do have a request here. There have been a couple posts here of a time sensitive nature around customs and duty issues where you've recommended reaching out to Customer Service. But when Customer Service doesn't respond before the clock runs out, it makes the customer experience worse instead of better. Would it be possible in the future for you to flag these time-sensitive issues with Customer Service so they can be triaged when there is a matter of urgency?

I am also still hoping for some sort of apology/recognition of the impact this has had on Canadian (and potentially other international) customers. I recognize this has been an extremely busy time for the Paizo team, but I have to be frank that this has been a painful experience, and not up to the standards I've come to expect from Paizo.

We absolutely respect your decision to not want to pay this cost, but please do not confuse this cost for lack of care! As I've stated above, it's something we're actively working on, and the shipping climate in general right now is very difficult for small companies. We care very much about our community, which is why we're so sorry that this cost doesn't work for you while simultaneously respecting your decision. We'll never chastise you for just doing what's needed for you.

Hi Maya - I have no doubt the intent of care is there. I also have great empathy for the challenges small business are facing in this current environment. However, as Canadians, there are reasons why we may be questioning the extent of that care commitment. The shift to DHL from Mail Innovations took place without notification. We were not informed that shipping charges would increase. We were not informed that now we would be required to pay duties and brokerage fees almost equal to the cost of the actual product.

There's been a failure to communicate that does not make us feel like valued customers. I genuinely appreciate the efforts you are making. However, I also don't think anyone has apologized for the frustration and harm this has caused to our relationship/how we feel about Paizo.

Also - a quick follow up. I sent an email to Customer Service yesterday, but aside from an automated ticket email, I have not received a response. I was sent a 'last reminder' notice from DHL this morning and must now decide whether to decline shipment or pay the brokerage fees which I did not sign on for.

Whoever decided to shift shipping to DHL from Mail Innovations International did not think this through in terms of the impact on Canadian/International customers.

I’d posted previously that I was surprised when I noticed that my Adventure Path shipping costs going from $12.20 to $20.05.

Before the shift to DHL, I used to pay about $40 CDN per AP through Mail Innovations including shipping. With DHL, this month the bill was over $53 CDN. Now with import duties/customs clearance I’m paying over $75 CDN for this single Adventure Path volume.

I’ve been an AP subscriber since the start (AP #1). I’ve never had customs charges for any of my previous 220 volumes through Mail Innovations unless I’d also added other product to my order – and in those cases, the duties were fair and proportional. Here I’m being asked to pay $22.44 CAD in duty for a product I was charged $20.99 USD for.

Is there anything Paizo can do here? Otherwise my plan is to call DHL and reject the shipment. In that case, I would ask Paizo to find some other way to send me my physical AP volume without having to pay duty – and perhaps also throw me some gold for the frustration.

Alternately, fix Remaster Oracle (or allow PFS players to play their pre-Remaster Oracles again) and all would be forgiven :)

MadScientistWorking wrote:

Mark Stratton wrote:

I think it should be noted that what’s being missed is that Paizo shouldn’t be going out if it’s way to make MORE work for it’s unpaid GMs and volunteers, and though that isn’t the purpose of this change, that’s exactly what the effect is.

Others have said the same thing.

Yeah but 10 minutes of work isn't really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things especially if you have venture officers that are competent at their position and actually help the GMs. I know that sounds really blunt but man oooo man the biggest strengths of my lodge is everyone will go out of their way to help one another with prep and running a scenario.

10 minutes for you! As someone who works 3 jobs, any extra time I have to spend in prep beyond what I normally do is really hard to do.

Perhaps you shouldn’t judge other people by your own privilege or ability to spend all that extra time.

One thing to note as well. There's a lot of neurodiversity/neurodivergence in the gaming community. For someone with ADHD for example, what's a 10 minute task for others could be 30 minutes when combined with all the other preparation tasks required to GM due to executive function challenges. Just because it's easy for some doesn't mean it's easy for all.

My ideal Oracle was my pre-remaster PFS Ratfolk Ancestors Oracle. So much flavor and backstory, all made unplayable by remaster. I'm still a bit salty about it. I've considered rebuilding as a Medium Animist but every time I start the process I find my heart's not in it.

Overall I’m liking remaster. My biggest objection is with Oracle mysteries. Some remastered mysteries seem to have turned out of OK. But there are also some of us with existing Oracles who feel the remastered mysteries take away what was unique about the class: the roleplaying flavor, and what made the class both fun and challenging to play.

An example is my Ancestors Oracle. It’s been a blast to design a character around the challenge of finding something beneficial to do each round regardless of what I roll from my curse. Plus developing the backstory for the 12 different ancestor spirits that influence my actions (depending on severity of curse). However, most of what made me love playing my oracle is gone with remaster. The Ancestors mystery is now largely unplayable if you lean into the curse. And while I only have 3 levels with this PC, all 3 levels are via slow progression because I’ve enjoyed spending time with this character so much.

Oracle seems to be unique in that it’s the only class whose core (the mysteries) has been replaced/treated as errata with remaster to this extent. While Legacy wizards can retain their prior schools, oracles don’t have that option. “Because they share the same name, all Oracle mysteries are automatically updated to use the new Cursebound condition.”

I don’t know if there are enough of us out there, but I’m hoping that PFS will reconsider its approach to Oracle and make an exception, grandfathering the original mysteries despite them sharing the same name as remastered content. The case can be made that the changes to Oracle mysteries have fundamentally altered the essence of the class and how it plays. I would gladly give up the extra spell slot in return for all the wonderful flavor Legacy Oracle captured.

Adding my voice to express profound disappointment regarding Oracle and treating all the new Oracle mysteries as errata. In one stroke both the roleplaying flavor/concept behind my beloved ancestors oracle as well as the playability of his build has been neutralized. I sincerely hope this approach will be reconsidered.

I made some adjustments to the set-up of Chapter 1 for roleplaying and continuity reasons.

First, instead of separate conversations with both Berline and Ortagar, I had Berline send Mhyurk with a dinner invitation. Mhyurk arrived within minutes of Seldeg leaving the party’s manor, and the invitation stated the theme of the dinner party was “Gossip!” In addition to the PCs, Ortagar was another guest for dinner. Ortagar and Berline divided up the content that Berline was to share.

For gossip, Berline shared the story about the woman pledging servitude to the reanimators; Ortagar shared a story about how he and Berline played a joke on Governor Seven-Stomachs by inviting him to a dinner party, while both of them wore clown suits, telling the governor this fashion is all the rage in Yled right now – and that Seven-Stomach’s hosted his latest council meeting in his own clown suit. Then they asked the party for their gossip (Berline being quite interested in what’s up with Seldeg).

I removed all of the content from the dinner party where Ortagar spoke about Taviah’s cottage and the shadows. From a continuity perspective, that didn’t make sense to me. The cottage is at least two-days travel from Graydirge. Before the PCs visited the cottage, none of Berline’s sources knew exactly where it was. And the forest itself is portrayed as being threatening and dangerous. So it was a stretch for me for Ortagar to have a contact who glimpsed Taviah at her cottage (or for that matter, have such informed knowledge about Taviah’s shadowy fate).

Instead I created a new scene to share this information. Since Seldeg’s latest information placed Taviah in Thornhearth, the fastest and most direct route would involve taking a trail that cut through the Axan Wood. While on the trail, the party once again encountered Drusilla (the fey/huldra from Graydirge), along with her new house spirit, Smirtlbin (who Drusilla took in after the cottage turned carnivorous, recognizing that they had both been victims of Taviah). Drusilla thanked the party for avenging her true love Neboah, but then shared what the PCs already knew: that Iron Taviah has returned.

Then Smirtlbin, who still has a strong otherworldly connection with the cottage, says that the shadows that consumed Taviah when she was defeated have now returned her. Seldeg can then speculate that this could be the work of shadowcasters, or other specialists in shadow magic, and that a short detour to the cottage could well be worthwhile. If Smirtlbin did not survive the encounter with the PCs in Graveclaw, his information could alternately be provided by Drusilla.

A heads up that Sulvik can be a beast. My party of 5 encountered the ettin mohrg after dealing with the wraiths, mummies, Nathnelma + TAs (as well as another encounter previously that day in the Pallidium). They were low on resources when they entered the basement, and it would have been a guaranteed TPK if I hadn't handwaved Sulvik's resistances, 'forgotten' to take its 2 AoOs/Reactive strikes on one occasion, and overall used suboptimal tactics. As it was, at the end my 2 human PCs were paralyzed and one of the undead PCs was unconscious.

Hi - I am preparing the encounter at Nathnelma's townhouse for our next game and agree that a door is missing on the upper floor (should be next to the washroom door I assume).

I missed the discrepancy between the chapter treasure list and what's actually in the adventure, but like you I haven't found the holy water and mithal shield in the adventure (or in the stat blocks of creatures that appear in that chapter). Your analysis of the pharasmans is making me wonder of Orou originally had her own stat block and was edited out.

We played through the vampire pub crawl in Chapter 4 the other night – a lot of fun. I’ve been leaning into the dark comedy that is just under the surface in this campaign, so I decided to augment the pub crawl with some additional gruesomely decadent locations for the crawl (warning: some of these could be triggering – but no issues for my group):

The Pulseless Lounge – an underground vampire rave club (the club prominently features a graphic that declares that it is a garlic-free establishment). It was ghouls night out when the PCs arrived

Al de Hyde’s – a speakeasy, where patrons are served alcohol while being submerged in vats of alcohol. Basically you can get pickled while you get pickled

Arghun’s Retreat – patrons are invited to receive a soothing/torturous massage while lying in a vat of entrails. My skeleton PC was thrilled – the first time he’d had intestines inside his rib cage for years! This is also a breadcrumb for my PCs to learn more about the mysterious background of Arghun the Annihilator

Peeler’s – a zombie strip club. Except the zombies don’t take off their skin, but rather their flesh

Throwing an idea off the top of my head (my group is just starting Chapter 3 of Graveclaw). One of the unresolved mysteries of Quallaqh Manor is the Scrying Room in the basement. What if it was more than a Scrying Room? If it could also be used as a kind of visceral portal that allowed transport to (and maybe from?) the manor. Perhaps the secrets of this bizarre device could unfold over time. Arghun the Annihilator could possibly have some fragmented memories to guide the PCs in the right direction - and not necessarily as a side quest, but as the party shares their adventures ideas come back to the hand.

In Chapter 1 of Graveclaw, my party befriended the house spirit at Iron Taviah's cottage. The house spirit might come under the employ of your party and also have some insights as the secrets of the Scrying Room are revealed.

If the party tells Berline about the device, this is one of those joyfully grisly mysteries that I can see her wanting to unravel. As the party runs into her in Yled in Chapter 4 of Graveclaw, perhaps she has learned a bit more. Once the party gets to Mechitar in Book 4, perhaps there are opportunities to unlock secrets of this necrotic lore to the point where the party is able to travel back to the manor using this magic.

Alternately - perhaps after dealing with Iron Taviah in Field of Maidens the party finds a way to relocate the manor into a pocket dimension (similar in some ways to how Iron Taviah's basement was located on a shadow plane) - potentially using the viscera in the scrying room as the means to transfer back and forth.

I guess we all have our own definition of fun. For me, Zombie Feast, the first volume of Blood Lords has been the most fun I've had as a GM (and my group has had the most fun with as well) - because there is lots of dark comedy that can be mined here. Very memorable NPCs, with Berline Haldoli being the star (she's like Winnie the Pooh with a knife). I really leaned into the comedy potential, creating new scenes and opportunities inspired by the NPCs - and more important, by the way my PCs have responded to them.

While the second book (Graveclaw) has a different tone, I've reworked the NPCs there to keep the tone consistent with the fun we had in the first book.

These are both excellent recommendations. Thank you. I read the first chapters of both and I can see my group getting excited about either. Now I can give them a choice.

Two of the players have just started university away from home (so this is a way for us to stay connected while they're away). It will be interesting to see if they want to lean into the university experience of SoT or do something different with Sky Kings.

Much appreciated!

Hey - I wanted to flag that the map of Geb presented in Graveclaw is inconsistent with the map of Geb from Impossible Lands. For example, the Graveclaw map has Graydirge located in approximately the same location as Corpselight appears on the Impossible Lands map (if the IL map is correct, Graydirge would be maybe 20 miles to the west beyond the edge of the Graveclaw map). As well, Pagked looks to be about 20 miles to the east of where it should be when compared to the IL map, and Mechitar is a bit too far to the south.

Aside from the Graydirge/Corpselight switcheroo, the other inconsistencies are fairly minor but wanted to flag here for those populating the map as we progress in the adventure (as I do in my Foundry game)

I ran this encounter with my group the other night, and thanks to this thread I was well prepared to have a handle on what could happen if things went poorly.

Fortunately the party was in pretty good shape overall when Taviah went down – only one PC was at less than half hit points (although their healing reserve was largely tapped at this point). The Hungry Cottage rolled into initiative with two PCs acting before it. I decided to run the stomach and throat as is. The party quickly got the idea to evacuate to the stairwell after the stomach’s first action. Because the stomach/basement activates before the throat/stairwell, no one was further harmed by the acid.

Since everyone was doing well at this point (save one PC who was down to 10 hp) I decided to run the ‘mouth’ as written as well. The fighter used a hero point on his failed Athletics check and successfully lodged a sofa in the front door. The party ended up taking one round of damage from the teeth, and one PC was Dying 2 by the time everyone was out and ready to heal, but everyone survived. Had the fighter nerfed his Athletics check though, a second round of saves against the teeth would have made things pretty tense.

My group did love the cinematic nature of the hazard, and came up with creative alternate ideas to deal with the challenges. The alchemist suggested using lethargy poison as a kind of anesthetic to soothe the contractions of the throat. I allowed an attempt with a DC25 Crafting check (it failed). In the cottage proper, the witch asked if the cottage had an uvula they could tickle to provoke the cottage to cough them out. I allowed a DC22 Perception check (successful, it was a small protuberance hanging over the basement stairwell) followed by a DC25 Nature or Medicine (that failed). Being able to interact with the hazard in an imaginative way made it memorable for the players.

Personally I have huge faith in the hard working and dedicated team behind the Pathfinder Foundry products. I have no doubt that they will do whatever is required once they know the extent of changes/new monsters/etc.

Purplefixer - I did a mock combat in Foundry as preparation for this week's encounter with Iron Taviah, using the cottage exactly as written, and as you've outlined.

The entire party was conscious after Iron Taviah's demise, and like you the cottage appeared in initiative immediately after Taviah (so before anyone else could act). Low on resources and healing, my mock party all ended up dead in the 'mouth' of the cottage, unable to escape.

Based on this, I'm thinking of giving the party a round from the moment Iron Taviah is defeated before the damaging effects of the cottage kick in.

I'm glad you flagged this. My characters will be meeting Iron Taviah in one or two sessions.

Unless I'm interpreting the rules wrong, I don't see the acid damage happening immediately as it would be rolled into the initiative order. Having said that, if the acid strikes before anyone in the party has the opportunity to heal/battle medicine/soothe etc. than that could be extremely problematic.

Perhaps instead of rolling for initiative, the cottage drops into the same initiative order as when Iron Taviah is defeated, giving everyone a round of actions if someone is unconscious to act and creating a bit of tension with a description of digestive juices flowing from the walls, beginning to pool etc.

As a current owner, I would have little issue paying for an "upgrade" that would reflect the new/updated art in the Monster Core and the time/effort required to add it in.

Same here - you should be paid for your work, and happy to purchase an upgrade when the time arrives. The tokens are excellent.

How the group rest? Dreaming Palace is 2 or 3 rest. Do have you any suggestion, for maintaining the group in the vicinity of Palace, they rest? [/QUOTE5]

My group rested at the Edgewatch precinct. Otto had some agents keep an eye on the hotel while the PCs were resting but ordered them not to enter or interfere with the agents investigation. And yes, they rested 2 or 3 times as I recall.

A couple other Geb-flavoured items I've introduced to my campaign.

I've replaced Feather Tokens with Finger Tokens.

And I switched Berline's gift at the start of Graveclaw/Book Two to a Sleeping Coffin - essentially a sleeping bag that offers our travelling vampire PC two kinds of protection. An alchemically treated sleeping bag that prevents the rays of the sun from seeping in. And an aura of darkness within the bag.

Does anyone have any suggestions on subtle ways to push the party to be more likely to head to Sallowshore before Pagked? The book seems to be depending on Sallowshore being closer to do this based on the text at the start of chapter 2, but unfortunately that's just not true based on the provided map, which my players already have.

Our group is approaching the point where they will need to make that decision. Here's how I'm planning to present it: because of trade, the major roads from Graydirge lead to the coast, and to the tributary of the Axanir River, where the PCs have the option to take a zombie-oared riverboat to the coast (a good option for my players since one of the PCs is a vampire, so he can stay out of the sun's reach during the day, plus Berline would pay for their passage). Those roads are patrolled/relatively safe, while there is no direct road between Graydirge and Pagked, requiring the party to make a not-insubstantial detour to reach a bridge across the Ydrion River after traveling across some unfavorable terrain. Whether they take the road that heads to Sallowshore or the boat, the actual journey time is faster and lower risk going to Sallowshore first vs Pagked.

From Sallowshore, there could also be the option to take another zombie riverboat up a significant portion of the Ydrion River.

I don't know if this conflicts with canon in any way. I've dug into the resources I have on Geb and haven't found anything to contradict this possibility, but there are many out there who know far more about Geb than me.

My Shattered Star/Rise of the Runelords/Return of the Runelords mash up campaign will celebrate 10 years and 100 sessions in a few months. The flow of the campaign so far has been (some spoilers ahead):

• Godsmouth Ossuary module
• City of Strangers Part 1 & 2 (Pathfinder Society adventures – both somewhat modified)
• Shards of Sin (Shattered Star #1) with a brief interlude in Sandpoint for the ‘Catacombs of Wrath’ portion of Burnt Offerings (RotRL #1)
• All of Skinsaw Murders (RotRL #2) except the sanatorium
• Curse of the Lady’s Light (Shattered Star #2)
• Dawn of the Scarlet Sun module
• Most of Hook Mountain Massacre (RotRL #3) – the Grauls, Fort Rannick and Skulls Crossing mashed up with the Hook Mountain clanhold
• The Cultist’s Kiss (Pathfinder Society adventure relocated in Ilsurian)
• Asylum Stone (Shattered Star #3)
• A portion of Runeplague (Return of the RL #3): “The Sundered Seal” exploring the Shrine of the Seal – this was the beginning of a Yamosoth Arc
• A highly modifed version of It Came from Hollow Mountain (Return of the RL #2) – focused mostly in the dungeons underneath Hollow Mountain – for a portion of this adventure the PCs were split into two groups of three
• Another portion of Runeplague: confronting Leptonia in the Gecko
• And now we have just begun Beyond the Doomsday Door (Shattered Star #4) which will conclude the Yamosoth arc – I’m compressing what’s underneath Windsong Abbey into 3 levels instead of 4

My 6 players are now 10th level. We’re about 600 hours of game play into the campaign, using slow progression and with tons of roleplaying and setting-based side quests. Good to now be starting the back nine!

I've been running two campaigns on Roll20 (one for Pathfinder 1e, the other for 2e). A few months back I was keen to start a new Blood Lords campaign. Unfortunately Roll20 didn't support this AP, so I grit my teeth and purchased Foundry to start up the campaign.

I'm not technically inclined at all (and my computer is old) so I opted for using the Forge to host my games. I've found the folks at The Forge to be way more responsive and transparent than the Roll20 team when there are issues. To start, I found a few great tutorial videos on YouTube for Foundry basics, as well as a video by the Rules Lawyer on his recommended modules for Pathfinder 2e on Foundry.

The learning curve for me and the players was about two 3-hour game sessions, where we got a bit less accomplished because we were learning the new platform but still made good progress. Now we're pretty comfortable with Foundry and get more accomplished in game sessions because there's less discussion and accounting when it comes to treasure. Every treasure item found in the game has it's own token that players can open, then drag the treasure onto their character sheet, or into a group treasure chest to divide later.

My impression 10 games in is that Foundry does just about everything better than Roll20 does, and more intuitively. As well, the module I purchased for my game (Zombie Feast) bring whole level of production value beyond what Roll20 Pathfinder modules offer.

I'm considering moving my other 2e game (Agents of Edgewatch) to Foundry when the current adventure is complete. While I don't know of any way to migrate my campaign info easily, it is SO easy for my players to create and update characters. Everything's drag and drop from the compendium. And unlike the Roll20 Charactermancer (which remains non-existent for 2e), you don't have to purchase additional books or material to have pretty much every campaign option ever created for 2e.

Another thought for a rescue mission. How did your group manage with the Bone Shards? Are Sahreg and her toughs still alive? Perhaps now that they’ve had a chance to lick their wounds, they’d be up for joining your rogue and aiding in a rescue mission – and an opportunity to ‘stick it to’ the Three Fingered Hand.

Another possibility is Dakramat, the Empty Threshold congregant that provided Ortagar the information about the Bone Shards lair. To me there’s a possible continuity error with Dakramat’s information. He knew about the poisoning plot, which suggests that he went with Kepgeda to join the Three-Fingered Hand at the brewery, but he gives Ortagar’s interrogators the location of the Bone Shards lair instead of the brewery. In my game I’ve rationalized this that the torturing process made him somewhat incoherent and in his fog of sublime pain provided the location for the Bone Shards.

At any rate, for the purposes of your story, Dakramat could have now recovered enough to realize that he gave Ortagar and the acolytes the wrong location. He might even know the basic layout of Kepgeda’s lair and where prisoners might be located. If recovered enough, he might also volunteer for the rescue mission (as part of his painful absolution) – presenting other rescuers as new recruits to get deeper into the facility and break the other PCs free.

I'd love an AP set entirely within and below Kaer Maga. There are so many opportunities in that unique city for a combination of inter-faction politics, dungeon crawling, exploring the mysteries and history of the location and discovering new mysteries.

Lost 2 friends to COVID, including one just a couple months ago that I'd been gaming with since Living Greyhawk days. Safer is smarter. Thank you Paizo.

Hmm.. it's actually more sensible than I initially though. As sensible as you need to make it for an "unknowable extra-terrestrial intelligence whose designs we cannot hope to comprehend". Also more sensible than them camping right next to the Skinsaw sanctum entrance and somehow escaping notice.

Appreciate your 2 cents here. I think you have a greater depth of understanding of this AP than anyone.

I also considered relocating the Graycloaks to D24 or D21, but felt that if they retreated in that direction, they would have likely exited the Catacombs entirely to advise Runewulf and regroup. Plus both these locations are on the cultists route.

One downside of relocating the Graycloaks to D13 is that it becomes possible for Edgewatch agents to enter the Skinsaw Sanctum before meeting any of the Graycloaks. A possible solution is to keep the Graycloaks in their original location but change the backstory so that they’ve only been there for an hour or two – regrouping after a desperate escape (forced by running out of food/water) from D13 – possibly losing another Graycloak in the process.

Having said that, I’m inclined to keep my remaining Graycloaks relocated in D13. I’m hoping it will make the encounter with Tyrroicese more personal and story oriented. After the first round of combat, the Graycloaks would see this as their chance to make a break for it. They encourage the PCs to retreat as well (“Run – before that beast swallows you whole!”) before taking cover behind the door of D14.

Should the PCs retreat with them, the Graycloaks can share what they know, like “That thing’s got the Corporal inside it – and we think she may still be alive” or providing some advice: “Don’t bother with swords or arrows – they won’t scratch it.”

One remaining question I have about the Graycloaks’ backstory: how many agents did Runewulf send into the Catacombs? Is this ever conclusively stated? I’m counting 5 confirmed. Corporal Quordein, the 3 survivors, plus the unnamed agent who perished against the otyughs in D17.

The text suggests there may have been 6 or more agents, but I’m leaning towards saying their were 5. Despite the description of Quordein as being foolish, I get a kind of “no Graycloak left behind” vibe about her that makes me think she wouldn’t have willingly left a fallen member of her team to the mercy of the ofalth. Instead, they all beat a chaotic retreat from the beast when they knew it was a fight they couldn’t win – most of them bolting around the corner in D24, then up the stairs to D14/D13 (where they got trapped). In the confusion, one Graycloaks got separated – tried to backtrack to the catacombs exit, but missed the turn to exit the lower catacombs in D16 and accidentally wandered into the otyugh lounge.

I know I’m way overthinking this. But I love figuring out this kind of backstory stuff.

I wonder which printing will be the first to include the ORC, given this growth in interest. The 6th? 7th? Eager to replace my 1st printing book when that happens :)

I LOVE the NCPs in Zombie Feast. They are a ton of fun and they make me want to create new scenes where they can be involved.

I’m playing Berline with the buoyant, sugary enthusiasm of Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony. Berline's major-domo (who in my game has been doing this same job for hundreds of years, Blood Lord after Blood Lord – the ultimate dead-end job) takes a page from Marvin the android from the BBC version of Hitchhiker’s Guide The moral greyness of Ortagar is inspired by Garak from Deep Space 9. And I don’t know who I’m channeling with Arghun the Annihilator, but he has an outrageous accent and is part imperious, part enthusiastic lapdog.

Glorinsa, Berline’s corpse tender in training, appears once in the first scene of the AP. The scene suggests that Glorinsa is a bit challenged in her new roll aa corpse tender. Then at the start of Graveclaw, Glorinsa shows up again as a zombie, a nod to Berline’s reputation as being generous with friends, but with little patience or tolerance for failure and mediocrity.

One thing I’m doing in my game is making Glorinsa’s story a bit less subtle:

When Berline arrived at Qhallaqh Manor for the housewarming, Glorinsa and the major-domo arrived with her. After the dinner the zombie horses were tangled up in their harnesses and Berline had to step in and get this sorted out before returning to Graydirge

Upon visiting Berline to report on what was discovered from the Bone Shards & at Graydirge Bank, Glorinsa is in the garden, struggling with two zombies, one trying to get at a bit of brain that has popped out of a crack in the skull of the other. Glorinsa looks at the characters and tells them “I got this – don’t tell Berline”

At the end of Zombie Feast (or at the start of Graveclaw) I’m thinking that Berline will invite the PCs to a party she’s having for Glorinsa. When they arrive they discover it’s a rebirthday party. There is music, entertainers making balloon skeletons & corpses. Then the main event: Berline animating Glorinsa as a zombie. Berline serves deserts as well as confections for the undead and everyone celebrates. She tells the PCs, “She wasn’t that great a corpse tender, so I terminated her. Let’s have some cake!”

I’ve got a party of 5, so I’ve been upscaling encounters and treasure as per Core Rulebook guidelines. As I do so, I’ve been trying to add a bit of Geb flavour to some of the items – essentially reskinning/adapting existing items with a Geb theme. Nothing earthshattering, but here are the 3 I’ve introduced so far. Anyone have ideas to add?

DYING ANGEL PENDENT (slightly modified Crying Angel Pendent)
This pendant features the carving of a psychopomp on the verge of agonizing death caused by a grievous wound.

When you activate this alabaster pendant, your critical failure becomes a normal failure instead. This pendant can be used on both the quick and the dead.

HAND OF THE PETULANT NECROMANCER (modified Hand of the Mage)
This mummified hand hangs on an iron chain. Whenever its power is evoked, all fingers clench into a fist, with the exception of the middle finger.

Activate: command, envision
Effect: You cast Chill Touch

PROFANE SCROLL CASE OF SIMPLICITY (adapted Divine Scroll Case of Simplicity)
This profane scroll case of simplicity bears an adornments of skeletons gnawing on other skeletons. On the inside, intricate runic diagrams spiral out to surround the scroll stored within. A scroll placed within the case can be converted into energy to cast consistently useful spells depending on its type. You must be able to cast divine spells to use a profane scroll case of simplicity.

Activate: Interact
Requirements: The scroll case contains a single scroll of a 1st-level spell
Effect: You transfer the scroll's energy into the scroll case, consuming the scroll, and you can immediately begin casting one of the scroll case's spells. If you use any action other than to Cast a Spell from the scroll case after activating the scroll case of simplicity, the scroll and its energy are lost.
The scroll case can be used to cast Harm and Putrefy Food and Drink

My son's school's D&D club (6th-8th grade) started up again after the holiday break. They took a vote on what system to use and Pathfinder was almost the unanimous choice. Now he's stolen my Guns & Gears book and wants to make a Gunslinger. He said most of the kids knew about the OGL thing and were ready to try something that wasn't Hasbro.

Long post ahead. I'm prepping for the encounter with the Bone Shards. I found it challenging to piece together their story when reviewing the text, so tried putting all the bits and pieces together as kind of a script/interactive boxed text for the encounter.

I'm sharing this in case this is useful for others - and in case anyone notices any logic/continuity flaws in what I've put together.

WHAT THE BONE SHARDS KNOW:

About the Bone Shards
• Our gang was known as the Bone Shards - we did jobs for hire here in Graydirge. For aristocrats and merchants. They’re always scheming against each other.
• Lots of peoples don’t like us. They say we “play both sides”. But we just follow the gold. Nothing personal. Business is business.
• We had a good thing going. People thought we was fetchlings. And once we puts on the makeup, who’s to know the difference.
• We put rumours out that our hideout was warded with powerful shadow magic – but that didn’t help us when Kepgeda showed up.

About Kepgeda/the gang’s new leader
• Kepgeda (Sahreg/the head Bone Shard member spits). Kepgeda the Hag-Nailed. You could say she’s became the new leader of the Bone Shards – at least those who survived.
• She barged in here with members of her own gang – the Three-Fingered Hand. She came with a bunch of quick wearing red cloaks, some zombies, a few ghouls.
• She knew exactly what she wanted - a key we got as payment for a job some time back.
• There was no way we were giving that up without a fight – but they were too strong for us.
• Even after they had us on our knees, I held my ground. But Kepgeda wasn’t leaving without that key.
• First she raised the Bone Shards who died in the fight as zombies.
• Then she and her ghouls took three of our group back there (points – area C4) and cooked them alive. Their screams filled this whole place.
• Kepgeda called them “the leftovers”. I didn’t want anyone else getting left over – so I gave her want she wanted.
• Then once she had the key, she said she had an offer for us. She wanted to recruit us into The Three-Fingered Hand.

How the Bone Shards got recruited
• None of us were too keen on that – but she was very persuasive. Painfully persuasive. So persuasive that even the Kuthites member screaming for mercy.
• We had no choice. She told us she’d recruit us dead or alive – and that she liked to put her enemies to good use – either by cooking them or turning them into zombies.
• With an offer like that, how could we say no. But she wasn’t done yet.
• Kepgeda told us that before she could accept us into her gang, some punishment was in order.
• She didn’t like us pretending to be fetchlings – not at all. She told us Shadow magic “wasn’t a thing for playing pretend with”. So she lined us all up, and selected three of my Bone Shards to stand forward to “be initiated”.
• She holds up one of her hands and shows us she has a missing finger and says, “Let’s see if you’ve got what it takes to be like me.” She brings out this dagger, and one by one she cuts a finger off from each of their hands.
• I guess that was all for show, ‘cause then she says they aren’t up to her standards, so she has her minions pin them down. She cuts off both their hands entirely – and lets them bleed out.
• Then – as soon as they was dead, she turns ‘em into zombies and says to all of us. “Now your initiated.”
• The death magic she used must have gone into their hands as well, ‘cause they started floppin’ about here.
• Then Kepgeda told us to get moving. She was taking us to her hideout. But me and some others here – we made a break for it before we got to the surface. With all the confusion and undead shambling about, no one noticed.
• That was maybe 4 weeks ago? We laid low for a while – and now we’ve crawled back to lick our wounds here, but those damned hands have been a real problem.

About Kepgeda/The Three-Finger Hand’s hideout
• Sorry – can’t help you there. We got away before we saw that little hideout of horrors. Don’t even know if it’s in Graydirge. No idea where it is and no interest in seeing it

About the Key
• Kepgeda said the key was for Graydirge bank. Who knows if that’s true. It was made of granite, with a shaft carved to look like a spine.
• I don’t even know who gave us the key in the first place. The member that handled that contact is long dead.

About Zon-Kuthon
• A few of our members worshiped Zon-Kuthon
• Dakramat was one of them. He survived Kepgeda’s purge. If he’s still alive, he’s probably working for her. Unless he got some smarts.

About the corpse in Qhallagh Manor
• Whoever that was, he wasn’t one of ours.

It’s like they’re trying to create a poison pill for the competitors and communities they created with the OGL and 4e. But what they’re really doing is poisoning the community as a whole.

I feel like the current Hasbro/WotC leadership doesn’t appreciate that the roleplaying community is kind of an ecosystem of many, many smaller roleplaying communities, of which 5e is currently the largest. If this comes to pass, they are actively trying to harm (and even destroy) many of those communities. Many people would take take this move as a personal threat to the game and community they are passionate about.

Any thoughts on transport systems and overland travel on Geb? Are their any maps that suggest a road system? I'd like to add a bit of flavour to the road trip aspect of the adventure between chapters.

Perhaps there is also a strong riverboat system, with zombie oarsman, or companies of zombie giants that pull boats upstream through difficult stretches.

Also has anyone used the Cobbleswarm or the Charghar for any side quests?

This question really got me thinking. I don't typically read at the adventure toolbox monsters that aren't in the adventure, but this got me to look, and the ones here are really well suited to Graydirge/the story. I've got a party of 5, so to increase my XP budget, I'm experimenting by adding some of these creatures.

In the Bone Shard's hideout, my plan is to have a cobblestone swarm emerge near The Leftovers - with the violence and malevolence of Kepgeda's actions in this room awakening the swarm.

I think I'm going to give Pesgahi the Poisoner a Necromunculus sidekick. They'll hate each other.

And for the Charghar, my thought is to have one inhabiting but suppressed within Kepgeda's cauldron. Once the PCs deactivate the cauldron hazard, two things happen: both the heads and hands emerge to torment/desecrate Kepgeda; and the Charghar emerges, angry and ready for vengeance against the living in the room. That could include Kepgeda if she still survives at that point.

The parade ran last night and we broke off mid-heist. I wanted to share what I ended up with as floats preceding the burglers. I generously stole and curated from previous suggestions in this thread, but added some of my own. Less detailed than what Naurgul created - more to give a sense of flavor around the culture of the parade.

I used to be a Scout leader, so I've been in a few parades, and I drew on that to think of the kind of floats or groups marching in the parade. Here's the master list I used to draw from...

* Faiths of Absalom
* Businesses of Absalom
* Youth Organizations and Clubs
* Clubs/organizations (i.e. Pathfinder Society, Aspis Consortium)
*Political leaders from various quarters
* Social service organizations (policing, fire brigades, etc.)
* Foreign Quarter neighborhoods
* Radiant Festival exhibitors/nations

And here's the list I came up with (thanks again to all of whom I stole from...)

LUCKY NIMBUS CASINO
Performers dressed as genies doing loops around the base of the float and tossing souvenir tokens

THE SALIVATING ARMY
A Shoony Marching Band

MEET THE CHAMPIONS OF THE BLOOD CITY GAMES
A float featuring ‘statues’ of famous gladiators
There are three ‘rings’, each with a champion…
Foreign Quarter’s native son… Alistar with Arms
The Taldan Terminatator – Vez!
Returning champion… Oggvurm the Merciless

THE NEW THASSILON TOURIST BOARD – INDULGE YOUR SINS HERE!
Float featuring replicas of classic Thassilonian monuments – the Lady’s Light, the Irespan

THE TIPSY TENGU
Bar patrons on a float drinking and saluting the crowd

THE CHURCH OF IOMEDAE
A statue of Iomedae raising her shield

THE GOBLIN ALCHEMICAL SOCIETY (GAS)
Not a float… a walking exhibit. Goblins duel each other with alchemist fire – when one starts to burn, another provides an Elixir of Life – people give the goblins LOTS of room

GEB ANTI-TOURIST BOARD FLOAT – DYING TO VISIT? DON’T

COINS FIRE BRIGADE UNIT 5
Large ladders and the fire company showing off – wearing coal-like face paint

PATHFINDER SOCIETY – EXPLORE, REPORT, COOPERATE
A 3-stage float portraying the 3 ‘schools’ of the Pathfinder Society: Swords, Scrolls and Spells

THE FLYING HALFLINGS GYMNASTICS CORPS
Halfling acrobats on a float launching themselves well into the air

COME SEE THE OSIRION PAVILION AT THE RADIANT FESTIVAL!
Giant pyramid

ZON-KUTHON FLOAT – COME FOR THE PAIN – STAY FOR THE GUILT!
We see worshippers on a float being punished with a whip

QUECK’S COBBLERS
A bicycle in the shape of a boot

4TH PUDDLES SHARK CUBS
A youth aquatic camping organization

THE BLAKROS MUSEUM – NEVER A DULL VISIT!
Recreations of museum artifacts and some curated artifacts from the collection

THE MARVELOUS MIZZEN-MAST
The swaying masts of a pirate ship lurch down the road
Masts are just a bit taller than the fence – a large clown in the crow’s nest

I know the book says Berline is not to be messed with, but from her dialogue I do get a very lighthearted sense hiding the ruthlessness beneath

Yes! She's like Winnie the Pooh with a knife

My Fayati/CH enhancements in brief: Fayati took over what was a small pick-pocketing racket and started reorganizing into a more diversified criminal organization. She's obviously more bookishly minded than a typical thief, and got the idea from her readings to split her organization into cells specialized in certain types of work, with compartmentalized reporting structures such that lower-level members never went above the second floor of the HQ and didn't even know her name, and with her bookkeeping she carefully distributed the crew's work in any particular area so they didn't attract too much heat from a neighborhood or the Sleepless Suns. The Bank Robbery crew were a repurposed 2nd-story burglary cell who hadn't been with the CH for long enough to meet Fayati directly.

I'm going to steal much of this idea too.

I'm leaning towards Melipdra and the Sleepless Suns having a file they're gathering on Fayati and the Copper Hand - they have evidence of low level crimes from the lower-tier associates, but they suspect the guild is up to something and they want evidence to go after the bigger fish - in this case Fayati, or whoever she might lead them to. A bit like the early phases of a modern-day police operation on a gang.

I'm going to cut out Melipdra's reference to a hostage. However, I'm considering changing Gribse's backstory to make him an engineer that was hired by the group responsible for the Vudra Pavilion at the Radiant Festival (Fayati is part of a business association involved in consultations for the pavilion where she became aware of Gribse). He was kidnapped towards the end of Pratchett's time. I'm going to add him to the list of the missing from Dreaming Palace, and now that the Edgewatch forensic Investigators have completed their work, they have concluded that he is the only (or one of the only) individuals not accounted for.

I wish I'd thought of this earlier - it would have tweaked further interest into the investigation at the tannery, and I could have used it to foreshadow some of the events here.

rokeca wrote:

Given that, I’m having a hard time rationalizing that the PCs won’t be able to figure out with some investigation where the guild is operating from.

You can find about these and all the other additions/adjustments I did to expand this part and make it more -as you said- like "procedural investigators" in this thread:

Expanded Bank Robbery Investigation

where I wrote down all my notes on the topic.

This is good stuff, and spot on for the tone of our game. Thanks Naurgul!

OK – the more I prep for the PC investigation of the Copper Hands, the more the backstory isn’t adding up for me. I’m wondering how others have dealt with this. My group is working this like procedural investigators, so I want to avoid breaking verisimilitude as much as possible,

They are two days from the parade. They’ve figured out after helping out the Mudruckers and talking to Chadraxa that the group behind this is the Copper Hands. So here are the things that aren’t making sense to me…

Evidently Fayati has been leading the guild for more than a year, transforming it into an up-and-coming guild – and that it had been operating before she took over

Given that, I’m having a hard time rationalizing that the PCs won’t be able to figure out with some investigation where the guild is operating from. I am also super-challenged given the amount of time the guild has been operating that Melipdra and the Sleepless Sons don’t recognize the name 'Copper Hands'. It makes him and his detectives look incompetent. Especially when Chadraxa – who operates in a different district – is not only aware of them, but also knows they are working with The Skinner and her cult.

Could Fayati have recently rebranded her guild? Perhaps Chadraxa has connections that have leaked her info about the Copper Hand (e.g. Vancaskerkin) to lead breadcrumbs towards The Skinner? Is there something I’m missing?

I suppose I could have them find the cult in Vudratown early, have them assault their hideout at 5th level and most likely be unsuccessful, with Favati and others escaping and the bank robbery still going ahead, possibly with Favati now involved, or then tracking her to her new hideout from the captured rogues from the heist. Curious on any thoughts here!

I love these visualizations - particularly the sense these give of Bis and Highside Stacks.

On a separate note, would love to see 2e return to Kaer Maga - my favorite location in all of Golarion. So much yet still to be revealed there - at least an AP's worth of intrigue and dungeon delving!

rokeca wrote:

Does anyone know if Roll20 will be offering Blood Lords?

They are not offering it at this time.

Thanks Aaron for the quick response. A bummer for sure... it's almost as if they want me to move to Foundry!

I'm glad someone flagged the point about Melipdra mentioning a possible hostage as my group should reach that point in a couple weeks. I'm inclined to remove the reference to the hostage entirely as it just doesn't make much sense if Melipdra has almost no information on the Copper Hand, but enough to suspect a hostage (and then to have taken no action to learn more about it).

It doesn't seem essential to the plot for the party to know about the hostage in advance - and there are visible clues that can be provided for the PCs to pick up on his hostage status when they encounter him.

For the Token Guard, don't forget to include retrievable information on that goblin burglar Quidley. In my game when the PCs visited the token guard they were told no goblin of that name had ever been arrested but they managed to take a peek at the papers and saw that the name was actually in the files but crossed out.

That's a good call out. I've been cribbing your stuff since I started this campaign and it's definitely making the AP way more interesting to me as a GM and believable/credible to my players. Your advice to me on the Precipice Quarter/Radiant Festival map and Book 1/Chapter 1 encounters took me off the fence about GMing this AP. Definitely looing forward to your expanded notes!