Pathfinder Adventure Path #55: The Wormwood Mutiny (Skull & Shackles 1 of 6) (PFRPG)

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Pathfinder Adventure Path #55: The Wormwood Mutiny (Skull & Shackles 1 of 6) (PFRPG)
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Chapter 1: "The Wormwood Mutiny"
by Richard Pett

Pirates take whatever they please, whether it be ships, plunder, or people! The adventurers wake to find themselves press-ganged into the crew of the pirate ship Wormwood, the vessel of the nefarious Captain Barnabus Harrigan. They’ll have to learn how to survive as pirates if they’re to have any hope of weathering rough waves, brutal crew members, enemy pirates, ravenous beasts, and worse. But when fortune turns to their favor, it’s up to the new crew to decide whether they’ll remain the pirate’s swabs or seize control and set sail for adventures all their own.

This volume of Pathfinder Adventure Path launches the Skull & Shackles Adventure Path and includes:

  • “The Wormwood Mutiny,” a Pathfinder RPG adventure for 1st-level characters, by Richard Pett.
  • Details of life aboard a pirate vessel and rules for becoming the most infamous scallywag to sail the seas, by Jesse Benner, Richard Pett, and F. Wesley Schneider.
  • Revelations on the daring faith of Besmara, goddess of pirates, strife, and sea monsters, by Sean K Reynolds.
  • Death and plunder in the Pathfinder’s Journal, by Robin D. Laws.
  • Four new monsters, by Jesse Benner, Sean K Reynolds, and Steven D. Russell

Each monthly full-color softcover Pathfinder Adventure Path volume contains an in-depth adventure scenario, stats for several new monsters, and support articles meant to give Game Masters additional material to expand their campaign. Pathfinder Adventure Path volumes use the Open Game License and work with both the Pathfinder RPG and the world's oldest fantasy RPG.

ISBN–13: 978-1-60125-404-7

The Wormwood Mutiny is sanctioned for use in Pathfinder Society Organized Play. The rules for running this Adventure Path and Chronicle sheet are available as a free download (479 KB zip/PDF).

Other Resources: This product is also available on the following platforms:

Fantasy Grounds Virtual Tabletop
Archives of Nethys

Note: This product is part of the Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscription.

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Fun but Fraught with Peril

5/5

I've had this ever since it was first released. I've wanted to run it for a long time and finally got to start it last year. Next to Rise of the Runelords it's been the AP I've wanted to run most.

The story is very compelling. The antagonists are really well done in that your group should definitely grow to hate them. Once the inevitable happens, it's quite the payoff for the group. They'll make lots of friends and those friendships will payoff and create an awesome tapestry through the AP. They'll also make some enemies who will be there until the end.

That being said this isn't for everyone. The group starts out press-ganged on to the ship. Which is another way of saying they are enslaved. Their freedom is very limited and they are punished for the slightest infractions. It can be extremely oppressive. It is a roleplaying heavy volume of the AP. Not a lot of your typical action happens for pretty much the first half of the book. It is a gold mine for those who love roleplaying.

The PCs are also put face to face with some very high level and dangerous people. Groups who feel they can resolve everything with violence are going to be in for a surprise if they step out of line at the wrong point. If they try to mutiny too early, it's going to be the end of them. A mutiny is the expected outcome of the volume, but they need to do it as the right time.

There are a few encounters that are really dangerous and potentially deadly especially as groups have very little access to tools to deal with them. So it takes a bit of work to either modify the scenarios or try to find a way of getting something to help them in their hands.

This volume introduces a fair amount of water based encounters. If you aren't familiar with the rules for swimming and the effects of water as an environment, or you don't like them, this AP may not be to your taste either. A lot of encounters through the entire AP are set in the water.

Ultimately by the end of the book, if all goes well your group should be in command of their own ship with a loyal crew, no longer enslaved to their old captain, and charting their own destiny on the High Seas.


Good adventure with one bad map


Recently I`ve bumped into Mr. John Compton`s inquiry about reviews on Paizo products https://twitter.com/Archaeotagh/status/1072706185613082624

I`ve GM-ed Wormwood Mutiny and liked it - couple new mechanics, survival sandbox for players, huge number of NPCs to hate and oppose. But heres my spoon of tar in this barrel of honey: map (Riptide Cove) with 1 square = 10 feet grid.

If your artists can draw "1 square = 10 feet grid" - they definetly can draw smaller "1 square = 5 feet grid" so GM-s do not have to learn picture editing and spent time on it.

One might say, that it is because of printed book version page number limit, editing problems. Maybe. But why they keep "1 square = 10 feet grid" in interactive map PDF? Theres no space (page) limit there.

Maybe your artist and editor never GM-ed it, never prepared this particular map for game session - I am sure, that even after one such time with grid-editing "1 square = 10 feet grid" into "1 square = 5 feet grid" they definetly never did such thing for others.


Fun Premise, Good Delivery

4/5

I ran a group of mid-level gamers through this module. I find the feedback of other gamers to be incredibly useful and mostly agree with the other comments. A few things I didn't see, but made running the module difficult:

1) The information is way too scattered. If you need a specific NPC's stats, you'll thumb through about 16 times in order to find it. Same with the rules for Plunder, Infamy, Ship to Ship combat, etc. It seems to be an Achilles' heel of the AP overall. Now that it's out of print, my suggestion to Paizo, if they ever decide to compile it as a hardback in the same vein as earlier APs, is that they consolidate the heck out of it. Lump all the NPCs together in one section. Put all the new rules together. Etc.

2) Where it drags on--day by day as pirates--can be a drudge. You'll have to work with your players, and do a bit of homework as a GM to make it interesting.

3) For a group playing a "non evil pirates" campaign, be prepared to swap out some encounters. This is a bigger challenge in Module 2, where people can be sold into slavery, but still worth mentioning here.

4) Make sure your players have enough resources to survive swarm encounters before they get on the island! I had to cheat a little bit by stuffing a few flasks of alchemist fire and acid in some of the treasure on the island. Otherwise it would have been a TPK after 1-2 botfly encounters.

5) The final encounter is a weird setup that you will have to adjust. Plugg and Scourge give the PCs a short amount of time to get supplies, but at the same time there's no way to run through all the encounters in that time. Maybe make it one of the reasons they are mad at the PCs?

6) The ghouls deserve a story! I made the underwater encounter a bit more interesting and added some plunder for recovering the wreck, otherwise there's absolutely nothing there for anyone.


Some Assembly Required

3/5

I ran this adventure for a group of 5 new players. I cut some encounters and used the fast advancement track due to time constraints. Including building and leveling PCs, the adventure took 20 hours to run.

Richard Pett provides great information to build on here, with 8 fully detailed NPCs (friend and foe) and over a dozen more with enough information to inspire the GM. Even the mundane treasure is interesting. As a GM, though, you'll need to figure out how to introduce a number of the NPCs on your own. Instead of using space to provide advice in this area, the adventure has rules for daily job roles that can quickly get tedious.

The supplementary material for the adventure is solid, although one of the magic items is a bit expensive for the level range. The Life of a Pirate article contains more campaign-specific rules that I found confusing and hard to convey to the players. SKR's article on Besmara is up to his usual high standard, and the fiction should inspire a magic item or 2. The monsters compliment the adventure well, but the pirate familiars are missing any mention of bonuses (or lack thereof) for those who choose them.

Summary: Can be a blast to play, but only if the GM puts in the prep time. Most of the back matter is good quality.


Reading it is Brilliant, Playing it is a Different Story

3/5

I read this module and it immediately hooked me as a GM. This is an excellent, nay brilliant adventure that has much going for it. I put in massive amounts of work to encourage the players to get excited to play this and they were.

But I had not realised the effect this module would have. This module basically is about kidnapping the players, grind them down and subject them to a harsh ship experience. Sure, in the end they rise up and get a ship of their own and escape the yoke of the evil Captain and his minions but the lead up can be very depressing for players that get seriously into character.

This module nearly broke my group. The players in my group got tied up in their characters and it was not pleasurable to see how they attempted to balance who would get the beating and who would not. I felt for them as they felt the helplessness of their characters. In the long run it ended in a massive argument and the group nearly broke up for good. I had to spend a good amount of time rebuilding burnt bridges and assuring them that they were moments away from a great resolution to the module.

In the end I loved how this module read, hated how it played. So this review puts it right in the middle of the ratings. Consider running it (and the AP as a whole is awesome) but be aware of the dangers that lie in it.


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Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Dr. Johnny Fever wrote:
HangarFlying wrote:
Or they can start looking for printers in countries that don't celebrate Chinese holidays.

I don't have a clue as to the cost of changing from a Chinese printer to one in a different country but I do hope that, going forward, the fact that Chinese holidays can impact Paizo's shipping schedule is accounted for.

DJF

Since Paizo has been printing in China for several years now, they likely do have that factored in. It was an conjunction of other unexpected factors that triggered this one.

Also, I was about to reply to Zaister that player entitlement posts are usually followed by "I know better how you should run your business" posts, but apparently I don't have to do that any more. :P


Gorbacz wrote:
deathbydice wrote:

I don't really suppose that the authors did not finish their scripts months ago and I could care less for the PR at GenCon.

You could care less, but Paizo's income which funds all the stuff doesn't. :)

What exactly is the extra income generated by launching or announcing an AP at GenCon exactly ? As opposed to any other day of the year ? I'd suppose that 90%+ of the APs issues sell to regular customers by subscription.... so what exactly is to be gained ? And Paizo in their fifth year as an independent publishing business being caught cold by "chinese holidays".... sounds somewhat unlikely ?

Nevermind that earlier sales (say in March) creates earlier income,say like six weeks earlier, equaling better liquidity. Where I studied economics that trumped "fan-service" every time. YMMV...

Now for some rum, some sea-turtles and a sandy beach to wait on... I just feel sorry for those people who actually planned to run that campaign since as a "piraty one" expectations for it run/ran high

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
deathbydice wrote:
Gorbacz wrote:
deathbydice wrote:

I don't really suppose that the authors did not finish their scripts months ago and I could care less for the PR at GenCon.

You could care less, but Paizo's income which funds all the stuff doesn't. :)

What exactly is the extra income generated by launching or announcing an AP at GenCon exactly ? As opposed to any other day of the year ? I'd suppose that 90%+ of the APs issues sell to regular customers by subscription.... so what exactly is to be gained ? Paizo in their fifth year as an independent publishing business being caught cold by "chinese holidays".... sounds somewhat unlikely ?

Nevermind that earlier sales (say in March) creates earlier income,say like six weeks earlier, equaling better liquidity. Where I studied economics that trumped "fan-service" every time. YMMV...

Now for some rum, some sea-turtles and a sandy beach to wait on...

It's GenCon. It's the celebration of the industry. You either have several major new entries at the show, or everybody thinks there actually *is* something very wrong with your company.

That's how every company in RPG industry works. If you're in first league, then you have at least one big hit at GenCon. If APs are your primary income (as stated several times by Paizo staff) it's a start of a new AP at GenCon floor or there's trouble.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

The whole Chinese New Year issue is mostly a misunderstanding, in two different ways.

1. At one point people were asking for an updated schedule, and I told them that we wouldn't have new information for a couple of weeks because our printer was closed for the holiday. And then I saw people saying elsewhere that I had said the *products* were late because of the holiday. That wasn't the reason any products were late—it's just the reason I didn't have up-to-date information on delivery dates at that time.

2. If we plan for a product to reach the printer *before* the holiday, and we don't make it in time, then that product gets delayed for another two weeks until the printer reopens. But that's not actually the printer's fault—that's our own. And it *did* happen this year. Everybody busts our butts trying to prevent that, but sometimes it's unavoidable.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

deathbydice wrote:
...(pdf is now listed as available April 25th...) nevermind than having the actual print copy stuck in the mail to Europe for another three weeks.

The PDF release date is the anticipated retail release date. We usually begin shipping to subscribers about a week and a half before that.


deathbydice wrote:
Gorbacz wrote:
deathbydice wrote:

I don't really suppose that the authors did not finish their scripts months ago and I could care less for the PR at GenCon.

You could care less, but Paizo's income which funds all the stuff doesn't. :)
What exactly is the extra income generated by launching or announcing an AP at GenCon exactly ? As opposed to any other day of the year ? I'd suppose that 90%+ of the APs issues sell to regular customers by subscription.... so what exactly is to be gained ?

Person who does not play Pathfinder sees there is a new and very cool product line. Person sees a hundred copies of Adventure Path #60, and a lot more of Adventure Path #61. They pick up #61. They read it. Wow, Pathfinder is really cool-- it's way different from 3.5e and 4e. These adventures are so much better than the stuff that WotC printed when I played 3.5e. The next day, they go and play some games. Maybe they buy the core rulebook. Whoa, paladins are really different. That's cool. They maybe pick up an Ultimate book or some miniatures. Maybe they go home and they start up a Pathfinder group. They buy the APs. Then they go back and buy the old ones to play too because they come to the forums and hear how good they are. They get the AP subscription because they want the rest of the AP they bought last month. Then they keep buying APs, reading them, even though they hate Asian fantasy, or they hate pirates, or they hate sandbox games, because Pathfinder material is so good. They buy the APG, UM, UC, UE, ARG, player companions, more miniatures.

Or maybe they don't and they just buy a copy of Adventure Path #61, go "This is crap" and make angry forum posts about how Paizo is destroying the industry and how wizards can break the game if they don't read spell descriptions.

"90% of people buying APs are subscribers" is a good thing to say but it's like you think subscribers are born out of cauldrons or made of mud or something.


Vic Wertz wrote:
deathbydice wrote:
...(pdf is now listed as available April 25th...) nevermind than having the actual print copy stuck in the mail to Europe for another three weeks.

The PDF release date is the anticipated retail release date. We usually begin shipping to subscribers about a week and a half before that.

Wow , that makes it 4 weeks on average "warehouse to mailbox" then. To major countries and logistic hubs, say like the UK or Germany, even . Since I receive the pdf, it doesn't bother me that much, but given that intra-EU mail/packages rarely take more than 3 days (say like UK -> Denmark or Spain ---> Germany)... =(

Thanks for clarifying the stuff about the "chinese holiday", that never really rang true.

Now... for the rum !

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

HangarFlying wrote:
Or they can start looking for printers in countries that don't celebrate Chinese holidays.

In the last year, I think we've had two products that were actually delayed by the printer, not by us... and those were both printed in the USA.


International shipping times are very hard to predict. My December package took 4 weeks to get to Sweden. The January one arrived in 10 days. the fastest I've had yet was about six months ago, when it actually arrived faster than the minimum shipping time Paizo estimates (it took 4 days! Someone must've put it in the wrong sorting pile or something).

Silver Crusade

Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber

My packages (Poland) take anywhere from 5 days (low extreme) thru 2-4 weeks (normal) to 6 months (epic fail here). It's almost like randomized by somebody rolling dice.


Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Superscriber; Starfinder Superscriber

Im quite excited by this AP, so i signed up for the AP sub! Now I just gotta convince my group to play this! (and Pathfinder). At least in the meantime it should be good reading.


deathbydice wrote:
Wow , that makes it 4 weeks on average "warehouse to mailbox" then. To major countries and logistic hubs, say like the UK or Germany, even . Since I receive the pdf, it doesn't bother me that much, but given that intra-EU mail/packages rarely take more than 3 days (say like UK -> Denmark or Spain ---> Germany)... =(

You know, shipping from the US to Europe does take a bit longer than shipping within Europe. There's this little thing called "the Atlantic Ocean" in between. I'm guessing that you, like I, have opted for the cheap international shipping option for your subscription. That means your stuff gets shipped by an actual ship rather than plane. I believe these shipping times can be pretty random, because the vessels stay in port until they are full which can delay things by another week or so if you're unlucky.

And as for not getting early access to the PDF... well, it doesn't work like that for business reasons. I mean, I'm pretty sure Paizo has the PDF ready to go and all, but they can't let us have it yet. The reason is that Paizo are not allowed to charge your credit card until your order has shipped (or is ready to ship). Doing otherwise is considered very bad form, and can lead to penalties from credit card companies if customers decide to complain about it. And since Paizo haven't charged your card, you haven't bought anything yet. You can still tell Paizo, "You know what, I'll cancel the order this month." And if they have already given you access to the PDF by then, well, it's not like they can take it back. So things need to happen in order: first Paizo prepare to ship your books, then they charge your card, then your order goes out, and then you can get access to the PDF.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Staffan Johansson wrote:
You know, shipping from the US to Europe does take a bit longer than shipping within Europe. There's this little thing called "the Atlantic Ocean" in between. I'm guessing that you, like I, have opted for the cheap international shipping option for your subscription. That means your stuff gets shipped by an actual ship rather than plane. I believe these shipping times can be pretty random, because the vessels stay in port until they are full which can delay things by another week or so if you're unlucky.

The USPS discontinued international surface mail in 2007, so everything we ship overseas does indeed go by plane... but unless you've chosen International Priority, your mail is, well, quite literally not a priority. Planes get filled with higher priority items first, so non-Priority mail can sit and wait for a while. And the same is usually true when it reaches customs at the other end.

You're spot on regarding the PDF stuff, though!


This is probably a dumb question but is there any reason why we subscribers can't get the PDF now? I primarily use the PDF anyway.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

Aaron Scott 139 wrote:
This is probably a dumb question but is there any reason why we subscribers can't get the PDF now? I primarily use the PDF anyway.

See the last paragraph of Staffan's post, two posts up from yours.

RPG Superstar 2009 Top 32

Vic Wertz wrote:
HangarFlying wrote:
Or they can start looking for printers in countries that don't celebrate Chinese holidays.
In the last year, I think we've had two products that were actually delayed by the printer, not by us... and those were both printed in the USA.

Is Paizo putting in a contingency plan so this kind of "Series of Unfortunate Events" can be avoided in the foreseeable future? :D


1 person marked this as a favorite.
Lord Fyre wrote:
Is Paizo putting in a contingency plan so this kind of "Series of Unfortunate Events" can be avoided in the foreseeable future? :D

What kind of contingency plan could there be that takes rare and unusually massive snowstorms into account? I live in a state in which such things happen much more often than they do in the Seattle area, and the only realistic contingency plan is to hope that people stay safe at home instead of risking their lives on extremely dangerous roads.

I'd rather get it late, than never! ;)


Vic Wertz wrote:
Aaron Scott 139 wrote:
This is probably a dumb question but is there any reason why we subscribers can't get the PDF now? I primarily use the PDF anyway.
See the last paragraph of Staffan's post, two posts up from yours.

Ah. I wasn't sure if that was the official position of Paizo or speculation. Thanks.


Will there be a free Player's Guide in PDF format like with most previous APs?

Contributor

Bellona wrote:
Will there be a free Player's Guide in PDF format like with most previous APs?

Yes. :)


Liz Courts wrote:
Bellona wrote:
Will there be a free Player's Guide in PDF format like with most previous APs?
Yes. :)

I can't wait for that... You should totally release the PG early as a teaser and to drum up more sales for the AP! :)

Contributor

That would be awesome! :D


Bellona wrote:
Will there be a free Player's Guide in PDF format like with most previous APs?
Liz Courts wrote:
Yes. :)

Thank you for answering. Any chance of knowing when the S+S Player's Guide will be available?


So...question...I heard during an interview that this was one module where Paladins were pretty much going to be banned because their concept doesn't fit well with the theme of the AP. What about other Good aligned type characters? From the Chaotic Good rogue to the Lawful Good Cleric...will they fit in here?

I have a group that I believe would like this, but I do have a player who stated, "Attacking innocents, robbing, stealing... not my idea of fun." I want to make sure this AP is a good fit for my entire group before I invest. Thanks!


Bellona wrote:
Bellona wrote:
Will there be a free Player's Guide in PDF format like with most previous APs?
Liz Courts wrote:
Yes. :)
Thank you for answering. Any chance of knowing when the S+S Player's Guide will be available?

Based on past experience, around the same time as volume 1 of the AP. As I understand it, the Players' Guide is not finalized until almost the same time as they begin shipping volume 1, so it is not ready to release before then (usually).

Paizo Employee Creative Director

JCServant wrote:

So...question...I heard during an interview that this was one module where Paladins were pretty much going to be banned because their concept doesn't fit well with the theme of the AP. What about other Good aligned type characters? From the Chaotic Good rogue to the Lawful Good Cleric...will they fit in here?

I have a group that I believe would like this, but I do have a player who stated, "Attacking innocents, robbing, stealing... not my idea of fun." I want to make sure this AP is a good fit for my entire group before I invest. Thanks!

Skull & Shackles' plot is "The PCs are pirates who are trying to become better pirates by doing pirate things." There IS of course more to it than that... but lawful characters are going to find themselves put in tough situations very often. The good part doesn't really matter—look at any pirate movie ever made and there's great examples of good aligned pirates in there. No... it's hte LAWFUL component of an alignment that'll clash with this AP's plot.

And even then... most lawful characters will still be able to enjoy some elements of the AP... but of them all, only the Paladin has not only a strict adherence to the alignment most oppositional to piracy... but frankly, it's the TRADITION and the INERTIA that paladin codes have in most game groups that makes them poor choices for this AP. When a lawful good character does something in a game that's not particularly lawful or good, players (and often not the GM) seem often not to notice, but when the paladin does that same thing... the game derails.

In the end, whether or not a paladin is a good choice for Skull & Shackles is up to the GM. Some GMs and parties are a lot less strict about paladins. It's a question you'll have to answer for yourselves.

That said... there's a reason "Skull & Shackles" is far from the first AP we've published. It, more than any other AP, moves pretty far from the baseline assumption that the PCs are heroes doing adventures for the greater good. You should DEFINITELY communicate with the players and let them know what they're getting into with this one.

Piracy's not for everyone.


Thank you very much for the info, James. I'll pass it on to my player. Even if we don't play it, I'll be getting it...hopefully I can talk one of my other groups into it...because it really sounds like fun!

And, on that note, one of the reasons I'm a huge supporter of Paizo and their products because you guys are so great about engaging the community. Thank you!


James Jacobs wrote:


That said... there's a reason "Skull & Shackles" is far from the first AP we've published. It, more than any other AP, moves pretty far from the baseline assumption that the PCs are heroes doing adventures for the greater good. You...

I initially wasn't looking forward to Skull and Shackles (pirates don't do it for me), but after reading that, I'm suddenly much more interested. I love the experimental routes Paizo has been taking lately.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Generic Villain wrote:
James Jacobs wrote:


That said... there's a reason "Skull & Shackles" is far from the first AP we've published. It, more than any other AP, moves pretty far from the baseline assumption that the PCs are heroes doing adventures for the greater good. You...
I initially wasn't looking forward to Skull and Shackles (pirates don't do it for me), but after reading that, I'm suddenly much more interested. I love the experimental routes Paizo has been taking lately.

Well... there WILL be a lot of pirates in the AP. As in dozens per adventure. Just trying to manage expectations for those who might not like pirates.


Will we see Ninja vs Pirates? Maybe Ninja-Pirates too?


Belle Mythix wrote:

Will we see Ninja vs Pirates? Maybe Ninja-Pirates too?

Monkey Ninja-Pirates!!


macabre dragon wrote:
Belle Mythix wrote:

Will we see Ninja vs Pirates? Maybe Ninja-Pirates too?

Monkey Ninja-Pirates!!

I like Cat more.


Dinosaur pirates beat them all.


Cthulhudrew wrote:

Dinosaur pirates beat them all.

Dinosaur Ninja-Pirates.

Paizo Employee Creative Director

Belle Mythix wrote:
Cthulhudrew wrote:

Dinosaur pirates beat them all.

Dinosaur Ninja-Pirates.

That's pretty much the theme of Dragon #318.


I remember that issue! ha ha!


James Jacobs wrote:


Well... there WILL be a lot of pirates in the AP. As in dozens per adventure. Just trying to manage expectations for those who might not like pirates.

That I understand. To put it another way - I'm not a fan of the pirate genre, but the experimental nature of this AP will make it more interesting to me. While I'm not thrilled by the pirate aspect, I'm really looking forward to an AP where the PCs don't have to be altruistic good guys, and are more concerned with building up a power base than opposing a BBEG. It echoes the appeal of Kingmaker.

Dark Archive

All I can say is that my players are looking forward to NOT playing good guys! As one of them said: "I finally get to play a person whose primary motivation isn't being a good guy!"

Also see: Why we hated Second Darkness.

"Come save us!"

"Why?"

"Because you should!"

"Meh,"

"What?!"

"It's Riddleport. I'm a pirate. My buddy is a pirate. My neighbor is a pirate. Little old lady down the street? Pirate. Who would look for heroes here? We're a town of pirates and scoundrels. Try Magnimar. I understand those guys just LOVE law and order,"

Yippie! Pirates! Been looking for a good pirate adventure since Caribbean came out almost ten years ago. Finally, we get one! I honestly hope to see more of these "Not generic fantasy" adventures. Maybe we'll finally get an African themed game? Mwangi Expanse? That would be awesome!


Pathfinder Maps, Pathfinder Accessories Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Starfinder Charter Superscriber

Actually Magnimar is really not all law and order. Magnimar was founded by people who left Korvosa because Korvosa - with its chelaxian influences - was too much about law and order for them.


James Jacobs wrote:
Piracy's not for everyone.

How about monks? I don't want to dip into LE if I can avoid it, but could a LN- or LG-ish monk skate by using the pirates'/ship's code as his "law?"

(Vanara drrunken-style monk from a Vudran monastery devoted to Sun Wukong and drunken/monkey style mastery, seeking patterns within the chaos of carousal and brawling. They kicked him out because he was too studious and uptight, and told him to come back once he learned the true meaning of the bar brawl. He decided the best way to get into a lot of bar fights was to become a sailor, and after a few voyages, here he is in the Shackles...)

Dark Archive

Zaister wrote:
Actually Magnimar is really not all law and order. Magnimar was founded by people who left Korvosa because Korvosa - with its chelaxian influences - was too much about law and order for them.

Indeed! But compared to Riddleport...

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as a favorite.

This question may have been asked and answered, but will several volumes of the Adventure Path be consolidated into one shipment as a result of the delay? That would be awesome for the shipping costs of the Adventure Path.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

thomrenault wrote:
This question may have been asked and answered, but will several volumes of the Adventure Path be consolidated into one shipment as a result of the delay? That would be awesome for the shipping costs of the Adventure Path.

And getting hit all at once would *not* be awesome for a lot of folks' budgets. We will do our best to minimize the possibility of a double shipment by compressing the gap between shipments to three weeks instead of four for a while, if we can manage it. We *may* still need to do one double shipment, though, most likely in August.


Pathfinder Adventure Path Subscriber
Vic Wertz wrote:
thomrenault wrote:
This question may have been asked and answered, but will several volumes of the Adventure Path be consolidated into one shipment as a result of the delay? That would be awesome for the shipping costs of the Adventure Path.
And getting hit all at once would *not* be awesome for a lot of folks' budgets. We will do our best to minimize the possibility of a double shipment by compressing the gap between shipments to three weeks instead of four for a while, if we can manage it. We *may* still need to do one double shipment, though, most likely in August.

Much appreciated Vic! My budget took an unexpected hit starting this week and if there has to be a double shipment at some point, it's really important that I can plan in advance for this AP.


The monsters were a lot of fun to write.

Steven D. Russell


I hope for a lot of sea/aquatic monsters and some weird island dwelling critters as well.

Dark Archive

James Jacobs wrote:
JCServant wrote:

So...question...I heard during an interview that this was one module where Paladins were pretty much going to be banned because their concept doesn't fit well with the theme of the AP. What about other Good aligned type characters? From the Chaotic Good rogue to the Lawful Good Cleric...will they fit in here?

I have a group that I believe would like this, but I do have a player who stated, "Attacking innocents, robbing, stealing... not my idea of fun." I want to make sure this AP is a good fit for my entire group before I invest. Thanks!

Skull & Shackles' plot is "The PCs are pirates who are trying to become better pirates by doing pirate things." There IS of course more to it than that... but lawful characters are going to find themselves put in tough situations very often. The good part doesn't really matter—look at any pirate movie ever made and there's great examples of good aligned pirates in there. No... it's hte LAWFUL component of an alignment that'll clash with this AP's plot.

And even then... most lawful characters will still be able to enjoy some elements of the AP... but of them all, only the Paladin has not only a strict adherence to the alignment most oppositional to piracy... but frankly, it's the TRADITION and the INERTIA that paladin codes have in most game groups that makes them poor choices for this AP. When a lawful good character does something in a game that's not particularly lawful or good, players (and often not the GM) seem often not to notice, but when the paladin does that same thing... the game derails.

In the end, whether or not a paladin is a good choice for Skull & Shackles is up to the GM. Some GMs and parties are a lot less strict about paladins. It's a question you'll have to answer for yourselves.

That said... there's a reason "Skull & Shackles" is far from the first AP we've published. It, more than any other AP, moves pretty far from the baseline assumption that the PCs are heroes doing adventures for the greater good. You...

As a potential avenue, and obviously I havent seen the final versions of the AP, I would suggest nation backed privateer for your players who have characters that aren't as free and loose with the moral obligations. Its pretty easy to imagine an Andoran Privateer Paladin, sailing the Inner Sea and beyond policing Pirates along the way. Even infiltrating into the biggest den of pirates this side of Golarion as a Paladin is a quest of epic proportions and worthy of any plater willing to buck the story just a touch. Requires a bit of a re-work, but what AP doesnt have a bit of extra thrown in? Kingmaker was so successful due to the fact that there was so many different roads you can walk. I see no reason why you couldnt do the same with another fairly open AP such as this.


Just finished creating my character for the inevitable S&S PbP here on the boards. Woo! Any suggestions for a good character avatar? The vanara aren't exactly the most commonly-represented species in the available icons.

Dark Archive

So will emails be sent out this week? Its been awhile and I am anxious to see this AP in all its glory.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

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the Haunted Jester wrote:
So will emails be sent out this week? Its been awhile and I am anxious to see this AP in all its glory.

Hopefully next week, as we're expecting it to hit the warehouse around April 16.

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