Way of the Wicked—Book #1: Knot of Thorns (PFRPG) PDF

More new preview art on the website and links to our four five-star reviews.

This time up ... meet Traya's Raiders. These hapless fools will try to raid your dungeon in "Way of the Wicked Book Two: Call Forth Darkness". What will you do when you have them in your clutches?

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

More new preview art on the website and links to our four five-star reviews.

This time up ... meet Traya's Raiders. These hapless fools will try to raid your dungeon in "Way of the Wicked Book Two: Call Forth Darkness". What will you do when you have them in your clutches?
Fire Mountain Games

One looks to have horns, possibly making him evil. That could get awkward.

One looks to have horns, possibly making him evil. That could get awkward.

OR it could give the wiley evil players a good opportunity to do THIS (with Mal and Zoe as members of the evil party of course).

One looks to have horns, possibly making him evil. That could get awkward.

Assuming he's evil...

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Have to add my voice to the call for a print version. This looks awesome, but printing 100 page pdfs with amazing art to run games from just isn't my thing. I would buy this like a shot if there were a print option, although I understand the marketing realities.

I would imagine the economics of a print version are very different -- and potentially much more risky -- than of a .pdf. They'd have to find a printer, for starters, and then make a contract with a distributor. If Gary and Michael aren't comfortable with taking those risks just now, then they're not.

That said, they've produced one very promising, good-to-excellent product so far. If they can maintain this level of quality, then they should make a lot of sales. If they make a lot of sales, then presumably at some point they'll think about making and selling hard copies.

As entrepreneurs, they have the risk and fun of making those decisions. Meanwhile, the rest of us can help get them to that point by buying their stuff and (assuming it continues to be good) spreading the word about it.

cheers,

Doug M.

Doug,

Couldn't have said it better than that. And to everyone buying these early digital copies, we thank you. This money is very helpful indeed.

That said, a print version is on the horizon. Of course it is. Just one glance at the book should tell you that a print version was always on our mind as we were laying it out.

More is on the way,
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Have to add my voice to the call for a print version. This looks awesome, but printing 100 page pdfs with amazing art to run games from just isn't my thing. I would buy this like a shot if there were a print option, although I understand the marketing realities.

Thanks for checking us out! I may have good news for you ... soon ...

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Is it February yet? I can't wait for the next part. I thought the module was as good as the adventure paths Paizo has made. Great writing and art. I was very happy you listened to me about a printer friendly version. It looks much better like that. There is just too much ink on the page when you print the regular version. It causes the paper to curl. Even 28 lb paper. I am glad you are going to also make a print version also. You can count me in for both the print and pdf.

You can also add me for a print version.

Dear Gary,
Any idea yet what time in february? Mid, late, whatever - cause I got some evil players here gettin' mighty antsy....
Seriously though, awesome work. Players having a blast, and I'm enjoying running it.

PathfinderFan64,

Glad you like the adventure and that the printer friendly version worked for you. Isn't it great? Michael Clarke -- the artist, layout guru and design god of Fire Mountain Games -- cranked that bad boy out in minutes. Go Mike!

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Derfelcadarn,

Let's just say February and leave it at that.

Have you seen the cover? Behold the Horn of Abaddon. Another Michael Clarke masterpiece.

And thanks for the kind words. It really means a lot to both of us!

Onwards to Book 2!

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Can't promise a personal purchase, as I am essentially a bohemian bum, but I love this as a concept and the reactions of people who have played/bought it only make me like it more. Good show, fellas.

Can't promise a personal purchase, as I am essentially a bohemian bum, but I love this as a concept and the reactions of people who have played/bought it only make me like it more. Good show, fellas.

Thanks for checking out the product and the kind words.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Derfelcadarn,

Let's just say February and leave it at that.

Have you seen the cover? Behold the Horn of Abaddon. Another Michael Clarke masterpiece.

And thanks for the kind words. It really means a lot to both of us!

Onwards to Book 2!

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

AWESOME!

Guess who has a new desktop wallpaper!

Doug,

Couldn't have said it better than that. And to everyone buying these early digital copies, we thank you. This money is very helpful indeed.

That said, a print version is on the horizon. Of course it is. Just one glance at the book should tell you that a print version was always on our mind as we were laying it out.

More is on the way,
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

This is very good news!

And while it's very, very early to be asking this, will you be doing any more "Evil" adventure paths in the future?

Eric,

To quote the all-wise magic 8-ball: "Reply hazy. Ask later."

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

AWESOME!

Guess who has a new desktop wallpaper!

Glad you like it, Brian. It does make a pretty awesome wallpaper, doesn't it?

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

I was asked about what was cut from the adventure early in this thread. I was checking my notes and I discovered another small cut.

Hope that helps,
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Something /like/ this could work, though -- have an Inquisitor of Mitra stop by. He's midlevel, so Thorn knows he can kill him if need be, so the actual risk is modest. Sir Wossname the witch-hunter and his squire can be with him, as sidekicks.

If the PCs fail to fool the Inquisitor, Thorn steps in, administers a tongue-lashing, kills the Inquisitor and captures the other two as per. If they succeed, then Thorn gives them a hearty "well done", scrys the good guys until they split up, and then swoops in to capture the other two as per.

Note that if one or more of the PCs have been captured by this guy (possible, since several of the traits support it), then this gives them a chance to see him before the confrontation in the dungeon test.

Meanwhile, a quick thought on the knotting:

cheers,

Doug M.

@ Gary & Doug -- Technically the Inquisitor of Mitra stopping by/the knights does happen. Earlier in the thread, Gary brought up that as an extra challenge you could have the inquisitor do the door to door thing during the training montage, and have the PCs talk to him. He's still suspicious, but leaves. Then have him find out about their boating excursion and follow after them. He'd be a relentless enemy. Much like Principal Skinner tailing Bart Simpson. "He's like some non-giving up, guy." Then the party would have to try and deal with him.

I actually made the inquisitor after reading it. Gave him a level of ranger just to have that Principal Skinner aspect of constantly finding their trail randomly, even if they do lose him from time to time.

@ Doug -- I like the idea of a teamwork feat for signing. I'd let my party choose it though. They're the ones going through the training so I'd let them research it, and they could have their characters train in the particular fashion. Thematically it would make sense too.

Doug,

I like the encounter with the inquisitor and how it presages the events of the Nine Lessons. Well done.

I also like the team work feats. Anything that encourages teamwork in an evil party can't be a bad thing. Plus, it lets the players explore a mechanically interesting and often under utilized part of the Pathfinder system.

So, great ideas all around.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Kevin,

I love the idea of an inquisitor-ranger of Mitra. A witch-hunter extraordinaire!

Care to write him up and post him? I'd love to take a look.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Kevin,

I love the idea of an inquisitor-ranger of Mitra. A witch-hunter extraordinaire!

Care to write him up and post him? I'd love to take a look.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Yeah, sure. I already had him done up. He's a CR 5 as I ended up giving him PC wealth for the extra +1 CR.

I'll put him up tomorrow. It's already 3 AM here.

...you know, an Inquisitor is going to be pretty hard to fool. Okay, he may not have the Discern Lies power (that kicks in at level 5). And the PCs will be too low-level to trigger his Detect Evil. But he'll still probably have very high Sense Motive -- at 6th level, he'd probably have max ranks (6) + Wis bonus (4) + class skill (3) + 1/2 Inquisitor level (2) = +15 Sense Motive. (And probably around +12 Intimidate, should it come to that.)

If the PCs are 2nd level, their best bluffer will have maybe +9 or so. That means the Inquisitor will have about an 80% chance of winning a contested check and seeing through their lies...

This can probably be worked around (aid another, circumstance bonuses) but it will require some thoughtful play.

Doug M.

Friends of mine have been BEGGING me to GM "an evil campaign". This might be the ticket. :)

I've been listening to my players tell me they want a true evil campaign forever, looks like they are finally going to get it.

Man, I'm jealous of you guys. Everything I've read about Way of the Wicked is really exciting and interesting. My biggest hurdle is that not enough of the people I game with are interested in evil gaming.

...you know, an Inquisitor is going to be pretty hard to fool. Okay, he may not have the Discern Lies power (that kicks in at level 5). And the PCs will be too low-level to trigger his Detect Evil. But he'll still probably have very high Sense Motive -- at 6th level, he'd probably have max ranks (6) + Wis bonus (4) + class skill (3) + 1/2 Inquisitor level (2) = +15 Sense Motive. (And probably around +12 Intimidate, should it come to that.)

So don't have him that high. Mine's got a +8, and he's only 3rd level from multiclassing.

Here's the inquisitor/ranger I made. I don't expect my PCs to take him on for a while, but it'll be fun to slowly hunt them down and have the PCs panic that he's investigating the area, and they have to make a hasty retreat. If nothing else, it'll keep them from sticking around in an area for too long. And he's a high enough level that if they decide they're going to get cocky, he'll be able to hold his own against them.

Kevin,

Great write-up. A worthy addition to the adventure.

"These escaped justice once, my brothers. I swear they will not do it again!" -- C. Gates, Inquisitor of Mitra

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Kevin,

Great write-up. A worthy addition to the adventure.

"These escaped justice once, my brothers. I swear they will not do it again!" -- C. Gates, Inquisitor of Mitra

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

I wrote him up the second you said that we could have an inquisitor show up at the prison as soon as the PCs escape, and is looking around for them. Of course that same day I saw the episode where Bart skipped school, and Skinner was tracking him. "Oh, he's close! I can taste his fear."

Kevin,

Hah! That's a great source of inspiration.

I have this image of a captured anti-paladin being forced to write "I will not inflict Asmodeus' dark vengeance on Talingarde" one hundred times.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

I can't even begin to think about the kind of write-up I'd have come up with if Lisa had needed braces that day. Maybe some negotiations on Thorn's part to coax the PCs more to his side by offering a dental plan.

Kevin,

Beware Asmodean dentistry. Tiadora gets to administer it and she is philosophically opposed to anesthetic.

Ouch.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Kevin,

Beware Asmodean dentistry. Tiadora gets to administer it and she is philosophically opposed to anesthetic.

Ouch.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

If I get any of these magic teeth out of the deal, it'd be worth it.

We have new art up on our facebook page!

This time up -- it's Grumblejack's return.

Take a look and tell us what you think.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Kevin,

The Teeth of Dahlver-Nar! Now there's an artifact I haven't thought about in many an age. I think I still prefer the first edition version of the teeth, where they were the set from a single wizard.

I suppose I should take this moment to say that before the end of the "Way of the Wicked" campaign, we will present at least a trio of new artifacts.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

Here's an idea - have you guys ever considered some sort of map pack for your adventures?

I mention this because (in addition to those troublesome 10-foot squares), maps are something I've been struggling with lately in terms of taking what's on a single piece of paper and blowing it up so that one square on the page (which tends to be around 1/16 of an inch) is a one-inch square on my battlemat.

I have no idea if blowing something up that far, while maintaining legibility, is feasible, but it might be a nice supplement.

Alzrius,

A map pack for the entire adventure path is a product we will be producing eventually. For now, our focus is getting the entire adventure path completed.

Book two is almost finished!

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

More exclusive preview art is available on Facebook.

Today we are deep in work on the new minion management rules and this is the accompanying art.

Check it out!

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

...those troublesome 10-foot squares...

I just wanted to take a moment to explain why those troublesome 10' squares keep appearing. Sometimes you like to draw maps of large things. Branderscar Prison, the watchtower Balentyne and in book two The Horn of Abaddon -- these are substantial places.

As I flip through a random Paizo adventure (I picked AP48 Shadows of Gallowspire, the capstone of Carrion Crown), I note three of the four "dungeon scale" maps are 10' squares. So, we are not the only one wrestling with this issue.

Still, I do hear you. A 5' square tactical map is something we will produce at sometime, as I stated above. Though currently I am unable to give an exact date as to when.

Thanks for listening,
Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

More new preview art from Michael Clark for Way of the Wicked Book Two! This one is positively Lovecraftian.

This is "The Earth Awakens".

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

As I flip through a random Paizo adventure (I picked AP48 Shadows of Gallowspire, the capstone of Carrion Crown), I note three of the four "dungeon scale" maps are 10' squares. So, we are not the only one wrestling with this issue.

That's a fair point.

I actually looked at trying to print out one of the maps from a Paizo AP (#34 Blood For Blood; the map of Drelev Keep on p. 38), and found that on a single 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, one square was 1/16 of an inch.

I did some calculations, and found that blowing the map up sixteen-fold would have made the single page into an image that was roughly ten feet wide and twelve feet long. Moreover, though I can't recall with certainty, the squares may have been one square to ten feet...meaning that the map size would have had to be doubled, to twenty feet wide and twenty-four feet long, in order to get one-inch squares for every five feet (plus I'd have had to draw in the lines turning the ten-foot squares into five-foot ones).

So yeah, this is still an issue that I don't think anyone has found a perfect way to work out (at least for maps of very expansive locations).

Alzrius wrote:

...those troublesome 10-foot squares...

As I flip through a random Paizo adventure (I picked AP48 Shadows of Gallowspire, the capstone of Carrion Crown), I note three of the four "dungeon scale" maps are 10' squares. So, we are not the only one wrestling with this issue.

I think Crystal Frasier said that a lot of map turnovers for Adventure Paths are scaled to 5" squares. This is a realistic scale for buildings and environments but creates too many bottlenecks and hard corners. It is easier to just double the size of squares than it is to have the problem areas redrawn.

So yeah, this is still an issue that I don't think anyone has found a perfect way to work out (at least for maps of very expansive locations).

And I'm not sure there is a perfect solution.

In the really real world, important buildings are often gigantic. To try and model those buildings 1"=5ft scale or 1:60 scale means you are still going to end up with fairly big structures.

I'll give you an example -- Buckingham Palace. Buckingham palace is the sort of place that a very political adventure might end up (say in Book Four of "Way of the Wicked"). Buckingham Palace is 106 meters by 120 meters and 24 meters high, roughly 830,000 square feet of interior space. A scale 'miniature' of Buckingham Palace would be approx. 70"x78"x15". That's almost 38 square feet of map per level. If Buckingham Palace has three floors, that would take 113 square feet of real space to map those floors.

And that's without any grounds.

I game on a big expansive play table and use a lot of miniatures (yay Reaper and Dwarven Forge!) but even I don't have that much gaming real estate. And certainly our book doesn't.

RPG sites have to be scaled down.

And there are two ways to do that -- smaller buildings or larger scales.

Anyways, just thought I make that point.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

I saw your ad in Kobold Quarterly. It looked good. I hope it brings in more people to your great series.

PathfinderFan64,

Thanks for the kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed the first book so much.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games
"The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled"
--Plutarch

One of the players in my group has been wanting to do an evil campaign for years. When I saw the picture in KBQ#20, I was like, that looks cool, let's go check it out. After checking it out at RPGNow, I checked out my own copy from their shopping cart. Today, was the 1st session.

Four tiefling siblings that were "bred" by an evil wizard about 20 years ago, were compassionately placed into an ophanage by the Mitra-loving Paladins that slew the evil conjurer. However, their true nature could not subjugated by altruism, and thus, they await their fate at the Brandescar facility.

We spent some time building the characters using the suggested methods in the AP. The characters ended up being four teifling siblings; Ethos (m)- Bladebound Magus, Asura (f) - Cleric of Asmodeus, Dagon - (m) Rogue, and Dagoth - (m) Assassin. Dagoth is starting as Ranger with humanioid(human) favored enemy to get to the Assassin prestige class. All PCs took the anti-hero option from APG to get an extra feat.

Interesting first session ended with the PCs just getting away from the Brandescar facilty to nearby shore. The Ogre ended up being a comedic side-kick, though, it was not really the intent of the GM nor PCs for that to have happened as it did. We usually like to keep the actual rolls and make the story work over fudging rolls to make the rolls go with the story.

The game has been throughouly enojoyable from the GM and PCs today. As have many others have said, would prefer a PRINT version. LOL. Too cheap to print it out, but not too cheap to buy it. However, doing fine with the .pdf version, so far. I know I am somewhat old-school for killing trees to have nice gaming books. I plan to grab .pdfs as soon as they're available and eagerly await for print versions to become available.

Timstermon,

Thanks for the review and thanks for telling us about your first session!

I love the bred tiefling idea. It will definitely work well with later parts of the campaign.

Keep on being the bad guy!

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games

"Way of the Wicked Book One: Knot of Thorns" is now available as a full color softbound print copy at DriveThruRPG for $24.99.

You can of course still get your PDF copy here at paizo.com

And Book Two is coming soon...

Be the bad guy.

Gary McBride
Fire Mountain Games