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

Encounters Book 6

This took a surprisingly long time, digging through all my pawns. I have forgotten what I pawns I used when I ran this part of the Way. But here are my suggestions for pawns in Book 1.
Key:
VC=Villain Codex
NPC= NPC codex
HV=Hells Vengeance
HR=Hells Rebels
WotR= Wrath of the Righteous
MC=Monster Codex
B1,B2,B3,B4,B5,B6=Bestiaries
RoA=Ruins of Azlant
IS=Inner Sea Box
PFS=Pathfinder Society
SM=Summon Monster
SA=Strange Aeons
RoW=Reign of Winter
CotCT=Curse of the Crimson Throne
WftC=War for the Crown
II=Ironfang Invasion
GS=Giantslayer
RotRL=Return of the Runelords
SS=Shattered Star
S&S=Skulls & Shackles
All entries are in format of
NPC name; Pawn name(source),Pawn name (source)
or for monsters
Monster(amount); source(amount of pawns) or alternate pawn with name of monster (amount of pawns)(source)
For example Tritons(4);B2 (2),Merfolk warrior (B1),undine(2) (B2)
Act 1

Act 4

Very well done and extremely thorough.

Thank you, hopefully it will be of use to GMs running WotW.

Small Update from Enemy Encounters set.

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Tyrants Grasp pawn set is out. Not much for this book in there unfortunately.

The PF2 Gamemastery Guide NPC Pawn set has a lot of good pawns for prison guards, soldiers, dwarven engineers and other nameless NPCs.

After all this time, I've got another entry for additional encounters in Book 1 or Book 2, and you can could even use one in Book 3. It'll definitely spice things up, and change up the narrative. Definitely nothing wrong with using these or converting them and advancing them further.

Changes to Way of the Wicked, Extras Part 2

Just a couple of golems to beat on and terrorize the villainous PCs.

We are beginning to play it currently. I am curious how the fact that my PC is chaotic Evil and worships Nocticula will play out :).

I plan to play up common emnity vs both Baphomet and Mithra (Nocticula being the queen of Midnight), as well as Nocticula allowing Devils into Alyushinyrra as precedent to not get murdered, lets see if this works.

We are beginning to play it currently. I am curious how the fact that my PC is chaotic Evil and worships Nocticula will play out :).

I plan to play up common emnity vs both Baphomet and Mithra (Nocticula being the queen of Midnight), as well as Nocticula allowing Devils into Alyushinyrra as precedent to not get murdered, lets see if this works.

I guess it depends on which version of Nocticula you're using. If it's the deity, you couldn't do CE, but CN is very easy to do. If you're using the demon lord version, then you're fine as is. However, I would probably go CN if only because it'll make everything easier on the group and GM. Neutral and lawful are fine, but devils don't like chaos and you could be seen as a liability. It's specifically put in the player's guide that chaotic alignments shouldn't be allowed because chaos and law don't really work out all that well. If the game is being completely re-written and the adventure path is just being used as a skeleton base, then it'll be completely on the GM. It could work.

Its the demon lord, however, it could be fine on account of:

1: Nocticula probably being the least chaotic of the bunch.
2: Her not being all that anti devil.
3: Plausible deniability for the Asmodeans.
4: We homebrewed that some of the Caer Bryn tribes worship demon lords, alongside normal deities and recruiting them as allies of opportunity is supposed a subtext of act 2-3. Caer Bryn vs Talingarde is also more antagonistic, the character in question beign a Caer Bryn raider who participated in the equivalent of the raid on Lindis Farne.
5: The character being relatively worldwise, being capable of adding 1+1 and figuring out that showing interest in converting to f.e. Eiseth (Nocticula to Eiseth would not actually be such of a big shift, exchange one very scary femme fatale for the other) should reduce odds of getting murdered out of hand, although it remains to be seen how long he can stall.
6: I think most importantly, both the Asmodeans and the Nocticulans would try to use the other side as their pawns against Mithra, with the char being in the middle. I am explicitly fine with this. Should be interesting roleplay.

Would love to know how your game is going Mightypion.

I didn't initially think to post it here, and only posted it on Book 6, but for those DMs still running the game, it'd make sense that I put the link here as well.

Here is the link to the online document (which can be downloaded) containing all the known errors in Books 1-7 of Way of the Wicked.

These were gathered by multiple DMs who posted on Reddit, all the things they found wrong. It's about 53 pages in length.

These are also separate from my own entries, especially the ones where I rebuilt some of the NPCs from the ground up.

Way of the wicked tends to get abandoned more comonly then other MPs somehow.
So, version one:
Abandoned due to GM health issues as we were closing in on Balentyne.

The Nocticulan Bloodrager (Dylan, Caer Bryr background, we amped up the hostility a bit) had the plot weakness "Femme Fatale", and promptly, after effectively mass murdering Branderscar prison leaving some survivors that were fed false information, presented the heads of Blackerly and warden Richter to the most fair Lady Thiadora, being rather smitten by her power and grace.

The GM replaced the Vampiric mist with her, seeing to test if we were truely brave. Dylan ap Dryffed, currently enlarged, inspired couraged and ably assisted by some flanking and a +4 Aid another from the Bard landed a crushing hit on her with his Orc butchering axe, after being told by her "yes, come at me and give me your best shot".
This did about 15ish damage to her, after DR, very pissed about that Thiadora transformed several books early, and lashed out with her greatsword at Dylan, barely not killing him.
This caused him to remark "My Lady, you touched my heart again!" and with her tentacles at the rest of the party.
His turn, Dylan shouted "Lords and Ladies who witness this contest, are you not entertained? Are you not entertained at all?" struck, and hit her, AGAIN.

His later attempts to mollify her with the gift wrapped head of Sir Balin kind of fell flat on account of a really bad diplomacy roll.
The training post trials resulted in the eternal phrase "Dylan is tenderly thrown through the wall".

They did "make up" in Sakaroths camp, after Dylan agreed to a full looks makeover, now looking less like a Barbarian Bloodrager and more like a good looking villain sporting a goatee. Dylan has enough spellcraft and kn. planes to make an educated guess of what she will use the harvested beard, which was nearly of dwarfish size, for, given that she has Eryine subordinates. After some NSFWing, he picked up a level in fractured mind.

Version 2:
Joining a bit later, Dylan was whisked away from a Pyre by Lady Thiadora, this time he was an Urban Bloodrager and more of a smug bastard then a Barbarian. Campaign ended due to 2 players dropping from health issues, once again at Sakkaroths camp.
There was less flirting with Thiadora this time, as this version of her was too domineering.
Oh, he 1v1 Sir Balin, won, didnt kill him and wanted to see him sacrificed, only to be told the bugger didnt actually have Paladin levels.

Version 3:
This Dylan rolled some pretty bonkers stats (STR20, Dex and con 17, 11 int, 8 wis, 12 cha), and we absolutely aced the prison, killing everything in it, throwing the corpses (apart from one whom Dylan Sparta kicked off the wall) into the sea and prestigitating the bloodstains off.
We also forged the wardens handwriting in his diary, depicting a strange aeons like descend into Madness, and essentially blaming him for everything.
We have arrived at Chateu de Thorn, next session will likely be infernal contract signing. We have a Kitsune Sorceress with a really high Sleep DC, and Dylan who is CDGing with an Orc butchering axe. This combo probably broke the record for most damage dealt by a level 1 character in a single session.

Lol, the first Dylan channeling Maximus was cool. Did you have different GM for each game?

I was directed to this thread when I asked about the campaign, so I hope this isn't thread necromancy. I'm currently DMing Way of the Wicked, and I have some questions/nitpicks. (I'm currently at book II)

1 The jailbreak seems super dangerous, with the party starting under-equipped against guards that outlevel them and can do a lot of consistent damage - I did some playtesting and ended up starting my players at level 2.

2 I have some problems with experience - with the values given for events and enemies, at medium advancement speed, many parts of the two first books seem to require 100% completion to get to the levels the characters are suppossed to get. Am I counting something wrong, or is it assumed that I will put in some extra encounters?

3 Why are the cultists Sons of the Pale Horseman and not White? They clearly worship Apollyon.

4 I know drilling in the mountain is troublesome, but I've noticed that the whole dungeon has no bathrooms (and a harem on the only floor with no running water ) Did the cultists throw buckets of crap out of their front porch, or was there some more clever solution? ) (My current headcanon is that the destroyed murals in the harem used to contain runes that turned the whole room into a giant ring of sustenance, which solves the problem while being super dehumanizing for the slaves)

5 What is Ezra's deal? With the practical limitations that come with his condition, it only makes sense for him to make his move at the last possible moment, but that would make him the final boss instead of Richard's party. And the book gives contradictory information on when he would act.

6 Is Grumblejack supposed to have wings? the statblock gives him "magical flight". The artwork in later books depicts him with wings, but a lot of the book art is inconsistent with the characters' actual gear (such as showing the king as a full plate brick, when he's actually an agile shield basher)

Also, has anyone had any problems with the verduous oozes? My party might find them next session, and the twinned DC20 sleep effects seem like an anticlimactic TPK waiting to happen.

1 My group had not much trouble with the escape. 25 point buy and 2 extra skill points helped. Even though _none_ of them took ranks in Disable Device they managed to get out. They had Grumblejack to help as well. It was a bit hairy but they managed to kill most of the guards without alerting the keep.

2 I used the material in book 7 and some suggestions here on the boards. The flesh golem (book 7) and the Gates brothers (Kevins idea if I recall correctly). Also I beefed up some enemies, like Odenkirk and commander Havelyn. Also did you remember to give all the story awards littered throughout? I missed a few and gave the players the xp later. If I would do this again, I would ditch XP altogether and just level them whenever appropriate.

3 Maybe the cultist confused Pale with White? They are almost the same color.

4 Good question. My players (or me) never noticed that. Maybe they had slaves throw them in the acid pit (C2), or just carry them outside.

5 Have you perused the book 2 thread already? My players killed Ezra immediately so I did not have that problem. Remember that Ezra is insane, the temptation to attack might just be too much for him to wait until the optimal moment. Also why not have him attack at the same time as Richard? Nice three way fight there.

6 I guess so. But do what ever is coolest.

The oozes were a nice shock to my party. If your party tactic is to always rush a room en masse this is a good lesson for them. You can have some minions hang back and then drag them back with reach weapons. When they are woken they are immune to the aura. Besides its DC 21 :) The oozes are non-intelligent, they do not know how to coup de grace. They attack the helpless PC grabbing and constricting and the pain wakes them up.

The individual book threads were really helpful for my GMing. Also Kevins really good blog entries have good ideas that I used a lot.

1 My group had not much trouble with the escape.

My party escaped throught the most direct path - killed the couple guards inside the main building, sent the cleric with alter self posing as a guard to walk towards the inner gate, then unbarred the gate and made a run for it, using the portable window on the guard booth to bypass the portcullis on the bridge.

Other cool scenes from book one:

- the rogue learning that the summoner had been captured by the archmage of Deveryn, learning how he looks using the summoners cirlet, then using the archmage's face to trick the coast guard.

- the summoner using a lantern archon to give captain Mott a "divine omen" that his wife is cheating on him.

- The rogue using the circlet along with the portrait from the bedroom, to turn into lord Thomas' dead wife while backstabbing him in the final fight.

The oozes were a nice shock to my party.

My party consists of a black knight with a sword, a summoner with a spear +monsters, a rogue with a rapier and a fire cleric. Even if half of them make both saves, their attacks might accomplish nothing beyond wrecking the new magic weapons they've just blown all their budget on.

Does Gary visit these threads anymore or is it old news for him?

Does Gary visit these threads anymore or is it old news for him?

Gary avoids everything online since the debacle with Kickstarter and not coming through with Throne of Night back in 2015.

1 My group had not much trouble with the escape. 25 point buy and 2 extra skill points helped. Even though _none_ of them took ranks in Disable Device they managed to get out. They had Grumblejack to help as well. It was a bit hairy but they managed to kill most of the guards without alerting the keep.

2 I used the material in book 7 and some suggestions here on the boards. The flesh golem (book 7) and the Gates brothers (Kevins idea if I recall correctly). Also I beefed up some enemies, like Odenkirk and commander Havelyn. Also did you remember to give all the story awards littered throughout? I missed a few and gave the players the xp later. If I would do this again, I would ditch XP altogether and just level them whenever appropriate.

3 Maybe the cultist confused Pale with White? They are almost the same color.

4 Good question. My players (or me) never noticed that. Maybe they had slaves throw them in the acid pit (C2), or just carry them outside.

5 Have you perused the book 2 thread already? My players killed Ezra immediately so I did not have that problem. Remember that Ezra is insane, the temptation to attack might just be too much for him to wait until the optimal moment. Also why not have him attack at the same time as Richard? Nice three way fight there.

6 I guess so. But do what ever is coolest.

The oozes were a nice shock to my party. If your party tactic is to always rush a room en masse this is a good lesson for them. You can have some minions hang back and then drag them back with reach weapons. When they are woken they are immune to the aura. Besides its DC 21 :) The oozes are non-intelligent, they do not know how to coup de grace. They attack the helpless PC grabbing and constricting and the pain wakes them up.

The individual book threads were really helpful for my GMing. Also Kevins really good blog entries have good ideas that I used a lot.

Appreciate the name drop and shoutout to my old blog. And, yes, the Gates brothers was mine.

- the summoner using a lantern archon to give captain Mott a "divine omen" that his wife is cheating on him.
- The rogue using the circlet along with the portrait from the bedroom, to turn into lord Thomas' dead wife while backstabbing him in the final fight.

Creative ideas!

My party consists of a black knight with a sword, a summoner with a spear +monsters, a rogue with a rapier and a fire cleric. Even if half of them make both saves, their attacks might accomplish nothing beyond wrecking the new magic weapons they've just blown all their budget on.

If your Summoner is playing with any sense he will send his summoned monsters first in every room. I'm pretty sure that after the first time someones weapon takes damage, they will either flee or switch to secondary weapons. Remember that they can make knowledge(dungeoneering) checks to see if they know anything about the monsters. Then you can clue them about their ability to damage weapons. And sometimes its just fun to see the players despair about losing their hard won loot.