Pathfinder Adventure Path #163: Ruins of Gauntlight (Abomination Vaults 1 of 3)

That probably won't be touched for awhile since we already had Mummy's Mask.

That's understandable. I just like the idea of adventurers are sent looking for the one responsible for kidnapping priests and clerics of Sarenrae only to discover a long forgotten insane mummy lord priest of Rovagug has been gathering victims to sacrifice so he can unleash a herald of Rovagug (aka a Thunder Behemoth) upon all of Osirion.

I have wondered and wondered if they would ever do a short AP like they did with Starfinder. I personally love the idea of every year having one 6-part AP and two 3-part AP's. It keeps things fresh. And not every story needs to be that long. I love 20 level APs. But sometimes it's cool to have one that wraps up sooner. I'm excited for it!

Short APs? Sounds like a cool idea from time to time!

Though was looking for a break from the Absolom locale...

Short APs? Sounds like a cool idea from time to time!

Though was looking for a break from the Absolom locale...

Far as I can tell, this one has nothing to do with Absalom!

It's the third AP in a row on the Isle of Kortos.

It's the third AP in a row on the Isle of Kortos.

This is true. However, the three APs don't overlap at all. And as far as I can tell, a dungeon crawl can basically be set anywhere? You aren't traveling or meeting new peoples... you're just going deeper in a hole in the ground near a small starting town.

I dunno. I don't get the complaints. I feel like they set it at Otari just so folks could launch from the Beginner's Box into a full-fledged crawl if they so wanted. Otherwise, it honestly sounds like it's got basically no Kortos influence, and definitely no Absalom influence.

I mean yeah, thing with mega dungeons is that even if it takes place in Arcadia... You wouldn't see lot of Arcadia flavor in dungeon per say :p

Just out of curiosity, how big is Kortos?

Just out of curiosity, how big is Kortos?

Think it's a bit less than 200 miles east to west.

Not all that big, then. :)

I absolutely LOVE the shorter APs. If the plan is to release 2 of these per year (is that the case?), I'm all for it. Not only does it mix things up and provide more variation, I imagine it will make the APs more accessible for some. By more accessible I mean it takes less of a commitment to run. Anyway, bravo!

Fumarole wrote:

It's the third AP in a row on the Isle of Kortos.

This is true. However, the three APs don't overlap at all. And as far as I can tell, a dungeon crawl can basically be set anywhere? You aren't traveling or meeting new peoples... you're just going deeper in a hole in the ground near a small starting town.

I dunno. I don't get the complaints. I feel like they set it at Otari just so folks could launch from the Beginner's Box into a full-fledged crawl if they so wanted. Otherwise, it honestly sounds like it's got basically no Kortos influence, and definitely no Absalom influence.

This is the part that confused me. The beginners box is like "hey do the stuff and then include Troubles in otari, them move on to Abomination Vaults! If that was the design idea, shouldn't this start at the level that trouble in Otari ends?

I love this cover!!!

Ooooooo

Kyra must have the precious!

Kyra continues the trend of her always holding up the holy symbol in her action pictures xD

Liking the tentacle filigree for these ones!

Oh neat, I missed that.

I love the Tiefling Seoni on the cover..wonder who she actually is!

Tiefling Elf priestess of Desna says what?

Could they perhaps be Wrin Sivinxi?
(From a mention in the statblock of Otari on p.135 of the Gamemastery Guide.)

Tiefling Elf priestess of Desna says what?

Ooh yes I didn't notice the starknife the first time!

Xenocrat wrote:

Tiefling Elf priestess of Desna says what?

Ooh yes I didn't notice the starknife the first time!

And holding a scroll of constellations.

It's a James Jacobs character, an Elf tiefling. I don't remember if he said the class. :thinking:

I'm wondering if there will be a matching flip mat pack like we got for Emerald Spire. Or if maybe it would make use of established maps like the Haunted Dungeons Multi-pack. When I opened that set, it looked like it could easily be a few adventures worth of exploration, recovery, and return for more delving.

Looking forward to a full flip mat pack, and hoping that this gets into the Darklands and lets us use the newest Mini's being released in January :D

Does anyone have any details about the "extensive gazetteer of the town of Otari" that will be a part of "Ruins of Gauntlight"? Of course, I would not expect it to be anywhere near the size as the Sandpoint Campaign Setting but curious as to how much information that might be packed into it. I've got the Beginner Box (although I can't open it until 12/25 for some reason) and "Troubles" and the Flip-Map are on their way.

Does anyone have any details about the "extensive gazetteer of the town of Otari" that will be a part of "Ruins of Gauntlight"? Of course, I would not expect it to be anywhere near the size as the Sandpoint Campaign Setting but curious as to how much information that might be packed into it. I've got the Beginner Box (although I can't open it until 12/25 for some reason) and "Troubles" and the Flip-Map are on their way.

Mark Moreland is scheduled to blog about it in late January. I see 8 pages of text, 1 full page art, and 1 map page.

Is there will be a players guide to this AP? I will GM a week after release and want to give something to my players.

There should be yeah.

I like these short APs. I would be in favor of alternating - a three part, then a six part, then a three part, then a six part, and so on. Except that would result in a three year cycle, and would mean GenCon is not always a place to debut a six part. I don't know if Paizo would be willing to go that route. <shrug>

I’ve been asking for a megadungeon AP for ages. Thank you so much for making it happen, Paizo-powers-that-be.

Awesome! :)

I would personally love to see a full AP,but given the community’s appetite for megadungeons, I think a short and sharp 3-parter makes sense. I’ll hope it’s phenomenally successful and that we might see a “delving deeper” sequel in the adventures line, sometime down the track.

Really, really glad to read about this.

Me too! However, I feel like stopping halfway through as a bit of a let down (with only 3 parts). Knowing Paizo though, they won't disappoint.

The description sounds cool. But really all they needed to say was it was by James Jacobs.

Is there will be a players guide to this AP? I will GM a week after release and want to give something to my players.

Yes. Generally, we want to get you the Player's Guides about 30 days before launch, but with the holidays I think this one will about 2 weeks before. I'm excited to promote a mega-dungeon with a plot!

Steve Geddes wrote:

I’ve been asking for a megadungeon AP for ages. Thank you so much for making it happen, Paizo-powers-that-be.

Awesome! :)

I would personally love to see a full AP,but given the community’s appetite for megadungeons, I think a short and sharp 3-parter makes sense. I’ll hope it’s phenomenally successful and that we might see a “delving deeper” sequel in the adventures line, sometime down the track.

Really, really glad to read about this.

Me too! However, I feel like stopping halfway through as a bit of a let down (with only 3 parts). Knowing Paizo though, they won't disappoint.

The characters from this AP can go straight into the next 3 volume AP, I believe.

kayman wrote:

Is there will be a players guide to this AP? I will GM a week after release and want to give something to my players.

Yes. Generally, we want to get you the Player's Guides about 30 days before launch, but with the holidays I think this one will about 2 weeks before. I'm excited to promote a mega-dungeon with a plot!

Thanks for the reply ...

Tiefling Elf priestess of Desna says what?

“Keep me away from bogs, marshes and sewers - it takes a lot of prestidigitation to keep these long flowing robes clean!”

Could they perhaps be Wrin Sivinxi?

(From a mention in the statblock of Otari on p.135 of the Gamemastery Guide.)

That is absolutely Wrin Sivinxi!

I cannot wait to add this to the game I am starting with my kids!

Hi , sorry to ask this again , but do you have a specific date for the release of the Players Guide? The expectation is killing me... I just finish reading The Shroud of Four Silences and i think this AP has the potencial to be one of the best. Sorry for my bad english.

Hi , sorry to ask this again , but do you have a specific date for the release of the Players Guide? The expectation is killing me... I just finish reading The Shroud of Four Silences and i think this AP has the potencial to be one of the best. Sorry for my bad english.

Paizo are coming off vacation just about now, so I'd expect a major flurry of stuff this week. I'm pretty sure the player's guide will be released very soon.

kayman wrote:

Hi , sorry to ask this again , but do you have a specific date for the release of the Players Guide? The expectation is killing me... I just finish reading The Shroud of Four Silences and i think this AP has the potencial to be one of the best. Sorry for my bad english.

Paizo are coming off vacation just about now, so I'd expect a major flurry of stuff this week. I'm pretty sure the player's guide will be released very soon.

As I said above, I think it will be ready about two weeks before volume one launches at the end of January, so I am targeting mid-January. I do not have a specific release date because I need everyone to come back into the office. Thanks for your enthusiasm!

Thank you , and sorry to ask this again... as said before i am super exited , i already made a prelude(for level 0 pcs) and will begin January 12 ... I am using a lot of Lovecraftian themes and i hope i will be able to make a bridge between absalon and Otari.

OBS> I hope i am on the right path using lovecraft as the main theme for my prelude.

Thank you , and sorry to ask this again... as said before i am super exited , i already made a prelude(for level 0 pcs) and will begin January 12 ... I am using a lot of Lovecraftian themes and i hope i will be able to make a bridge between absalon and Otari.

OBS> I hope i am on the right path using lovecraft as the main theme for my prelude.

There is a spooky Otari nursery rhyme that goes with the start of this AP and I can't wait to share it! I'm targeting January 12 for the Player's Guide, but I need to make sure the team can have it ready by then. ~AA!

It will be certainly interesting to see what makes this a mega dungeon.

If it is six levels that all fit on a battle map, I say "meh." If it's three levels of a Maure Castle style dungeon, then I say "bring it on!"

Two more days for the players guide?

Two more days for the players guide?

It won't be finalized until the 12th. We may need a few days to prep the blog, but it should be this week.

When did APs move to 3 adventures? I knew they had done it in Starfinder had not heard for Pathfinder.

When did APs move to 3 adventures? I knew they had done it in Starfinder had not heard for Pathfinder.

This is an experiment, with this AP covering levels 1-10 and the next AP covering levels 11-20.

They will resume their normal 6 part 1-20 nature with the AP after that.

Joey Virtue wrote:

When did APs move to 3 adventures? I knew they had done it in Starfinder had not heard for Pathfinder.

This is an experiment, with this AP covering levels 1-10 and the next AP covering levels 11-20.

They will resume their normal 6 part 1-20 nature with the AP after that.

Correct.