Pathfinder Adventure Path #193: Mantle of Gold (Sky King’s Tomb 1 of 3)

This is a very promising start to this AP! I love the balance of combat and social encounters, the look at dwarven history (it turns out that the dwarves weren't just bad to the orcs during the Quest for Sky), the hints that the metaplot will advance, and the looks at what the Rivethun could be mechanically. The NPCs are engaging, and the political commentary is both welcome and on point. I can't wait for the rest of it. Well done!

The video trailer looks complete and we should release it to you early this week on the AP landing page and YouTube.

Is there a reason why the blurb to the book says "Written by: John Compton, Crystal Frasier, and Caryn DiMarco" but the cover attributes it solely to John Compton?

Not a criticism, just interested.

Is there a reason why the blurb to the book says "Written by: John Compton, Crystal Frasier, and Caryn DiMarco" but the cover attributes it solely to John Compton?

Not a criticism, just interested.

Generally, the "blurb" is a solicitation to the industry written about 9 months before the product goes live. It is an idea rather that a product. The final cover should reflect who actually did the writing. Specifically, in this case, I don't know. I'll ask.

Traditionally, we only give cover credit for an Adventure Path to the author of the adventure. That's because there's not enough room in many cases to list ALL of the authors who worked on that volume, but also because the adventure author is the one who wrote the majority of the book and thus did the most work of all the authors.

For non-cover credits, like you see on this page, we're increasingly trying to be more inclusive of all of the writers who contribute to each volume, be it a single monster or a backmatter article or whatever.

If folks want us to do more 6-part Adventure Paths... PLEASE let us know! The 3 part ones seem to be engaging people more and allow for more stories to be told in a year, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to settle into a rhythum that allows for more frequent higher level 3 part arcs, but if people do still want 6 part ones... we need to know. (And that includes seeing evidence in sales and reviews and the like for parts 4–6 of those Adventure Paths, not just requests at the front end.)

I know this was almost a year ago but as a mate who can only find complete (but wonderful) newbies for potential campaigns- the shorter campaigns were all much more attractive to my family members, as they were all pretty intimidated by the length of the longer adventures.

I'm unsure if there is something that's in the works because a ton of posts here, but is there going to be a foundry premium for this as the other ones?

I'm unsure if there is something that's in the works because a ton of posts here, but is there going to be a foundry premium for this as the other ones?

Yes. They are still doing one for evey new AP books. That have not changed yet. :3

Having read through Book 1 I'm very excited to get the ball rolling on a campaign, it will be interesting to see how the next book takes the reigns on this one.

Hi, does anyone know if there has been an update on the ETA for the Foundry module for this?

Pre-release the advice was 'usually within a day or two of the AP release', but that obviously hasn't happened and I haven't seen anything since.

I'm not stressed about it, just wondering for planning purposes.

It might take a little longer this time because of GenCon.

BTW, was this ap going to be in roll20 once all parts are out?

silversarcasm wrote:

Oooooooh im so excited, i was talking recently about how excited I was a certain story thread form legends was brought up again in Impossible Lands and now it seems we're getting a whole ap about it? Lets gooooo

Am sad to see its not a 6 parter though, hope they havent been completely abandoned!

If folks want us to do more 6-part Adventure Paths... PLEASE let us know! The 3 part ones seem to be engaging people more and allow for more stories to be told in a year, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to settle into a rhythum that allows for more frequent higher level 3 part arcs, but if people do still want 6 part ones... we need to know. (And that includes seeing evidence in sales and reviews and the like for parts 4–6 of those Adventure Paths, not just requests at the front end.)

Even though this is an older post, put me down for still hoping to see 6-part APs in the future. I have appreciated the story and theme variety afforded by the 3-parters, but I do miss the epic feel of the longer, carefully crafted, interconnected stories. Personally I am more likely to be interested and invest in a 6-part AP than a 3-part, though I recognize that I might be the exception. I'm going to second earlier suggestions that you guys try to do a little of both if you can; the 2 3-part, 1 6-part a year rhythm seemed to be working ok.

James Jacobs wrote:

silversarcasm wrote:

Oooooooh im so excited, i was talking recently about how excited I was a certain story thread form legends was brought up again in Impossible Lands and now it seems we're getting a whole ap about it? Lets gooooo

Am sad to see its not a 6 parter though, hope they havent been completely abandoned!

If folks want us to do more 6-part Adventure Paths... PLEASE let us know! The 3 part ones seem to be engaging people more and allow for more stories to be told in a year, and I'm hoping that we'll be able to settle into a rhythum that allows for more frequent higher level 3 part arcs, but if people do still want 6 part ones... we need to know. (And that includes seeing evidence in sales and reviews and the like for parts 4–6 of those Adventure Paths, not just requests at the front end.)

Even though this is an older post, put me down for still hoping to see 6-part APs in the future. I have appreciated the story and theme variety afforded by the 3-parters, but I do miss the epic feel of the longer, carefully crafted, interconnected stories. Personally I am more likely to be interested and invest in a 6-part AP than a 3-part, though I recognize that I might be the exception. I'm going to second earlier suggestions that you guys try to do a little of both if you can; the 2 3-part, 1 6-part a year rhythm seemed to be working ok.

I agree, 3 parters are nice but should not replace 6 partners? CAn you comprise and do a split of 3 and 6 parters? I mean some stories are EPIC and need the room to be told. The rules are what drew me to Pathfinder but the AP's are what keep me in the end.

Hi, does anyone know if there has been an update on the ETA for the Foundry module for this?

Update: Foundry module is LIVE!

Mythraine wrote:

Is there a reason why the blurb to the book says "Written by: John Compton, Crystal Frasier, and Caryn DiMarco" but the cover attributes it solely to John Compton?

Not a criticism, just interested.

Generally, the "blurb" is a solicitation to the industry written about 9 months before the product goes live. It is an idea rather that a product. The final cover should reflect who actually did the writing. Specifically, in this case, I don't know. I'll ask.

I'm a bit confused now. Who ARE the authors of this product? The credit here (on the website) says John Compton, Crystal Frasier, and Caryn DiMarco. But the actual adventure (at least the physical copy I have) lists:

AUTHOR
John Compton
ADDITIONAL WRITING
Caryn DiMarco and Vanessa Hoskins
DEVELOPERS
John Compton, Adam Daigle, and Vanessa Hoskins

John Compton wrote the adventure, and the others wrote the articles and bestiary entries.

John Compton wrote the adventure, and the others wrote the articles and bestiary entries.

I think the confusion come from the web page saying Crystal Frasier, and the book saying Vanessa Hoskins.

It is possible the article on darkness in the players guide was meant to be in the book proper at one point, since I believe Crystal wrote that.

The newer, in print, info is correct.

I'm reading through the physical book at the moment and getting confused by the Guldredge section. The workshop heights and lower Guldredge maps as they appear in the back cover don't seem to align with the descriptions in the text. It almost reads like the map labels are backwards.

Anyone else experiencing this challenge?

I believe the two maps for F - Workshop Heights and G - Lower Guldrege, are labelled in reverse and incorrectly numbered. Reading this chapter is breaking my brain. Two silos clearly seem to be G3 - G4, Thenur's home is most likely G5-G7. But I can't make sense of the G2 buildings on the map.

Mapping Lower Guldrege isn't any easier, as the AP only describes G1 to G4, and except for maybe G2 and G3 don't quite seem to map to visual cues of F1-F4 on the map. G5 through G7 aren't mentioned at all.

I'm reading through the physical book at the moment and getting confused by the Guldredge section. The workshop heights and lower Guldredge maps as they appear in the back cover don't seem to align with the descriptions in the text. It almost reads like the map labels are backwards.

Anyone else experiencing this challenge?

Yep, I also noticed that. It's not just the physical book, the pdf has the same maps. Hopefully they can provide corrections (are maps errata a thing?) in a blog post or something.

I believe the two maps for F - Workshop Heights and G - Lower Guldrege, are labelled in reverse and incorrectly numbered. Reading this chapter is breaking my brain. Two silos clearly seem to be G3 - G4, Thenur's home is most likely G5-G7. But I can't make sense of the G2 buildings on the map.

Mapping Lower Guldrege isn't any easier, as the AP only describes G1 to G4, and except for maybe G2 and G3 don't quite seem to map to visual cues of F1-F4 on the map. G5 through G7 aren't mentioned at all.

Yea, this one seems pretty severe

Adding to the above comments about the upper and lower Guldredge maps being reversed, but not in a simple way where we can just swap F and G every time - eg. I think the Hunger Stone marked as G1 in the book is meant to be F4 on the map, while locations marked on the map as F5-F7 are entirely undescribed, as are the two buildings marked as G2 on the map, as Jarvis125 notes.

It is also left completely unclear HOW one moves between Workshop Heights and Lower Guldredge.

Incidentally, the Foundry module maker said on discord that they spoke to Paizo and got it fixed for the module, so Paizo is aware of the problem. Hopefully they can let us all know the corrections soon :-)

Adding to the above comments about the upper and lower Guldredge maps being reversed, but not in a simple way where we can just swap F and G every time - eg. I think the Hunger Stone marked as G1 in the book is meant to be F4 on the map, while locations marked on the map as F5-F7 are entirely undescribed, as are the two buildings marked as G2 on the map, as Jarvis125 notes.

It is also left completely unclear HOW one moves between Workshop Heights and Lower Guldredge.

Incidentally, the Foundry module maker said on discord that they spoke to Paizo and got it fixed for the module, so Paizo is aware of the problem. Hopefully they can let us all know the corrections soon :-)

I'm glad to hear they are aware. Also good to know one of the formats is already fixed.

Looking forward to an update! Thanks for the info.

I just got to Guldredge section a couple days ago while reading and was confused about the maps as well. Funny that this conversation started around the same time.

Can someone at Paizo please escalate the map issue and get back to us with a timeline for errata?

I have attempted to streamline the plot of Mantle of Gold for conversion to Savage Worlds;

I am curious how Jirelga is supposed to know the whereabouts of the Avernal Worm though. Is it a case of "Hey, this thing ate you once, where is it now??" I'm guessing it'll be some kinda 'the trauma of being eaten alive formed a strong mental bond with the beast' nonsense, but I suppose we'll find out next week when the PDF drops.

Can someone at Paizo please escalate the map issue and get back to us with a timeline for errata?

Please let us know at customer.service@paizo.com.

SatiricalBard wrote:

Can someone at Paizo please escalate the map issue and get back to us with a timeline for errata?

Please let us know at customer.service@paizo.com.

Appreciate everything you do Aaron. I understand the desire to push folks to customer service, but that ultimately results in a 1 on 1 conversation with whomever submitted the ticket, leaving the rest of the community wondering what's happening.

Would it possible for Customer Service or a Social Media person to be tagged in the forums or have a CS/SM rep keeping an eye on the product threads so that the community at large can be informed of things instead of specific individuals?

I believe this is fairly common practice in other places / industries.

SatiricalBard wrote:

Can someone at Paizo please escalate the map issue and get back to us with a timeline for errata?

Please let us know at customer.service@paizo.com.

I did, and got a reply that "After discussing the Mantle of Gold issue with our Art Team, they confirmed the maps are indeed correct."

With the greatest respect to them, this is ridiculously false.

I am replying to customer service with an extremely detailed listing of the problems. But this is really basic stuff, that we should not need to do. I cannot imagine how the very talented people at Paizo could look at this section and claim, as was done in the reply from customer service to me, that "we can assure you that the adventure and maps are correct."

Appreciate everything you do Aaron. I understand the desire to push folks to customer service, but that ultimately results in a 1 on 1 conversation with whomever submitted the ticket, leaving the rest of the community wondering what's happening.

Would it possible for Customer Service or a Social Media person to be tagged in the forums or have a CS/SM rep keeping an eye on the product threads so that the community at large can be informed of things instead of specific individuals?

I actually asked Customer Service to have a response posted right here, for that reason.

We're looking into this issue, but it seems to be more complex of an issue than it first appears. Rest assured that it is now on the relevant folks' radar and we'll post here when we've come to a resolution.

Aaron Shanks wrote:

SatiricalBard wrote:

Can someone at Paizo please escalate the map issue and get back to us with a timeline for errata?

Please let us know at customer.service@paizo.com.

Appreciate everything you do Aaron. I understand the desire to push folks to customer service, but that ultimately results in a 1 on 1 conversation with whomever submitted the ticket, leaving the rest of the community wondering what's happening.

Would it possible for Customer Service or a Social Media person to be tagged in the forums or have a CS/SM rep keeping an eye on the product threads so that the community at large can be informed of things instead of specific individuals?

I believe this is fairly common practice in other places / industries.

There is not a way to tag Paizo Staff in our current Forums. We are looking into new Forum software. We'll put it on the discussion list.

We are also talking internally about the ways CS should or should not be involved in the Forums.

If you decide that CS should not be involved in the Forums, then you've reduced us to one way -- email -- to connect with them. That's probably a bad idea.

If you decide that CS should not be involved in the Forums, then you've reduced us to one way -- email -- to connect with them. That's probably a bad idea.

It has been this way for some time now.

Email-only helps immensely with Ticketing, which is the modern efficient way to deal with receiving many many customers' varied requests.

Ed Reppert wrote:

If you decide that CS should not be involved in the Forums, then you've reduced us to one way -- email -- to connect with them. That's probably a bad idea.

It has been this way for some time now.

Email-only helps immensely with Ticketing, which is the modern efficient way to deal with receiving many many customers' varied requests.

Some kind of web based interface would help even more.

It's long frustrated me that we can start subscriptions through the store, but have to email to stop them.

The Raven Black wrote:

Ed Reppert wrote:

If you decide that CS should not be involved in the Forums, then you've reduced us to one way -- email -- to connect with them. That's probably a bad idea.

It has been this way for some time now.

Email-only helps immensely with Ticketing, which is the modern efficient way to deal with receiving many many customers' varied requests.

Some kind of web based interface would help even more.

It's long frustrated me that we can start subscriptions through the store, but have to email to stop them.

IIRC a new website is coming. We can hope.

Curmudgeonly wrote:

Aaron Shanks wrote:

SatiricalBard wrote:

Can someone at Paizo please escalate the map issue and get back to us with a timeline for errata?

Please let us know at customer.service@paizo.com.

Appreciate everything you do Aaron. I understand the desire to push folks to customer service, but that ultimately results in a 1 on 1 conversation with whomever submitted the ticket, leaving the rest of the community wondering what's happening.

Would it possible for Customer Service or a Social Media person to be tagged in the forums or have a CS/SM rep keeping an eye on the product threads so that the community at large can be informed of things instead of specific individuals?

I believe this is fairly common practice in other places / industries.

There is not a way to tag Paizo Staff in our current Forums. We are looking into new Forum software. We'll put it on the discussion list.

We are also talking internally about the ways CS should or should not be involved in the Forums.

Great, thank you!

I am curious how Jirelga is supposed to know the whereabouts of the Avernal Worm though.

Oh. Ok. She "heard about [it]". Wow.

*'It' being the titular Worm Cult from book 2.

We're looking into this issue, but it seems to be more complex of an issue than it first appears. Rest assured that it is now on the relevant folks' radar and we'll post here when we've come to a resolution.

I was emailed by someone in customer service about the errata 3 days ago and immediately replied asking them (again) to also post the information here. Could you please post the corrections here? I mean, I can do it, but I think people would prefer such information coming directly from Paizo.

Jackson Wood wrote:

We're looking into this issue, but it seems to be more complex of an issue than it first appears. Rest assured that it is now on the relevant folks' radar and we'll post here when we've come to a resolution.

I was emailed by someone in customer service about the errata 3 days ago and immediately replied asking them (again) to also post the information here. Could you please post the corrections here? I mean, I can do it, but I think people would prefer such information coming directly from Paizo.

Yes, would be good for the community at large to be informed :)

I am sorry no one posted those notes here when they were made. As has been noted, Customer Service doesn't spend much time in the forums currently so I was personally unaware that something was not posted here for folks. You can find those notes on the FAQ page located here: https://paizo.com/pathfinder/faq down near the bottom.

For ease, I have copy/pasted that information in a spoiler below for folks just as it is a decently sized list.

I am sorry no one posted those notes here when they were made. As has been noted, Customer Service doesn't spend much time in the forums currently so I was personally unaware that something was not posted here for folks. You can find those notes on the FAQ page located here: https://paizo.com/pathfinder/faq down near the bottom.

For ease, I have copy/pasted that information in a spoiler below for folks just as it is a decently sized list.

** spoiler omitted **

Thank you!

Will the PDF be updated by chance?

Announced for July! Product image and description are not final and may be subject to change.

The Player's Guide is still not listed on the AP page listing (https://paizo.com/store/pathfinder/adventures/adventurePath/skykingstomb). I had to google it to find the blog that had it.

Mika Hawkins wrote:

Announced for July! Product image and description are not final and may be subject to change.

The Player's Guide is still not listed on the AP page listing (https://paizo.com/store/pathfinder/adventures/adventurePath/skykingstomb). I had to google it to find the blog that had it.

Thanks, we'll get that added.

Apologies if this was already posted... but where can we find maps and other tactile items for this adventure? I am planning to buy all the books but I would like to have other items (such as maps) to help with GM preparation and running the game.

The only maps in this are the ones included in the book itself. Paizo doesn't generally make large scale maps for adventure path locations