Pathfinder Adventure Path #219: Lord of the Trinity Star (Revenge of the Runelords 1 of 3)

Announced for October! Product images and descriptions are not final and are subject to change. :)

Nocticula Lore!

Xanderghul, Sorshen, Nocticula.
Runelords, Revenge, Mythic.... I am so excited for this I cant wait.

Also I love the references to the previous Runelord APs in yhe last sentence.

"as a foe thought long dead RISES and RETURNS for REVENGE!"

...Nocticulore

Hot dang, this has about everything I'd want from a module and AP. So much looking forward to this, especially the Nocticula article.

If there's ever an opportunity to backwards convert a PF2 adventure path, this is the one I'd want, since it would put the entire Runelord storyline in a single edition.

If there's ever an opportunity to backwards convert a PF2 adventure path, this is the one I'd want, since it would put the entire Runelord storyline in a single edition.

OMG! Paizo needs to make this happen! Converting Rise & Return of the Runelords into PF2e. It would be insane.

At the very least I'd love to see an article that has all 7 Runelords stated at the height of Thassilonian Empire in 2e.

At the very least I'd love to see an article that has all 7 Runelords stated at the height of Thassilonian Empire in 2e.

From the office of expectation management...

Paizo Date 2025, the year that keeps on giving.

I hope this comes with advice for making Mythic Destinies work for kinetecists, if we don't get any elemental-y Mythic Destinies between now and September.

Well, in the keynote today, they said this will introduce 4 new mythic Destinies, so maybe one will be elemental!

This is a really exciting AP, although that logo is *really* hard on the eyes. It might be too late to change it but I'm having a hard time with it and it might be good to tweak it to make it more accessible

Well, in the keynote today, they said this will introduce 4 new mythic Destinies, so maybe one will be elemental!

Assuming you're talking about the four we're introducing in Revenge of the Runelords, the office of expectation management notes that none are elemental themed. They are instead all themed around elements of the campaign itself. We'll chat more about them soon!

ornathopter wrote:

Well, in the keynote today, they said this will introduce 4 new mythic Destinies, so maybe one will be elemental!

Assuming you're talking about the four we're introducing in Revenge of the Runelords, the office of expectation management notes that none are elemental themed. They are instead all themed around elements of the campaign itself. We'll chat more about them soon!

I did mean those, so thanks for the heads-up! I do hope someday we have a Mythic Destiny that fits a bit more with a kinetecist, though.

I just noticed this on the keynote at Paizocon: That guy on top of the mirage dragon looks *exactly* like Krune. He has the spear with a little green ribbon, is bald, his clothes are gray with what looks like gold accents. Like, is he back??

I just noticed this on the keynote at Paizocon: That guy on top of the mirage dragon looks *exactly* like Krune. He has the spear with a little green ribbon, is bald, his clothes are gray with what looks like gold accents. Like, is he back??

Interesting!

The 4 Mythic Destinies themes are Runelord, Past Heroes, Time and Warshard/Artifact

Prince Maleus wrote:

At the very least I'd love to see an article that has all 7 Runelords stated at the height of Thassilonian Empire in 2e.

From the office of expectation management...

** spoiler omitted **

I think something along the lines of a Paizo blog about the Runelords with a PDF with their stats.

Man, I am so looking forward to this! After I finish Seven Dooms for Sandpoint, I will hand over the reins to my friend who handles high-level campaigns better than I! Then I can play!!! ^_^

Man, I am so looking forward to this! After I finish Seven Dooms for Sandpoint, I will hand over the reins to my friend who handles high-level campaigns better than I! Then I can play!!! ^_^

We hope you have fun!

I intend to! ^_^

I just want to repeat how much I am looking forward to the Nocticula article, after we always only got a single page in the 2E write-ups about her in the books. I am currently playing a redeemer Champion of Nocticula in PFS, so this will be a huge help. I hope we get aphorisms, relations with other gods and a good long expanded section on how best to play a cleric of champion of her.

I just want to repeat how much I am looking forward to the Nocticula article, after we always only got a single page in the 2E write-ups about her in the books. I am currently playing a redeemer Champion of Nocticula in PFS, so this will be a huge help. I hope we get aphorisms, relations with other gods and a good long expanded section on how best to play a cleric of champion of her.

It's the standard type of deity article we've been doing in Adventure Paths since the 2nd one, where we did an article on Desna back in "The Skinsaw Murders." Well... I guess that's a tricky one since in the 3.5 days the articles were longer and included prestige classes. What I mean to say is yes... it's a 6 page article that includes all that stuff you've come to expect.

One of the primary reasons why we generally do just those 1 page entries for deities like this in the lore books is BECAUSE we do bigger dives into deities in Adventure Paths. For a long time, we were doing two of these per Adventure Path. Now that they're shorter 3 part ones, we generally do only 1 of them, or maybe none of them, and are focusing more on specific deities for the campaign. In fact, at least for me, when I'm outlining a new Adventure Path, part of the "What is this one about" factor is "what deity article can we spotlight in this one?"

It's the standard type of deity article we've been doing in Adventure Paths since the 2nd one, where we did an article on Desna back in "The Skinsaw Murders." Well... I guess that's a tricky one since in the 3.5 days the articles were longer and included prestige classes. What I mean to say is yes... it's a 6 page article that includes all that stuff you've come to expect.

One of the primary reasons why we generally do just those 1 page entries for deities like this in the lore books is BECAUSE we do bigger dives into deities in Adventure Paths. For a long time, we were doing two of these per Adventure Path. Now that they're shorter 3 part ones, we generally do only 1 of them, or maybe none of them, and are focusing more on specific deities for the campaign. In fact, at least for me, when I'm outlining a new Adventure Path, part of the "What is this one about" factor is "what deity article can we spotlight in this one?"

Nocticula kinda has replaced Sarenrae for me as the redemption goddess of choice, so I have hopes that aspect of her also finds its place in the article. :)

James Jacobs wrote:

It's the standard type of deity article we've been doing in Adventure Paths since the 2nd one, where we did an article on Desna back in "The Skinsaw Murders." Well... I guess that's a tricky one since in the 3.5 days the articles were longer and included prestige classes. What I mean to say is yes... it's a 6 page article that includes all that stuff you've come to expect.

One of the primary reasons why we generally do just those 1 page entries for deities like this in the lore books is BECAUSE we do bigger dives into deities in Adventure Paths. For a long time, we were doing two of these per Adventure Path. Now that they're shorter 3 part ones, we generally do only 1 of them, or maybe none of them, and are focusing more on specific deities for the campaign. In fact, at least for me, when I'm outlining a new Adventure Path, part of the "What is this one about" factor is "what deity article can we spotlight in this one?"

Nocticula kinda has replaced Sarenrae for me as the redemption goddess of choice, so I have hopes that aspect of her also finds its place in the article. :)

Not really. Nocticula isn't meant to be a goddess of redemption, despite the use of "Redeemer" in her title (no differently than Desna is a goddess of music, despite the word "Song" being in her title, or Shelyn being a goddess of flowers despite having "Rose" in her title). She's a goddess of artists, exiles, and midnight, and that's the focus of her faith and thus the focus of her article. That said, she and her faithful are welcoming about exiles and others who are cast out of their societies, which is adjacent to redemption—they don't seek to "redeem" those cast outs as much as seek to provide them with a safe place to live and be creative once they've chosen to change their ways. They don't actively go out to encourage redemption. That remains Sarenrae's thing as far as a theme goes. But still... a worshiper of Nocticula would for sure be more into helping someone redeem themselves than being intolerant and make assumptions that they're tricking you.

Not really. Nocticula isn't meant to be a goddess of redemption, despite the use of "Redeemer" in her title (no differently than Desna is a goddess of music, despite the word "Song" being in her title, or Shelyn being a goddess of flowers despite having "Rose" in her title). She's a goddess of artists, exiles, and midnight, and that's the focus of her faith and thus the focus of her article. That said, she and her faithful are welcoming about exiles and others who are cast out of their societies, which is adjacent to redemption—they don't seek to "redeem" those cast outs as much as seek to provide them with a safe place to live and be creative once they've chosen to change their ways. They don't actively go out to encourage redemption. That remains Sarenrae's thing as far as a theme goes. But still... a worshiper of Nocticula would for sure be more into helping someone redeem themselves than being intolerant and make assumptions that they're tricking you.

That is actually a bit contradictory to what is said about Nocticula's credo in her entry in Divine Mysteries.

There it says: "She is now feared among her former peers for her persuasive words that tempt them away from their place in the Outer Rifts and toward redemption. (...) Unlike deities such as Sarenrae and Shelyn, Nocticula’s concept of redemption tends to be a personal matter. She has little interest in demanding atonement and recompense for past wrongs, assuming such a feat is even possible—her own history is soaked in blood and far more vicious violations, with sins committed that can never be undone. The Redeemer Queen instead encourages evildoers to step away from the hells of their own making, to put aside their ways and stop causing harm rather than to remain trapped in their vicious cycles of violence. Though gods of justice might rankle at the concept, Nocticula’s philosophy attracts many who might not be swayed otherwise. Few fiends have any interest in putting in the hard work to make up for their crimes, but many tire of the unending viciousness and cruelty of their peers. Nocticula provides a tempting solace, and every now and then an odd demon slips away to make their way to her realm. (...) Nocticula teaches forgiveness and encourages her followers to give their foes opportunities to repent, but rescind mercy from those who take advantage."

So, that pretty clearly denotes that Nocticula is very much about redemption, only not about redemption with all the acts of atonement and repentance a deity like Sarenrae and her followers would demand.

I brought this up because I remembered you having said before that Nocticula is not really about redemption. Since you are very likely going to be deeply involved about the upcoming article about Nocticula, I wanted to make sure that there is no "miscommunication between departments" at Paizo, where Nocticula suddenly is very different from her description in Divine Mysteries, because you maybe were not directly involved with her entry in that book.

You're right—that IS something she's associated with and a re-look at the article on Nocticula that's appearing in this volume DOES build off of the entry in Divine Mysteries, what I got lost in the proverbial reeds was some "OGL creeping"... back in that era, some folks were confused that the OGL redeemer couldn't be a champion of Nocticula because of alignment restrictions.

That's not an issue in the Revised rules, since alignment is gone and champions are no longer referred to as "redeemers" (or paladins, or other names for that matter); they're just champions, and the remastered worshipers of Nocticula can be holy.

Nocticula's areas of concern remain artists, exiles, and midnight. That isn't expanding to include "redemption" in this article (nor was that part of her areas of concern in Divine Mysteries).

In any event, Nocticula is very much one of my creations and additions to the lore, from her initial version as a demon lord to her current version as a Goddess, and as a result I've got a lot invested in making sure how she's presented in various books matches up. The writer of the Nocticula article had access to the article from Divine Mysteries as well. There ARE times when we have miscommunications between departments (despite how hard we work at minimizing them, they crop up now and then—that'll happen when you have dozens of folks working in a shared world), but in this case, I've been pretty involved in guiding and developing Nocticula's lore so that should all be pretty seamless.

You're right—that IS something she's associated with and a re-look at the article on Nocticula that's appearing in this volume DOES build off of the entry in Divine Mysteries, what I got lost in the proverbial reeds was some "OGL creeping"... back in that era, some folks were confused that the OGL redeemer couldn't be a champion of Nocticula because of alignment restrictions.

That's not an issue in the Revised rules, since alignment is gone and champions are no longer referred to as "redeemers" (or paladins, or other names for that matter); they're just champions, and the remastered worshipers of Nocticula can be holy.

Nocticula's areas of concern remain artists, exiles, and midnight. That isn't expanding to include "redemption" in this article (nor was that part of her areas of concern in Divine Mysteries).

In any event, Nocticula is very much one of my creations and additions to the lore, from her initial version as a demon lord to her current version as a Goddess, and as a result I've got a lot invested in making sure how she's presented in various books matches up. The writer of the Nocticula article had access to the article from Divine Mysteries as well. There ARE times when we have miscommunications between departments (despite how hard we work at minimizing them, they crop up now and then—that'll happen when you have dozens of folks working in a shared world), but in this case, I've been pretty involved in guiding and developing Nocticula's lore so that should all be pretty seamless.

Thank you, that allays all my concerns. I look forward to the focus on Nocticula's specific areas of concern, I am very interested to see what we will get there. Since, as I said before, I play a redemption cause Champion of Nocticula in PFS, it'll be nice to expand on her belief system. It's only important for me that she doesn't lose that part of her lore where she also inspires demons (and other evil-doers) to redemption by her own example. I'm greatly looking forward to this AP and this article! :D

James Jacobs wrote:

You're right—that IS something she's associated with and a re-look at the article on Nocticula that's appearing in this volume DOES build off of the entry in Divine Mysteries, what I got lost in the proverbial reeds was some "OGL creeping"... back in that era, some folks were confused that the OGL redeemer couldn't be a champion of Nocticula because of alignment restrictions.

That's not an issue in the Revised rules, since alignment is gone and champions are no longer referred to as "redeemers" (or paladins, or other names for that matter); they're just champions, and the remastered worshipers of Nocticula can be holy.

Nocticula's areas of concern remain artists, exiles, and midnight. That isn't expanding to include "redemption" in this article (nor was that part of her areas of concern in Divine Mysteries).

In any event, Nocticula is very much one of my creations and additions to the lore, from her initial version as a demon lord to her current version as a Goddess, and as a result I've got a lot invested in making sure how she's presented in various books matches up. The writer of the Nocticula article had access to the article from Divine Mysteries as well. There ARE times when we have miscommunications between departments (despite how hard we work at minimizing them, they crop up now and then—that'll happen when you have dozens of folks working in a shared world), but in this case, I've been pretty involved in guiding and developing Nocticula's lore so that should all be pretty seamless.

Thank you, that allays all my concerns. I look forward to the focus on Nocticula's specific areas of concern, I am very interested to see what we will get there. Since, as I said before, I play a redemption cause Champion of Nocticula in PFS, it'll be nice to expand on her belief system. It's only important for me that she doesn't lose that part of her lore where she also inspires demons (and other evil-doers) to redemption by her own example. I'm greatly looking forward to this...

It's more important to me that she stays on course, so never fear!