|
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
I haven't had a chance to sit down and really dig into my copy of Asylum Stone after it came in today, but the bit about an old story called "The Orphan and the Rider" and the message it got across got me to thinking.
You know how in those Elder Scrolls videogames you can find books lying around everywhere? Some are works of fiction, some are travel journals, some are religious treatices, some are scientific studies, and so on. Some of these are accurately factual, some are filled with inaccuracies and half-truths colored by the perceptions of the writer, and some are just flatout wrong.
Back to Shattered Star: The PCs are most likely going to be staying at Heidmarch Manor. There's a library in there. The material available to PCs during their downtime covers a wide range of topics and ways of covering them, and that's before getting into whatever Pathfinder Journal volumes might be available. Varisia is filled to the brim with old stories and legends that have been told time and time again, probably changing over the generations.
For players new to Varisia or Golarion, and for groups that want to get more immersed in the setting and specifically the AP, making a lot of the books you might be expected to find in the manor available in a stripped-down but still flavorful style could be a real boost. Some things in particular might resonate much more with players that have actually read The Orphan and the Rider early in the campaign rather than first hearing of it when their character makes their first relevant knowledge check for it. Each book would probably be no longer than a brochure, and these could just be left around the table for players to browse during downtime or to take home.
There's no shortage for innacurate* books on the ancient history of Varisia, and any number of theories with varying degrees of truth could be put forth for curious and investigative players to latch onto. It could help with foreshadowing as well, though one would want to be careful not to give too much away(though if one's reading clicks at just the right moment and leads them to conclusions that wind up saving the day or making a breakthrough, it should certainly feel rewarding for those players).
Has anyone done this before? How did it work out for your groups? And what topics from and around the Shattered Star AP would you want to touch on with such "mini-books"?
*Heck, Darvayne Gios Amprei practically made his name on that, didn't he?
Current potential library:
The Orphan and the Rider - A grim fable touching on one of the bloodiest legends in Avistan and featuring a very unhappy end
A highly speculative "historical" text on the ancient empire of Varisia painting it with a utopian lens.
An incomplete and ambiguous catalogue of the fleshforged creations of Alaznist.
An incident report involving faceless stalker predation in Magnimar with references to:
A sketchy archaelogical report and collection of legend fragments concerning strange races brought to Varisia and enslaved by ancient Thassilon.
Random fables or reports involving random creatures that may or may not show up in the AP.
An outdated travel journal detailing the then-current state of things in Kaer Maga.
A travel journal of a scholar who spent time amongst the Shriikirri-Quah, filled with cultural details seen through a more open-minded but still Chelish lens.
An alarmist pamphlet detailing the arrival of the Order of the Nail Hellknights issued on the streets of Magnimar during the reign of Queen Domina in Korvosa.
Partial reports covering the events of Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, and Second Darkness.
A collection of poems and prayers gathered from some of Magnimar's Empyreal mystery cults.
A collection of a long missing/deceased horror writer's stories punctuated with a collection of rambling letters touching on subjects possibly including Leng, intellect devourers, or qlippoths.
Recovered partial rubbings and translations of ancient Thassilonian texts, some of which touch on the feats and deeds of specific Runelords.
A collection of traditional Varisian folk songs.
A detailed report of the Irespan disaster.
An obscure poem extolling the terrible glory of an unknown goddess(Lissala).
I've been somewhat successful with a similar approach. Every session I make sure I have one page per player as a handout concerning some topic which provides the players with background information. Note that my players aren't really into the Pathfinder setting and don't interact with it outside the gaming sessions. I just take some articles from the Pathfinder Wiki and add/remove some parts (and subsequently are now grotesque chimeras of Dutch/English documents).
So far I've done a summary on ancient Thassilon and all the Runelords, a bit about Magnimar (the founding of it by the paladin and the Ordellia-angel thing, the names of the districts and some nice monuments/Irespan) and some details about the Irespan and the Underbridge district.
It succeeded in giving the players (not the player characters) some hints of things to come and some insight on the relevance of the events in the AP, as well as providing a sensible motivation for the needs of the NPC's and a gentle nudge in the right direction.
In my experience, the success of these kind of added background information pamphlets (or little books) is severely dependent on your players lust for knowledge. Considering 90% of all of the PC-game players of Elder Scrolls, or Baldurs Gate never reads any of the books littering around in the game-world (I made up that number), one probably should expect the same kind of interest from the average Pathfinder player.
About information density; less is more. And non-relevance might end up in non-interest. Also; images really help sometimes! I would definitively add something about the denizens below Kaer Maga when my players are about to start part 3.
|
I may write some stuff up as well. My PC in Skull & Shackles is a Thassilonian wizard and mad scholar on Vasrisian/Thassilonian lore (which she gets no play with on a boat full of mental savages), and after that campaign's done, I'm moving her back to Varisia to continue her research/be a recurring NPC. I figure she's written some history book or books on Thassilon, in particular Eurythnia (her region/magic school of choice), so I might write up an Elder-Scrolls-esque couple of pages as, say, an excerpt from her book (which if it was written IRL would prolly be in the 900+ page range, since she SO loves to prattle).
Barring that, there are a few bits from Eidolon and Merciless: Abendego, Belkzen, Varisia, and Other Hells (I think that's the title) in a couple APs and whatnot. Oh and the Darklands one- or is that a Pathfinder Chronicle? I might copy those out and make easy-peasy PDF printables out of 'em, like I did with the Kingmaker Charter.
I'd personally love to see what everyone comes up with, and while I know my group, and most of them wouldn't bother to read any of it, I'd still like to have a pile around in case they do (sometimes folk get bored when they show up early or there's a game-break for a food run).
A few from Mikaze's list I'd love to write:
An alarmist pamphlet detailing the arrival of the Order of the Nail Hellknights issued on the streets of Magnimar during the reign of Queen Domina in Korvosa.
An obscure poem extolling the terrible glory of an unknown goddess(Lissala).
Other stuff I'd love to do:
A brief write-up of subsequent explorations of Xin-Shalast
A journal from one of the former Gray Maidens, either a now-slain one or maybe one of the others mentioned in the article (or maybe even just the Shattered Steel fiction, prettied up as a book)
A collection of information on the cult of Lissala (unless I get the PDFs of the PFS scenarios detailing all that, this one will be in the "partially inaccurate" pile)
Anything- ANYTHING- on the Peacock Spirit
|
|
Dudes, go for it! :D
I know for certain that a Xin-Shalast write-up would get used as a prop by Sheila Heidmarch during the initial breakdown of what that branch of the Society's goals in Varisia are.
Gonna try and get a few done after the Halloween project for the forum is done. Probably the faceless stalker reports and outdated Kaer Maga book.
|
|
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Still picking out a font for this; once I decide, I'll put up a PDF of the document in print-friendly form, and later I may do a version for fancy handouts with a background and such.
Anyhoo. Here goes, edited for Paizo formatting.
The following is a written record of a sermon delivered by Imam Zhadul an-Kaziim, a Sarenite high priest in the year 4392 AR, translated from the original Kelish into common Taldane. All due diligence has been observed to keep the nuance of the words and phrases used as accurate as possible; where such efforts proved to no avail, a similar Taldane idiom or concept has been substituted. As the translator of this particular sermon, I take all blame for any inaccuracies in the text, and am willing to discuss such matters via personal correspondence.
Yours in brotherhood and scholarship,
-Father Orisio Julerre
Bishop of Our Holy Guardian Aroden and His Inheritor
Zimor, Taldor
4502 AR
My fellow travelers in the Dawnflower's grace, I speak to you gathered here today on a matter that sits heavy in the heart of our faith and our people. So many of you, my brothers and sisters, have come to me and say, I walk the Virtuous Path in the footsteps of the Empyreal Ascended, yet temptation besets me! And in the foreigners, and in the Heathens, and yes, even amongst our own, we see sin spring forth! So, Blessed Imam, He Who Sees Her at Dawn, from whence sin?
Now, those who seek to curry favor, or to press the agenda, or who tow the line of the Satrap, they will say to you, it is the Taldanes, menacing us from their northern perch, who place the seed of sin within us! Or they will cry out, it is the mutterings of the discontent of Osirion who plant that seed within our breast!
Such are the words of those with noble intent but short-sighted goals. Yes, the Taldane does wave his straight sword at us. Yes, the Osiriani, desiring a return to their ancient and decadent ways, threatens revolution. But sin- from whence comes sin?
The Birth of Light and Truth tells us the hand can offer Food and Water, or it can offer Suffering and Death. The Heart can Love, or it can Desire. But only the Mind decides which to give. So it is not the foreign agent, or the unruly tribe, but us- we, ourselves- from whence sin doth spring. Let me take you down the path.
Within the mind we find our needs, our wants, our hopes, our fears. Within the mind we see the coin of virtue and sin. Our gate to virtue is Humility. Our gate to sin is Pride. The humble man seeks to raise up others; the prideful man seeks only to raise up himself. One is a fulfilling goal, the other a hollow one. It is between these two gates where we see the lure of sin, and from that lure, we are so led down further into its dark grasp.
In Pride, we seek to better our own station, to fill the hollowness within. And in from that hollow comes Greed, draped in silks and golden finery, tempting us. A man of means can buy his heart's desire, we say to ourselves. Surely, with Greed, with wealth, can I not find happiness? The answer- and ask any miser upon his death-bed- is no. But such is the temptations of Greed that we ignore the calling of Generosity, and so pass by another virtue.
With Greed firmly in our minds, we still feel that emptiness in our hearts. One wonders: if the pleasures of wealth cannot sustain me, surely I desire a lover who can complete me. Enters brazen Lust, cooing sweet platitudes of ecstasy and joy. With Greed placated, we can spend meager coin to find our satisfactions, and in seeking the pleasures of the flesh, we ignore Love, beckoning us to return to virtue.
Lust satiated within the breast, we wonder further at the emptiness that still pervades us: I am proud, and I am rich, and I am satisfied carnally beyond my wildest desires. Why do I still feel so alone? Within our belly growls Gluttony: you do not seek temporal pleasures, my child. You seek to truly possess. To consume. You, my child, hunger. You have fed on power, wealth, and desire. Fill me and you fill all. And so in your indulgence of food and wine, you are deaf to sweet Temperance, and pass by yet another virtue.
Bloated and drunk, one looks before one's own material possessions, and wonders: the others I see, they seem so much happier. What do they have that I do not? And so we open ourselves to Envy, seeing what others possess and wishing it to be ours. Distant Charity calls, but we hear her not; after all, if all we own has not brought us joy, how can giving it away bring us to virtue?
Left with little else, one comes to realize the option for possessing our newfound desires is mighty Wrath. Targets of our need find themselves faced with hostility, violence, and murder, and we savor their suffering, for it means we now control their own possessions and in our hands lies their very lives. Kindness cries out for us to see the error in our ways, but the blood pumping in our ears keeps us from heeding her plea, and we casually bypass yet one more virtue.
And now we find ourselves delusional, rich, carnally desirous, obese, covetous, and violent. In our sin-addled mind shuffles Sloth, bidding us recline upon our glory. Our foes laid low, our desires quenched, there is little else for us to do but wait for the end. And so we do as he beckons, for after shoveling all this into that hole in ourselves, what more can we do to satisfy our needs? A distant shout- Zeal- asks us to rise and renounce sin, but by now, our hearts and minds are all but closed to the call, and we shut the final door on virtue.
So you ask me, from whence sin? And I reply, from our very selves.
|
|
Handout is PDF-ified! Printer-friendly version for tiny download and light ink burden.
I might do a fancy one with some fake paper background later, but this should suffice for anyone with a printer and a need.
Shame, too. This thread is relevant to my interests even though I won't get to run this until next year at the earliest.
I'm personally a huge fan of stealing ... err ... capitalizing on others' hard work. Tracking this page since my AP is about to start.
|
|
I've got some ideas bubbling on the ol' brainpan. I'll see what tomorrow brings.
BTW, you could also use my Wayfinder previews, if you want. The latest one is here, but there's a bucket of others that might also prove to be at least an amusing diversion.
EDIT: I added the ones from last year to my dA Handouts gallery. Might add more if I get bored and can't sleep.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I think the next thing I'll write is an article on Skymetals, written by this guy.
|
|
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
The following is excerpted from the writings of Gojan the Sharp, from his research into skymetals in Numeria. Originally recorded in volume 3 of the Pathfinder Chronicles, Gojan the Sharp's research is considered by most metallurgists as the go-to resource regarding the seven skymetals, their properties, and their myriad uses.
The famed seven known skymetals are legendary to most, ever sought but rarely found. In my duties as a member of the Pathfinders, I have spent over a decade working for Black Sovereign Ontar in order to gain his confidence and be granted access to the Silver Mount to better study these wondrous materials. While Numeria certainly possesses the largest supply of these metals, small quantities can be found all across the Inner Sea region, though rarely in amounts significant enough for even moderate-scale processing. The seven skymetal varieties are listed below alphabetically for convenience.
Abysium
Alternate Name feverstone
Appearance glowing blue-green metal; glow equivalent to candlelight
Weight Comparison 98.701% weight of equivalent iron
Abysium emits an invisible poisonous radiation that causes sickness in living creatures; precautions should be taken when handling abysium ore, and its use in metalcrafting is not recommended if the bearer is a living creature without some form of immunity to toxins. It is believed that this radiant malady is in some way tied with the substances' similar resonance to that of Abyssal forces. As this energy seems inexhaustible, abysium hypothetically could, with very specific methods, be harnessed as an energy source for constructs, mechanical traps and devices, and possibly (with a large enough supply) magical wards for entire buildings. Current supply of the metal is limited enough that such use is restricted to mere conjecture at this time, though the presence of powered constructs and structures within the Silver Mount suggests this, or a similar material, may be the source of such eternal energies.
Some arcane theorists postulate that abysium, with its connections to the ancient planar realm of the Abyss, gives it theoretical connection to conjuration magic, though this author assumes such a correlation is inherently philosophical.
Refined, powdered abysium can be crafted into a deadly ingestible powder for use in poisoning. Producing this powder requires a pound of abysium and alchemical equipment suitable for powdering the metal and stabilizing some of its more volatile properties; such production, and the rare reagents needed, cost about 3,000 silver coins at current market pricing, or thrice that if purchased on the open market.
Adamantine
Alternate Name sky iron
Appearance dark gray-black metal
Weight Comparison 100.015% weight of equivalent iron
Adamantine is the most common of the skymetals, and the most well-known, but that does not mean the metal is cheap or readily available. Adamantine is famed for its hardness; it can cut through nearly every known material with ease, and it is resistant to damage once properly forged. The forging of adamantine is hard to achieve as the metal requires intense heat beyond the access of most smiths. Such heat is most commonly created via magical furnaces linked to the Elemental Plane of Fire, though rumor has it that skilled dwarven smiths have been known to harness rare earth gases whose combustion can produce the necessary heat energy. Once heated, the smith must work with swiftness and caution, and even heated the metal is hard to forge and cools quickly. The difficulty of forging adamantine and the costly components needed to actually melt the metal further increase the price of items made from adamantine above its already incredible raw cost.
Raw adamantine can fetch high prices at market, but its true value lies in the proper forging of finished items; as such, the cost for objects made from adamantine is less tied in to its weight than it is to the amount of work needed to properly craft the item in question. As such, two items of differing total weight can cost roughly the same on the open market, varying by mere hundreds of silver in an item that may cost tens or hundreds of thousands of silver as a finished product. Fortunately, the metal's durability means such items, can last hundreds or even thousands of years, even without proper maintenance; an adamantine item given due maintenance can theoretically last forever without even minor wear. This makes adamantine objects a valuable item for long-term investments or heirlooms, though the metal lacks intrinsic aesthetic appeal. As such, only the wealthiest can claim possession of significant quantities of adamantine, whether unprocessed or forged into items.
Djezet
Alternate Name none
Appearance rust-red liquid
Weight Comparison 274.925% weight of equivalent iron
Djezet is unusual for a metal in that it is liquid at all known temperatures, and thus cannot be forged into solid material. Apocryphal evidence has it that skilled metallurgists from ancient times could create djezet alloys, though what properties such a material might possess is beyond the scope of known research.
Useless as it is for forging, it does possess an interesting property. When used as an additional component in casting spells, djezet can heighten the power of the spell, giving it increased potency. Such use can prove costly, however, as a single dose of the material (approximately one ounce) costs around 2,000 silver, and multiple doses of the stuff must be used for more potent spells. Some magic users may find the cost irrelevant when the extra magical potency is required, however, and powerful spellcasters are, more often than not, incredibly wealthy.
The strange rituals of the Black Sovereign and his Technic League allies often involve large amounts of this metal, which is ritually consumed during orgiastic festivals. This author is unwilling to ingest a material whose exact properties on the physical form, however, so it is unknown if djezet enhances the lustful nature of the living body, or if its use is simply dogmatic.
Horacalcum
Alternate Name none
Appearance dull coppery metal
Weight Comparison 100.036% of equivalent iron
Inarguably the rarest known skymetal, horacalcum has unusual effects relating to the experience of time around it. This time warping makes it impressive when crafted in large quantities, particularly as weapons and armor, as the time distortion allows for more accurate attacks and enhanced response to impending danger. Unfortunately, even in Numeria, finding more than a single pound of the metal is almost unheard of.
Horacalcum is nearly equivalent to iron in weight and density, but far more durable, similar to mithral in its ability to withstand harm, but without the lightness of that metal. Access to enough of the metal to craft weapons and armor, even as a plating, increases the cost of forging such equipment by leaps and bounds, and a master smith is required to work the material to prevent loss of such a valuable ore due to carelessness or inexperience. Even a humble dagger made from horacalcum would cost 60,000 silver, and a full suit of armor runs upwards of ten times that amount. The owner of such an item should be a proud one indeed, for there is surely no other item of its kind in the world.
Hypothetically, a large enough supply of horacalcum, properly attuned with magic, might allow for control over the flow of time for those near it, though no such supply exists to this author's knowledge, and with the risks inherent in disruption of the temporal state, it is perhaps an experiment best left to those with more money than sense.
Inubrix
Alternate Name ghost iron
Appearance pale white-green soft metal
Weight Comparison 102.817% of equivalent iron
Certainly the softest of all the known skymetals, inubrix is slightly harder than lead, and would function poorly as a weapon were it not for its most unusual property: it passes through iron and steel as if through air. It does not display this property with any other known substance, and the cause of this phenomenon is not well understood; is simply seems to phase through such materials as if they simply did not exist. Because of this, it has earned the moniker “ghost iron.” For those willing to continually maintain an inubrix weapon, which blunts, deforms, and dents easily and frequently, it can prove quite effective against opponents clad in traditional iron and steel armors, affecting the wearer as if they stood unarmed. It also should go without saying that an inubrix weapon cannot harm constructs made from iron, such as iron golems, and could no more sunder a steel blade than it could sunder a gust of wind.
This property of the metal, combined with its softness, make it completely unsuitable for use in armorsmithing, save perhaps as decoration, since most normal weaponry would bypass it entirely, and non-ferrous weapons could easily dent and mangle their way through it. It seems that in the Silver Mount it was occasionally used in projectile weaponry, as small flattened pellets of the metal can be occasionally found upon non-metal walls within the structure, as if fired at great velocity and smashed against the surfaces it was incapable of penetrating.
Noqual
Alternate Name none
Appearance pale green crystalline metal
Weight Comparison 51.483% of equivalent iron
Though looking to the untrained eye like crystal, noqual is in fact metallic, and can be worked with moderate difficulty like iron or other common metals. Aside from its lightness, comparable to mithral in this regard, noqual is highly resistant to magic. While this magical resistance protects the wearer from such assault, it also makes the metal notoriously difficult to imbue with magical enhancements, moreso even than cold iron. Costly reagents must be used to temporarily reduce the metal's innate quality, costing around 50,000 silver coins to procure, and a skilled crafter to properly apply.
Noqual weaponry can prove incredibly deadly to constructs and certain undead borne out of magical spells, and the wearer of a suit of noqual finds magic to be of reduced effectiveness against them, regardless of the source. Those fearing attacks from spellcasters or creatures with innate magical ability often find the cost well worth the added protection. In large structures, such as the Silver Mount, tracings and even whole wall panels of noqual seem to be used to thwart magical detection and assault, but to this author's knowledge, such uses are nonexistent in other parts of Golarion.
Strangely, Noqual may have a biological origin, as it is often found in the cocoons of the alien akatas, who tavel from their unknown homeworld to Golarion upon meteorites. Relatively little of the substance seems to survive the impact, but finding several pounds in such a fallen star is well within the realm of factual evidence. This is the most common source of noqual outside of the realm of Numeria, where it is instead mined from Silver Mount and similar structures.
Siccacite
Alternate Name none
Appearance shiny silver metal
Weight Comparison 99.842% of equivalent iron
Siccacite may actually be two identical metals, as roughly half of the ore found is searing to the touch, while the remainder is similarly chilling. Both metals are worked in roughly the same manner, despite their temperature differences, though cold siccacite does require a slightly longer duration before melting to an appropriate temperature for tempering. Since there exists no known way to determine if they are two different metals, and aside from their ambient temperature they function in the exact same manner, the possibility that they are essentially different materials as opposed to the same metal in two different irreversible states remains an academic one.
Siccacite proves almost as easy to work with as iron, and in fact bonds well with ferrous metals, so most items crafted from siccacite are plated, rather than crafted completely from siccacite alone. This helps reduce what would otherwise be an exorbitant price, allowing objects of most common sizes to be crafted from a small plating of siccacite with no appreciable increase in cost.
Without proper protection, siccacite is dangerous to handle, which includes wielding or wearing of items made from siccacite; because of this, most humanoids avoid using the metal in items they expect to have physical contact with. For other races, such as many planetouched, for example, innate resistance or outright immunity to heat or cold allows them to use siccacite items without any harm. In the Silver Mount, siccacite plating can be found in areas where humanoids aren't expected to travel, or as a barrier to areas with existing hostile ambient temperatures. Some of the more violent constructs dwelling within the Silver Mount are designed with siccacite weaponry, and possess resistance or immunity to the type of energy the weapon emits.
Though similar in its properties to fire- or frost-forged steel, the two are separate metals, and one should not be confused for the other.
|
Also might be interested in the wiki's List of works which is trying to list all of the books/manuscripts/plays/songs/poems mentioned in the products. It may give you ideas on what you want to write...
Now available in PDF form.
Oooh Pretty!
|
|
Rickle Peakes they call'd by name
A humble priest who sought no fame
There lives no mortal we can blame
Who maddened Rickle Peakes
When chaos dawned upon our Age
It spawned poor Rickle's growing rage
No word or deed could then assuage
The maddened Rickle Peakes
He blamed the Herald for the crime
Of culling Last Az' 'fore his time
And Fate's great fabric turned to twine
Fed mad old Rickle Peakes
He took up arms, with blade in hand
And slew the Abbess with her brand
He cursed this sacred parce of land
That mad old Rickle Peakes
He fled the halls of sweet wind songs
While taking six more souls along
To meet Fate in th' Great Beyond
So mad was Rickle Peakes
And so he dwells yet to this day
In hidden den where he doth lay
And take the children far away
That madman Rickle Peakes
-Varisian rhyme