I was wondering how many people have integrated the Pathfinder Society into Runelords. While I've not purchased any of the books on the society it does seem likely they'd purchase Thassilon artifacts (like the rune giant's gold helmet) and be interested in investigating ruins that the party has cleared out.
So I'm wondering how other people have integrated this group into the game, even as a background detail while the ongoing game evolves.
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I've made them quite prominent, particularly because my group wants to play Shattered Star next. So I introduced Sheila Heidmarch, the Venture Captain in Magnimar, fairly early.
Originally, they were looking for someone to identify (and either keep safe or dispose of) some Thassilonian relics they'd found in Burnt Offerings. Since they were asking in Magnimar, folks directed them to Sheila.
All the members of the group have since joined the lodge, getting their Wayfinders. The most studious of the PCs has been keeping journals to give to Sheila whenever they're in Magnimar.
I've had Sheila pay market value (or above) for a number of magical items they've found, particularly questionable Thassilonian relics. She's also provided quite a bit of advice, lets them stay in her house (the lodge), keeps them fed when they're in Magnimar, and has thrown around her political weight to help them during the Skinsaw Murders.
So it's worked out pretty well for me. The party loves her and she'll provide a nice link between the campaigns.
Cheers!
Kinak
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When I began RotRL Burnt Offerings I didn't really consider the party every becoming involved with the Pathfinder Society, however near the end of the first adventure and moving into the next, after reading about Magnimar and the Pathfinder Society Field Guide as well as Seeker of Secrets, it appeared to me that involving the party with the society would be logical.
Before the party left for Magnimar, I had Sheila Heidmarch send an invitation for the them to visit her and asked them to bring a couple of the smaller items found in Thistletop. The party obliged and there began the relationship with the Pathfinder Society. It hasn't overpowered the party, but has allowed them to call in a favor or two when they were stuck, all the while sharing the information found on ancient Thassilon.
I'd highly recommend integrating the Pathfinder Society into the AP if you feel comfortable doing so.
In my version, they didn't play a very big role until after the events of Hook Mountain Massacre.
I wrote/cobbed together a seventh Book of Runelords that is running between Hook Mountain Massacre and Fortress of the Stone Giants that I call "Seven Swords of Sin."
I came up with the plot by taking two Pathfinder Society scenarios (The Golemworks Incident and Feast of Sigils), the module D2: Seven Swords of Sin, plus some sections of the Shattered Star AP (specifically, a good chunk of The Asylum Stone and bits and pieces of Into the Nightmare Rift). I added to that enough homebrew plot to tie it all together and into Runelords.
Set-up in Hook Mountain Massacre
The letter from Mokmourian that the PCs find on Barl Breakbones makes a reference to the Sword of Lust being discovered in Magnimar. "With all of the Seven Swords in our possession, our army will be invincible!" It also says that the raid on coastal Varisia is being held off until Spring due to an avalanche that has pinned down Terikitnus' forces.
The PCs have a lot of Thassilonian artifacts, but no one in Turtleback Ferry is interested in paying more than 25% value for it, so the PCs rent a river barge to return to Magnimar.
Part 1: The Golemworks Incident
In Magnimar, selling off the Thassilonian artifacts attracts the attention of the Pathfinder Society. Shiela Heidmarch contacts the PCs to get more information about where they got the stuff, and also to size them up as potential PFS Agents. While there, they learn that the Sword of Lust is in the Heidmarch Manor trophy room. However, four constructs that Heidmarch had just purchased go berserk and attack. The PCs and Heidmarch defeat them, but realize that the attack was a ruse while someone broke into the trophy room and stole the sword.
The cursed constructs are the main clue, so the PCs go to the Golemworks to chat with the artificer. They interact with a magical double of the artificer, which they then destroy, and track him down to his home-- where he also runs a business selling porcelain dolls. A showdown with the toy store employees reveal that the store is a front for the Aspis Consortim, who are smuggling artifacts with the shipments of toys. After a fight with the artificer himself in his secret underground lab, the PCs learn that the sword has been shipped to a buyer in Kaer Maga named Tirana.
Part 2: The Road to Kaer Maga
(Mostly taken from The Asylum Stone)
Heidmarch gives the PCs a provisional field commission with permanent membership upon recovery of the Sword of Lust. She books passage for the PCs to Kaer Maga aboard the Lucky Jenny, a magically-powered paddleboat that can get to the City of Strangers in just two weeks. Along the journey, the PCs are attacked at night by assassins from the Aspis Consortium, taking vengence on them for killing a gold agent.
At Kaer Maga, they take the Halflight Path into the city under the guidance of a Duskwarden. The group is attacked by three seguthai and a worm that walks, but the PCs bravely defeat the horrors.
Part 3: City of Strangers
(mostly taken from Seven Swords of Sin)
In the City of Strangers, the PCs investigate the sword, the Aspis Consortim, and Tirana. The dwarven proprietor of a low-rent magic shop has information about her-- for a price. He'll tell them where her headquarters is in exchange for the PCs taking out a gang he's having trouble with. After defeating the gang, the PCs learn that Tirana is running a drug house in the Bottoms that's selling a new drug called Lethe. "It makes you forget your troubles."
Part 4: Feast of Sigils
The PCs investigate the Lethe House and discover that the drug activities are a front for a cult of worshipers of the Thassilonian goddess Lissala. After defeating the cultists, they don't find "High Priestess" Tirana, but do learn that the drug house was located on the site of the former headquarters of a mysterious cabal of wizards called "The Council of Truth," and find a clue that Tirana has collected several of the Seven Blades of Conviction and is performing a multi-day ritual in the crypts below the Lethe House to "awaken" the ancient magicks of the swords.
Part 5: The Chambers of Truth
(An amalgam of parts of Seven Swords of Sin, The Asylum Stone, Into the Nightmare Rift, and a good amount of homebrew.)
The PCs venture into the Chambers of Truth, discovering them to be originally a Thassilonian research facility and arcane museum that was repurposed by the Council of Truth eighty years ago. Many of the earlier mysteries are still functioning-- including magical experiments in time and space, thaumaturgy, and other arcane weirdness. The PCs must make their way through the dangerous facility and Tirana's guards to confront the sorceress-- and lamia matriarch (and cousin of Xanesha and Lucretia)-- to stop the ritual and claim the swords. They succeed in stopping the ritual, but not before Tirana rigs the complex to explode and escapes through a teleport gate to the mysterious city of Xin-Shalast. The PCs follow, but find themselves in a different place: the Devils Plateu outside of Sandpoint. Facing the Sandpoint Devil itself!
My PCs are about halfway through Part 5.
I mostly chose them because I figured the only place they could find a buyer for the runehelm would be Magnimar. And with some fun roleplay they almost got full value for the helm - but only after the smith negotiated to fix up the helm. (I'm still not entirely sure on awarding players full value for jewelry and gems as merchants need to make something of a profit, but the smith player argued hard as to gems being considered trade goods, and I figure jewelry values are gross... and then bumped up.) (I've also ruled that a wizard can sell brand-new magic items for a 50% markup on manufacturing costs, so that the wizard gets 50% profit and the merchant gets 50% profit. Otherwise, why would a wizard bother making and selling items? Likewise, merchants wouldn't bother without being able to make a profit as well.)
It's made me think about tracking down any sourcebooks on the Pathfinder Society so I can flesh them out further than what I've found on the wiki, but they'll not really play that big a role. Mostly support and as a group willing to purchase stuff found by the PCs.
Regarding selling treasure, here's how I play it...
Intrinsically valuable objects (gems, jewelry, artwork, etc) are listed at the price you can sell it for. So, a gem that's listed at 100 gp sells for 100 gp. If a character wants to buy a 100 gp gem (for ease of transport, for example), must pay an extra 10%, or 110 gp.
Selling equipment (including magic items) nets 50% book value.
Of course, run with whatever makes most sense for your game.
Oh, I agree with you on the sale of magic items and equipment. This is /used/ goods we're talking about here. But for a brand-new magic sword or other magic device? Obviously there would be a markup because this product is not used. (And for that matter, the merchant may very well charge extra for a brand new magic item compared to a used one.)
Manufacturing magic items costs half book value. So, selling them at full price nets a 100% profit. Assuming that the crafter sells it directly.
In my version of Golarion, there are aren't any "Merlin's Magic Shops" operating in any but the largest of cities (e.g. Absalom, Katapesh). Smaller cities may have shops that stock commonly-used inexpensive potions (e.g. cure light wounds, but any other items are manufactured to order directly from the crafter. A few specialty shops might have a small selection of oddball used magic items for sale, but remember that there are only one group of PCs in the world regularly delving in dungeons and selling stuff like that.
So, for the most part, if a PC wants to buy a +2 fiery burst defending Elven curve blade, she'll have to find a crafter and commission one. Or take the requisite feats and craft it herself.