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Hey there, did another module - this one is original, although I'm following a similar pattern as the Temple of Elemental Evil.
IF YOU WANT A COPY: Send an email to daemonslye at daemonslye.com. Please do NOT post your email address in this thread. (Thanks!) I will respond individually and WILL NOT share your email address. Emails will be deleted once sent.
This adventure is a mashup of several influences (which should be readily apparent; Gygax, Lovecraft, Campbell/Carpenter).
To be clear: This is not a full conversion of Temple of Elemental Evil. This is a similar story in that the PCs start in a town, learn some things that lead them, over time, to a Temple. In the Temple, they will deal with competing factions they can either try to take advantage of or just wander about slaying everything. This is BOOK 1. Which means they do not get to the Temple yet (which occurs in Book 2). However, there is plenty of adventure to be had in Book 1.
I may post a plot summary later - But I really want folks to begin reading it without details of the story. It is one of those tales that opens up over time.
I really like doing Pathfinder conversions (I've done "A Paladin in Hell", "Tomb of the Lizard King", "Slave Pits of the Undercity", "The Lost City", "Castle Amber" and others), but, unfortunately, they are using other people's ideas. So this time, I included a few of my own. Maybe one day, I'll team up with an artist so that original art can be included as well.
I really hope you like it - I am constantly in awe of those who do this for a living, because, darn it, it's really hard. I spent more than a few weekends working on this, and, of course its compounded by the fact that I am formatting everything as I go. I'd be honored if you want to give some feedback, provide some free editing help, or have other comments.
Cheers,
~D
Postscript:
Really, once you hack away at something over time, you tend to lose your sense of perspective. My own sense is I fell into a familiar writers trap, too many competing ideas and no limits on number of pages. I tried hard to connect the dots but.. Well, you'll see.
I wrote the adventure for someone reading it - Many modules (adventure paths) tend to chop up the module with encounters in one section, NPCs in another and environs in another. Its hard to get the sense of the whole story, so I kept them mashed together - hopefully it works for you.
I could probably spend another two months rewriting the thing and tweaking it, but I thought, I should just get it out there and get feedback before I started to go too far on Book 2 (to see if anyone would even *want* a Book 2 :).
I included some pictures found on the Internet here and there in addition to some maps. I did not use anything from Paizo (not even a logo). If you don't want any pictures, please ask in your email and I'll strip them out.
The PDF is big at 146MB (the email will provide a link, not an attachment) but seems to work ok on an iPad (although its formatted for 8.5 by 11 inches).
If you do like the adventure, let me know what ideas you have for Book 2 - See the Adventure Summary in the Introduction for a rough outline of the plot.
Just spent a short while perusing this work. It is nothing short of stunning and I can highly recommend everyone picking this up. I am going to say that for my tastes this work is every bit as good as work Paizo produces.
Some highlights:
- I LOVE the maps. Modern take on the 1980s style.
- The hierarchy graphic of the Stayn inhabitants is an excellent mind map.
- The art goes from excellent to Paizo in quality scale
- The use of Tome of Horrors creatures is always a win in my book
- Ichido transformed. One of the "awesome, just awesome" moments of this year for me so far.
This to me is what non-Paizo publishers can bring to PF. Paizo has a certain style and "approach" to their products which is now, for me, fairly predictable. This is not bad, you always get a great quality product for your money. And for the industry leader this is what you want. This adventure brings a fresh design style that really works for me, and is something that Paizo doesn't do right now physically (100 pages "module") and stylistically (slightly retro in feel, but also a few rungs up the "adult content" ladder).
Incredible work daemonslye and, so you know, something that I would willingly pay for.
*PS* I would love to see Book 2, in fact I NEED to see book 2.
It's beautifully done. I'll be sure to give it a more thorough read tomorrow. What program did you use to put this together?
Thanks very much for the comments. Sometimes you get too close to something and doubt the intent (the story) comes across the way you intended.
VH - You got it - I used Adobe InDesign and Photoshop (still on 5.5). I formerly numbered the maps in PS but found it was better to do this in ID. I'm still fairly basic on both apps (too much brute force/manual work), although I've got the master pages and section titling down along with preformatted styles (including the stat blocks). I also make extensive use of Herolabs - read this as a recommendation for that software.
From a design point of view, I've found the hardest thing to learn is *restraint*. I still find the document too busy, but it's getting there visually.
In the beginning, I actually got the stats to work off of a button (click the button and the creature's stats add in feats like power attack or rage, etc.). Was really cool - Unfortunately, it did not work on an iPad or in a non-Adobe pdf viewer. So, while it was very cool to auto apply calcs, there wasn't enough benefit for the cost. I'm keeping an eye on it though (ePub formats, even html5, etc.) so we'll see. I may post an example so you can see what I'm talking about.
Thanks to all those that have already reached out to review this,
~D
All bow before the master! daemonslye this was wonderful. My players have been bugging me for something "dark" and this is it in spades.
To anyone else, this is a wonderful adventure. And to repeat what daemonslye said, "It is NOT a conversion of Temple of Elemental Evil. It is a new unique pathfinder adventure in somewhat the spirit of the Temple, much like Raging Swan's "Shadowed Keep on the Borderland" is in the spirit of T1 Village of Hommlet. Hmmm, that sounds like and adventure path in the making; start with Shadowed Keep and then progress to the "Temple, Book 1". NICE!
However, the progression would then need Book 2, yes daemonslye there is a desire and need for Book 2. Thanks again for all your work and your willingness to share the results. Your original work in just as good as your "conversions"; which really were major improvements (re-imaginings) of the original modules.
I wouldn't touch on the plot since daemonslye seems to want people to check it out without any incoming bias. Let me just say that it has lots of plot twists and turns and finishes with a scene tha will shock your players, can't wait to see my players faces, heh heh.
Wow, the art and layout are top notch. I wonder why you don't offer this in the Paizo shop as a free download?
Thanks for the feedback! Tzzarg - Funny, I went over and pulled my copy of Firestorm Peak and, reading it, got chills. You are right! It's been so long since I had looked at it, but it's eerie how the "feeling" is so similar. Cordell is one of my favorite rpg authors (after the paizo folks, Gygax, and Carl Sargent), and I love the art by Arnie Swekel.
I should update the file soon (this weekend?) with some fixes (Thanks so much Makhno for your help!).
I thought perhaps I could compile a bit of a "Player's Guide" here (and would certainly would love ideas/help). First things first: Traits. So here is one to get things started:
I WON'T LOSE YOU AGAIN (Trait): You knew you had a bad feeling when your love went on their latest venture. Long ago, another person close to you left in a similar manner, using almost the same words as they departed, never to return. Marked for life, you vowed you would never let anyone close to you again, only to lose them. So easily set aside when you met your love, the whole history of emotion comes crashing into you, driving you to find your kidnapped loved one above all else. BENEFIT: At the start of each day, select one of the following benefits to keep you on your quest: a.) +2 saves vs. exhaustion or fatigue (including those checks made because of the climate); b.) +1 to Will or Fortitude saves; c.) +2 to Concentration checks or to CMD; These benefits disappear once you have found your loved one and brought them to safety.
I have also been thinking about adding some (not-so-iconic) pre-gens in case someone was looking to start fast. I am admittedly bad at character creation, but here are a couple (hopefully not too riddled with errors). I also added a blank character sheet if you like the format.
- Professor Krane
- "Finder" Yngvarr
Thanks again for all that perused this adventure,
~D
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Thanks for the feedback! Tzzarg - Funny, I went over and pulled my copy of Firestorm Peak and, reading it, got chills. You are right! It's been so long since I had looked at it, but it's eerie how the "feeling" is so similar. Cordell is one of my favorite rpg authors (after the paizo folks, Gygax, and Carl Sargent), and I love the art by Arnie Swekel.
I should update the file soon (this weekend?) with some fixes (Thanks so much Makhno for your help!).
I thought perhaps I could compile a bit of a "Player's Guide" here (and would certainly would love ideas/help). First things first: Traits. -...
What can I say Daemonslye? Your work has that oldschool vibe, in a good way.
As for your player's guide, there are quite a few things I can think of that might be in it. You've already got traits, but how about archetypes, feats, spells, equipment pc's can use, maybe a prestige class or two, background information on the area the information is taking place in, and adventure seeds? And while you are at it....
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I like the rather simple appearance of the sheet. It keeps everything easy to see and find without crowding the sheet unnecessarily. I also think that the addition of some pre-gen'd characters would be a nice addition. Though I might be a tad bit biased towards that. I have well over 100 named characters planned for my own material.
One word: Mind Blowing! Ok, two words.
The adventure is of top notch quality expected by an established publisher. The art work alone is masterful and better than most adventures produced.
The story alone is so far beyond what I expected when I downloaded the adventure. The detail of the first book and the "Why" of the encounters can not be described by me at this time. I have read it three times and realise more detail each time.
This is professional quality work. Some company should hire you and produce this. Maybe add a a prequel to get to book one and turn it into an Adventure Path.
Please write a second book. I have to play this with my group and I would hate to disappoint them by trying to continue on my own.
I love the look of this. The artwork is wonderfully horrific. I can't wait to print it out and read it properly.
All of your conversions have been great, I cant wait for a book 2.
Email sent. thank you for offering to send this out to everyone. looking forward to looking it over
Wow, I think I may have just found my next campaign.
I've only read the introduction and then flipped through it but it's very cool.
The base idea is very cool and you did a great job of capturing the feel of ToEE / RtToEE.
Thanks for sharing and I really hope Book 2 makes it out.
Thanks for the comments, let me know if you have ideas for Book 2 as I'm starting to flesh it out.
I updated the file with some minor edits and fixes (focused on the front section and references to later chapters). Same link, new file.
I also uploaded a "reduced file size" file (for Reader 7+) at about 13MB - The maps and artwork suffer a little from the downsample, but it may be easier to read on slower PCs. The link is the same, just add "_small" to the filename in front of the ".pdf". Hope this helps.
Thanks again for the comments, I'm interested to hear back once you have time to make it into the story a little deeper (the Vaults).
Cheers,
~D
I've gotten some pretty good feedback so far. Thanks much to those that gave it. I have updated the file and updated the pregens including two more.
For those that have seen the file: Assuming reasonable play, are the pregens able to survive? While not totally min-maxed specifically for the campaign, I wanted a little bit of a mix.
Here are the updated pregens (25 pnt buy):
Professor Krane
Finder Yngvarr
Captain Widows
Elwita Hammerthane
Thanks again for the feedback, I'll post a few thoughts on Book 2 soon,
~D
In terms of selection for classes, I didn't go ranger given it seemed a little obvious. I included the dwarf as a support class - but didn't go bard - I suppose because I have a soft spot for clerics and feel at higher levels they'll need one; This is not the adventure for rogues, but there are a few traps. Let me know if there are changes you'd recommend (or mistakes I made!). I didn't go APG/UM/UC, for no real good reason (although I used a couple things here and there).
E-mail sent! :)
I sent one a week or so ago (it seemed to go through), but I never got a response yet. Definitely interested still!
Hmmm. Well, I haven't had any email problems I know about. In fact, I just got another few emails.
If you don't get a reply within a day or so, please just PM me.
Thanks!
~D
Thanks for sending it to me. I have not read all of it yet but it looks great so far. Nice artwork.
Did a bunch of testing - everything seems to work. If you have any trouble, you can use the paizo messageboard to send me a Private Message (click on your name at the top of the page and then click the private messages tab) or you can try my aol address (yes I still have one of those) daemonslye at aol dot com. Note, you will get a bounce if you spell the name incorrectly. Hope this helps,
~D
Okay, this is really wicked cool. Very twisted baddies. I'll put all my substantive comments in spoilers and break them up by section of concern.
My biggest suggestion is to add bookmarks to it, if possible
The Preacher (p. 62) needs a save DC 13 for its Inflict Moderate Wounds SLA. It currently has none listed.
OGL Section 15 (p. 91) - you haven't credited the Advanced Bestiary, although you sourced it for the ooze creature template on the acid spider swarm on p. 64.
As for the actual content of the module, here's what I got from an initial pass through it.
Wow, I really like how you mixed human depravity (the rivermaster, the cults) in with inhuman depravity (the the Othersiders, the clones gone wrong). The format of it (investigating the town first, then going into Moat-house like environs before heading towards the real deal), but the Lovecraftian/primal evil content reminds me of the Seeds of Sehan arc from Dungeon magazine. I really like Othersiders and their kindred, very surreal yet they have a reason for being there.
I also really liked your NPCS, especially the ones that could join the party. Dahlia, Merlock, and even the dual identity disorder orc are all great inclusions. Merlock especially is well connected with all the weird things in Graythorn castle.
You've also done for the most part a good job in making the game fairly free of railroading. Allowing Detect Evil to actually be useful is something that a lot of designers and GMs unfortunately avoid. Some of the early encounters in town(like Dahlia's framing) might be easy to either miss or circumvent completely (like Dahlia's framing if she's off traveling with the PCS or PCs are there when the militia come around to attack her), but thankfully, none of these seem too required of the plot.
You also give some good advice about the beginning about the importance of hints and such for the GM. Yet the module comes across slightly as having some of the problems of Paizo's Haunting of Harrowstone- basically the PCs should wait a level or two before heading to Graythorn or the monastery. Knowing some groups of player characters, they may have a laser like focus and zoom in to them without exploring the town fully enough and getting the needed XP in. This is especially true if they have friends are missing. Some more clues connecting the events in town to why their friends are missing might be useful (Speaking with Dahlia and maybe Serten were the only ones I saw that established connections between what's happening in town and the truth behind the disappearances of the PC's friends).
I definitely think you need to make the other sequel to this. Too much is left hanging to let this go to waste (the case with the elves, the final fate of other othersiders, etc).
Thanks for the comments and thanks to Dreaming Psion and dafaddu for the editing help. Documents have been updated to V1.3.
~D
Thanks for the comments and thanks to Dreaming Psion and dafaddu for the editing help. Documents have been updated to V1.3.
~D
No thanks at all, thank you for giving a superb piece of work away for free!
Here’s a shout out to all who are interested in a great module for FREE!
Just send an email to daemonslye (see first post) for the download link.
(I am doing this because I would like to see Book Two of the Temple of Nightmares, so show daemonslye that his work is highly appreciated and ask for the module!)
This is really great work. I really would love to check out part two.
Anyone interested in an original module in the style of the Temple of Elemental Evil should most DEFINITELY send Daemonslye a message asking for the download link. It is MOST DEFINITELY worth a look.
Best of luck to you, Daemonslye and thanks again for sharing your exceptional work.
This is an extremely high quality piece of work. The price is amazing, usually you'd be paying 5 or more dollars for something like this. GET IT!
A nerve wracking read...my paranoid players will find this adventure fitting to their sensibilities.
Email sent. Can't wait
Great job Daemonslye. Definitely a new twist with an adventure that spans many levels. I look forward to part 2.
Ask and you shall receive-Daemonslye is pretty quick to get it to you.
Thanks much for the support! I have updated the files (just use the link I sent you previously) - As I work through Book 2, it is definitely turning out to be a trilogy. So there will be a Book 3.
I have also put a preview of Book 2 up there. Just change the "1" at the end of the link to a "2".
Let me know what you think - I don't follow other genres, so it wasn't until after I roughed out the story and was rummaging the Internet that I noticed the similarities to a certain other game (that I never really paid attention to). Oh well, given the story line, a bit of synchronicity is almost a requirement :)
Hope you like it - Since I'm in the writing phase, I'm certainly open to ideas and feedback.
Cheers,
~D
Thanks much for the support! I have updated the files (just use the link I sent you previously) - As I work through Book 2, it is definitely turning out to be a trilogy. So there will be a Book 3.
I have also put a preview of Book 2 up there. Just change the "1" at the end of the link to a "2".
Let me know what you think - I don't follow other genres, so it wasn't until after I roughed out the story and was rummaging the Internet that I noticed the similarities to a certain other game (that I never really paid attention to). Oh well, given the story line, a bit of synchronicity is almost a requirement :)
Hope you like it - Since I'm in the writing phase, I'm certainly open to ideas and feedback.
Cheers,
~D
Wow, I just checked out the preview for Book 2 and I cannot WAIT to get my hands on it!
Email sent. Now I really can't wait to see.
Our party consists of a Human Magus,Dwarven Inquisitor,Half Orc Battle Oracle,Half ElfRogue/Cleric, and Elven Conjuration Specialist (me)
This is the second time the DM has ever ran a game and three of us have been playing 12+ years . That said, he was able to present the material in a consistent and descriptive manner.
I liked there are several leads to track down and point to the Bone Pass.
The large brawl in the street was disrupted by a well placed and timed grease spell.
The scenes from the Barge Masters home do a good job of portraying the animosity between him and the fishwives.
We were able to stop Father Gree from completing the ritual and summoning whatever he was trying to do.
Once Gree turned into an aberration, the encounter was made more manageable with the use of grease, create pit, and web. I think that encounter would have been pushing the limit of the group (without the summoning) had Gree's actions not been taken up by climbing, falling, and trying to break free. Also, his minions were bull rushed into the pit.
The game went well and we are all looking forward to continuing it.
Great work mate! I can really see the influences you listed in what I read. Again, great work!
Cheers!