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Since long before the release of this year's amazing supplement, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Occult Adventures, I have been tinkering with ideas of overlapping realities, false/illusory realities, battles of magic and the mind, and the possibility of alternate and anachronistic realms. I love the themes explored in this book, and have long researched exactly these sorts of subjects in our "real-world" history, in order to know where the ideas came from, and what is their purpose? Once you begin to uncover these elements of the past, many happen upon what Carl Jung referred to as synchronocity, and many who begin walking this path often continue it long into their lives, seeking out the universal truths and enigmatic precursors to consciousness, the mind, and its connection to the body and the soul.
But what if, in the course of exploring these facets of the mind within the fictional realm of Golarion, you were to happen upon an even greater, more world-shattering truth? What if the world as you know it, was never truly "real" in any sense, except that it was experienced by multiple consciousnesses, tied together in some grand, cosmic, or simply a mental scheme, using hypnotism or cleverly applied technology/magic? What if you learned in your explorations, that nothing has ever been what it seemed, not even in the most predictable and fated moments throughout known history? What if these unknowable truths were in fact blasphemous concepts of the darkest minds in the multiverse, and merely reaching out to them was enough to bring an inevitable end to all of creation?
This campaign series concept could easily fall under the heading of 'Ultimate Occult,' although this is in no way requires the use of new occult classes, or the proliferation of psychic magic, occult rituals, or similar effects. All standard and advanced classes could well enough participate in revealing the occluded elements of this campaign, without much additional effort. Masters of the inner realms of the psyche, and those who study the planar reaches of the external unknown stand to gain the most from these adventures, however.
For those gamers who have studied the deeper esotery of my own writings and goals, there is an obvious end-goal to this plot, but first we have to get from start to end, and that requires much more work. This campaign begins at 7th-level, using only pre-generated iconic PCs (at least in my own version of this adventure concept). My own table for this is posted on Roll20, and new players are welcome to join if there are open slots. See here: https://app.roll20.net/campaigns/details/980545/xidos-occult-adventures
Note: If you plan on playing in this campaign at any point in time (and especially if you are not an experienced roleplayer who can refrain from using metagame knowledge in-game, especially to the detriment of other players), you are only harming yourself and your fellow teammates by reading the following information about the campaign setup. That said, a GM needs to read this, so you are all off the hook if you plan to run this sort of campaign.
I have begun this adventure on the island-nation of Jalmeray, in the small town of Padiskar, where I have placed the newest addition to the Sweet Hag's Bosom tavern/inn planar franchise, a home-base for the heroes, who are Pathfinder Society members (for simplicity). I am using the full Tavern! ruleset to create this home-base environment, and I hope to use the table concept to branch off and split this into two tables: one for new or introductory players which can be used to organized more gaming sessions off-table; and another for the actual Occult Campaign, to help PCs reach the 17th-level for the campaign, and able to meet the prerequisites for my final planar adventure concept (ending at 20th-level).
Products used in this campaign:
- Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Hell Unleashed
- Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Bestiary
- Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Realms
- Pathfinder Society Scenario 4-16: The Fabric of Reality
- Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide
- Pathfinder Module: Cult of the Ebon Destroyers
Along with these adventure-content products which have been used, the campaign relies heavily on all core-rules PFRPG sources, along with some new content created for my upcoming planar adventure concept. Especially, Occult Adventures, Ultimate Magic, Ultimate Combat, NPC Codex, Monster Codex, GameMastery Guide, Advanced Player's Guide, Advanced Class Guide, Advance Race Guide, Ultimate Campaign, Pathfinder Unchained, all five Bestiaries, and it will also give me a chance to pit some of my mythic versions of creatures from Mythic Adventures against PCs in the Dream Arena.
This is a lengthy concept, my internet connection isn't the greatest, and I risk double-posting, but I am going to do this in several thread posts, so I can properly organize the content for each segment before I get it posted up. Everything will be spoilered, so I won't give away any of the good stuff.
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This campaign concept works best with experienced RPG players, however it is best to use with players who are not deeply familiar with the ongoing Golarion/Pathfinder Society universe, since some elements are purposefully misplaced or otherwise have their content altered to fit the storyline. If, for some reason, a player notices an incongruency to the central general storyline of the Pathfinder Society's activities, these differences will become clearly illusory by the campaign arc's 17th-level completion point. It has been tailored for use in Roll20 for players of any experience level, but specifically requires 7th-level pregens to play (or 12th-level pregens for certain aspects or higher-level adventuring), at least until players show the capacity for properly creating their own custom character, using baseline standards for Pathfinder Society - and used for simplicity/standardization, especially for first-time players).
As my own homebrew method of allowing players to build their own characters for the final campaign ending, I am allowing all loot/XP rewards gained by pregen PCs to be applied to the player's custom PC - but only after they have completed the first 'cycle' of the campaign arc (Missions #1, #2, and some measure of campaign continuations - see below).
Mission #1: Into the Jungles of Jalmeray
As written in the description for the encounter in Hell Unleashed for the asura named Miranksha, the PCs have been sent from their prior missions to Padiskar in Jalmeray. I chose Osirion and the Mummy's Mask concept as the background, saying the PCs gained their initial XP and gear from exploring pyramids, the dungeons below a sphinx statue, and the tomb of an ancient pharaoh, before being commissioned by the Pathfinder Society (PFS) for this mission. Simple description: Given the mission details before leaving, you are being hired by the Tephu Academy of Scribes to find the missing cleric, Xeriban. As stated in the encounter's beginning, it has been three weeks since the cleric's last known whereabouts, and that is presented as being at the time of the PCs landing at port in Padiskar. Once there, when the PCs ask about where to hold up for a night, they are directed to the best tavern/inn in town, the Sweet Hag's Bosom. This serves as a home-base site for the group until they decide to reside elsewhere, or until they no longer wish to adventure in Padiskar. More adventuring opportunities in Padiskar are explored more later, including an upper-tier dungeon delve adventure below the district of Old Padiskar (up to 16th-level adventure, ending at 17th-level).
The adventure is a site-based encounter presented as-written, with the following additions:
- 1-3 Vayuphak Asuras from Occult Bestiary are also included at the site's exterior, summoned by Miranksha to help defend the site (which means they can't summon other asuras)
- A Dream Naga from Occult Bestiary makes itself seen only momentarily (usually in relation to the PCs making use of the Esoteric Tapestry, when entering or exiting the demiplane, or the temple where it is currently located) - and this can also relate to events at the Grand Sarret, if the PCs venture outward into Jalmeray later
- The Esoteric Tapestry of Hao Jin (the same Hao Jin Tapestry of the Pathfinder Society's recent years' acquisitions, but misplaced within the world-setting) is located along the wall of the deeper portions of caves behind the temple (beyond the manifestation of Asura in the halls of area 6 on the map), before entering area 8 on the map
- Venture Captain Amara Li is instead the spirit of the deceased explorer, Amara Li, who lingers near the Esoteric Tapestry, asking the PCs to aid her in the final task that can allow her to rest peacefully - this transitions into an altered version of the prepared PFS adventure, The Fabric of Reality (Mission #2, below)
- The Tephu Academy of Scribes has promised to pay each PFS member 3,500 gp after the group successfully rescues the cleric, recovered his remains, or when proper documentation of his last known whereabouts is provided to the PFS (or "Guild of Pathfinders" for the purposes of this non-PFS-affiliated adventuring group) - these mission directives are detailed more on this page
This mission presents the components necessary for Mission #2: Exploring the Esoteric Tapestry, and Aiding the spectral remnant of explorer, Amara Li. In addition, other threads allow for connections all across Jalmeray, and the Inner Sea (or even the Dragon Empires and Vudra, far away).
For the record: none of this is real. This level of reality is called the Deep Dreaming, and it is the most stable level of dreaming reality, formed from multiple cooperative networks of mass consciousness, working subconsciously (perhaps even unwillingly) to self-maintain this deepest level of the Dreamtime (or "Dream-Stream" of the Terrorspace environment in the Horrors of the Future segment).
However, this entire portion is presented to the PCs initially as "the real world" - only to be later revealed to be a deeply realistic illusory world comprised of cooperative experiencers, or other dreamers. The ongoing actions of the PCs can impact the reality of the world once they have escaped the Dreamtime prison, but should otherwise be treated as a parallel Material Plane universe and cosmology. The levels of reality are explored more below, in their own section.
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For the staff organizing these forum threads and trying to figure out what this is, I should state explicitly: this is not an advertisement calling for new players, and the ongoing online games are on Roll20 and not this forum. This is a campaign that I have recently been working on (which means it is for real people, in a real series that I might want to share with others for later adventuring), but more than that, it's an outline of the campaign concept I came up with around the newest Occult content. Our online group will also be heavily relying on the PRD to access all the core rules, so it just helps putting a thread here in a central spot, but still away from prying eyes.
This is more about helping other PFPRG fans with ideas on how to use this content for their own games, and just posting my random thoughts about this campaign and its creation as I go. At some point in the future, I can share this with future GMs of the campaign, since the whole thing can be played cyclically, in an eternally looping fashion, with new players joining all the time. I think it's perfect for the online gaming setup, and I really enjoy working with Roll20 to build these encounter pages. I am never sure how to place my forum threads here, but go ahead and move it as needed. :P
Thanks, Paizo! ;)
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For the staff organizing these forum threads and trying to figure out what this is, I should state explicitly: this is not an advertisement calling for new players, and the ongoing online games are on Roll20 and not this forum. This is a campaign that I have recently been working on (which means it is for real people, in a real series that I might want to share with others for later adventuring), but more than that, it's an outline of the campaign concept I came up with around the newest Occult content. Our online group will also be heavily relying on the PRD to access all the core rules, so it just helps putting a thread here in a central spot, but still away from prying eyes.
This is more about helping other PFPRG fans with ideas on how to use this content for their own games, and just posting my random thoughts about this campaign and its creation as I go. At some point in the future, I can share this with future GMs of the campaign, since the whole thing can be played cyclically, in an eternally looping fashion, with new players joining all the time. I think it's perfect for the online gaming setup, and I really enjoy working with Roll20 to build these encounter pages. I am never sure how to place my forum threads here, but go ahead and move it as needed. :P
Thanks, Paizo! ;)
Hey are you still looking for players for your occult game? Jw
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Hey are you still looking for players for your occult game? Jw
Just so everyone know's I'm not just a jerk, cash4golda and others were private messaged with the table's link, so I can keep it private for as long as possible before I make it a more open table for the long-term.
I'll try to post more of this very soon. I have more notes that just need to be transferred over and detailed. The Dream Arena, in and of itself, is a lot of fun to detail and write about. For anyone seeking more inspiration in the meantime, see Coliseum Morpheuon for other ideas (levels 16th-20th in that product).
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Alright, all players on my own table - no more peeking at the spoilers. I'm laying this out for people who would want to set something up like it, or run it outright for other groups.
Following up Mission #1:
Once the PCs have taken care of all the normal elements within the Miranksha encounter (Hell Unleashed), including all additional story elements, they will have a chance to investigate another uniquely placed artifact, the Esoteric Tapestry of Hao Jin (the Hao Jin Tapestry, purposefully misplaced within the campaign setting - found as one of Miranksha's many trophies of her blasphemies and sacrilege.
This artifact becomes a moving scene-transition tool, and demiplane-interior for further explorations, and the PCs can bring it back with them to the town of Padiskar, leave it at the temple (once properly cleaned and restored), or whatever they want. But, before they do so, the spirit of the deceased Pathfinder explorer, Amara Li, shows up to give them one more mission before her spectral energies fade away once again.
At this point, the Pathfinder Society module #4-16: The Fabric of Reality, is put into play, but in a very different method than normal. Because this all takes place in a separate, dream-like version of reality, this dissociation and dissonance from the original core setting will only become clear once the PCs begin to die (and wake up), transitioning between layers of the Dreamtime (or the Dreamstream, the River of Dreams), and beginning to see the circumstances which have brought about such high strangeness around them, in all layers of the dreaming-reality.
Amara Li describes herself as a lost and deceased explorer, her psyche long ago fragmented into such a chaotic array of mental and spiritual energies, who once set out on the very same mission, but was killed and lost so many times, that she is quite confident they only version of her left in the Dreamtime is an evil, villainous alternative of her former self, along with a countless number of other monstrous, fragmented, and spectral remnants of her mind and soul, which were long ago destroyed to the point of her current minimal energies, which will soon fade away to nothingness, as well. If the PCs can properly use the Esoteric Tapestry to do some more adventuring goodness and correcting the wrongs done to the world from its collective dreams and nightmares, it will also heal Amara Li to the point where she may have a chance of surviving the ordeal, in the same way that the PCs will eventually attain, when all the Dreamers Awaken. This can only happen after the PCs are aware that they are in Dream Boxes in the Inner Hellscape, and that they are sleeping in futuristic stasis chambers in the closest approach of their psyches to the past and future worlds (Horrors of the Future scene, leading up to the adventure arc's conclusion).
Using the demiplane tapestry artifact requires the same methods of research and practice outlined in The Fabric of Reality, but instead of the normal purposes for the occult ritual performed in that adventure module, it allows the PCs access to more areas of the tapestry which were off-limits beforehand, as well as expanded access for using the tapestry as a teleportation method between specific sites within the adventuring dream-space. There are near-infinite ways in which this entire section could play out, and the 7th-level pregen PCs will be playing up into the high tier (subtier 8-9), along with increased numbers of opponents, and barbarians, rogues, and monks all increased to their Unchained equivalents, if possible. This segment, following the introductory portion, is intended to be deadly, to allow the PCs the chance to experience the strange transitions of "waking up from death," which continues to be a theme in this campaign arc. (All horror stories, films, and TV shows do this: Freak out, then wake up, then freak out, then wake up again, then die, then wake up.)
When they die the first time, they arrive in the Dream Arena. This environment becomes the sole means by which they can adventure and advance as PCs except for following the central storyline, which follows the apparent trail of Amara Li, whose presence is evident wherever they look as they investigate the mysteries behind her death, the nature of her forgetfulness, and how to get out of their dream-prisons (even without fully knowing how deep they are within the Dreamstream). The Dream Arena really is its own theme and flavor of adventuring, with both combat and socio-political maneuvering possible, as well as increased earnings (or even betting on the outcomes of arena battles). There are many Patrons, and even more monstrous and humanoid arena combatants, many of which can be encountered over and over, given the nature of deathlessness and the "investment" by the Patrons into their individual gladiators. Many Patrons have their own motivations and ambitions, both within the arena environment, and outside of it. Many of them are willing to make all manner of deals with mortals, in the hopes of also finding their way back into the waking world, preferably with increased power, influence, and the ability to carry out their final goals.