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Has anyone compiled a list of all the NPCs who were part of the Liberty's Herald expedition?
If anyone has a more complete list of the 60 or so original colonists, that would be helpful.
CorvusMask has compiled a helpful list. Go to Paizo Inc..
My group is about half way through Part 1 and I have some observations to share.
The monster challenges have been very hard for the party level. Most fights are near death experiences. My party is still level 2, just as the module suggests they should be in the 2nd part. Fortunately, most of the foes so far have not been smart or vicious enough to coup to grace downed party members.
There are a TON of monsters that have grab/constrict which can be brutal for a party ill equipped to deal with that challenge. Most enemies have several natural attacks. All in all, I think the CR of many encounters is a bit high for the recommended party level. Also, most of the creatures have super high stealth scores and tend to prefer ambushes. Maxed out perceptions in the party still have a hard time.
The crysmals seemed brutal for my party which is composed mostly of finesse melee and casters. Fortunately, my party rolled very well on Knowledge Planes and realized they needed blunt weapons, so they retreated to the colony to gather some before returning to confront the elementals.
The darkmantles were also very brutal with their darkness and my group that has no races with darkvision.
The chokers with their extra move actions were super hard too. Multiple attacks, free grab/constrict, high AC (especially for young ones) made this super hard too.
One item I have modified is Eliza's background. In order to integrate her more with some of the other minor subplots, I've decided to make her an agent of Aspis Consortium. She is one of the scouts/spies Aspis snuck into the first wave of colonists, just as Carver, the Pathfinder feared. I'm hoping this will add to the story, giving more reason for her to be sneaking about exploring ruins on her own. It also justifies Carver having a larger role to play in Part 2 as Aspis being major enemies of the Pathfinders.
Just wanted to share. =)
I had considered the same thing. Why wouldn't they take advantage of the defensive capabilities of Spindlelock and use it as a base going forward.
I say the biggest challenge is that it will make it hard for the party to react to threats against Talmandor's Bounty if they are so far away. I don't think there are any plot reasons for not allowing them to take the tower for their own use. I don't think it comes up again in any of the future modules at all.
But, the party is supposed to have a vested interest in the safety and prosperity of the colony, and being a days journey away (until they have access to powerful magic) may make that very hard, or impossible.
I'm going to allow my party to take the tower, if they want to and set up defenses as an outpost of sorts. However, I will make it clear to them that they can't abandon the colony without jeopardizing its safety.
I already have Ramona prioritizing blazing a few trails northward anyway toward the 2nd landing site for future development. With better trails, the journey can be reduced some or even be accessible to mounts?
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Corvus began a list of the NPCs in this adventure path in the Flooded Cathedral. I have been working on the same premise and made a compilation that starts in #122 The Lost Outpost and carries through to #123 The Flooded Cathedral.
To begin with there are 14 names given by Adam Daigle on page 3 of The Lost Outpost #121
• Antwyn Malros
• Carethet Maluis
• Frel Tanboor
• Gaege Murani
• Herbert Koors
• Hondrew Ghellen
• Kalcora Weems
• Kulena Sprads
• Machi Valenth
• Palodina Orbonth
• Sanch Celan
• Tesswyn Nalbocht
• Tipps Kreggan
• Ylatina Xo
Then we have the 10 named “Colonists and Expedition Members” listed from page 61 to page 69 in The Lost Outpost #121. (^ = replaced by a Faceless Stalker)
• Alba Divenvaar ^ (also found on p. 36 & 61, also in #122 p. 10, 11, 47, 53 & #123)
• Anya Sandstrider (also found on p. 37 & 62)
• Carver Hastings ^ (also found on p. 39,40, 43 & 63, plays a major role in #122 & #123)
• Eamon Caranth (also found on p. 15, 32 & 64, also #122 p. 53)
• Harcourt Carrolby (also found on p. 28, 37, 38, 39 & 65, portrait p. 37, also in #122 p.54,55)
• Kurvis Nurpico (also found on p. 15, 32, 38 & 66, also #122 p. 53)
• Luetin Calewick (also found on p. 38, 39 & 67, also #122 p. 13 side quest, p. 54 & 55)
• Lyra Heatherly (also found on p. 35, 36 & 67, colony’s cartographer, also #122 p. 6, 13 side quest)
• Perrell Beys (also found on p. 28 & 68, mentioned in #122 p. 6)
• Ramona Avandth (Leader of the Second Wave, ongoing role. Portrait on p. 8)
The page then states that there are “about six full time soldiers among the colonist” on p. 69, followed by their stat block.
• Six (unnamed colonial soldiers)
On page 69 it states: “There are 36 other colonists besides the PCs and the names NPCs. They include 8 farmers (some of whom belong to extended family), 11 carpenters, and 17 individuals with enough general skills to be assigned as needed. Faedwyr Trundlebrook (see p. 28) and Milo Cattendbury (see p. 35) are examples of Standard Colonists.”
• Faedwyr Trundlebrook (see p. 28 & 69)
• Milo Cattendbury (see p. 35, 36 & 69)
Now in order as found in The Lost Outpost #121
• Antona Sedgewick (see p. 28)
• Daib Joiner (see p. 32, also #122 p. 13 side quest)
• Geoff Tamor (see p. 32)
• Milo Cattenbury (see p. 35)
• Rayland Arkley (see p. 53-55, 58 & 59, leader of First Wave, possibly redeemed? For my game purposes I will keep him around.)
• Eliza Haniver (See p. 53-57, NPC foil who may be held prisoner or killed?)
NPCs introduced in Into the Shattered Continent #122 that were originally part of the Second Wave of colonists.
• Soran Vigaldo ^ (see p. 9-10)
• Medrinnah Harleau (see p. 9 & 10, teenage daughter of Sighra)
• Sighra Harleau (see p. 9, mother of Medrinnah, colonial soldier)
• Irvin Lourdein ^ (see p. 10, 11 & 12, farmer)
• Andvara Jeclair ^ (see p. 10 & 11, wealthy business woman, has family members?)
• Kereda Harper ^ (see p. 11)
• Eskelda Terredin (see p. 11, 12 & 54, weaver & 5th level adept (access to divine spells) “hedge witch” p. 12)
In Part 3: In the Grasp of Strangers, p.51 it states that, “The exact number (of faceless stalkers replacing colonists) is left indefinite, but there are at least as many faceless stalkers as are encountered in this section of the adventure.”
• 6 faceless stalkers in encounter M. Broken Masks
• Encounter N. Burning Ship Supply 4 faceless stalkers
• Encounter P. Thanaldhu’s Last Stand; Thanaldhu has replaced Carver, plus 4 faceless stalkers
At the end of encounter M. on page 53 it states that, “Many (faceless stalkers) simply assume their natural form and flee town, abandoning Thanaldhu and Onthooth.”
Ramona, Kurvis and Eamon are attempting to save colonists at the same time as the PCs deal with the final encounters. It doesn’t state that these three are in direct combat with faceless stalkers, just that they are trying to save colonists which could take the shape of healing, putting out fires, calming people down. Then there are the colonists in encounter O. Accusations! who are looking for faceless stalkers to fight. Again is doesn’t say that they are in combat with any intruders. So at least 15 faceless stalkers encountered (including Thanaldhu) and since many (which is defined as a majority, a greater number) faceless stalkers fled we can assume that at least 31 colonists have been replaced by the end of the adventure. More if we add numbers to the final encounters.
From the starting 50 colonists (suggested on page 61 of The Lost Oupost) there would be at least 24 left. The following named NPCs: Anya Sandstrider, Eamon Hasings, Harcourt Carrolby, Kurvis Nurpico, Luetin Calewick, Lyra Heatherly, Perrell Beys, Ramona Avandth, Medrinnah Harleau, Sighra Harleau, Eskelda Teridin, Antona Sedgewick, Daib Joiner, Geoff Tamor Milo Cattenbury, Rayland Arkley, and the carpenter, tanner, weaver, two famers and two colonial soldiers mentioned on pages 54-55 with Harcourt and Luetin. That’s 19 colonists and 3 of the colonial soldiers (counting Sighra as a soldier not a colonist). We still have an uncertain number of colonists who are members of Andvara Lecair’s family but we can safely assume at least a spouse and a child, for two more. If these members remain that brings us to 21.
Of the 31 colonists taken the named missing NPCs are Alba Divenvaar, Carver Hastings, Soran Vigaldo, Irvin Lourdein, Andvara Jeclair, Kereda Harper. We will find more names in The Flooded Cathedral when the party rescues prisoners.
When we open The Flooded Cathedral #122 we find “most of the colonists are busy burying bodies and repairing damages”. With fatalities our number of surviving colonists now goes down from 21 to at least 19 since bodies is plural. These could have been deaths during the attack or from wounds afterward. They could also be burying the bodies of the faceless stalkers, if we choose this route then are numbers don’t change.
Our first NPC is Cedwig Tanner on page 7, who wants to extract vengeance on the captive Thanaldhu for the loss of his family (suggesting more fatalities in the attack at the end of #122). Of the original 50 colonists we are now at 22.
We begin to get introduced to more NPCs with the investigation on page 8.
• Jacques Hughon (see p. 8, trapper)
• Colson Werton (see p. 8)
• Sandra Ganis ^ (see p. 8)
• Saymour Landis (see p. 8, & 9, former sailor)
If Jacques is the same tanner that was mentioned then we don’t need to add another colonist, and if we use Colson and Saymour as a carpenter or farmer that also does not raise our numbers. Otherwise we are now at 25.
Fast forward to page 49, “The colonists recently kidnapped by the faceless stalkers and all surviving settlers from the first wave of colonists to land at Talmador’s Bounty are currently being held in the cells.”
By encounter we find the following:
• D1, 8 mutated colonists
• D3, 1 colonist, 2 abhonimal colonists (First Wave colonists since the PCs don’t recognize these people)
o Armin (see p. 52-53)
o Jaram (see p. 52-53 abhominal)
o Celia (see p. 52-53, abhominal)
• D6, “Dozens of people cower in three cells.” P.55. “Of the original 60 colonists that arrived on the Liberty Herald (First Wave), 13 have died or were terribly mutated in Onthoths’s experiments, and a few more may have died in clashes between the PCs and colonists dominated by Onthooth.” (10 colonist from the previous encounters in D1 & D3. This leaves 37 alive from the first Wave, minus the 4 deceased members below, minus Eliza and Rayland, new total of First Wave survivors is 31). “All the colonists from the Second Wave who arrived with the PCs and were abducted by the faceless stalkers are still alive.” The ones who stand out are Carver Hastings, Alba Divenaar, Soran Vigaldo, Andvara Jeclair.including Irvin Lourdein, and Kereda Harper.
We know from the previous books that there were fatalities from the First Wave:
• Silas Weatherbee (see p.14 #121)
• Barnabus Braeton (see note on p. 21, also p. 49 #121)
• Edwin Fox (see p. 21 #121)
• Railo Lyonhart (see p. 25 #121)
Possible survivors who are named from the First Wave:
• Father Adran Felton (see p. 14, 16, 17 #121)
• Livvy Felton (see p. 16 & 17 #121)
• Una Hendrake (see p. 18 & 21 #121)
• Dulin (See note on p. 21)
• Farmer Levin (see p. 23, house has two bedrooms suggests two adults and children(?))
This leaves 6 named Frist Wave colonists of the surviving 31.
Second Wave count 28 named colonists, plus 14 from Adam’s initial introduction on page 3 of The Lost Outpost is 42 of the 50 colonists. With suggested fatalities the remaining 8 unnamed colonists, such as Sedwig Tanners family , could be written off at this point.
After the Flooded Cathedral it becomes less important for the PCs to rely on the NPCs.
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Wow! Great job!
Thanks, Adam!
Does anyone know of a way to access the NPC portraits that are part of the art work in the first two books of the adventure path?
My goal is to have an NPC card consisting of a brief description and portrait for every NPC listed in my original post. I think it will help my players connect better.
Wow! Great job!Thanks, Adam!
Does anyone know of a way to access the NPC portraits that are part of the art work in the first two books of the adventure path?
My goal is to have an NPC card consisting of a brief description and portrait for every NPC listed in my original post. I think it will help my players connect better.
Personally I use the online PDF to JPG converter from Smallpdf and then choosing the extract single images option. I think an offline solution might be Abode Acrobat Reader. On Abode Acrobat you select an image, right click, select copy image and then paste it somewhere. Hope that helps.
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Personally I use the online PDF to JPG converter from Smallpdf and then choosing the extract single images option. I think an offline solution might be Abode Acrobat Reader. On Abode Acrobat you select an image, right click, select copy image and then paste it somewhere. Hope that helps.
Thank-you, tet325, SmallPDF is exactly what I needed, what a helpful tool!
It might be a silly question, but I'm curious, what might be Ylatina Xo's origins? I'm sure the bard in my group will be curious about this character, and I could change the name and make it any culture I want, but this name is interesting, has me intrigued and might give me some inspiration.
Managing Developer
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It might be a silly question, but I'm curious, what might be Ylatina Xo's origins? I'm sure the bard in my group will be curious about this character, and I could change the name and make it any culture I want, but this name is interesting, has me intrigued and might give me some inspiration.
I left her origins vague so that GMs could make up whatever they wanted. I just made up the name and didn't have anything planned or thought out. She could be Tien or Arcadian or Vudran—pretty much anywhere outside of the Inner Sea.
So, ran the end of the book today.
Guess how I found out that my whole party dumped Wisdom, and noone had a higher then +2 will save.
That mind thrust 2 at DC 17 was a put a PC down/round effect. Only the party rogue escaped (By fleeing immediately).
Wow! Great job!Thanks, Adam!
Does anyone know of a way to access the NPC portraits that are part of the art work in the first two books of the adventure path?
My goal is to have an NPC card consisting of a brief description and portrait for every NPC listed in my original post. I think it will help my players connect better.
Great plan regarding the NPC cards! I use OneNote on my laptop, each NPC gets a page which describes/illustrates what the players know about them. To display an NPC page to my players, I just link my laptop to my TV and throw the fullscreen version of the page onto the TV screen.
If you are still willing I would love if you could share the snippets you used for the weather and tide charts, one of my players expressed interest in all manner of cartography type information and wants to be the official cartographer for the Bountiful Venture Company. He even took the Employee campaign background trait.
Also, as a new GM I would love to see what you did with the tools and potentially use that too. Again, only if you don't mind sharing.
...<snip>
I am using FantasyGrounds software to run the game and because of this my players like to have the contents of any given room represented as objects, so I filled A3 Provisions Building and A4 Tool House with specific tools and provisional stores. I gave them a quartermaster's log, too, and the last entries matched exactly what was found in the Provisions building, but the Tool House ended up showing a fair number of tools checked out to various laborors, which the PC's found when investigating the unfinished homes in Main Street. Well, all of the tools were accounted for except for a single chisel, which I included in a stash of loot in Vegelror's lair (my PCs have yet to encounter Vegelror, so the missing chisel is still a mystery) - I think some of my players think its the key to the missing colonists. Ya gotta love a good red herring.
I can provide any of these
Certainly. Hope this is helpful or inspirational:
Talmandor's Bounty Quartermaster LogTalmandor's Bounty Farmer's Almanac
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Here are my Monster Lore knowledge checks for: Part II: Settlement Amid the Strange. I've got more for Part III and all of the Random Encounters, if anyone is interested.
Incutilus
Knowledge Dungeoneering
DC 12: What appears to be a common nautilus, in truth, is something much more sinister. It moves about by dragging itself forward on oversized tentacles, its crimson-streaked flesh textured like the surface of a brain.
DC 15: These aquatic creatures protect their soft, spineless bodies with a hard shell, they breathe water and prefer the oceanic coastline, but can breather air, as well.
DC 17: Incutilus can see perfectly well without light and, while they can live as bottom feeders, they prefer not to scavenge, preferring larger sea creatures—sharks, whales, and sentient ocean dwellers—and they make no distinction between the living and the dead.
DC 20: An incutilis can drive its lesser tendrils into a creature and pump the victim full of poison and chemicals. The victim is killed instantly, and becomes a zombie-like creature under the incutilis's control.
DC 22: When an incutilus controls a zombie, it becomes very difficult to make physical attacks against the creature, but damage to the zombie does cause very small amounts of damage to the incutilus.
DC 25: Incutili possess a foul intelligence and can use a form of telepathy to converse in either the Aklo or Aquan languages.
DC 27: As horrible it is to encounter a solitary incultilus, entire colonies of these creatures have been observed, apparently living, and feeding, together.
Echeneises
Knowledge Arcana
DC 12: This is a fish.
DC 13: This is a magical fish.
DC 17: Echeneis feed off kinetic energy, typically in the form of the velocity of sea creatures or vessels.
DC 19: These creatures prefer warm waters and can be found singly or in small schools.
DC 22: Like a rhemora, echeneises attach themselves to their victims and feed off potential kinetic energy, drastically slowing their victim's speed and drastically increasing their own.
DC 24: Echeneis are hungry, not evil, and a strong show of force can cause them to flee.
Crysmals
Knowledge Planes
DC 14: An animated cluster of translucent crystals shaped disturbingly like a gemstone scorpion. These creatures are known to attack people without cause or provocation.
DC 17: It is thought these creatures are not native to Golarion, but are believed to originate on the inner Plane of Earth.
DC 18: A crysmal's mineral body composition and alien origins give them a wide range of defenses, making them very difficult to defeat in combat. Blades and spears are virtually ineffective against them and they are unaffected by extreme cold or heat. Electrical attacks have very little effect on a crysmal.
DC 20: Crysmals employ several offensive abilities including an array of magical abilities that stupify or cloud the mind, allowing a crysmal to either escape danger or to steal gems or crystals from their victims.
DC 22: While small in size, a crysmal's tail stinger can cause great pain and damage to its opponents.
DC 23: It can fire its tail when in danger, the resulting explosion and shrapnel dealing devastating damage to all within range.
DC 25: Crysmals converse in the Terran language.
DC 27: A crysmal's apparent aggression is often completely misunderstood by those who encounter them. Crysmals are driven only by the need to reproduce, which they do by gathering gems and crystals in their bodies, eventually giving birth to one or more crysmals by sacrificing a portion of their own life energies infused into the collection. Thus, crysmals regard crystals as infants and will protect them at all cost.
DC 30: These creatures have no understanding that others may use gems and crystals as a form of wealth or currency.
DC 35: Legends speak of crysmals inhabiting the gas giant Bretheda's moon of Dykon.
The Dark Mantle
Knowledge Arcana
DC 11: These magical creatures are often found clinging to the roofs of dark caverns or tunnels, waiting to drop upon their prey.
DC 12: They have multiple, hooked tentacles which they use to grab hold of, then strangle their meals.
DC 15: Darkmantles can flap their leathery bodies in such a way as to gain awkward flight.
DC 17: Darkmantles have excellent eyesight in all light levels, including complete darkness.
DC 18: These creatures can also project areas of magical darkness.
DC 20: Darkmantles have a sharp-fanged mouth at the epicenter of their tentacles which they use to swallow smaller prey whole or tear chunks from larger victims.
DC 25: A darkmantle's lifespan is short, growing to old age within 3 years. These creatures reproduce prodigiously and evolve in unique ecosystems at preternatural rates, often resulting in wildly adaptive breeds.
DC 27: Legends tell of deep caverns beneath Golarion which are home to gargantuan darkmantles capable of smothering and devouring several human-sized beings at once.
Assassin Vine
Knowledge Nature
DC 13: This large, carnivorous plant is immune to to all mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep effects, and stunning.
DC 15: If that weren't bad enough, electricity has no effect on it and heat and cold have very little impact on its ability to grab opponents and quickly squeeze the life out of them.
DC 16: Possessing no intelligence or agenda, they lash out at whatever living things pass nearby, regardless of the target's size, sentience, or potential deadliness.
DC 17: Assassin vines don't need light to find their meals and are also very good at camouflaging themselves in surrounding foliage, their victims usually never realizing the danger they are in until it is too late.
DC 19: These remarkable plants can sense minute movements in the earth and air and detect changes in light and heat through their broad leaves, giving them exceptional awareness of the area around them.
DC 20: Assassin vines appear to have some sort of control over the flora within their vicinity, causing surrounding plants to aid the monstrous vine in its grisly tasks.
DC 22: A mature plant consists of a main vine, about 20 feet long; smaller vines up to 5 feet long branch off from the main vine about every 6 inches. These small vines bear clusters of leaves, and in late summer they produce bunches of small fruits that resemble wild blackberries. The fruit is tough and has a hearty and typically bitter flavor, although some say the berries change in taste depending on what victims composted a given plant's roots. The most murderous assassin vines supposedly produce the sweetest berries.
DC 24: An assassin vine can move about, but usually stays put unless it needs to seek prey in a new vicinity.
DC 25: The plants use simple tactics, lying still until prey comes within reach and then attacking. Once an assassin vine is engaged, it pursues prey (albeit slowly) in order to catch and compost the creature.
DC 26: The plants prove tenacious, as long as their quarry remains within sight. Once a creature moves beyond the plant's ability to perceive it, the unthinking vine falls still and lies in wait for the next passerby.
DC 27: Assassin vines lurk within Golarion's dense forests and swamps, but some might encroach upon poorly tended fields and vineyards.
DC 28: The vine's seeds might be spread far by birds swift enough to pluck them and escape.
DC 29: Tales often tell of assassin vines appearing in flower beds or infiltrating greenhouses, tactics often employed by Isgerian human assassins - murderous surprises planted by rivals and enemies or arbitrary doom dropped by unsuspecting wing.
DC 30: Assassin vines are known to grow in Westcrown's Ramble Gardens, as are giant flytraps.
Boar
Knowledge Nature
DC10: Ham
DC12: Pulled pork
DC15: Bacon!
DC17: Sausage
DC20: Gammon
DC23: Chorizo
DC25: Fuet
DC 27: Salami
DC30: Lardon
DC33: Pancetta
DC35: Flitch
DC37: Collops
DC40: Spam
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When conversation is expected, I find it helpful to script out some dialogue ahead of time. Here are my notes for Area N. Celebrants of the Dead. Maybe someone will find it useful. I have more for dialogue for the Clockwork Mechanics and expanded dialogue on the library recording gem in Spindlelock, if anyone is interested.
Ariel and Urlana will peacefully approach the PCs, speaking in Azlanti. They will only become 'forceful' if the PCs leave without their full education - which could take several months or years. If some of the PCs speak Azlanti, Ariel will immediately begin tutoring them regarding the ways Acavna. Those who do not speak Azlanti are addressed by Urlana in a heavily accented Common tongue and are taught the basics of the Azlanti language. The celedons are as unaware of the destruction of the Azlanti civilization that once surrounded them as they are of their Moon Mother, Acavna.
Urlana: "Look, sister, more have finally come to learn of the Moon Mother."
Ariel: "Come, mortals, sit and rest your limited bodies so that Urlana and I may test your knowledge."
Urlana: "Yes, please sit and let Ariel and I tell all we know of The Shield Maiden and her heavenly works."
Ariel: "Those among you who do not speak, must go with Urlana now and learn of words and sentences and how to combine them to communicate your thoughts in intelligent ways."
Urlana: "This shrine was built by the Moon Mother, Acavna, as were we, and, perhaps, you, as well."
Ariel: "Those who can speak, you must stay with me until you have become aware of all there is to know."
Ariel: "Shaval-Kehn is a magnificent city built by the mortals. It lies just north of the River Kelveth. I have been told the music created by its inhabitants reaches the ears of our mistress far above and the aroma of its restaurants can be sensed from the heavens."
Ariel: "Some of our brethren have temples dedicated in their name in the western region of Shaval-Kehn. Zanas-Tahn spreads across gorgeous, garden-laden hills and is the home of dozens of cathedrals, monuments, shrines, and temples."
Ariel: "The city of Kalas-Ti lies nearby. Perhaps over that hill yonder. It is the military and industrial center of the Azlanti region of Kynos. These two cities are known as the Twin Jewels or the City of Bridges. I am astounded you are not aware of these facts, mortal."
At some point, the PCs may ask about the significance of the pillars, or they may figure it out on their own:
Planets:
* Aballon, the Horse
* Castrovel, the Green Planet
* Golarion, the Child
* Akiton, the Red Planet
* Verces, the Line
* Eox, the Dead Planet
* Triaxus, the Wanderer
* Liavara, the Dreamer
* Bretheda, the Cradle
* Apostae, the Messenger
* Aucturn, the Stranger
The planets whose destruction created the Diaspora were:
* Damiar
* Iovo
If the PCs spend some time learning lessons, they may wish to know what it is they are being taught. The two celedons treat the PCs as if they were small children learning their lessons. The lessons come by the way of morality stories centered around the goddess Acavna, and in-depth instruction into the rites and ceremonies given in honor of her.
Some examples of morality stories are:
Tales of "The Ancient Cemetery", Tables in the Hollows", "Magnificent is the Rose", "The Madrigal and the Black Room", "Bridge Over Darkness", "Whispers in the Forest", "The Parable of the Happy Warrior", "Crimes of Winter", "Ethics and Morality", "Tales of the Last Artist", "Recipes for a Crooked Lobster", "Curiosity Killed the Sun", "Aegon and the Pschadellic Pudding", "The Gecko and the Tiniest Onion", "Songs for the Legendary Harpsichord", "Lessons of the Angry Locket"
Acavna Rites and Ceremonies:
Rites of breakfast, dinner, the kill, death, birth, marriage, moon worship, Acavana's Birth, Growth, Fullness, Aging and Death. Math, astronomy, astrology, Rites of the Tides. Sleep, Winter, Summer, Autumn, Vernal. Moth, owl, cricket, loon.
Ted,
I'm definitely interested in any prep you've taken the time to do. I've eaten up what you've posted here and am heavily incorporating into my group's campaign.
Thanks in advance for anything you make available. As an aside, I've been looking for more information (homebrew or otherwise) on the Ioun Imperative than what's included but there doesn't seem to be much out there. Any suggestions?
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Ha! Well, I'm glad someone else might find some of these extras helpful, Beefy. :)
For the Ioun Imperative, it looks like Eric Mona may have some info in Book 5, but, I confess, I have not yet purchased that book. Maybe someone else in the know can chime in here. I'm using the DHARMA Initiative from Lost as a model for the Ioun Imperative. Its been ten thousand years and a cataclysm since the Imperative was in operation, so letting the PCs uncover the occasional fractured bit of really weird info has been working really well.
For example, I gave the two clockwork mechs at P6 in Spindlelock some personality and dialogue here:
"You are not allowed here. Please surrender."
[If reprogrammed, only one, a female model that refers to itself as P65-B4 actually speaks. The other, P32-Z8, makes unintelligible beeping, whirring and buzzing sounds whenever it is addressed.]
"Welcome to the Spindle Solution, where our innovations enhance your reality."
[If P65 is not asked direct questions immediately, it may interrupt a conversation with the following]:
"Are you tired of that old, sagging skin? Our age reduction treatments have proven to make you look like your younger self! Are you tired of being the weakest member of the team? Let our strength modifications give you the lift you've been after. Are you tired of being tired? Experience a renewed vim and vigor with our stamina inducers. These modifications, and many more, are brought to you by the Spindle Solution.
[If asked who they are, P65 will reply with]:
"I am P65-B4, Mechanics Bay supervisor of Spindlelock Tower. My assistant is P32-Z8."
"For purposes of security, please do not divulge my name to any outside parties. I am not programmed for using an alias and any attempt to do so may result in serious malfunctions.
[Other responses to direct questions may include]:
"The chief purpose of this station is to house and service the Ioun Imperative's prime think tank."
"Currently, there are eight members of the Spindle Soloution’s Spindlelock collective. Dr. Hothe Tziang, Chief Arcanist. Leftenant Horace Wellspeed, our trajectories expert. Dr. Albrust Havenvine, the famed electromagnetic philosopher. Meeshell Baakunin, communications officer. Mr. Loud, Head of the Intelligence and Securities division. Doktaire Eva Hali, Compass laison. Betany Jung-Kim, head Chirugeon (Ki-ur-jun). And Jorey Comstock, biologistics engineer."
[I have made up the names and titles of everyone in the ‘think tank’ except for Havenvine.]
[P65 will occasionally glitch and blurt out seemingly random bits of information, often sandwiched between unintelligible squeaks, pops and hisses. I have borrowed much of this text from the Dharma Initiative’s Hydra Orientation film from the season 6 epilogue of “Lost”]
"[sqweeerl...pop] behalf of the group members, we welcome your valued expertise in these proceedings. Please note, all of your needs will be provided for during your brief stay with us. Should you need any assistance, please notify one of the clockwork staff and [schhhhhtkkkk]."
"Here are some of the subjects you may be asked to ruminate during your stay at Spindlelock Tower. Genetic alteration. These fascinating stones, or "capsules" as we call them, will be released and monitored to see how they adapt to the unique properties of the region [crackle]... successful advanced studies in larger mammals. "
"These creatures possess a keen sense of memory and adaptability. These traits make them ideal candidates for electromagnetic studies that will be conducted at a secondary site where their comfort in cold temp [crackle].. "
"It's important when dealing with them that you do not show affection or become attached in any way. Also, do not underestimate their intelligence and cunning. These rules must always be followed. I repeat, the bears are not your friends."
"Affix this tracking device around the subject's neck. At which point it will be transported to the Geminus station for the next phase of research. Remember, be sure to confirm that the females have not been impregnated before transport, as the electromagnetic levels at the Geminus have an extremely harmful effect on early term gestation. "
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Also, the recording gem in the library at P9 could use some scripting rather than a general description of what it contains, and I thought I’d add some tantalizing details to the surviving books on the bookshelf, making these texts extra valuable to PCs with Craft Wondrous Item.
"[soft and staticky...voices are inaudible]...erative the public be told of this primary function. Not only would it most likely cause widespread panic, but it would jeopardize our ability to gather necessary information and impede further investigation into this matter. For now, the Spindle Solution must continue to conduct research and development of its mundane iounic enhancements to support the highest level of humanity’s quality of life. Revelation now would lead to [hisssssssssss] . . ."
"[crackle] . . .Spindlelock Station's humanitarian research endeavors are tantamount to the success of the Imperative...[snap. hissss....] at its heart, Access Level D required into Spindlelock Tower where the continuation of classified milit[crackle]."
"[barely audible] . . . believed to be Celwynvian, it became clear under greater scrutiny the spy was neither human nor elf. Only through our latest iounic forcewall technology were we able to contain . . .[crackle]"
[shuuunt] . . . transport from the Compass to Spindlelock Tower for further research and testing. The temporal stasis tank has proven sufficient, but the subject has shown remarkable resilience to our psychic-electric probing. Very little [spak!]"
"[hissssss]....latest intel to Jazradan has uncovered new evidence to support the Veiled Master Theorem, lending some credence to old wives tales and ancient superstition. The Ioun Imperative has approved modifications to Spindlelock for extended stasis field and containment in preparation for the eventual release and interrogation of the subject. This information is to remain Access Level D. Staff outside the tower will not be informed . . . [shuuunt]."
1. A book made of blue metal plates: “Iounic Enhancement of the Mind”, Written in the Azlant tongue, this tome details the construction and use of a wide variety of stones used to enhance the mind. Specific chapters include enhancements to reception and comprehension of omens and portents, increased resistance to mental trauma, increased intellect, enhanced knowledge, enhanced senses, detection of poison, detection of direction, comprehension of depth and altitude, augmented insight, the gift of tongues, augmented debate and reasoning, heightened skillfulness and greater understanding of the motivations of others.
2. A book made of yellow metal plates: “Iounic Enhancements of the Physical Body”, Written in the Azlant tongue, this tome details the construction and use of a wide variety of stones used to enhance the physical characteristics of a person. Various chapters cover enhancements to poison and disease resistance, suppression of fatigue, heightened agility, staving off hunger and thirst, faster reaction times, increased health, breathing underwater, heightened strength, suspension of aging, regeneration, enhanced speed and enhanced swimming.
3. Leaves of doeskin bound in catgut (trapped): “Spindle Warden Primer”, More notebook than manuscript, this collection of treated doeskin holds a respectable number of arcane spells and one divine spell, "useful for maintaining order in the Spindle Solution Archives", or so the introduction on the first page suggests. The introduction explains these spells are available to Spindlelock librarians to aid in their duties, which ranged from answering questions from library patrons to active defense of the libraries priceless tomes. The primer includes the following: 1st Level Arcane Spells: Adhesive Spittle, Invisibility Alarm, See Alignment. 2nd Level Arcane Spells: Fox's Cunning, Investigative Mind, Owl's Wisdom, Protection from Arrows, See Invisibility. 3rd Level Arcane Spells: Countless Eyes, Disable Construct, Fly, Haste, Heroism, Water Breathing. 3rd Level Divine Spell: Cure Serious Wounds (a possible scroll or emergency bandage).
4. A leather-bound book with gold leaf title: “The Spindle Solution Ars Magika”, This leather and gold-leaf bound book is filled with brittle, yellowed parchment and fading black ink. The scrawling Azlanti script is punctuated with schematics and drawings. This book includes many chapters regarding various enhancements to arcane spellcasting, as well as protections from spellcarft.
5. A tall leather-bound book with gold leaf title: “The Spindle Solution Domestic Upgrades”: This crumbling tome includes chapters on how to use iounic augmentation to cool or heat a home, purify air quality and sustain running water, create everfull larders and pantries, eradicate household vermin, produce music and rest zones within an abode and other strange enhancements to living spaces, including advice on empowering one's domicile with arcane energies.
6. A ancient leather-bound book with gold leaf title: “The Spindle Solution Lexicon of War”, This book is old and very fragile. The leather is badly cracked and much of the gold leaf has peeled off. The book details various methods for enhancing the physical and mental aspects of martial combat.
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Here are some more Monster Lore entries:
Part III. Menace Released Monster Lore
DC 13: This hunchbacked, green-skinned humanoid has a wide, frog-like head but a mouth more akin to that of a toothy fish. You’ve heard of creatures like these, those who can move through and breathe water as well or better than traversing land and breathing air.
DC 16: Most fish-like humanoids see well in darkness and can withstand cold temperatures to a much greater degree than typical land-dwellers.
DC 19: Skum are plentiful within the dank waterways of the Darklands. Their ability to attack with blinding speed using their vicious claws, sharp teeth and a variety of weapons, combined with the toughness of their skin or hide make them dangerous opponents.
DC 22: The only skum known to live on or near the surface are those that inhabit the ruins of the city of Drowning Stones in the Mwangi Expanse, those that live near the ruined island of Nal-Kashel in Cheliax, and those that live on the coast of Avalon Bay in Lake Encarthan.
DC 25: Skum are the most prolific and successful of the countless races created by the aboleths long ago to serve as slaves. At the height of the aboleth empire, skum were legion and their armies waged many wars upon the land, yet now that the aboleths are in decline, skum have been set loose to manage on their own.
DC 28: Skum are ancient creatures, once known as ulat-kini. They were created from human stock to serve as a slave race by the aboleths. Ulat-Kini is also the name of an extensive, ancient temple complex found in the eastern-most reaches of the Dying Sea in the Darklands realm of Sekamina. Originally built by aboleths during the Age of Serpents (or possibly even the Age of Creation), it is now sacred to the skum, who believe the first of their kind were engineered here millennia ago.
DC 11: This metallic sculpture of an idealized humanoid figure sparkles with divine luster. You are aware this is a construct, of sorts.
DC 13: Constructs have no constitution, and are typically immune to mind-affecting effects, bleed, disease, death effects, necromancy effects, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning; also, ability damage, death by massive damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, energy drain, or nonlethal damage, or any effect requiring a Fortitude save.
DC 15: Celedons are entrusted caretakers of the gods; immortal automatons of perfect faith.
DC 17: Forged of the purest extraplanar metals, every celedon exists to serve a single deity. Each possesses a boundless willingness to praise their deity's name, whether through song, oration, mock battle, or whatever performance their creator favors. Most spend the entirety of their existences tending a single holy place, repeating rituals, perfecting services, and creating new works to laud their particular deities.
DC 22: In addition to being formidable warriors, wielding weapons of mythic star-forged metals, celedons can also strike mighty blows inspired by their faith in their patron gods, stunning or staggering their opponents and, in so doing, forcibly changing their targets point of view!
DC 25: Constructs do not eat or breathe or sleep.
DC 27: Constructs cannot be raised or resurrected and are destroyed instantly whenever they are brought low. They cannot heal damage on their own, but often can be repaired via exposure to a certain kind of effect or through the use of the Craft Construct feat. Constructs can also be healed through spells such as Make Whole. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.
DC 30: Celedon’s can supernaturally send their audiences into a deep trance while they infuse all around them with the knowledge and wisdom of their patron gods.
DC 33: If a celedon can be shaken from its faith, a noteworthy task, the construct will suddenly and violently emit all of the energies suffused into it during its creation, causing massive damage to all in its immediate surrounding. Thereafter, the construct becomes mindless and is reduced to simply performing whatever maintenance duties assigned to it.
DC 14: This roiling carpet of black smoke undulates and billows across the landscape, flowing in, over and around obstacles like a thick, ebon flood. You realize, the cloud is actually comprised of countless tiny black caltrops. It’s a swarm!
DC 17: This swarm is a collection tiny creatures acting with a single mind, with a single pool health, initiative, speed, and a singular defense. In order to attack, it flows over an opponent, occupying the same space since it crawls all over its prey. A swarm can move through areas occupied by enemies and vice versa without impediment, it can move through cracks or holes large enough for its component creatures.
DC 20: Living creatures damaged by Warden Jack swarms often have a hard time standing and can fall into the swarm, causing even more damage! You recognize this swarm as also being a construct!
DC 21: Constructs have no constitution, and are typically immune to mind-affecting effects, bleed, disease, death effects, necromancy effects, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning; also, ability damage, death by massive damage, ability drain, fatigue, exhaustion, energy drain, or nonlethal damage, or any effect requiring a Fortitude save.
DC 22: This Warden Jack Swarm has no clear front or back and no discernable anatomy, so it is not subject to critical hits or flanking and is immune to all weapon damage and any other effect that targets a single creature. Swarms are never staggered or reduced to a dying state by damage. Also, it cannot be tripped, grappled, or bull rushed.
DC 25: Creatures damaged by Warden Jack swarms report anti-coagulating effects and sometimes succumb to massive bleeding. Constructs do not eat or breathe or sleep.
DC 27: A swarm often takes extra damage from spells or effects that affect an area, such as splash weapons and many spells from the School of Evocation. Constructs cannot be raised or resurrected and are destroyed instantly whenever they are brought low. They cannot heal damage on their own, but often can be repaired via exposure to a certain kind of effect or through the use of the Craft Construct feat. Constructs can also be healed through spells such as Make Whole. A construct with the fast healing special quality still benefits from that quality.
DC 30: Warden Jack swarms have the uncanny ability to open and close doors and portals.
DC 13: This translucent creature's shape shifts between a spinning column of water and a crashing wave. You recognize it as one of the many denizens of the Elemental Plane of Water. As such, you know it is an outsider with extraplanar, elemental and water traits.
DC 15: An outsider is at least partially composed of the essence of some plane other than the Material Plane. Some start out as some other type and become outsiders when they attain a higher (or lower) state of spiritual existence.
DC 17: Water elementals slam their opponents, either in the water or on dry land, with pounding volumes of dense water, knocking them silly and drowning them when they get the chance.
DC 19: Unlike most living creatures, an outsider does not have a dual nature—its soul and body form one unit. When an outsider is slain, no soul is set loose. Attempts to restore souls to their bodies, such as raise dead, reincarnate, and resurrection, don't work on an outsider. It takes a different magical effect, such as wishes or miracles to restore it to life. Some outsiders can be native to the Prime Material Plane and can be raised, reincarnated, or resurrected just as other living creatures can be.
DC 21: With a touch, these creatures can put out any normal fire, and with an extra effort, can also extinguish magical flames.
DC 23: Outsiders can see perfectly in the dark and elementals are Immune to bleed, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning, they are not subject to critical hits or flanking, do not take additional damage from precision-based attacks, such as sneak attack and do not breathe, eat, or sleep.
DC 25: Water elementals create whirlpools at will, which only form underwater and cannot leave the water.
DC 27: Water creatures move through water with ease.
DC 30: Water elementals fight with a bonus when they and their opponent are both in contact with a body of water. Conversely, they fight with a penalty when both they and their opponent are upon land.
Random Encounters for Ruins of Azlant (books 1-3)
DC10: This is a bug, A really big bug. Actually, your vast nature skills warns you that a bug is a sub-type of insect and insects only have six legs, so this is definitely NOT a bug. Its more of an arthropod, but still, an alarmingly big one.
DC 11: Monstrous arthropods will voracious attempt to eat any living creature it runs across.
DC 12: Monstrous centipedes, like this one, can see perfectly fine in the dark.
DC 13: While this guy sure is big, you have heard legends of these creatures getting much, much bigger.
DC 15: Centipedes need to eat and sleep, just like other animals.
DC 17: Giant centipedes, and vermin like them, have no intelligence, and are therefore, immune to all mind-effects.
DC 20: A giant centipede's bit is augmented by mobility hampering poison, which slows it victims down. Apothecaries and thieves pay good coin for harvested poison of this type.
DC 10: This is a parasite which lives off the vitality of other creatures.
DC 12: It attaches itself to its host by an appendage looking like a finger or toe with a long, broken nail.
DC 14: This is an ooze known as a Skin Crawler.
DC 15: After striking its hosts flesh with its 'nail', a skin crawler uses a special toxin that heals the damage done and befuddles its hosts' mind, making them instantly forget the experience of pain caused by the damage.
DC 17: Skincrawlers camouflage themselves to match the skin coloration and texture of its host, making them difficult to spot.
DC 18: Skincrawlers slowly feed off its hosts' vitality - just enough so that a healthy host will heal back the damage done by the feeding in about a day.
DC 19: it is when more than one skin crawler attaches to a host when the damage begins to pile up and can, potentially, kill the host.
DC 25: there are no known weaknesses, but a skincrawler is simply easy to kill once spotted by damaging it. Typically, the use of a dagger to first kill, then pry the creature from the host will do the trick.
DC10: This snarling, canine beast pads forward on all fours, its slender front limbs looking more like hands than a wolf’s paws.
DC12: These creatures are thought to be goblinoid as they are often seen leading large packs of goblin-type creatures, and it is said the goblins worship barghests like gods.
DC15: Barghests come from somewhere in the Outer Planes of the Great Beyond. They have impeccable senses, as they can see perfectly well in the dark, they can sniff out their prey from over a mile away, they have terrific hearing and some say they possess a sixth sense, alerting them to danger just a moment before danger falls.
DC17: Their skin is tough, like elephant hide, and is covered with a mix of thick, luxuriant black fur, sometimes leaning toward auburn colors and a few have been spotted which are pure white. However, barghests usually have patches of puss-oozing mange in spots. Barghests seem to have the ability to change shape into either a goblin or hobgoblin or into that of a wolf.
DC20: Barghests come to the Prime Material Plane in order to eat people. With each good soul they devour, their strength increases.
DC23: Once a barghest has devoured four good souls, they shed their skin and become a Greater Barghest - also known as your worst nightmare.
DC25: Barghests speak, but only in Goblin and Infernal. Originally, barghests were the creation and pets of Asmodeus and they grew plentiful in Hell, mostly upon the layer of Dis. However, it is widely known that Lamashtu, goddess of monsters, grew fond of the barghests and wanted them for her own, stealing them and taking them to Kurnugia in the Abyss. Since then, many barghests have found their way back to DIs, but they can be found running freely in either realm.
DC27: In combat, barghests often begin to phase in and out of existence, seemingly jumping between the Prime Material Plane and the Ethereal. This makes them difficult to strike. Barghests can also lift heavy objects just by willing it so. In combat they enjoy using this ability to drop things, including their goblin allies, upon the heads of their opponents.
DC30: Barghests seem to radiate an aura of great despair, crushing the hopes and dreams of those near them. These foul creatures take great pleasure in sneaking around communities of mortals at night, gleefully trying to coax depressed victims into taking their own lives. Optionally, barghests are skilled at beguiling their intended victims into believing they are a close ally. While Lamashtu is the deity most commonly worshiped by goblins, they also recognize four ascended barghests, a pantheon of demigods known as the “goblin hero-gods” despite the fact that Hadregash, Venkelvore, Zarongel, and Zogmugot have little in the way of classically heroic qualities.
DC 14: A disturbing combination of shark and seal, this brown-furred creature has a wide mouth filled with razor-sharp teeth.
DC 17: This is a magical beast, shaped by arcane machinations of lore which twisted the countenance of mundane beasts and bestowed upon it an intelligence beyond that possessed by its bestial ancestors.
DC 20: Bunyips have superior senses, allowing them to see and smell prey from great distances. Their speed in the water is unmatched, but upon land they are clumsy and slow. While bunyips vary in appearance, all possess similar basic physical structures. The bunyip's head exhibits strong seal-like features, save for its shark-like jaws. Its upper torso is thick and muscular, with long, fin-like limbs. Some species even have a single, shark-like dorsal fin. The remaining portion of the body extends into a long tail. Those with fur usually only grow a short coat on the upper body in shades of pale gray, brown, or black.
DC 23: The bunyip is a fierce and avid hunter, possessing a primal ruthlessness that seems almost evil in its rapacity. A bunyip typically inhabits large freshwater inlets or sheltered coastal sea caves where food is plentiful—the bunyip is equally at home in fresh or saltwater, and it isn't averse to eating humanoids when presented the opportunity. When blood is in the water, bunyips fly into terrible rages and feed upon anything within reach, be it friend of foe. The ferocity of an enraged bunyip is nothing for the faint of heart to witness.
DC 28: If the sight of a bunyip blood-frenzy is not enough, its bellowing roar is known to penetrate the very soul of those with ears to hear, causing great fear and panic to all those within earshot. Bunyips are quite territorial, and readily attack when intruders threaten their hunting grounds. Bunyips mate annually, during the late spring. During this period, bunyips become even more aggressive. After mating, couples split, with the female wandering off to find a place to birth a small litter of four to six pups. Females watch their pups for a few days, until they become independent enough for the mothers to move on.
DC 31: Powerful anti-coagulants in the bunyips saliva make healing a wound from its bite very difficult, indeed.
DC 34: Reports of bunyip sightings come from every end of the map. Though the accuracy of all such reports remains doubtful, enough reliable accounts exist to confirm their widespread adaptability. The species thrives in numerous ecological climes, from frigid polar fjords to idyllic tropical lagoons. The bunyip is not a deep-sea creature, and even avoids larger freshwater lakes, as it prefers to lurk near shorelines where its favorite food is more common.
DC 11: This creature features a ridged, dark brown trunk topped with waving yellow tendrils surrounding a soft, pale blue center.
DC 13: Scholars at Almas U classify dangerous animals like this one as mindless pests. As such, things like this are usually immune to mind-affecting effects.
DC 15: You realize this is a type of giant sea anemone. They are carnivorous, and one this big would surely pose a danger to you and your companions.
DC 17: Coffin anemones, like this one, are fairly rare and are found in remote, temperate waters where larger prey, such as seal, porpoise and small sharks are plentiful.
DC 21: Sea anemones of all types can sense prey and predators in complete darkness. They do not have eyes, so are also immune to sight, gaze or light effects.
DC 23: Anemones utilize poisonous stingers are their many tentacles to stun, paralyze or, otherwise, weaken their prey so that they can be brought near their soft outer stomachs or, in the case of coffin anemones, their inner stomachs, where their meals are slowly dissolved and digested. Anemone’s have a curious immunity to poisons of all types.
DC 26: Anemone’s do not have stationary anatomy; their organs and vitals tend to move about with its amorphous body. Vital organs that are damaged can usually regenerate quickly. Therefore, anemones are not susceptible to vital strikes like sneak attacks or critical damage.
DC 30: An avid anatomist or culinary expert would be capable of identifying the poisonous sacs within an anemone’s body. Removing the poison makes anemone’s edible, but not necessarily palatable. Soups or fried anemone chips are considered delicacies in southern Garund, but these dishes are slow to catch on in the rest of Golarion.
DC 14: This hideous purple creature walks upright like a man, but its face is that of a spider, and its hands are sickle-shaped claws.
DC 17: Aided by their many eyes, these aberrant creatures see well in all levels of light, even darkness. While their claws and bit are both wicked and effective, the spider-men prefer to incapacitate their victims from distant ambush and rarely engage in a physical confrontation.
DC 20: Ettercaps have spinnerets, like spiders, and often squirt or throw netting at their prey from a distance. Their oversized fangs drip a terrible poison that immobilizes their victims, allowing the foul creatures to approach their prey safely and drain them of bodily fluids while still alive, warm and wriggling.
DC 23: Ettercaps are known to speak the common Taldan language, but also have an uncanny ability to speak to spiders and arachnids of all types, even though no such formal language is known to exist.
DC 26: Ettercaps are loathsome creatures and are known to set elaborate and effective traps and snares to trap their victims and/or dinner.
DC 29: Scholars report ettercaps make their homes overwhelmingly in the dark, forbidding forests of temperate Avistan. You have read accounts of them spotted in Varisia's Mierani Forest, Andoran's Arthfell, Taldor's Verduran, living in cairns north of the city of Korvosa, attacking elven scouts in the demon-haunted southern Tanglebriar in Kyonin, hiding in caves in the Nomen Heights and Kamelands of the Stolen Lands, and overrunning the Shudderwood in Ustalav. You are aware of one particularly grisly account in Garund, in the warm, dank forests of Sargava.
DC 32: Some ettercaps worship the insectoid demon lord Mazmezz.
DC 15: This mass of detritus, sea foam, and seaweed undulates and quivers as it moves. The mass has a humanoid shape roughly the size of a child. You have heard of these foul undead creatures that form from the wreckage of scuttled ships and drowned sailors.
DC 18: As an unliving entity, you realize these creatures never tire, do not need light to see, are not affected by influences that target the mind, do not bleed; shrug off death effects, disease, paralysis, poison, sleep effects, and stunning. They ignore nonlethal damage, ability drain, and energy drain. Negative energy heals them while positive energy harms them, as well as water that has been blessed. They crumble to a sodden pile of harmless flotsam when brought low, and cannot be raised from the dead nor reincarnated. Resurrection and true resurrection can bring them back into the living creatures they were before dying, and they have no need to breathe, eat, or sleep.
DC 21: Flotsam Terrors, also known as jetsam swarms, sailor’s bane, and wreck wraiths, are particularly resilient to normal weapons, unless the weapon is a sharp blade. These terrible creatures can also put themselves back together quite quickly when in the presence of debris, detritus and/or quantities of seaweed or kelp.
DC 23: Flotsam Terrors shuffle along the open ground in a slow, plodding gait, but underwater they move at the speed and agility of a barracuda. They will attack any living creature that happens upon them by clubbing them into pulp. If they spy their prey from a distance, they are known to hurl sharp or heavy bits of their body at high velocity in hopes of incapacitating them before closing with them up front and personal.
DC 26: Legends speak of these creatures disincorporating during combat; becoming a swarm of ghastly seaweed and jetsam.
DC 29: Multiple terrors can spawn from one wreck. They then ride the currents, roaming the seas until they locate other ships. Flotsam terrors are malicious and bitter entities, detesting their fate and intentionally seeking out ships in hopes of causing additional wrecks. The creatures follow and attack any survivors, intent on creating more of their kind.
DC 32: Many flotsam terrors are born after a failed mutiny causes a ship to crash, when the remaining traitorous souls are reborn with vindictive fervor. Not all flotsam terrors share this origin, however. Some are born from the souls of casual travelers who believe themselves unfairly slain, usually due to the actions of the ship’s captain or crew. Rather than attacking ships in general, these flotsam terrors seek out surviving crew members in hopes of revenge.
DC 35: On rare occasions, a flotsam terror forms from the remains of previously slain flotsam terrors. Sometimes a single piece of a destroyed flotsam terror will slip away, holding a spark of its animating force. When enough of these lone pieces come together, they create a more powerful form of a flotsam terror. Known as flotsam fiends, these unholy monstrosities have greater evil intelligence, allowing it to speak and recall an original purpose; thus, a flotsam fiend often strives to fulfill the original intent of its most dominant soul. Flotsam fiends can hold dominion over large numbers of flotsam terrors, allowing them to draw small armadas to their cause.
DC 36: Flotsam terrors generally lack any kind of personality. When first created, a flotsam terror is filled with specific purpose, usually the destruction of an individual whom the terror believes wronged it in life. This purpose is quickly lost, however. When flotsam terrors disperse and intermingle, they mix not only their debris but also their intelligence and memories. This leads flotsam terrors traveling in groups to eventually share a similar, but diminished purpose. While not precisely a hive mind, these groups move and attack with complicated tactics, a byproduct of their shared semi consciousness.
DC 38: Flotsam terrors generally travel near coasts where they can attack ships early in their journey. This also allows the creatures to more easily destroy ships by leading them toward dangerous reefs or cliffs. Those formed far out at sea tend to remain in their dispersed form for weeks, allowing the currents to draw them closer to civilization. In the rare case that a flotsam terror encounters a ship while out at sea, it often attaches to the hull until the ship returns to dock, then attacks disembarking sailors, or it finds a suitable location to try to sink the ship.
DC 41: A float of flotsam terrors behaves differently if led by a flotsam fiend. Such floats still attack ships in large groups, but their attacks are more deliberate. A fiend with a particularly tactical soul, such as that of a captain or naval general, is a force to be reckoned with.
DC 43: A fiend that succeeds at its primary goal usually surrenders its position and its power by intentionally discorporating among its fellow terrors. When it reforms, the fiend has a new dominant soul, meaning a flotsam fiend never lacks a purpose. This allows a float to maintain a never-ending crusade, continually adding more flotsam terrors to its ranks. This process is of particular note to scholars, as undead creatures are rarely so prone to cooperating with one another. Whether this is an instinctive response or a sign of the various souls finding camaraderie in their misery has yet to be seen.
DC 13: This is a rare, giant-sized turtle found along remote coastal shorelines with high cliffs abutting the sea. This giant turtle has a large, thin membrane of scaly skin extending from its shell to its legs.
DC 16: The gliding turtle spends the evening hours climbing to the top of seaside cliff faces. In the morning or early evening hours, when convective winds are at their peak, the turtles can be spied gliding above the shore or shallows, searching for prey. While gliding turtles may settle for coconuts, bananas or other tropical fruit, its favorite meals consist of large shallow water fish, mammals or large crab or shellfish.
DC 19: While these creatures are often thought to be both slow-moving and docile, many beachcombers have been dissuaded of both notions in a single encounter. Gliding turtles can gain high velocity in the air and use their hard shells to stun or kill their prey when slamming into them. Their bite is fairly viscous, too.
DC 23: Gliding turtles can achieve great mass, with the average specimen sporting a shell eight feet in diameter and weighing in at around one ton.
DC 28: Legends tell of ancient Azlants taming gargantuan turtles and using them as transport, carrying several dozen people quickly across the sea breezes and covering many miles in a single jaunt.
DC 31: Rumors speak of sea druids using gliding turtles in far off Tian Xia or Arcadia as companions. Likewise, stories exist of rangers using the creatures as mounts.
DC11: This tiny creature has the head of a human and the body of a brilliantly colored parrot.
DC14: You have heard tales of such creatures as being harmless nuisances on tropical islands.
DC16: These pint-sized fey often congregate in large colonies called japes or “mockingdells,” inhabiting the trees near a commonly traversed path or meadow.
DC19: Mocking fey are curious creatures and love nothing more than to mimic and mock creatures they encounter. While they understand the sylvan language, they typically only speak gibberish.
DC 21: Mockingfey are sometimes used as familiars to sea-going wizards.
DC22: Their innate curiosity can sometimes be of great use. Native to the lands of the fey, mockingfey are often the first to spot and then venture through rifts between fey realties and the Prime Material.
DC 26: When a jape of mockingfey travel to the Prime, or any other plane other than their own, they often seek out the nearest powerful fey in the area and congregate around it for protection.
DC29: Mockingfey have little offensive or defensive tools at their disposal, but some reports that they can exude a weak fey magic that can cloud the mind of their adversaries.
DC 14: With graceful wings and wide fins, this sleek dragon looks equally well equipped to glide through sea and sky. A closer look reveals this is a drake, a degenerate, cruel, and evil cousin of true dragons. A friend of yours claims flame drakes favor the crest of Droskar's Crag as a nesting perch and often terrorize the Darkmoon Vale.
DC 17: Drakes share many traits with true dragons—they have sturdy leathery wings, reptilian forms, dangerous breath, and the ability to speak—but have two legs instead of a true dragon's four and lack their greater intelligence. They like to travel in fearsome packs known as a rampage. A visiting lecturer once told the Almas U that the draconic monument known as the Sleeper, located deep in the Mindspin Mountains, draws drakes who lair in its chambers and the mountain beneath.
DC 20: River drakes, like this one, are typically about 8 feet in length and weigh around 700 lbs. They see perfectly well in all levels of light, including darkness, and can move easily in the air, land and sea - breathing both air and water. Occasionally, river drakes are known to achieve speeds of movement beyond the tracking ability of the mortal eye.
DC 23: Drakes do not increase in power by age to the degree that true dragons do and are typically less intelligent than true dragons. They lack the patience, diplomacy, and long-term planning of their greater relatives, making them more prone to violence. You read somewhere that giants across the Inner Sea region are known to breed and keep frost drakes and pets, minions, and even mounts for their allies.
DC 26: River drakes are not affected by magical sleep or paralysis from any source. They are also naturally resistant to acids. In combat, they use their wicked bite and powerfully muscular tails to devastating effect. River drakes are much more likely to hunt in groups than most other drakes, threatening river traffic or assaulting lakefront or riverside towns if their numbers are large enough. However, these disorganized raids are quick to retreat from any hint of significant resistance.
DC 29: Drakes are often viewed as very dangerous pests with some Golarion governments issuing bounties to reduce their populations. Others make contact and cut deals with individual drakes to defend property in exchange for treasure or ally with them to bolster a city's defenses. You remember hearing rumors a growing number of drakes may be corrupted by demonic forces of the Worldwound and are becoming half-fiends near the Winged Wood.
DC 32: River drakes are known to hock up massive loogies of caustic mucus and can spit the glob of nastiness across great distances and with unerring accuracy. Those hit by the yellowish, stinking crud are often incapable of freeing themselves from the substance and dissolve in an agonizing death only to be slurped up later by the attacking drake.
DC 35: Preying upon fish and fishermen with equal ease, river drakes are scourges of freshwater expanses. They are thought to be related to black dragons, as evidenced by their acidic spit, water affinity, viciousness, and preference for rotten meat. Like other drakes, river drakes are cruel hunters, using a play-and-prey hunting style. When not hungry, they amuse themselves by stalking and harassing other creatures and travelers.
DC 38: An offering of treasure thrown into the water can distract a river drake, but such a bribe is unlikely to stave off a particularly hungry individual. River drakes often slay more than they can immediately eat because they favor aged meat, keeping underwater larders stuffed with kills in various stages of decay.
DC 41: A river drake is a crafty, careful hunter that uses its watery home to provide concealment from creatures on the shore. If caught unawares while on land, it retreats to the water, or takes to flight if its enemies are prepared for aquatic combat, making constant use of its caustic mucus and great speed.
DC 13: This scaly humanoid has a long, fish-like tail. Its arms and legs end in webbed claws, and its piscine head features a toothy maw. They stand 7 feet tall and weigh about 250 pounds.
DC 16: You know a little of these creatures. They are cruel and plentiful in underwater environs. They breathe only water, but some possesses powerful magic that allow them to draw oxygen from the air. They see well in all forms of light, even complete darkness, but shun bright light. They are fast swimmers and can even move upon the land as long as they are able to breathe or hold their breath.
DC 19: Sahuagin appear as some sort of cross between humanoids and fish, while their frame has much in common with humans—they are larger with most sahuagin being at least seven foot tall—having two arms and two legs they also boast a tail that ends in a fish-like fin to help propel them through the water. A sahuagin's head is clearly piscine, with a mouth that gapes like a fish but it is filled with sharp, flesh-rending teeth.
DC 22: Sahuagin are fierce combatants, most attack from afar using powerful, underwater crossbows before closing with razor-sharp tined tridents. They are adept with fighting with their claws and teeth in conjunction with melee weapons.
DC 25: These creatures lose themselves when in the presence of blooded water; their base instincts overcoming rational thought and they attack with a near-mindless purpose of gobbling down as much flesh as their bellies can hold when blood is nearby. Its difficult to speak with sahuagin, but they often understand Taldan common speak and the Aquan language. They also appear to have some sort of silent communication they share with sharks, even though no known formal language such as this exists.
DC 28: Sahuagin can be found in most of Golarion's temperate seas from the Obari Ocean and the Inner Sea to the nearly endless expanse of the Arcadian Ocean. They build vast cities in the depths of the ocean that rival the air breathers' great metropolises, while near the shoreline they create impregnable fortresses from which to launch raid after raid against land dwellers. It is not just those above the waves whom the sahuagin hate, they are in constant conflict with other aquatic creatures such as the merfolk, gutaki and even the mighty aboleths. Their warlike tendencies have made the sahuagin one of Golarion's most hated races.
DC 31: Sahuagin’s preternaturally fast breeding cycle and short lives make them susceptible to wild mutations. When a mutant is born it almost always rises to the society's nobility or rulership. The most common sahuagin mutation is an extra pair of arms, but rumors among scholars speak of the rare malenti—sahuagin who look not like sharkmen but aquatic elves. Malenti are thought to serve as spies and assassins for sahuagin rulers, but rumors of all-malenti tribes in isolated reaches of the sea persist.
DC 34: While they are a threat to any creature they are near, the sahuagin are a particular threat in the western isles of the Shackles, especially around the port city of Ollo. You once read they are also one of the dominant races of the amphibious River Kingdom of Outsea, where they are strangely able to live in relative peace with the native population of merfolk. A visiting scholar from Tian Xia once lectured they are most commonly found in the undersea kingdom of Xidao, although they exist in smaller numbers than the dominant locathahs. They dwell in the many caverns and crevices which honeycomb the underwater trench known as the Aya-Maru, where they live in nearly constant conflict with local merrow tribes.
DC 15: This fierce creature merges the front half of a great cat with the tail and other characteristics of a giant fish.
DC 17: This is a magical beast, shaped by arcane machinations of lore which twisted the countenance of mundane beasts and bestowed upon it an intelligence beyond that possessed by its bestial ancestors.
DC 20: Sea cats are rare creatures. They are agile swimmers but clumsy on land. They see well in darkness and in light. These creatures breathe air, not water, but can hold their breath for 10 minutes between gulps of air. When not hunting they can be found on coastal rocks, coral islands, or even isolated beaches sunning themselves and digesting their most recent meals. Whether hunting or protecting its territory, a sea cat generally attacks immediately upon discovering a target, even when faced with a much larger or more dangerous foe.
DC 23: Sea cats are fearsome hunters and use their fore-claws and terrible teeth to shred their prey. They have tough hides and a hearty constitution. Among individual sea cats, their scales vary greatly in color and pattern, often influenced by the primary habitat of a given specimen; the most common sea cats, have bright coloration in striped or spotted patterns. A typical sea cat is 12 feet long and weighs upward of 800 pounds.
DC 26: Sea cats can survive in both fresh and saltwater, though most live in the ocean, where they can hunt a varied and consistent supply of food. A sea cat's diet typically consists of fish, crustaceans, and aquatic mammals (including seals and otters), but the creature's overpowering predatory and territorial instincts often lead it to attack ocean birds, humanoids, and even other aquatic predators like sharks and crocodiles. Coastal fishermen of the Inner Sea and Garund, where sea cats are known to dwell, watch vigilantly for these predators, because the beasts have learned that netted or hooked prey is easier to kill and steal from the line.
DC 28: The sea cat's low intelligence and high level of ferocity make it incredibly difficult to train or domesticate, though pirates and aquatic races have been known to try, with limited success.
Ted,
I'm definitely interested in any prep you've taken the time to do. I've eaten up what you've posted here and am heavily incorporating into my group's campaign.
Thanks in advance for anything you make available. As an aside, I've been looking for more information (homebrew or otherwise) on the Ioun Imperative than what's included but there doesn't seem to be much out there. Any suggestions?
Is there anything specific you would like to know? I have all 6 modules of the adventure path. I looked through them quickly, and most of the information we get is about the Spindle Solution rather than the Ioun Imperative at large, other than it being an intelligence agency that develops weapons for Azlant. Book 2 mentions one of the Spindle Solution's achievements: an area on the southernmost island on our map where people don't need to eat or drink to survive.
Other than that, most of the information is in book 6. I'll try to summarize it here:
We know that some of the things the Ioun Imperative developped were ioun golems that are used to protect places of importance and mezlans (intelligent oozes also presented in bestiary 6)(Mezlans were pretty much prototypes, they were never used past testing because they were too expensive/difficult to make).
High-ranking members of the Ioun Imperative used to wear helms that covered their face, hid their identity and allowed telepathy. The remaining helms are now worn by the leaders of the Pathfinder Society.
The Ioun Imperative was burdened by excessive bureaucracy (at least according to Jazradan).
From details given, I extrapolated that somehow, the Ioun Imperative didn't want Azlanti to overtake Arcadia, despite algollthu seemingly wanting Azlant to have power everywhere. That is something I've made up and might flesh out someday, though. All that is said is that some agents prevented a general from succeeding in Arcadia.
As you see, there wasn't much revealed about what the Ioun Imperative actually did. Most of the AP is focused on the Spindle Solution and specific individuals within the Ioun Imperative. It could be fun to work out some extra details, though.
If you want to, we could throw ideas back and forth and see what we manage to make up.
I've recently picked up book 6 from my FLGS so I'm going to run through it hopefully tonight or tomorrow and make some relevant notes. I'd definitely love to bandy some ideas back and forth with you Jackie (and Ted if he's interested).
I'm running the game as a PBP and my party has just finished clearing shellcracker caves so I want to make sure I get the vibe for both the imperative and the spindle solution correct. I really like the comparison to the DHARMA initiative in lost Ted! I've also used them as a plot device somewhat in the conversion of a dropped player into an NPC, leaving a clue about what happened to him pointing toward the spindle solution so I want to figure out how I'm going to tie that addition together.
Ted in general thanks so much for all the info, you're prolific and a much better note keeper than I am! I'm going to incorporate so much of this and I've now stickied this tab right next to my google slides and google spreadsheets i use for the game!
Sounds great, Beefy and Jackie. I guess I need to pick up the last two books in the AP. In the meantime, what specific names are listed in either the Ioun Imperative or the Spindle Solution? Are the Knights of the Ioun Star mentioned at all? (see Occult Mysteries).
reading time has been more limited than I hoped hahaha but I'll keep an eye out. Maybe over the long weekend here in Canada?
In the meantime I've answered my immediate question which is I could easily justify almost any "one-of" type of magical effect as research into ways to defeat the veiled masters so that's good news for my plot device.
Original idea was a poison that would siphon power of healing magic used on the wound and create a type of cancerous growth instead that would attack any innate regenerative abilities, permanently disabling them and causing any later healing magic applied to the target to fail.
Jackie, specific to the comment about the imperative not wanting Azlanti conquest of Arcadia to succeed do you think it was specifically the conquest of the single general or is it maybe more likely that it had something to do with algolthu desires to either protect themselves from potential threats on the continent or perhaps to protect another experiment?
I find the threat difficult to believe since until very near the end of Azlant and even then it doesn't seem like most Algolthu considered anything a threat but I'm interested in your thoughts.
Ted, I don't remember seeing anything about the Knights of the Ioun Star in this AP other than a mention in a small block about throneglass, simply stating that said knights were great at turning this material into weapons. As for known members of the Spindle Solution, there was Grand Arcanist Jazradan, who was leader of the Spindle Solution and whose projection players encounter in book 1 and multiple times after, Harighal, who was known as an ambassador from Thassilon, Lurisian, General Rashimos and Varliss, an elven advisor and ambassador. There are lots of details about these characters and their contributions to the Spindle Solution in the sixth volume of the AP, but for now, I understand you mostly need their names and titles.
As for General Rashimos' failure in Arcadia, Beefy, all we know is that she was successfully invading Arcadia when her efforts were stymied by the Azlanti government's intervention and Arcadians managed to push back through might and magic. Rashimos believe that is all the fault of the veiled master, but there is no indication as to why they would want to stop her, or even if it really was them. Could as well just be a blunder or sudden change of heart from Azlanti officials. I'm still trying to figure out what might have happened, and I don't even know if it will ever be relevant. XD But you're right, it's strange to think the algolthu would worry about anything at that point, so it may very well just be that Rashimos was looking for someone to pin the blame on.
I like your idea for the poison. Do some algolthu have innate regenerative abilities? I haven't found any, but I'll admit I just skimmed over a couple stat blocks. From what I've gathered, the Spindle Solution developed a few very powerful "doomsday" weapons. Other than that, I think they focused on things that would better the mind of humans and protect them against mind control, various weapons allying magic and technology, and creating mindless allies (oozes, constructs), which can't be mind-controlled. Outwardly, I think they developped many ioun stones and made them more widely available to people to make their lives easier. One of their means of making the magic from ioun stones available was the tower I told you about in an earlier post.
I like the idea of the Ioun Imperative being pretty much the CIA or MI6 of cold war era fiction: sending agents all over the world to gather information, sometimes creating alliances and trading technologies, creating some brand new gadgets (the ioun stones that are more practical for adventurers and warriors than for the general population, for example), spreading whatever information or misinformation they believed would further the goals of their nation.
Through this, the algolthu would have simply sought to gain information and influence in other regions. Perhaps the development and spreading of arcane knowledge and technology could also serve them to counter the rise of religions, which they abhor, by giving people other options which they may deem more effective. That didn't exactly work, even in Azlant, but it could still have been part of the algolthu's ongoing plan. That, I'm just making up on my own, though. In fact, a large portion of this post is me extrapolating and having fun trying to fill in the details.
On another note, what has everyone's impression been concerning the fuath at the beginning of the adventure?
I'm thinking about maybe replacing it with some kind of crab, because as it is, I feel like it's just another sentient thing going after the colonists, but this one is harder to tie in with the rest, which makes the environment seem not only dangerous, but downright hostile.
Has this been a fun encounter? If the PCs didn't find it, what did you do with it? If the players don't find it right away, I feel like sending it into the village to kill some npc would just be sad and not leave the players much chance to protect their people, but maybe it could still be good if I do it right? Another idea I had, if I don't remove it, is tying it to Helekterie, since those gremlins apparently revere sea hags. Maybe it could go into the village, but only kill some farm animal and steal something, then run back to Helekterie, or it could wreak havoc on the boat when it comes back a few weeks later, forcing the sailors to stay for a few days while the boat gets repaired and provisions get replenished? I just don't know what it might actually decide to do to try to impress Helekterie.
If you're inclined to keep it I certainly feel like tying it to the hag makes the most sense. It would also provide for a nice bit of foreshadowing the hags presence in Module 1. My Pc's missed it entirely, showing absolutely no interest in examining the sunken boat once they came ashore, though they also bypassed all the ankhegs, the swarm, and only partially dealt with Silas so it's going to be an interesting return to the colony.
I think if you don't tie the Gremlin to the hag you should definitely replace it, it seemed to me like they just picked Gremlin out of a hat without much thought about why it would choose to lair so close to an obvious settlement.
I think I also like your ideas of the algolthu purpose for the Ioun Imperative. Maybe the spreading magic/tech was just another way of keeping tabs on how civilizations outside their experiment were developing. They always seemed convinced of their own superiority while simultaneously being very cautious to keep feelers everywhere for potential threats. Maybe in that way the imperative served multiple purposes?
The poison itself I envisioned as being designed to make sure any veiled masters they wounded stayed wounded. While they don't have any innate regenerative abilities the Spindle Solution was aware of how secretive the veiled masters were and how likely they might be to retreat if directly confronted. While developing the doomsday weapons on a grand scale it made sense to me that they'd look to develop ways their agents could ensure any damage inflicted on a tactical level was lasting or at the very least difficult to overcome.
Great ideas and info here.
As for the fuath, in both of the games I'm running the party missed it initially, eventually stumbling upon it before it attacked any colonists. Personally, I felt it was oddly placed and odd that there was only one - the bestiary lists a possible organization of 'solitary', but I have a hard time seeing this thing living as a hermit on a mostly deserted island content to sleep under a sunken canoe when it could be out with a pack of its mates, gleefully causing mischief and mayhem to sailors on the open sea.
That said, there were a couple of significant perks to this encounter. It was an easy water encounter so the PCs got to try out some more aquatic combat, discovering a few little nuggets of knowledge, such as submerged targets have total cover from surface attacks. That's a good one to know.
One party opted for no melee classes, thinking they would rely on their summoner's eidolon to act as their meat-shield, but in this battle the summoner failed his save against the fuath's simple sleep spell and suddenly, poof, no more eidolon, which uncovered a major weakness in their party composition. Good times.
That congealed water ability was important, too, because one group was feeling extreme panic after that got plopped on one of them, thinking the PC was going to immediately drown. That was the first encounter where they realized how long they could hold their breath.
Outside of game mechanics, in both games the parties are trying to connect the dots between the sabotaged canoe, the plum tree note where the canoe and Barnabus are mentioned, and the discovery of Baranabus's mutilated body at Spindlelock. At first they thought the fuath was part of the story, but now they are not so sure, so the gremlin has served as a red herring, of sorts. Too many red herrings, though, can be overly frustrating to the players. I see how a connection to the sea hag could be interesting. Perhaps the fuath serves as her scout or spy. If so, consider giving it a similar talisman to bypass the sound-burst trap at Nal-Shakar - a duplicate in appearance but not in function as a necklace of water breathing at the start of the game would be unbalancing, imho.
You've convinced me, Ted. Showing players how they can survive for a short while underwater by using Congeal Water does seem like something useful to let them better grasp the rules.
As for the necklace, doesn't it just give air-breathing and a land speed to aquatic creatures? I doubt that would do any good for most parties (at least not mine, they are three humans, a dwarf and a halfling), and it would likely be difficult to sell. In fact, there are so many of these necklaces in the adventure that I will surely have to reduce the price at which they can be sold (or how many of them they can sell before flooding the market). I'll have to calculate how much the net value comes up to at some point when the group gets close to book 2.
As for the necklace, doesn't it just give air-breathing and a land speed to aquatic creatures? I doubt that would do any good for most parties (at least not mine, they are three humans, a dwarf and a halfling), [snip]
Ha! Yes...Necklace of Air Adaption, not Necklace of Water Breathing (silly me). Clearly my groups haven't reached Skurnagh or Nal-Shakar, yet! so, heck ya, give the gremlin the same talisman and if the PCs figure out what it does it can only increase they mystery! I like it!
BTW, is anyone listening to the Glass Canon podcast of their Azlant game? I've found it entertaining and worth the $5/month. (They missed the fuath, too!)
I'd contemplated the podcast but hadn't pulled the trigger on it yet but you may have convinced me!
My PC's are currently on board the Peregrine on it's way back to Talmandor's Bounty from the Shellcracker caves. I think I'm going to mention the Canoe as they make their way into the bay and remind them that it was mentioned in the note they found under the tree, gently nudge them towards investigating.
I like your idea Ted of using a similar talisman for the Fuath to link him to the Hag. I might even have him all scarred up and grizzled looking to suggest that maybe he's older or was pushed out of a pack by another male if someone wants to make an appropriate knowledge check.
I'm always very leery about adjusting treasure values in adventures, I like to think the designers have balanced the WPL appropriately, though I do have some difficulty with "send it away on the boat and get money" for the same reason you do Jackie, who the hell is buying this thing? I'd feel a lot better about them being unable to sell something like the air adaptation necklace until they make contact with the Locathah in book 2.
I know the modules specifically mention that gear helping with underwater movement is devalued in the underwater city by 25% so maybe you turn that around and devalue air-breathing equipment above water. Do something like let them sell it via the boat for 25% market value or through the Locathah for 50% market value?
Have either of you done much replacement/modification of the stock loot? I'm trying to avoid the magic market "I sell a thing and get exactly what I want" by sprinkling some stuff off PC wishlists throughout the modules in place of listed items of equal value but I don't want just happening to find exactly what you want to create a similar problem. Suggestions?
I haven't listened to the Glass Cannon podcast, mostly because I'm already trying to keep up with too many broadcast games. Also I think I'd rather experience the story just with my group. Reading highlights here can give me inspiration, but I don't really want to see the whole story unfold with completely different characters.
I'm actually only in the process of prepping the first few levels, since we should be starting the game at some point in August (our usual GM has said he would go all the way to the end of the current chapter of RoTR we are in before we make the switch so he can get a break). Therefore, I can't comment much on how things might work out, but I intend to make a few changes (not too many) to the loot.
Here's what I'm trying to do : Anything that is significant to the plot has to stay. Other than that, I might switch an item or two here and there to give my players things that they really want. I'll try to keep some balance between giving them what they want in loot, letting some of it appear in "marketplaces" based on what would make sense for the place they are in, and requiring that they order specific items from Andoran and wait for them. I don't think it's a problem if they get the items they ask for, especially since my group tends not to ask for much, so long as it doesn't always show up the same way.
Looking at the loot, this adventure gives a lot of it: the devs made sure players would be able to adventure underwater despite the high price of some necessary items and that players wouldn't be under-geared if they skip some encounters. It gets even worse if you decide to throw in a few items from the end of the books, too (which I intend to do because some of them are really cool and I like dropping unique items my players don't know about). My players are completionists, so I'm sure they will get too much gear at some point. I'll have to keep track of that. I don't mind them having more gear than normal, as a lot of it is mostly utility and cool stuff that doesn't break the game. However, if I see they have way too much, I'll make some items sell at a lower price and sometimes even not sell at all if needed, and maybe things they order from the mainland will cost a little more or something.
Another thing I've contemplated for balancing the wealth distribution is offering them the chance to "sell" some of their items in return for status in the colony. Maybe they could essentially buy their way into a new noble caste on the island? More specific to my players I had a few ideas:
-Taran Feywilder is the son of a disgraced noble fallen on hard times in Andoran so maybe I could coerce him to spend some money either helping his family regain noble status back home or buying them a place in the colony.
-Gazrul is a Shark-Shaman Druid who worships Gozreh and I think I'm going to have some townsfolk approach him about offering sermons for the nature god, maybe in conjunction with the Erastilian priest since their deities often coexist quite peaceably. Maybe he'd be willing to invest some money/effort into a church or into expanding the existing on.
-Bastin Malora is a sea-elf scholar who's obsessed with Azlanti lore. He's already latched onto the statue found in shellcracker cave so I'm hoping I can convince him to fund an archaeological expedition.
My other two players will be harder. One is playing a Yaddithian wizard who lived among the azlanti and at the time was a powerful wizard who survived earthfall by channeling the very essence of himself into some kind of protective stasis spell that recently failed. We hand-wavium'd this as reducing him to level 1 and making his memories very foggy. I'm unsure how I'd get him to "invest" extra wealth but maybe having him hire researchers to come work ruins where we find signs of his presence (I'm going to be tying him into the spindle solution's work). The other is playing a Gnomish Paladin of Erastil but he's a young kid (another players son, 15 ish) and he's still very light on the RP but we'll get him there!
Anyway I'm not sure how useful any of that is to anyone but that's where I'm at with diluting extra wealth. I'd rather have them spend it on some non-combat/story stuff then just tell them "it doesn't sell" but maybe that's just me.
Also, any thoughts on that damn statue? I know for sure they're going to dig it up and all I've mentioned to them via knowledge checks is that there are records of several statues that would be approximately that size (based on my google-fu and the size of the hand 200 ish feet tall from toe to head plus the extended arm length) but I've given them little other than that and need to start figuring it out so brainstorming is appreciated!
Your ideas for diluting wealth sound like a good solution. It's in part what I'm expecting to see happen in our game. While I like your ideas overall, I do have a few things to say about some specific characters.
I'm not sure regaining noble status would even be a possibility in Andoran, considering how the Andoran people perceive the whole concept of nobility. That doesn't mean Taran can't try to get back in people's good graces by offering them something (for reputation) or by building some commercial thing (for power, since business seems to be the new big, influential thing in Andoran).
As for the Paladin, maybe he will want to contribute something just to help people around him? Erastil is a god of community, after all. Make the npcs likable enough and give them some big challenge, and hopefully the paladin will want to help.
The wizard does sound a little harder to tie in, but what you have seems pretty fun. Just be careful about how much knowledge he has of the Spindle Solution. The level of power required for the stasis spell and the knowledge of the coming of Earthfall seem to place him pretty high up in the ranks of the Spindle Solution, but book 5 revolves entirely around the players not knowing where the Spindle Solution's secret base (The one where they stored the doomsday weapons, rather than the official one) is located. I'm sure you could make this work by saying he was tied to a different, specific project and that information about the location of that base (he might only vaguely know that there is one) and its content was on a strictly need-to-know basis.
For sinking extra gold as a group, maybe you could get some inspiration from the kingdom building rules? I've seen someone here on the forums who did that. Letting players use some of the money to contribute to building better defenses, trade or amenities for the community is a good way to sink extra gold. Hopefully the "it doesn't sell, you'll need to wait to find a buyer" solution will be very rare. Also, if it does happen, I'll probably be very honest with the players about my mistakes putting in too much treasure. Knowing them, if they have not already started contributing to the colony, they probably will at that point, quite frankly.
As for the statue, I haven't thought much about it. Perhaps it represents a goddess, such as Jaidi or Lissala as she was first worshiped? Or it could be a statue of some noble or some very important scholar who made an important discovery? It depends on what part of Azlanti culture you want to show more prominently. (Edit: It seems to me like the Azlanti loved any reason to praise someone and uphold a model, and wished even more to see their own person and lineage gain status in the society.) Part of me wonders if there was some object that was originally set in the hand of the statue. It could even have been a sort of lighthouse, with the statue holding up some gigantic luminous gem or contraption. That's about all I can think of for now. I'll be back if I think of something else.
Sounds great, Beefy and Jackie. I guess I need to pick up the last two books in the AP. In the meantime, what specific names are listed in either the Ioun Imperative or the Spindle Solution? Are the Knights of the Ioun Star mentioned at all? (see Occult Mysteries).
Re-reading parts of book 2, I just found another brief mention of the Knights. apparently, they send expeditions to search for Azlanti lore, and they must have found this island at some point and died there (at least one), because some loot (p. 35) has their sigil on it.
Specific to your wizard comment his elevator pitch was "time shifted wizard with extreme memory loss" so it's nice because I get to essentially "invent" his backstory as I "reveal" his memories to him. That way if I want to include him even in the upper echelon of the spindle solution's work I can just not reveal anything meaningful until they're there and even then maybe just as flashes or images rather than specific information. I'm still working out exactly how connected I want him to be but I like the idea of having his past entwined.
That's an interesting point you make about Andoran, I've never done much adventuring/reading about them other than very superficially so I guess I need to look into how they view nobility. Certainly gives more credence to the moving them to the colony idea though and then maybe the long term redemption is amassing enough economic power on the island to buyback some of their ancestral properties and essentially "force" a return to nobility? I'll have to investigate how exactly their noble caste works and see if that fits thematically.
Using downtime rules, I’ve not had any problems with either the adventure’s “economy” nor that of Talmandor’s Bounty. I’ve stressed with my players that the colony operates only partially on the gold-coin standard, in that minted coins, seashells, coconuts, help building a fence or hauling rocks, or a fresh baked loaf of banana bread all have value that is worked out and agreed upon outside the game, so there is no need to roleplay these transactions in game. Once the players had absorbed the concept of capital in terms of Goods, Labor, Magic and Influence, things have run smoothly.
That being said, the players also realize the availability of goods to purchase or barter for is extremely limited I Talmandor’s Bounty. We are just into book 2 and I haven’t presented them with a Supply ship, yet - nor do they expect one any time soon. They have not yet encountered the locathas yet, either. Instead, they have each taken up crafting and, using downtime rules, they have built workshops, alchemy labs, etc., as additions to their colony hut.
Jackie, you are right, there is plenty of loot in the adventure to keep them happy. They do have excess loot, which they keep locked up in the hut (extra potions, defoliant, spare weapons, etc) which they “check out” from the party-appointed quartermaster on a daily basis as they explore Ancorata. I have switched out the types of weapons found in the adventure so that they are most useful to the party. The long sword at the Levin farm is a rapier in one group and a scimitar in the other. Urgleblurglablerg’s (the named skum in Spindlelock) is a seaborn mace in one group, etc. I’ve also sprinkled in unworked gems, mother of pearl, ivory, coral, etc, into monster loot bags and lairs to give some flavor and to give the PCs some extra spending money.
Beefy - I was totally hoping one of my groups would try to unearth that statue in the Shellcracker caves, but, no luck for me. Have fun with that! It shouldn’t be easy and it should be fairly dangerous! High tide could submerge the cave, new beasties could try to inhabit it, there could be cave in accidents if they don’t think to shore up the walls, etc. My suggestion would be to play it up as they dig deeper about the perfect godlike arm and majestic raiments they uncover as they dig, then maybe when they reach the head it’s covered in plaster, when they break the plaster it reveals the visage of a hideous, long forgotten, Azlanti demon or devil...make aWill save...let the screams,and panic commence...etc. Loads of fun.
Ted, I definitely like the idea of making the excavation part of some side-questy goodness. I'm pretty sure based on the available material that the chamber normally doesn't see any water but I think you're right that an exceptionally high tide (storm etc.) could flood it and any excavation within.
I'm not sure how I feel about the covered face being some kind of demon. Do we have any evidence that Azlantians would have allowed/permitted a statue of that size to an evil entity like ademon? I think they'd have been much more likely building one honoring one of their gods or a particularly accomplished Azlantian. They've always seemed extremely vain to me, reveling in their own superiority.
I'm definitely going to have to work something out for the excavation though, I'd like to make that a big event that I can stretch out over the course of the adventure.
Did anyone have Urlgryber flee and rally with Eliza and Rayland? If so, did you abandon the ruse (that Eliza had planned) in favor of immediately assaulting the PCs, or did you come up with another tactic?
My PC's have not reached this point yet but I'm hoping to have him join the combat. My only caveat to the suggested double-cross written into the AP is that I'd like Urlgryber to be in on the deception.
My PC's have already shown a penchant for not murder-hoboing intelligent creatures who surrender (Enter the newest NPC in the colony Dridgaz the monkey goblin) so I'm hoping they can subdue him and then he'll have an opportunity to escape. Nothing like a recurring/returning villain to pull PC's in and make them feel personally invested!
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Did anyone have Urlgryber flee and rally with Eliza and Rayland? If so, did you abandon the ruse (that Eliza had planned) in favor of immediately assaulting the PCs, or did you come up with another tactic?
I was going to have him bolt as soon as it was clear he was out-gunned, but he never made it. If he had made it, I think its important for the story to try some form of ruse. Presumably, Ochymua is listening in through Arkley and will want to prolong the encounter in order to learn what it can by studying the PCs. If Urlg makes it up there, it will just make the ruse harder to sell. Perhaps Urlg could pretend to hold Eliza and Rayland at spear(glaive) point and try to get the PCs to back-off - or he might pretend to take the two as hostages and leave the tower. If Urlg gets up there and you just immediately have the trio attack the PCs, then you miss out on all of the oddness of this encounter and for the chance that the PCs can figure out that there is a sinister force behind the scenes.
Even if Urlg doesnt make it to the third floor, the players are going to see through the ruse because Eliza and Rayland have all of their equipment, something that wouldn't happen if they were truly prisoners. Also, if the players have done their homework on alpha-colony, that will know that Rayland should be the one calling the shots as governor, not Eliza. And, if they found the plum tree note, they should know that there was a schism in the colony with Eliza and Rayland on opposite sides. All of this, together with the slime, should cause more than enough suspicion to keep the ruse from succeeding for long.
I was really pleased how this encounter went down with my first group to get through it. The players had kept meticulous notes and accurately deduced what was going on - to the point of figuring out that Rayland was resisting some form of mind control and that Eliza was not (successful sense motives). Eliza perished in this encounter, but they captured Arkley and we even had a tense several moments as one of the players began roleplaying a one-way conversation/intimidation through Arkely and directed at whatever was controlling him. It took the rest of the players a minute, or so, to figure out what was going on and when they did there was silence around the table before one of them said, "Well, you've just guaranteed that whenever we meet the final boss, he's going to be really, really pissed at us."
My PC's have not reached this point yet but I'm hoping to have him join the combat. My only caveat to the suggested double-cross written into the AP is that I'd like Urlgryber to be in on the deception.
My PC's have already shown a penchant for not murder-hoboing intelligent creatures who surrender (Enter the newest NPC in the colony Dridgaz the monkey goblin) so I'm hoping they can subdue him and then he'll have an opportunity to escape. Nothing like a recurring/returning villain to pull PC's in and make them feel personally invested!
That's really great that your players are interested in deliberating with intelligent creatures because there are A LOT in this AP. That's going to make for tons of great intrigue.
That's really great that your players are interested in deliberating with intelligent creatures because there are A LOT in this AP. That's going to make for tons of great intrigue.My PC's have not reached this point yet but I'm hoping to have him join the combat. My only caveat to the suggested double-cross written into the AP is that I'd like Urlgryber to be in on the deception.
My PC's have already shown a penchant for not murder-hoboing intelligent creatures who surrender (Enter the newest NPC in the colony Dridgaz the monkey goblin) so I'm hoping they can subdue him and then he'll have an opportunity to escape. Nothing like a recurring/returning villain to pull PC's in and make them feel personally invested!
I totally agree that the ruse is pretty hard to pull off, but that it's still worthwhile to attempt. My party just entered the bottom floor of the tower and is battling the skum and clockwork servants. The book didn't mention any sophisticated sound dampening between the floors so I'm going to have Urlgryber run down to the first floor to assist his soldiers (there's a lot of commotion). To aid in the later ruse at the third floor, I'm going to have Eliza suggest that her and Rayland's minds and bodies have been tampered with and that she suspects that she and Rayland were going to be used to oppose the colonists (hence why she and Rayland are fully equipped). Still a hard sell, but a bit better I think.
I think that's believable enough though that the PC's may fall for it. Especially since under a sense motive in my opinion they'd just sense that she's telling them the truth unless they had an epically good rool to notice she was leaving something out (lying with the truth).
My PC's are still bumbling around the Colony tidying up stuff they missed on the first run through (blood maize, ankheg nymph in the barracks, mama ankheg). We do PBP so it goes pretty slowly, we've gotten this far in a year and a half hahaha so that tells you the pacing for PBP. I could push everyone to post more often but so far this has been manageable for everyone and we've actually had a pace increase the last few months since the party seems to finally have solidified (had 3 players drop and get replaced in the first year).
I am preparing to run this AP. All of the feedback and insights have been tremendously helpful. I have decided that I really like the idea of this being an expedition that the PC's need to apply for. Using the information I had read about the Mars-One initiative (to establish a permanent human settlement on Mars) I altered it to reflect the Bountiful Venture Companies process.
This sounds really cool, I've already yoinked your text and begun adapting it to my own into - combining it with material from the RoA Player's Guide and adapting it to my campaign world. The fact that this is ideas you've borrowed from a Mars initiative is even more fitting as I plan on making this about settling the moon.
I know I'm setting myself up for a lot of work with this, but we're barely halfway through another AP being run by another DM, so I have quite a while to work on this.
Has anyone thought of trying to actually do a prologue based upon the interview process? Maybe with some skill checks and Charisma checks?
Allowing those who can pass the interview process to begin better equipped and perhaps with a bonus trait or some such as an award for making an appropriate character, and slotting in those who "fail" as a last minute alternate (who doesn't get that kind of perk).
I've not done that but if you have a group who'd be into that kind of RP I think it's a great way to get some PC buy-in right off the get go. My only comment would be to make sure the interview "encounter" is run in such a way that it's not a succeed or suck effect where a single roll spells failure and no "bonus" for that player. The last thing you want is 2/3 of the PC's to succeed and have the guy who failed feeling left out or cheated of the perk.
Maybe to avoid that you could run it like a skill challenge from 4E (I think they were 4E) and involve the entire party. I've done some encounters that way, allowing the PC's to RP there way through why there skill was relevant etc and had great success, in particular with a chase scene and a negotiation I've run in the past.