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I'm running an Echo Wood campaign using Thornkeep and the Emerald Spire and there is not a dedicated thread that non-PFS GMs are allowed to use. I've literally been told not to post in PFS threads, so I may as well start a thread here.
My players started the campaign ostensibly with the desire to enter the Emerald Spire and explore it in its fullest. To that end, they had to gain the permission of the Hellknights in Ft.Inevitable, as the site is restricted due to it being a source of unending evil. They accepted a mission from the Hellknights to capture Krenar Half-Face, a Numerian Alchemist.
Krenar is currently hiding out in the Forgotten Laboratory beneath Thornkeep. The Hellknights reveal that he has been a thorn in their side and that they do not have the resources to track him down whilst maintaining law and order along the Crusader Road.
In the actual module, there is little to no motivation or backstory provided for Krenar. The design of the level is nice, but I had to modify a few things to make it more appealing to a group of seasoned Pathfinder players who've seen everything over the years.
In the following posts, I'll add some of my changes and additions to the module.
For the upper levels of the Accursed Halls, I decided to add Azlanti artifacts that had been gathered by the goblins. There isn't much unique Azlanti technology or magic to be discovered in the module and I felt that this should be rectified.
I grabbed the Sunken Empires book from Open Design/Midgard Press and used their Ankeshellian artifacts for Azlanti discoveries. I won't list which ones I used here, rather just point out that book as a good sourcebook that can be used to enrich this module.
To that end, I've decided to use the timeworn rules from Paizo's Technology Guide.
I also created a unique artifact to modify some of the goblins in the Accursed Halls encounters. There are only so many goblins PCs can fight and it not become an absolute slog.
Appearing as a simple pearl, this locus of compressed force magic expands around the user when held in hand. The force sphere encases the user and gives them the benefits of the force creature template (see Advanced Bestiary) for one minute. The sphere loses resonance and dissolves after the duration comes to an end.
I modified Murgmo to make her a mythic adversary using Mythic Adventures and Mythic Heroes Handbook.
Murgmo the Oracle CR 4
XP 1,200
Goblin oracle (seeker) 4/Hierophant 1 ( Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Pathfinder Society Field Guide , Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 42, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 156)
NE Small humanoid (goblinoid)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +2 —————
Defense —————
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +2 Dex, +1 size)
hp 44 (4d8+12)
Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +6; +4 Competence bonus vs. disease
Defensive Abilities hard to kill —————
Offense —————
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk longspear +4 (1d6-1/×3) or
unarmed strike +3 (1d2-1 nonlethal)
Space 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft. (10 ft. with masterwork longspear)
Special Attacks faith's reach MA, mythic power (5/day, surge +1d6)
Oracle (Seeker) Spells Known (CL 4th; concentration +9)
2nd (3/day)— cure moderate wounds , hold person (DC 13), resist energy
1st (7/day)— bless, burning disarm (DC 12), burning hands (DC 12), cause fear (DC 12), cure light
wounds
0 (at will)— bleed (DC 11), create water, detect magic , light my fire , read magic , resistance
Mystery FlameM —————
Statistics —————
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 13
Base Atk +3; CMB +1; CMD 13
Feats Combat Casting, Improved Initiative
Skills Appraise +2, Bluff -3, Diplomacy -3, Disable Device +9, Disguise -3, Escape Artist +2, Knowledge
(arcana) +5 (+9 spells), Knowledge (history) +5, Knowledge (planes) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5,
Profession (medium) +6, Ride +5, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +5 (+9 spells), Stealth +13, Use Magic
Device +1; Racial Modifiers +4 Ride, +4 Stealth
Languages Azlanti, Goblin
SQ oracle's curse (wasting), recalled blessing MA, revelation (burning magic M
), seeker lore, trapfinding +2
Combat Gear acid, acid; Other Gear mwk chain shirt, mwk longspear, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch,
candle (10), flint and steel, hemp rope (50 ft.), mess kit UE, pot, soap, trail rations (5), waterskin, vril
cream, 1,650 gp —————
Tracked Resources —————
Acid - 0/1
Acid - 0/1
Mythic Power (5/day, Surge +1d6) - 0/5
Trail rations - 0/5 —————
Special Abilities —————
Burning Magic [Mythic] (1 + spell level fire dmg, 1d4 rounds) (Su) Fire damage from spells deal extra damage (1/spell level) and catches foes and objects on fire for 1d4 rds.
Combat Casting +4 to Concentration checks to cast while on the defensive.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Faith's Reach (Su) Your touch divine spells have a range of 30 ft.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Mythic Mystery (Power) Increase power of revelations granted by mysteries.
Recalled Blessing (Su) Use 1 power, cast known/memorized divine spell for free, non-mythic foes must
save twice, you roll twice for healing amt.
Seeker Lore (Ex) +4 to Knowledge (arcana) and Spellcraft checks related to bonus spells.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Trapfinding +2 Gain a bonus to find or disable traps, including magical ones.
Wasting +4 competence bonus to save vs. Disease
p2
For the Forgotten Laboratory, I decided that Krenar was a Kellid from Silvermount who found himself in opposition to the Technic League. It was far enough back in his timeline that I figured it didn't matter if he was a former member of the League or just a local Kellid. It's fluid to make it work best for the campaign.
He traveled to Szamrak's Haven (see Numeria: Land of Fallen Stars) and allied himself with the android army therein. To this end, he traveled to the River Kingdoms and the Echo Wood in the search of ancient Azlanti artifacts to help the android army battle the Technic League.
Now he has a decent background and motivations for being in Thornkeep.
In order to beef up the threat of Krenar, I gave him an android enforcer named "IO" (pronounced eye-oh). He says "IO" before and after everything he says.
IO uses the stats for the Android Imposter presented in the Numeria Campaign Setting book. The same stats are also available on the d20pfsrd, for now.
Human (Kellid) alchemist 6/Genius 3 ( Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide 26)
CE Medium humanoid (human)
Hero Points 1
Init +7; Senses Perception +5 (+4 when adjacent to open flames or on fire) —————
Defense —————
AC 23, touch 15, flat-footed 18 (+8 armor, +4 Dex, +1 dodge)
hp 69 (6d8+21)
Fort +6, Ref +9, Will +3; -1 vs. fire effects, -1 when adjacent to open flames or on fire, +4 bonus vs.
poison
Defensive Abilities hard to kill; DR 10/melee or magic; Immune critical hits —————
Offense —————
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee dagger +4 (1d4/19-20) or
unarmed strike +4 (1d3 nonlethal)
Ranged bomb +11 (3d6+4 fire)
Special Attacks bomb 9/day (3d6+3 fire, DC 16), deadly throw, mythic power (9/day, surge +1d6)
Alchemist Extracts Prepared (CL 6th; concentration +9)
2nd—alter self , invisibility, protection from arrows , spider climb
1st—bomber's eye APG
, bottled ooze (tar jelly) , expeditious retreat, shield, true strike —————
Statistics —————
Str 10, Dex 18, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +4; CMB +4; CMD 19
Feats Brew Potion, Dodge, Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot M
, Technologist, Throw Anything
Traits divine the mystery, firebug, meticulous concoction
Skills Acrobatics -1 (-2 when adjacent to open flames or on fire, -5 to jump), Appraise +8 (+7 when
adjacent to open flames or on fire), Bluff -1 (-2 when adjacent to open flames or on fire, -1 to feint
against intelligent constructs), Climb -4 (-5 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Craft (alchemy) +10
(+9 when adjacent to open flames or on fire, +16 to create alchemical items), Craft (firearms) +7 (+6
when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Craft (lost technology) +7 (+6 when adjacent to open flames or
on fire), Craft (mechanical) +7 (+6 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Craft (weapons) +7 (+6 when
adjacent to open flames or on fire), Diplomacy +1 (+0 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Disable
Device +7 (+6 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Disguise -1 (-2 when adjacent to open flames or
on fire), Escape Artist +0 (-1 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Fly -1 (-2 when adjacent to open
flames or on fire), Heal +12 (+11 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Intimidate -1 (-2 when
adjacent to open flames or on fire), Knowledge (arcana) +10 (+9 when adjacent to open flames or on
fire), Knowledge (engineering) +8 (+7 when adjacent to open flames or on fire, +10 to identify creatures
with the robot subtype and relics of Numerian technology), Knowledge (nature) +7 (+6 when adjacent to
open flames or on fire), Perception +5 (+4 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Ride -1 (-2 when
adjacent to open flames or on fire), Sense Motive +2 (+1 when adjacent to open flames or on fire),
Sleight of Hand +3 (+2 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Spellcraft +7 (+6 when adjacent to open
flames or on fire), Stealth +0 (-1 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Survival +5 (+4 when adjacent
to open flames or on fire), Swim -4 (-5 when adjacent to open flames or on fire), Use Magic Device +8
(+7 when adjacent to open flames or on fire)
Languages Azlanti, Common, Gnoll, Hallit, Orc
SQ alchemyM
(alchemy crafting +6), amazing initiative, assured drinker MA, burned, discoveries (bottled
oozeUM, explosive bomb, precise bombs [3 squares]), hero points, imprinting hand MA, mutagen (+4/-2, +2 natural armor, 60 minutes), mythic discoveries, poison use, recuperation, swift alchemy, tinker supplies
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds , potion of cure serious wounds (2), wand of acid arrow (12
charges), acid (2), alchemist's fire (2), alchemist's kindness APG (2), antiplague APG (2), antitoxin (2),
bloodblockAPG (2), gravity grenade, healer's kit, hemochem (grade iv), slime grenade, smelling salts APG
, smokestick (2), sonic grenade, soothe syrup APG (2), tanglefoot bundle (2); Other Gear smart armor,
dagger, arcanolembic (3), handy haversack , a study in numerian fluids & alchemy, alchemy crafting kit APG
, bedroll, belt pouch, black hologram generator, bottle of strong brandy (1.5 lb), brown force field, copy of a
keyUE, flint and steel, ink, inkpen, mess kit UE, pot, soap, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, 3,482 gp, 6
sp, 9 cp —————
Tracked Resources —————
Acid - 0/2
Alchemist's fire - 0/2
Alchemist's kindness - 0/2
Amazing Initiative (1/round) (Ex) - 0/1
Antiplague - 0/2
Antitoxin - 0/2
Bloodblock - 0/2
Bomb 3d6+3 (9/day, DC 16) (Su) - 0/9
Dagger - 0/1
Force field, brown (10 charges) - 0/10
Force field, brown (Fast Healing 1, 5 hp) - 0/5
Grenade, gravity - 0/1
Grenade, sonic - 0/1
Healer's kit - 0/10
Hemochem (grade IV) - 0/1
Hologram generator, black (20 charges) - 0/20
Meticulous Concoction (1/day) - 0/1
Mythic Power (9/day, Surge +1d6) - 0/9
Potion of cure light wounds - 0/1
Potion of cure serious wounds - 0/2
Slime grenade - 0/1
Smart armor (60 charges) - 0/60
Smelling salts - 0/1
Smokestick - 0/2
Soothe syrup - 0/2
Tanglefoot bundle - 0/2
Torch - 0/10
Trail rations - 0/5
Wand of acid arrow (12 charges) - 0/12 —————
Special Abilities —————
Alchemy [Mythic] +6 (Su) +6 to Craft (Alchemy) to create alchemical items, can Id potions by touch. 1
MP: Spend mythic power create extracts.
Amazing Initiative (1/round) (Ex) As a free action, use 1 power to gain an extra standard action (can't
be used to cast a spell).
Assured Drinker (Ex) No AoO for drinking while threatened, use 1 power to retrieve and drink as a swift
action.
Bomb 3d6+3 (9/day, DC 16) (Su) Thrown Splash Weapon deals 3d6+3 fire damage.
Bottled Ooze The alchemist has learned how to preserve a sample of oozes in a sealed bottle, which he
can prepare for use as an extract. When the alchemist activates the extract, he actually throws the bottle at a square within 30 feet, releasing the ooze, which
Burned -1 to save vs. fire, -1 attacks, saves, skill checks if you are adjacent to or on fire.
Damage Reduction (10/melee or magic) You have Damage Reduction against non-magical ranged
weapons.
Deadly Throw (Ex) 1 MP: roll twice for a ranged attack adding your tier to the roll.
Explosive Bomb (Su) Bombs have splash radius 10 ft. and those directly hit catch fire.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Hero Points Hero Points can be spent at any time to grant a variety of bonuses.
Immunity to Critical Hits You are immune to Critical Hits
Imprinting Hand (Su) Touch foe to learn weaknesses, form connection and can know its location (up to 1
mi).
Mutagen (DC 16) (Su) Mutagen adds +4/-2 to physical/mental attributes, and +2 nat. armor for 60
minutes.
Mythic Discoveries (Ex) Effects of alchemist and arcane discoveries or machinesmith tricks are
considered 4 levels higher.
Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Poison Use You do not risk poisoning yourself accidentally while poisoning a weapon.
Precise Bombs (Su) Exclude up to 3 squares from splash damage of your bombs.
Precise Shot [Mythic] Ranged attacks can damage foe types that are normally immune to ranged
attacks.
Recuperation (Ex) Fully heal after 8 hrs rest, use 1 power and 1 hr to heal half and restore all nonmythic abilities.
Smart armor (60 charges) Capacity 60
Usage 1 charge/10 minutes
While inactive, smart armor resembles a breastplate of adamantine scales, which doesn't seem out of
place among the metal armor of Golarion, except for its the alien aesthetics of its Androffan
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Swift Alchemy (Ex) Construct alchemical items in half the normal time.
Technologist You are familiar with the basic mechanics of technology.
Benefit: You are considered to be trained in any skill used against a technology-based subject. If the skill
in question requires training to use even against non-technological su
Throw Anything Proficient with improvised ranged weapons. +1 to hit with thrown splash weapons.
Tinker Supplies Certain path abilities require having technological and mechanical parts on hand.
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I highly recommend keeping a copy of GM's Miscellany: Dungeon Dressing from Raging Swan Press at hand while running these dungeons. It is extremely useful for filling in the little details.
Tables like Goblin Pockets, Miscellaneous Features: Junk & Rubble, and Mundane Chest Contents will help you answer questions that you didn't expect your players to have.
This book has 334 pages worth of tables like this to dress up your dungeon, to badly coin a phrase.
Here's my version of the green dragon, Thelsterex, that resides in the northern part of the Echo Wood. I added the bramble creature template from the Advanced Bestiary from Green Ronin Press to make the wyrm match its description in the Thornkeep Online book.
Thelsterex "Jaderazer" CR 13
XP 25,600
Male bramble adult green dragon ( Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 96)
LE Huge plant (air, augmented dragon)
Init +2; Senses dragon senses; Perception +25
Aura frightful presence (180 ft., DC 20) —————
Defense —————
AC 35, touch 10, flat-footed 33 (+2 Dex, +21 natural, +4 shield, -2 size)
hp 195 (15d8+75)
Fort +14, Ref +11, Will +14
DR 5/magic; Immune acid, mind-affecting effects, paralysis, poison, polymorph, sleep, stunning; Resist
fire 10; SR 24
Weaknesses vulnerability to fire —————
Offense —————
Speed 40 ft., fly 200 ft. (poor), swim 40 ft.
Melee thorn dart +16/+11/+6 (1d8+15) or
unarmed strike +16/+11/+6 (1d6+15 nonlethal) or
bite +16 (2d8+22/19-20 plus grab), 2 claws +16 (2d6+15/19-20 plus grab), gore +16 (grab), tail slap
+11 (2d6+22 plus grab), 2 wings +11 (1d8+7 plus grab)
Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (20 ft. with prickle whip, 15 ft. with bite)
Special Attacks breath weapon (50-ft cone, 12d6 acid, Reflex DC 22 half), crush (Small creatures, DC
22, 2d8+10), prickle whip (1/day), thorn dart (30/day), thorny grasp ()
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; concentration +18)
At will— charm person (DC 14), entangle (DC 14), suggestion (DC 16)
4/day—entangle (DC 14), thorn walk
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 5th; concentration +8)
2nd (5/day)— alter self , mirror image
1st (7/day)— shield, silent image (DC 14), summon monster I , ventriloquism (DC 14)
0 (at will)— dancing lights , detect magic , ghost sound (DC 13), mage hand , message, prestidigitation —————
Statistics —————
Str 25, Dex 14, Con 21, Int 16, Wis 17, Cha 16
Base Atk +15; CMB +20 (+24 grapple); CMD 36 (40 vs. trip)
Feats Alertness, Cleave, Flyby Attack, Great Cleave, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Critical (claw), Iron
Will, Power Attack, Quick Draw B
Skills Acrobatics +2 (+6 to jump), Fly +12, Knowledge (arcana) +21, Knowledge (nature) +21, Perception
+25, Sense Motive +5, Spellcraft +21, Stealth +12 (+20 in forested areas and thickets), Survival +21,
Swim +33, Use Magic Device +21
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven, Sylvan
SQ trackless step, water breathing, woodland stride, woodland stride
Combat Gear scroll of resist energy, resist energy ; Other Gear imperious headband —————
Tracked Resources —————
Breath Weapon (50-ft cone, 12d6 acid, Reflex DC 22 half, usable every 1d4 rounds) - 0/1
Charm Person (At will) - 0/0
Entangle (4/day) - 0/4
Entangle (At will) - 0/0
Prickle Whip (1/day) (Ex) - 0/1
Suggestion (At will) - 0/0
Thorn Dart (30/day) (Ex) - 0/30
Thorn Walk (4/day) - 0/4 —————
Special Abilities —————
Blindsense (60 feet) (Ex) Sense things and creatures without seeing them.
Breath Weapon (50-ft cone, 12d6 acid, Reflex DC 22 half, usable every 1d4 rounds) As a standard
action, affect an area with elemental damage (Ref half).
Cleave If you hit a foe, attack an adjacent target at the same attack bonus but take -2 AC.
Crush (Small creatures, 2d8+10, DC 22) A flying or jumping Huge or larger dragon can land on foes as
a standard action, using its whole body to crush them. Crush attacks are effective only against opponents
three or more size categories smaller than the dragon. A crush attack affects as m
Damage Reduction (5/magic) You have Damage Reduction against all except Magic attacks.
Darkvision (120 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Dragon Senses (Ex) See four times as well as a human in dim light and twice as well in normal light.
Energy Resistance, Fire (10) You have the specified Energy Resistance against Fire attacks.
Fly (200 feet, Poor) You can fly!
Flyby Attack You can take a standard action during your move action while flying.
Frightful Presence (180 ft., 5d6 rounds, DC 20) Those in area of effect become frightened or shaken
(Will neg.)
Grab: Bite or Claw or Gore or Tail slap or Wing (Huge) (Ex) You can start a grapple as a free action if
you hit with the designated weapon.
Immunity to Acid You are immune to acid damage.
Immunity to Mind-Affecting effects You are immune to Mind-Affecting effects.
Immunity to Paralysis You are immune to paralysis.
Immunity to Poison You are immune to poison.
Immunity to Polymorph You are immune to Polymorph effects.
Immunity to Sleep You are immune to sleep effects.
Immunity to Stunning You are immune to being stunned.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail.
Power Attack -4/+8 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Prickle Whip (1/day) (Ex) Strand from body can be used as a whip.
Quick Draw Draw weapon as a free action (or move if hidden weapon). Throw at full rate of attacks.
Spell Resistance (24) You have Spell Resistance.
Swim (40 feet) You have a Swim speed.
Thorn Dart (30/day) (Ex) Use thorn from body as a dart.
Thorny Grasp () (Ex) Do automatic gore damage with a sucessful grapple.
Trackless Step (Ex) Do not leave a trail in natural settings & can't be tracked unless willing.
Vulnerability to Fire You are vulnerable (+50% damage) to Fire damage.
Water Breathing (Ex) Can breath and can freely use any abilities underwater,
Woodland Stride (Ex) Move through undergrowth at normal speed.
Woodland Stride (Ex) Move through undergrowth at normal speed.
My players cleared the first three levels of Thornkeep. There are still several left below, but we had a couple of players have to leave due to IRL changes. We decided to do a soft campaign reboot and restart with player characters at level one to begin the Emerald Spire.
We kept our timeline as a living timeline that carried on the effects of the previous year's worth of adventuring. We rolled the River Kingdoms forward along with the new Second Edition World of Lost Omens timeline and continued with the adventure by restarting at the doorstep of the Emerald Spire.
My advice when starting the Emerald Spire is to give the players as many of the Adventure Hooks from the front of the module as soon as possible. I spent the first year running Thornkeep and trying to find organic ways to slowly introduce the players to various adventure hooks.
I had the players meet Jharun and Tiawask at Alieja's Crossing, long before they disappeared inside the Spire. I had the Hellknights give them the side quest of capturing the Numerian alchemist hiding beneath the Accursed Halls.
Well, all of those characters got retired, so all of the time setting up those hooks was wasted. I restarted everything by having the players meet together for the first time inside the tower of Abernard Royst inside Fort Inevitable.
There, he assembled various powers of the Echo Wood, such as Iliara Starcloack of the Goldenfire Order, Oleena Hollysong, the druid guardian of the Echo Wood, and the local Pathfinder from the Emerald Lodge (located inside the Stormcaller Tribe settlement north of the Crusader's Road crossroads). These NPCs are detailed in the Thornkeep Online module. You can just as easily use the NPCs listed inside the Emerald Spire module as well, such as High MOther Sarise and others.
If you have a copy of the Emerald Spire Campaign Cards, they are a big help. There are several cards with the adventure hooks illustrated on them. These are very useful to hand to the players. I'm running this over a VTT (Roll20), so I had to scan my card deck and upload the images one at a time to ROll20 for my players to see. I've put them all in a folder labeled "Campaign Cards" and the players can access them at any time for a reminder or tip.
That's my advice to get started. Just throw as many of these hooks as possible at your group. Different characters will latch onto different hooks and they will all serve the purpose of giving them the motivation to keep going into the Emerald Spire.
Good luck and keep on rolling!