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Hi everybody!
I'm currently running Age of Ashes (the PCs just arrived in Cypress Hill and are enjoying themselves A LOT, they don't have much sympathy for slavers), and I'm having a lot of fun.
The only problem I have with it is... the adventure is set in Isger and yet we have nothing on Isger proper, and also nothing like a gazetteer of Elidir (the place where PCs are likely to go). I'm currently preparing for a side-quest concerning Hedvend VI's Throne Contract, and I really can't find anything useful on the capital of Isger anywhere (even the Inner Sea Guide has just a very small paragraph).
How can I find some more information on Elidir? Really, my only gripe with AoA is not having a guide to the nation where the AP is set. :D
Have you checked out the Pathfinder Wiki?
Creative Director
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We haven't done much on Isger, but the point of Age of Ashes was not to stay in Isger. The Adventure Path is no more set in Isger than it is set in the other 5 locations that adventures 2–5 are focused on.
Age of Ashes was and is intended to be a "world tour" of the Inner Sea region, since this was a huge opportunity for us to introduce the world to a lot of new players, thanks to it being the first Adventure Path in the edition.
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Have you checked out the Pathfinder Wiki?
Yes, and Elidir really has almost nothing on it. :/
We haven't done much on Isger, but the point of Age of Ashes was not to stay in Isger. The Adventure Path is no more set in Isger than it is set in the other 5 locations that adventures 2–5 are focused on.
Age of Ashes was and is intended to be a "world tour" of the Inner Sea region, since this was a huge opportunity for us to introduce the world to a lot of new players, thanks to it being the first Adventure Path in the edition.
I totally understand that!
Players being players, though, they grew really attached to their new "home", and are trying to know more about Isger and the fact that Breachill is so different than the rest of the nation.Also, the bard of the group is member of the Steel Falcons, and he's praising the government of the town (being elective) and using Voz's bookshop (which they acquired the right to manage from the city council) to spread pamphlet about the virtue of democracy.
Beside a future adventure in Elidir concerning Hedvend's Thrune Contract, I'd like to know more of Isger, so I can judge how the nation would react having seditious propaganda spread around. :D
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Cause:
We haven't done much on Isger,
.
Effect:Elidir really has almost nothing on it. :/
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Creative Director
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I totally understand that!
Players being players, though, they grew really attached to their new "home", and are trying to know more about Isger and the fact that Breachill is so different than the rest of the nation.
Also, the bard of the group is member of the Steel Falcons, and he's praising the government of the town (being elective) and using Voz's bookshop (which they acquired the right to manage from the city council) to spread pamphlet about the virtue of democracy.Beside a future adventure in Elidir concerning Hedvend's Thrune Contract, I'd like to know more of Isger, so I can judge how the nation would react having seditious propaganda spread around. :D
I 100% agree. The original plot for the first 2nd edition AP, in fact, was "The PCs get a ship in the first adventure and it becomes their traveling home as they explore the Inner Sea region," but some folks worried that having a ship would be too much for newcomers to the game to keep track of or that it wasn't "classic fantasy" so we shifted that plot to a castle. Which meant that we needed to come up with a way to come and go quickly, hence the stuff in the castle's basement. Ended up with some great new lore for the setting as a result, but the side effect of that home base staying in Isger meant that it could have stood for more support. Had I done it all over again, I would have pushed harder to set that 1st adventure in a region with a lot of established lore for GMs to draw on, since newcomers to the game don't know the difference between Isger and, say, Cheliax or Varisia.
But people wanted to go somewhere new. Which, ironically, only ended up teasing rather than satisfying. Ah well.
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I have found already that this is a nice location, as it is close to where a lot of published material is
Specifically Andoran...my party wanted to find the formula for the Bottomless Stein, so I got out the Darkmoo. Vale book, and had them head down there. Plenty of stuff to use for the framework of an adventure, and i repurposed a hook and built a whole adventure around it.
Then, after running, found the “real” cause and story in the book, but the players loved what I did, so it was all good.
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I 100% agree. The original plot for the first 2nd edition AP, in fact, was "The PCs get a ship in the first adventure and it becomes their traveling home as they explore the Inner Sea region," but some folks worried that having a ship would be too much for newcomers to the game to keep track of or that it wasn't "classic fantasy" so we shifted that plot to a castle.
It would have been INCREDIBLY COOL, but I also understand the concerns.
A flying ship, though... ;)But people wanted to go somewhere new. Which, ironically, only ended up teasing rather than satisfying. Ah well.
I hope I was not misunderstood: me and my players are really, really enjoying both the setting and the AP, but sometimes I have to have NPCs (like N'Ketiah or Belmazog*) remind them of the "you have the key to the next aiudara in the Ring", since they like spending time in Breachill hanging with the NPCs, enhancing the fortress, managing the adventurer's academy they're opening in Citadel Altarein and improving the community. Also, they really want to go to Elidir. :)
*Yes, they defeated Belmazog and brought her back to Breachill (it's winter now, so she practically lives under three layers of fur clothing). The cleric of Shelyn is using his downtime to help her cope with her lost faith by helping her channel her energy towards artistic pursuit. Having her play with his children also helps.
The nice thing about Isger is that you have a lot of latitude as a DM to make it what you want. I found plenty of resources for my Age of Ashes campaign to create a lot of background for Breachton and Isger.
Sometimes too much lore can be a straight jacket for a DM.
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Creative Director
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"Too much lore" shouldn't be a limitation for a GM, though. Just as a GM gets to decide what parts of a story to include in their game, they also get to decide what parts NOT to include, such as any lore we provide on the region. It's always easier to cut content than create new content of your own, and so I 100% understand why it's so important for us to provide lots of building blocks for GMs to go with if we set up an adventure in a region... and if it's an Adventure Path is set entirely in that region, we've traditionally tried to release a 64 page book about the region at the same time.
In 2nd edition, that's a bit trickier to pull off, alas.
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I agree, but also disagree.
It is good to have a “sufficient” amount of lore in order to get the game running in the right direction. I also agree that this adventure path was missing a lot of those elements, which creates more work for a GM. We could use more.
But I think my counterpoint is still valid that it is nice to have regions “off the map” that can allow a GM to develop their own lore and stories to fit their table of players. When you have a Citadel Altaerein that is specifically defined in a sourcebook but you decide to go a different direction, your players that are familiar with the lore can lose their sense of immersion. This is the “straight jacket” I am talking about. But when you have a reference to the Widow Queen of the Iron Rose but nothing much more, the sky is the limit to what you can create as a GM.
My AoA campaign is in book 2 right now, but I’m excited with the RP potential when they get back to Breachton. I figure word has started to get out about the existence of an Elf Gate (or Gates), so more and more groups will be working to get the PCs to favor them. The town council, dark knights, Prophets, dwarves, Isgeri emissaries, maybe even revolutionaries too - I feel like the options are limitless, and will be a great backdrop to their home town as they continue to adventure.
Always fun to interact with your creator - thanks for listening!