|
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
Ah Serpent's Skull. My favorite adventure path I've run thus far but also the one I've put the most work into. I tried to compile all the changes I made but -warning!- it's quite a list. Please feel free to use or ignore any of the below.
Spoiler for length.
0. Before the adventure, while doing character introductions or something, ask the PCs which animal best describes them. This lets you set up the Dream Quest in Book 2 a little earlier.
1. As others have said, use the diseases carefully. Consider having a timeline built out ahead of time and rolling for which player catches a disease when. This saves you from rolling the 5-15% chance for EVERY player at the table. You know that on Day 6, Nimblefingers has to save against Filth Fever (or whatever).
2. Make the other castaways likeable. Even if they like to hate them, they’re going to be almost the only NPC interaction for the whole first book. Plus if the PCs like the other castaways, it makes pulling them into Book 2 much, much easier.
3. A number of people have pointed out the value of keeping Yarzoth alive as the BBEG of the path. If she’s killed, try to ensure that her body is in some state to be Raised/Resurrected by Agents of the Coil so she can show up later. (I can do a full write up on how I did this if you're interested)
Book 2
4. The PCs will really need to like and link up with one of the expeditions/factions. If they don't, be ready to create a faction they WILL like and link up with someone else. (Example: Say you have a follower of Sarenrae. He goes to the church and asks if they can fund an expedition. Response: "Well we don't really have the funds or logistics to do that. But we do have several followers that are friendly with the Pathfinders. We'll send a small delegation with the Pathfinder expedition.")
5. Consider having Nkechi (and later Athyra) travel with the main expedition and NOT with the PCs as trailblazers. If you have a capable table already (or a large one) having additional NPCs travel with the party really isn’t a requirement and can slow things down/take attention away from the PCs. Have the native porters' spiritual leader was killed in the warehouse fire. The faction leader said they wouldn't be able to set out because the natives thought their expedition was cursed. So the PCs needed to have Nkechi come along to serve as a spiritual leader for all the porters. Worked much better, kept him in the background once the race began (he traveled with the main caravan) and he wasn't slowing down my already large table. Also makes Nkechi kind of the spokesman for the native manual laborers working for the faction expedition. Gave the PCs a "go to" man if they needed some manpower help with something (repairing a bridge to the central island, clearing an area to move the camp, etc) Same with Athyra once she joined. She gave the PCs some pointers on what was ahead in the M'Neri plains then she and Jagi dropped back to guide the main expedition.
6. For the spirit quest, have cards done out beforehand for the PCs in their animal totem form. Moves, attack forms, etc. Consider adding a “mini-quest” that the PCs can do in their animal forms if they appear to like this. Ruins on the Dream Plane that they have to get through before reaching the Dream Serpent.
7. ROLL RANDOM ENCOUNTERS OUT FOR THE JOURNEY BEFOREHAND. I can’t stress this enough and others have said it. That timeline you started on the island to track diseases? Keep using it to track the party's journey and encounters. (I just printed out one of the several available Calendars of Golarion and wrote notes on the days. Worked fine.)
8. Consider having the PC’s expedition start in the middle of the pack. Track where the other expeditions are and have them run into other trailblazers/expeditions as they catch up or fall behind. Make it feel more like a race.
9. Building off 7 above, consider adding in other encounters where the PCs can make up time or slow down the other expeditions to reach Tazion first. I did this and my PCs LOVED it. Said it was the high point of Book 2 and really kept the pressure on and made it feel like a race. (Some examples my PCs used: Sending herds of triceratops stampeding at them. The witch could speak with animals so he had a pride of lions harassing pack animals on the M'Neri plains. They hired thugs of their own in Kalabuto to harass the other groups. Adding in more encounters with locals like Zenj tribesmen or even Bas'O nomads that could show their expedition shortcuts, Setting some creative traps. etc.) (I have a full write up of the encounters I used if you're interested)
10. Starting in Book 2 and all through Book 3, remember the environment of the jungle. Want to explore into the afternoon/evening or early morning? Chances are the jungle is shrouded in a thick mist from the nearly daily rain. This is going to hurt their ranged characters (who can't see far) and greatly increase the likelihood they'll wander into an ambush. Even charging becomes a pain if you can't see what's lurking ahead of you in the thick, jungle mist. Make sure to enforce max encounter distances. Very few places are going to allow them to rain death at the enemy from a distance through the thick trees. Base encounter distance to even get a PER check in dense woods is 2d6x10 feet, if I remember correctly. Remember the increased PER penalties when in the jungle. There's a much better chance of (again) stumbling into an ambush if they can't hear the enemy waiting for them over the noises of all the jungle birds and screeching monkeys. Finally remember to apply the modifiers for the frequent rain. It makes PER checks even more difficult (additional -4 I think) and affects ranged firing like severe winds: additional -4 to hit.
These are going to be especially important through the valley of Saventh-Yhi in Book 3 as well.
11. If you’re using Yarzoth as the BBEG, have Isillar’s notes mention how she came through Tazion on her way to Saventh-Yhi (and possibly how she was raised by the Coil). This lets the PCs be engaged in a race for Saventh-Yhi and a chase for their old nemesis (and also keeps the danger/mystery of the serpentfolk in the adventure)
Book 3
12. Consider adjusting the discovery point system. Instead of requiring 120 points to claim the city, consider 15 pts in each district. This will force the party to scout around and move their camp. (I have a summary of the exploration changes as well.)
13. Have the different mysteries that can be found printed out beforehand on slips of paper to give out. Either pick which mysteries to give out or have a chart to roll on. (I have these done up if you're interested at all)
14. Make some minor changes to make sure the PCs know they're the first ones to find the lost city. A) Move the ghost at area C to outside the valley. Have his diary ranting about how he knows how close he is to the lost city. B) Change the bodies found in Vaults D and F to serpentfolk bodies or locals tribesmen (trogs, boggards, etc). C) Stress that Juliver and Cline came into Ilmurea through the Darklands. They did NOT find Saventh-Yhi. You don't want the PCs to feel even kinda cheated out of being the first ones to the lost city.
15. STRONGLY consider allying other factions with residents of the districts. This will make the race to claim the city a bit more tied into the city itself. Make the city feel DYNAMIC. You have 5 factions and 6 dominant tribes. Really think about who's allying with who, who exploring where and who's attacking who. (Example: If the Pathfinders set up camp next to the Military district, is Olujimi just going to watch them? Is he going to send envoys up there to demand his tribute for an alliance? Is he going to send a chaou-ki warband up there to try and drive them out? Is the Consortium going to approach the charou-ki and try to buy them off and get them to attack the Pathfinders while maybe supplying them masterwork weapons?) Have the other factions moving camps. Have the other city districts launching attacks at the other camps. Let the PCs know that the city is alive. Allow them to ally and interact with the other factions and tribal districts. Each day you have a lot of choices. Think of it more as various powers striving for control of the city instead of just a hackfest. Don't let them fall into the mindset of "we have to kill everything in the city." That will get boring super fast.
Bottom line: avoid City of Seven Spears feeling static. Be dynamic. Really flex your creative muscles and think about what each side is going to do and give the PCs a rundown on what they've seen happening around the rest of the city each day. Then let them decide where they want to focus their efforts on. Really have fun with it!
16. The timeline? Yup, keep running with it. Use it to track daily encounters for the camps (so you know what camps have to make defense rolls when) and to track discovery points for the various camps. This saves SO much time at the table. Also lets you know what camp is exploring what district so the PCs have a chance to run into/stop them if they want.
17. Consider having them find signs of Yarzoth’s interaction with the natives of the city. Being praised as an arriving savior by the degenerate serpentfolk, spotted sneaking towards the First Vault by the Tribe of the Radiant Serpent, etc. The serpentfolk are supposed to be THE bad guys of this AP and its important that you keep throwing little tidbits that they’re up to something big… even if the PCs don’t know WHAT yet.
Book 4
18. Be ready to run this book during the end of Book 3. If the PCs stumble on a Vault during their exploration of the city, let them find it! Just maybe give them a heads up that they MIGHT not be tough enough to explore it yet. This makes finding the mural/locations of the vaults more interesting if they’ve stumbled on one or two already.
19. Don’t be afraid to start this book while the camps are still racing to finish their discovery points and claim the city. Makes it more interesting if the PCs are exploring the vaults and their camps still have something to do (mapping out and cataloging the ruins).
20. Strongly encourage your PCs to build up Prestige Awards with factions here. There’re a lot of insanity checks and having Restorations available from a faction for 2 CPA was a HUGE help for my PCs.
21. Consider having the Gorilla King show up as an additional faction at the end of Book 3/beginning of Book 4. He sets up a huge (three times the size) camp and begins trying to beat the PCs at their own game by racing through the city collecting discovery points. Make him into a real menace that the PCs fear, watching over the ruined city. Only when the PCs are on the verge of claiming the city will he agree to meet with them and launch into the King events. The Gorilla King is one of *the* premiere characters in the Mwangi and should be played up as such. His approach, arrival and (possibly) encampment should be played up to instill sheer terror.
22. Playing off 17 above, consider not letting the PCs fight the Gorilla King. Someone else brought up the GREAT idea (that I used and it went beautiful) that the King sends his eldest son to fight the PCs to the death at the feast. His son has aspirations for the throne and the King uses this as an excuse to get him out of the way. This lets you play up the King as conniving and smart and lets you keep him “above the fray” and maintain him as a semi-legendary figure in the Mwangi.
Book 5
23. I had the ranger/guide make a survival roll to point out that if they could clear out the morlock/old Azlanti garrison portion of Ilmurea, it would make a suitable base camp. This would free up spell slots so they didn't have to teleport back and forth to the surface. This led them to clearing out the cloaker gate and the elementals.
24. While talking to Udarra, I made sure to mention that the urdefhan were very violent and most likely only willing to talk to someone in a position of strength. This led to the PCs assaulting the aerie and probably several other strongholds before walking in and saying "We're the ones who are kicking your butt. Take us to your leader."
25. My players have been big on Prestige Awards and moving up in their factions. The PA suggestions from the adventure didn't really reflect the goals of all the factions, so I modified them some to push for more exploration through Ilmurea. (EXAMPLE: After reporting on the broken stairs in the cloaker gate, the Pathfinders wanted to find an intact gate down to Orv. This will be worth extra PA and will (hopefully) divert them a bit between the urdefhan and Thousand Fangs.)
26. For Thousand Fangs, consider making a quick "cheat sheet" for the fortress with room numbers, occupants present (normal), and occupants present (alerted). It took a long time to flip through the book checking each of the nearby rooms to see who was where when the snake-men sent out a telepathic alarm. I think a table will be much easier. Just my finding.
27. Once PCs finally enter the Thousand Fangs fortress, remember the 100 ft range telepathy of the serpentfolk. If the PCs hit one chamber, they might be "chain pulling" a few rooms depending on how close they are.
28. As written, the fortress has an infinite number of guards. Whether on alert or not -by the book- there's a 30% chance of any barracks containing 2d4 serpentfolk. Consider that once the fortress is on alert, reduce the barracks serpentfolk to 1d4 and instead add a couple other guardposts through the main coil/corridor. Replacement guards at the tail watching the gate, guards manning the murderholes above the main gate and guards watching the broken section. I also put the other guardposts on "alert." They keep the doors open and have pairs of sentries watching the closest main approaches. But due to the "infinite" number of potential guards, I've also decided that when (if?) the PCs kill Sskhavo, the fortress commander, the remaining serpentfolk will essentially abandon Thousand Fangs and fall back to the Sanctum of Ydersius (area R in Ilmurea). This is where they make their stand in Book 6.
Book 6
29. The only major change I made was with the disconnected feel of the Hunter's Maze. It just didn't seem to fit so I decided that, while fleeing from serpentfolk forces, Valgaunt and his urdefhan troops had found a portal called the Eye of Savith. This was a portal that morlock legend said allowed Savith to watch over her ancient enemies the snake-men in Thousand Fangs. In reality it was a route into the upper levels of Savith's Crypt in Saventh-Yhi, a sight where Azlanti warriors would come to pay their respects to the legendary warrior and also served as a training ground for them. The urdefhan were trapped here and it allowed me to reflavor the Hunter's Maze as a winding Azlanti crpyt/training area but keep the encounters as is. Just how I did it.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Short answer: Yes I used Yarzoth as one of the big bads.
Longer answer:
NOTE: if Yarzoth is already dead, have the PCs find a location where she was attacked and a few pages were torn from her journal (it's already established that she keeps meticulous notes from her time on Smuggler's Shiv). There they can find that she was Raised by members of something called The Coil (agents sent by Ilmurea so she can assist in the ritual).
I also made some changes to Issilar as well:
In preperation for this, every few generations the degenerate serpentfolk produced a pureblood that was sent to Tazion to serve as the Watcher. He was charged with protecting the Pillars and to send the Chosen One to Saventh-Yhi when they returned. (I wasn't happy with the idea of Issilar being an exile. That just never sat right with me)
So in my scenario, Issilar knows how to operate the Pillars and has given one of the gems to his charou-ki allies/worshippers for safekeeping (he also hid another one in the Temple of Snakes so he only has two. Wanted to make sure the PCs fully explored Tazion.) When Yarzoth arrives, Issilar was going to escort her to Saventh-Yhi but she tells him of the PCs hot on her tail (heh. pun intended), thus the only reason the Watcher is still in Tazion... to destroy the PCs.
Issilar records his joyous meeting with the Chosen One in his journal (for the PCs to find after his defeat and to keep them on the trail. Also had to add where the Chosen One told Issilar how something called "The Coil" had found her body and raised her... the PCs originally killed Ieana in my game but left her body behind.)
So in Saventh-Yhi, Yarzoth finds that since Issilar has left, the serpentfolk turned to worshipping the newly arrived rakshasa. She returns the degenerates to the worship of Ydersius and they turn on Akarundo driving him back into exile in his "pleasure den" where he sulks now.
Yarzoth has been receiving visions of the subterranean city Ilmurea and assumes it's below Saventh-Yhi (something the degenerates know nothing about) so she travels to the Artisan district (assuming the humans there were left to guard it since it was the human Azlanti that drove them from the surface), finds the portal and uses it to return to Ilmurea.
It's actually her return and the celebration that follows that gives the opening for Juniver to escape (destroying the portal on her way back through).
I've added a couple chambers to the rear of the First Vault where Sozothala dwells, an undead exile from Ilmurea below. Several destroyed undead were added to indicate where Yarzoth had to carve her way through the crazed undead necromancer's forces to reach the portal and Ilmurea. This was actually what woke Sozothala up so he was ready to give chase to Juniver when she comes through (and leads to her capture and the Night of Hissing Death event)
So when the PCs arrive in Saventh-Yhi, they find the degenerates they capture ranting about the "Return of the Chosen One destined to bring about the Golden Age of the Serpent!" and can continue following Yarzoth's trail (and help to link the adventures together a little more and keep the serpentfolk -the main badguys- more prominent in the early adventures).
As for Vyr-Azul:
I did keep Vyr-Azul as the high priest (and big bad) at the end of Book 6, but I added Yarzoth in the final encounter. I bumped her up a bit obviously and added some mythic power to her, but mostly she was just a focus for Vyr-Azul to perform the ritual to rase Ydersius and return the serpentfolk to their glory.
I do like giving more clues about Vyr-Azul! I should have done that too. The intellect devourer seems like a very good spot for that.
The idea to have them ally with the serpentfolk in Book 3 is an interesting one. The serpentfolk are pretty darn evil, so a betrayal seems fairly inevitable LOL. But it would certainly give another good RP opportunity in Saventh-Yhi for sure!
I clipped some of this from an old post of mine in another thread....
Book 4) Overall, I'd shorten this book by only using 3 of the Vaults (C, G, H iirc, but keeping the vampire Gbala from E8 as a recurring villain). I'd also be changing the frequency of madness checks to once every few hours unless the PCs were doing things without a care for exposure. To me this book reads like a last minute expansion (DLC) to book 3.
Books 5 and 6) I'm not a fan of the Urdefhan in general, I replaced them all with Drow for a more D1-D3 feel. In a nutshell, Drow House Rasivrein is nearly destroyed IMC, survivors are refugees fleeing through the underdark and their house matron is well versed in ancient lore. She's looking for powerful magic (to destroy Zirnakaynen), as well as a new settlement (Ilmurea) to call home. She has also sent a large contingent to the area below Varisia looking for the another lost city, Xin-Shalast (Runelords book #6). Parts of that group are also below Guiltspur (Shattered Star book #5). It adds a sense of continuity for my version of Golarion.
I have all the Uredefhan to Drow conversions in a text file, the Monster Codex was a huge help here. If you need it, I can post it here or email it.
Other changes I made...
Book 1) Castaways and Factions. There are too many castaways along with too many factions IMHO. Keeping one or two castaways is useful for base camp duties, YMMV. Factions, I'd probably pick one for "good" so to speak and one for an "evil" rival faction.
Hope any of this helps.
|
|
Could you maybe write your encounters of Racing to Ruin here? (the encounters with the other factions)
If they were in another thread already I might have missed them..^^
I think I had them written up somewhere, but maybe not. No worry! Here's some of what I did from my document of notes & changes:
What I personally did was take the arrival times and back them all up the 54 days of travel time to get their assumed start times. Then assumed the PCs started a couple days ahead of them. Then backed things up a week (because that's how long it takes to get the expedition together). This gives you a good timeline.
Then -because I wanted it to be more of a race- I delayed the PCs start time by 1 day for every square destroyed in the warehouse fire. They ended up losing 5 days and starting in the middle of the pack.
Now this would have made it IMPOSSIBLE as written to arrive first (and that's just cheap and unfair) so I added in a few more opportunities to make up time.
- At Fzumi Salt Mines (area C) they can shave off a day as written in the book. Kept that as is.
- At the roadside camp at (area D) I had another set of thugs try to sneak in and poison the party’s horses at night. They found out that they’d been hired by the Aspis scouts that had come thru before. They hired the thugs themselves to poison the scouts behind them and get an extra day lead.
- In Kalabuto (area I), the party hired agents of their own to sabotage the caravans behind them to extend their lead by another day.
- At the Lake of Vanishing Armies (area L) the local fishermen were being harassed by the Spawn in the lake. If the PCs took out the Spawn in the lake, the natives would take their whole expedition up river by barge to the edge of Mzali territory thus cutting off another day.
- At the tomb (area P) I had some local natives show up soon after the battle. My PCs were careful to reconsecrate the grave site and turned over Amghawe's spear to the natives. As thanks, they showed the PC's expedition a shortcut through the jungle cutting off several bends in the river they were following and shorting the trip an additional day.
- In the jungle, I had another encounter with (I believe) Bas’O nomads. This was a purely roleplaying encounter and the locals showed them another shortcut if they were made friendly.
- Along the way they had several random encounters with animals. They used Speak with Animal to make them friendly and sent them ahead to attack the expeditions ahead of them. I slowed the other expeditions down a day per significant attack.
- After taking out the Mzali raiders (area M) they made an agreement with one of the survivors to have his people attack the other expeditions coming through slowing them down.
- At one point they also caught up with Ishirou and the Consortium trailblazers. They took him out in an ambush and I had that slow the Consortium down a day as they had to send more trailblazers ahead.
After all that, they ended up arriving on the same day as the Red Mantis trailblazers. I gave them credit for arriving first (since it was really a tie) and made the prisoners in Tazion (at V4) the Red Mantis scouts.
Overall my players said it really felt like a race with the pressure being on and they played smart to make up time whenever they could.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Ah Serpent's Skull. My favorite adventure path I've run thus far but also the one I've put the most work into. I tried to compile all the changes I made but -warning!- it's quite a list. Please feel free to use or ignore any of the below.
Spoiler for length.
** spoiler omitted **...
Hi,
old Post but I loved your Ideas (so much I created an account to ask for more input from you)
After a very dragging first part of book two I lost all hope in the books and saw that I needed to heavily adapt it going forward.
If you still have your notes on that could you share the additional informations from point 12. And 13?
Thank you
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Old Post but I loved your Ideas (so much I created an account to ask for more input from you)
After a very dragging first part of book two I lost all hope in the books and saw that I needed to heavily adapt it going forward.
If you still have your notes on that could you share the additional informations from point 12. And 13?Thank you
Sure thing! Sorry for the delay but here ya go...
Exploration:
- Each District has 15 Discovery Points that can be found. This largely represents surveying and mapping out the lost city of Saventh-Yhi.
- As the PCs are moving through the district "securing it" (eg. taking out the strong points under "victory conditions") the rest of the faction researchers are mapping out the edges of the district. This is the daily Exploration roll. (It's been my experience this usually takes them up to 8 to 10 Discovery points until a district is secure)
- Once area secure, xp awarded to PCs, camp gets its +1 to each stat bonus.
- Once secure, it's now safe enough for the researchers to move in and (instead of a discovery roll) get to automatically get a mystery for the day. Each mystery is also worth 1 Discovery point (and xp!) so this should be the goal of the party as well (unless they want to try for the roll and the chance of getting multiple Discovery points instead of mysteries. But that's their choice).
- Once the researchers move in, the party can spend the day assisting them (making the knowledge roll for an additional mystery). OR the party can move on to securing the next district (start hitting the next set of strong points).
- Depending how you're handling mysteries, consider setting a max of 8 to 10 in a district. I have them on slips of paper and hand them out and think I had about 40 (combined some and added some more foreshadowing for books 4-6)
- Allying with a district: if the PCs move in and ally with a district, it's now secure. Woot! Camp bonuses and xp awarded! Can immediately start searching for mysteries (since again, each mystery is worth a discovery point as well). Allying with a district is the fastest way to explore it since you are assured of one a day (as a mystery) from the researchers and (if you have a knowledge guy in the group) a second mystery from the PCs efforts
Mysteries: (I apologize for any formatting getting messed up. It's from a very old Word doc)
Mysteries Checklist
__ 1. story of founding of Saventh Yhi
2. about the spears
__ 3. spears can be activated
4. decline of Saventh Yhi
5. legend of seventh defeating Ydersis
__ A
__ B
__ C
__ D
6. existence of an underworld below the city
7. background of one area
__ D. military
__ E. merchant
__ F. government
__ G. residential
__ J. artesian
__ K. farming
__ L. temple
8. a spear’s active/passive effects
D. military
__ E. merchant
__ F. government
__ G. residential
__ J. artesian
__ K. farming
__ L. temple
9. How to activate a spear
__ D. military
__ E. merchant
__ F. government
__ G. residential
__ J. artesian
__ K. farming
L. temple
__ 10. The existence of the Radiant Muse
11. Azlanti gods
__ A.
__ B.
__ C.
Mysteries
1
The city of Saventh-Yhi was built nearly 11,000 years ago, during the twilight years of the golden age of Azlant before Earthfall and the onset of the Age of Darkness. Constructed as a tribute to the Azlanti heroine Savith above the site where she defeated the snake god Ydersius, the city was constructed to honor her sacrifice.
In each of Saventh-Yhi’s seven districts, a stone ziggurat symbolizing one of the honest virtues of Azlanti rule was erected, and atop each of these sites the ancients placed a spire-like monument. These seven obelisks came to symbolize the city’s skyline, and even before the doom that was to come, they gave the city its enduring nickname—the City of Seven Spears.
2
The seven spears of Saventh-Yhi are more than mere landmarks. They posses powerful magic of their own—it is within these seven monoliths that the anti-entropic magic that protects the city is housed, as well as the nondetection and mirage arcana defenses. Further, each of these spears is infused with still-potent magic from the city’s creation, magic intended to aid and encourage each
district to function efficiently in its assigned specialty. These seven magical themes, linked to the seven virtues of rule (which, in ancient Thassilon far to the north, were corrupted into seven deadly sins claimed by that realm’s ruthless Runelords), continue to shape and mold the districts today.
3
The seven spears of Saventh-Yhi infuse each district with minor but unusual magical effects at all times. Furthermore, the spears can be “activated” if the one can decipher the means and conduct the appropriate ritual. Each spear is associated with a different ritual and once activated will produce a more pronounced effect over its district. Only one spear can be activated at any one time unless all spears are activated in the appropriate order. Then the might of the spears can be unleashed.
4
Yet as the Age of Darkness grew near, not all of the citizens of Saventh-Yhi remained blissfully unaware that their days were numbered. Some among the city began to receive visions and read dire omens. One priest in particular became convinced that Saventh-Yhi was nearing a great doom. As the pall of fear expanded, the leaders of Saventh-Yhi built underground vaults into which they began securing their most prized belongings. Even had Earthfall not finished the job this growing paranoia had begun, Saventh-Yhi was hurtling toward an end. Yet Earthfall did come, and it hastened that end. The impacts of countless falling stars upon Golarion caused panic in the great city, and it did not take long at all for Saventh-Yhi to die.
5A
Savith knew that it would take the combined might of all the neighboring lands to defeat the rising danger deep within Ilmurea. She gathered a multiracial coalition of ancient tribes for her army to battle the serpentfolk. From these tribes and from amongst her own people, she chose but a handful of the greatest and most trusted companions to accompany her on the mission to slay Ydersius himself. To accompany her was a mighty wizard of Azlant, an Azlanti true follower of Desna, a general from the nearby Cyclops kingdom, a lizardfolk chieftain from their Nation and the king of an ancient tribe of human jungle warriors.
5B
While the warriors of Azlant and their allies battled the serpent people in the darkness of Ilmurea, Savith, arrayed in armor of shining gold, went forth with her allies to face the snake-god Ydersius himself in his innermost sanctum. One by one, her companions fell or were lost amongst the pitched fighting through the twists and turns of the sanctum until only Savith herself arrived to face the god alone. After an epic struggle, Savith beheaded the Father of Serpents, casting his mindless body into the depths of the earth and hurling his still-living head into a lake of fire. But even in defeat, Ydersius had his revenge, for his virulent poisons ravaged Savith’s body. The serpentfolk empire was broken forever, but at a terrible cost, for Savith, the greatest of us all, was dead.
5C
Though she protected herself with magic from the poisons, there was no stopping the virulent venom of the Serpent Father. Savith’s life was claimed by the god’s threefold venom – his noxious breath, venomous fangs, and even the toxic blood spilled from his wounds. Even the legendary intelligent sword she wielded to pierce the snake-god’s armored scales and overcome his unstoppable regenerative powers was consumed by the unearthly acidic venom, but not before stealing the snake-god’s head.
5D
So it was that Savith beheaded the serpent god Ydersius. His head plummeted deep into the underworld lost forever. But the body refused to die. The body stumbles through the underworld, doomed to wreck havoc as the Headless Lord that the serpentfolk still revere. Some adherents to his faith search after his ashen, broken skull, seeking to reunite it with the flailing, still-spurting titan-form of his body, wandering mindlessly somewhere in the lowest reaches of the Darklands.
6
Finally, the spears of Saventh-Yhi hold one additional secret—the actual purpose for which the ancients originally built them. Each spear stands poised above a key location in the ruined city of Ilmurea, deep in the Darklands below. The architects of Saventh-Yhi knew that at some point in the future the serpentfolk could well gain the upper hand in the region once again, and thus they built Saventh-Yhi’s seven spears as a weapon—with the proper rituals and magical triggers, these seven spears can strike seven key sites in the city below
7D
The military district was the district of righteous anger. Here, the central spear influenced those within the district to be more intimidating, warlike, and aggressive, to aid not only in the training of new soldiers but to encourage the right temperament for warlords and commanders.
7E
The mercantile district was devoted to the virtue of wealth—not only to the process of making money, but the process of spreading riches to others. The city treasury was located here, along with numerous guild headquarters and an expansive marketplace along the lakeshore. Yet the preservative magic of this region has been failing more quickly than that of neighboring districts, and a significant portion of the area has subsided back into the lake, including most of the old lakeshore markets. Looters emptied the treasuries in the city’s final days so long ago.
7F
The central island region was chosen to house the city’s central government, and built a spear infused with the virtue of honest pride to watch over the region and to keep its inhabitants honest and dedicated to the city’s health. Unfortunately, even these lengths failed to save Saventh-Yhi from the panic that gripped it as its days grew short.
7G
The residential district once stood as the housing area for all of Saventh-Yhi, dedicated to the virtue of rest. In a decision that caused some scandal at the time, this district did not receive the full range of preservation magic treatment, under the theory that the majority of the buildings being relatively small meant that it would be easier to simply make repairs manually when needed. As a result, while the district’s buildings themselves might mostly remain, they’ve been all but overgrown by the encroaching jungle.
7J
Inspired by the Spear of Eager Striving, Azlanti craftsmen worked in the artesian district to craft the finest examples of their trade—statuary, art, jewelry, literature, music, and dance. Many came to the artisan district in search of a muse—and in some cases, finding that muse was much more literal. During Saventh-Yhi’s height, the patron deity of this district was none other than Shelyn, goddess of art and beauty, and her interests in seeing the city’s culture and art flourish were guided and represented by several powerful lillends, who each symbolized a different form of art.
7K
The southern half of the city’s farming district originally consisted of numerous fields tended by a small number of farmers who lived in the buildings to the north (or on the rim overlooking the lands to the far south). Over time, the farmlands, which were not shielded under the city’s preservative magics, subsided and turned into swampland and a large lake.
7L
Once the first district that visitors to Saventh-Yhi beheld, the temple district was also where the majority of the city’s temples were located. Not every deity in the large pantheon worshiped by the ancient Azlanti had a temple here, but many did.
8D
The military district watches over the northeast corner of the city and is guarded by the Spear of Righteous Anger. Even when the spear is passive, all creatures in this district gain a renewed strength of cause (+2 bonus on Intimidate checks.)
Once the Spear of Righteous Anger is activated, all creatures in the district gain a renewed vigor to strike their enemies (+2 bonus on all melee attack rolls)
8E
To the northwest is the merchant’s district and the Spear of Wealth. The spear allows creatures in this district gain a smoothness of tongue (+2 bonus on Diplomacy checks)
Once the Spear of Wealth is activated, all creatures in this district gain a sharp eye for determining the worth of items (+6 bonus on Appraise checks and on Spellcraft checks made to identify magic items)
8F
The government district is situated on an island in the center of the lake where the Spear of Honest Pride resides. All creatures in this district gain an insight into the character of others (+2 bonus on Sense Motive checks)
Once the Spear of Honest Pride is activated, all creatures in this district gain a surge in willpower (+2 bonus on Will saves)
8G
On the east side of the lake is the residential district. The Spear of Rest gives all creatures in this district a keen eye for detail (+2 bonus on Perception checks.)
Once the Spear of Rest is activated, all creatures in this district gain the benefits of a full night of rest after sleeping for only 2 hours, and during this period of rest, they heal damage as if they had undergone complete bed rest for an entire day and night (recovering twice their character level in hit points.)
8J
To the southwest is the artesian district. It is guided by the Spear of Eager Striving. The spear gives all creatures in this district an increased eye for fine arts (+2 bonus on Craft and Perform checks)
Once the Spear of Eager Striving is activated, the time required to craft magic items is reduced by 20%, to a minimum of 1 day (round fractional days down).
8K
To the south is the farming district. All creatures in this district gain a connection to the land (+2 bonus on Survival checks), blessed be the Spear of Abundance.
Once the Spear of Abundance is activated, all creatures in the district are sustained with nourishment (as if wearing a ring of sustenance), and receive a blessing of health (+4 bonus on all saving throws against disease, insanity, or poison)
8L
To the southeast is the temple district watched by the Spear of Fertility. All creatures in this district gain an insight into the hearts of others while in this district (+2 bonus on Sense Motive checks)
Once the Spear of Fertility is activated, all spellcasting creatures in this district can cast spells (whether arcane or divine) with increased potency (spell effects manifest at +1 caster level)
9D
To activate the Spear of Righteous Anger, anoint the stones of the ziggurat with the lifeblood of a powerful creature (slay a creature of CR 10 or higher), channel energy into the spear (requires one use of channel energy from a cleric who worships a deity associated with combat or wrath), or perform a 1-hour ritual of mock combat before the spear (requires a DC 25 Intimidate check).
9E
To activate the Spear of Wealth, sprinkle the stones of the ziggurat with at least 50 gp worth of powdered gemstones, channel energy into the spear (requires one use of channel energy from a cleric who worships a deity associated with trade or wealth), or perform a 1-hour ritual involving counting money and polishing jewelry (requires a DC 25 Appraise check).
9F
To activate the Spear of Honest Pride, gather at least 50 allies atop the ziggurat to pledge their loyalty to one creature who is currently touching the spear, channel energy into the spear (requires one use of channel energy from a cleric who worships a deity associated with government or nobility), or perform a 1-hour recitation of ancient Azlanti laws (requires a DC 25 Perform [oratory] check)
9G
To activate the Spear of Rest, magically heal a total of at least 100 points of damage to a number of creatures within a single minute while standing atop the ziggurat, channel energy into the spear (requires one use of channel energy from a cleric who worships a deity associated with community or dreams), or perform a 1-hour meditation ritual during which you remain absolutely still and silent (requires a DC 25 Stealth check)
9J
To activate the Spear of Eager Striving, use bardic performance (any effect) for 10 rounds in a single day while standing atop the ziggurat (these rounds need not be consecutive), channel energy into the spear (requires one use of channel energy from a cleric who worships a deity associated with art or crafting), or perform a 1-hour ritual of creating a work of art atop the ziggurat (requires a DC 25 Craft or Perform check).
9K
To activate the Spear of Abundance, host a grand feast upon the ziggurat in which no fewer than 50 people are fed well, channel energy into the spear (requires one use of channel energy from a cleric who worships a deity associated with farming or hunting), or perform a 1-hour ritual of planting seeds in the soil-filled grooves of the ziggurat (requires a DC 25 Profession [farmer] or Survival check).
9L
To activate the Spear of Fertility, lead a mass prayer service in honor one of the gods of Saventh-Yhi for at least 50 people (these people need not be worshipers of the deity, but must remain quiet and attentive for the duration of the service), channel energy into the spear (requires one use of channel energy from a cleric who worships one of the deities of Saventh-Yhi), or perform a 1-hour ritual of prayer and contemplation to any deity (requires a DC 25 Knowledge [religion] check).
10
Yet when the citizens of Saventh-Yhi began to go mad, a doom punctuated by Earthfall, the luxury of having time for art vanished from not just this city but the whole world.
Shelyn’s faith—and that of many other gods—suffered greatly during this time, and many of her followers went mad, including the lillend muses of Saventh-Yhi. Today, only one of these ancient lillends survives a creature known as theRadiant Muse.
11A
Varied were the Gods worshipped in ancient Saventh-Yhi. Among their number were counted:
Abadar: Abadar’s incarnation in Azlant focused more on his role as a god of cities and wealth than as a god of law.
Groetus: Imagery of Groetus seems almost as if it was added as a late addition in most places it appears—he was not worshiped in Saventh-Yhi until the end drew near.
Pharasma: Pharasma was primarily seen as the patron of prophecies—many of her images in Saventh-Yhi appear to have been defaced long ago.
Achaekek: In Azlant’s time, the Mantis God was worshiped more as a god of monsters and natural disasters than as a god of assassinations.
11B
Varied were the Gods worshipped in ancient Saventh-Yhi. Among their number were counted:
Nurgal: A demon lord associated with warfare and the sun, Nurgal’s worship dropped dramatically during the Age of Darkness.
Amaznen: Amaznen was the primary god of magic in Azlant, a deity whose name and worship were strictly forbidden in ancient Thassilon and who died during Earthfall.
Shelyn: Shelyn was seen as a muse to the Azlanti; most of her temples are found in the artisan district rather than in the temple district.
Curchanus: A now dead deity of travel, beasts, and endurance, slain at some point after Earthfall by Lamashtu.
11C
Varied were the Gods worshipped in ancient Saventh-Yhi. Among their number were counted:
Acavna: A goddess of battle and the moon who vanished not long before Earthfall.
Desna: Desna was worshiped primarily as a goddess of the stars in ancient Azlant.
Zura: The demon lord of blood and cannibalism was not openly worshiped in Saventh-Yhi, but hidden shrines to her still exist in remote ruins
Lemme know if you need anything else!
Cheers!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Well, since we are playing the new Necromancer class now with the forum.
I'm doing something similar by extending and reworking most of the AP to go from 1 to 20 for PF2e.
I did so by intergrating a shortened version of the ''City of Golden Death'' Mini adventure path with added River into darkness. I reworked the crypt to be some kind of Azlant ruins and Kassen being a soldier who worked with Savith, giving them a bit more info and a ''Golden'' motivation: a city made of gold! And Iramine? she is also a Survivor who is gonna play the antagonist. I also reworked the district to have some kind of exploration system like the one found in the Ultimate Campaign book.
We are starting the AP this thursday with a very...strange group :
Catfolk Sniper Gunslinger
Angel Champion of Asmodeus
Ijtikri Armor Inventor
Osharu Tangible Dream Emotional Acceptance Psychic (Based on a Scalet Lady Slug)
And two others
|
|
Top of pg 51. Anyone that smears blood on the lips of the Zura statue is affected by a gaseous form spell. So the PCs might see Yarzoth do that to escape from them, or the adventure says if they make a DC20 spellcraft check with a detect magic, they recognize the effect.
So yes, they can only reach Z9 by gaseous form, but there's a way anyone can do it.
Hope that helps. Cheers!