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I am in the middle of a pretty massive conversion project, converting Magnimar: City of Monuments, City of Strangers, the Shattered Star Adventure Path, and a couple of PFS1 Scenarios over into a level 1-20 campaign that adds in more Role Playing opportunities and downtime development in the cities of Magnimar and Kaer Maga. Depending upon how ambitious I get and how much extra material I need to make the campaign fill in 20 levels, I may add a Shadow Lodge element where the PCs get to decide halfway through the campaign whether to stick it out with the Pathfinders or to take the Shards of the Sihedron to the Shadow Lodge for more nefarious purposes.
I am trying to document all the little modifications I am making to the narrative as well as the mechanical conversions so that I can share them with others that might be interested in a Varisian AP that goes from 1-20 and really explores Magnimar and Kaer Maga in depth.
It is all going pretty well, but I am waffling a little bit on what to do with the shards as artifacts, but especially the Ioun Stones that enable them to be used without their curses. I have a rough draft stat block for all of the shards that feels well balanced to the intention of the original, including providing saves against types of spells that each shard represent, but I am aiming to make my conversion fully remastered, and not depend on schools of magic or elements that are just not part of the remastered world.
At first I was inclined to just make 7 new Aeon Stones that are totally not Ioun Stones to use in the Shards...but the difference between PF2 Aeon Stones and PF1 Ioun Stones is already too much for it to feel quite right, and there is something about sticking too close to Ioun Stones that just feels antithetical to what the remaster is about.
So now I am considering designing a ritual instead that will have to be performed on each shard, that requires understanding a bit of the history and purpose of each shard and each Rune Lord school (which I am also writing up for this campaign as options to retrain into once more about them get uncovered). So the ritual would change each time and require the party to do some research and participate in the ritual, even if they wont be leading it.
What do people think? Aeon Stones do appear in the GM core, and seem like they will still be a pretty essential part of the Pathfinder Society going forward, so maybe making them all level 12 items that the party gets special access to from the Pathfinder Society once they realize which ones need to pair with each shard is one option, and the closest to what Ioun stones were in the original adventure. Or option 2, go the ritual route and diverge more from PF1 and more traditional Thassilon Lore.
Is the idea that there are specific, one-of-a-kind aeon stones out there, or is it more that there is a specific cut and color of aeon stone that activates each shard?
Each shard requires a specific color and shape, many of which I think come directly from D&D lore.
I also find the plot around them weak, because the pathfinder lodge leader just knows which one is which and gives them out like candy before the party even finds the shards, so the curses each one have are pretty much non-factors and the players don’t have to do any thinking or participating in the research that guides what is basically the heart of the whole plot.
I should pay more attention to this subforum. I overlook this interesting topic for over a week.
I purchased PDFs of Magnimar City of Momuments, [Kaer Maga] City of Strangers, and Shattered Star at a Humble Bundle sale, but I have not read them. I have run Rise of the Runelords that pulls from some of the same legends of Thassilon.
It is all going pretty well, but I am waffling a little bit on what to do with the shards as artifacts, but especially the Ioun Stones that enable them to be used without their curses. I have a rough draft stat block for all of the shards that feels well balanced to the intention of the original, including providing saves against types of spells that each shard represent, but I am aiming to make my conversion fully remastered, and not depend on schools of magic or elements that are just not part of the remastered world.
At first I was inclined to just make 7 new Aeon Stones that are totally not Ioun Stones to use in the Shards...but the difference between PF2 Aeon Stones and PF1 Ioun Stones is already too much for it to feel quite right, and there is something about sticking too close to Ioun Stones that just feels antithetical to what the remaster is about.
The runelord Karzoug the Claimer had five ioun stones imbedded in his forehead in Rise of the Runelords, so I presume that ioun stones were valued by the ancient Thassilonians.
Let me check Shards of Sin about the particular ioun stones.
Page 7. Even as fragments, the shards of the Shattered Star remained potent items, and those that were found were coveted. Periodically, someone would discover that by affixing a specific ioun stone to a shard of the Shattered Star, one could receive visions of the location of the next fragment in the sequence, yet as each shard lay in the clutches of dangerous guardians and devious dungeons, quests for additional shards invariably came to ignominious ends.
Page 70
1. Pride - Scarlet and blue sphere (Price 8,000 gp, +2 enhancement bonus to Intelligence, Resonance +1 bonus on Will saves.)
2. Greed - Pale blue rhomboid (Price 8,000 gp, +2 enhancement bonus to Strength, Resonance +1 bonus on Fortitude saves.)
3. Lust - Pink and green sphere (Price 8,000 gp, +2 enhancement bonus to Charisma, Resonance +1 bonus on Will saves.)
4. Gluttony - Pink rhomboid (Price 8,000 gp, +2 enhancement bonus to Constitution, Resonance +1 bonus on Reflex saves.)
5. Envy - Dusty rose prism (5,000 gp, +1 insight bonus to AC, Resonance +1 insight bonus on combat maneuver checks.)
6. Wrath - Deep red sphere (Price 8,000 gp, +2 enhancement bonus to Dexterity, Resonance improved unarmed strike.)
7. Sloth - Incandescent blue sphere (Price 8,000 gp, +2 enhancement bonus to Wisdom, Resonance blind-fight.)
The discovery about how ioun stones and shards interact seems like someone tried common and uncommon powerful magic items with the shards by trial and error. Thus, rare or unique magic items would not serve the purpose.
Remastered PF2's Aeon Stones still include a Dusty Rose Prism (Item 3, 1st-level shield cantrip, resonant power hardens the shield) and Pink Rhomboid (Item 12, 15 temporary Hit Points, resonant power stabilize cantrip). Pick five more aeon stones of levels that the party can obtain at the right time to complete the set.
Substitutions are frequently necessary in converting an adventure path.
I see no reason to associate the aeon stones with schools of magic. The sin associated with each shard provides enough association. For example, the Pearly White Spindle 3rd-level aeon stone could go with Pride, because it heals your own wounds so you don't need the aid of medical practitioners. Or Azure Briolette 4th-level aeon stone could also go with Pride, because it triggers when an opponent fails a save against your spells.
Or you could go with opposites that an aeon stone's abiltiy that seems humble, such as a Consumed aeon stone, would protect against the curse of pride. That could explain why the runelords themselves never protected against the curses. The Runelord of Gluttony would scoff at a Nourishing aeon stone (no longer need to eat or drink) because he loved eating, but its opposite nature would nullify the curse on the Gluttony shard. The Polished Pebble aeon stone (resists grapple) could be the opposite of Lust.
And the Pathfinder Society might not have a full list of which aeon stones works with each shard. You could let the players invent their own ideas.
Thanks for the ideas mathmuse! I did a little reading into the origins of Ioun stones and realized they are pretty deeply tied into the source material that both pathfinder and D&D are drawing from on what defines arcane magic and wizards, so I am leaning towards using the newer pathfinder version Aeon stones, instead of a ritual. I am inclined to make up my own, extremely rare ones to pair with shards that give a slight boost beyond level appropriate abilities, at least at first, like making them all about level 12 items, for some campaign uniqueness. Although the idea of tailoring the abilities to being the opposite of the sin, and thus unfathomable to the runelords that possessed each one originally is an idea I will definitely consider.
They (the pieces of the shattered star) are kinda difficult to fully wrap my head around until I’ve converted the whole AP and can contextualized how they will fit in to the dungeons that the future ones will be found in, so I think they will remain as rough drafts until I get deeper in the conversion process.