Pathfinder Playtest: Doomsday Dawn

Today on d20 Diaries the end is nigh! That’s right! We’re talking about Doomsday Dawn!

Pathfinder Playtest released a short time ago, and alongside it they launched a few adventures. There are three Pathfinder Society Playtest Scenarios out, which we’ll talk about later this week. But, the main playtest experience is an adventure called Doomsday Dawn. All four of these adventures are a free download on Paizo’s website.

Pathfinder Playtest RulebookMore accurately, Pathfinder Playtest Adventure: Doomsday Dawn is a series of linked adventures which, played all in a row, make a comprehensive storyline. It’s like a mini-adventure path. With a few differences. For starters, this is created for Pathfinder Playtest, not the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. It’s intended not only to introduce players to the new Pathfinder rules, but also to playtest certain aspects of those rules. As such, each mini-adventure is focused on a different aspect of gameplay. Once you’ve finished a section of the adventure you’re invited to head over to Paizo’s website and fill out a survey about your experience. While you’re there, I highly recommend picking up the maps for this adventure: Pathfinder Playtest Flip-Mat Multi-Pack. It contains two different flip-mats which feature the four major maps of this adventure. Other maps found throughout are more generic and can be drawn on a blank mat (Pathfinder: Flip Mat: Bigger Basic), or created with other flip-mats and map products you might have at home.

There’s a few other important things to note. Doomsday Dawn takes place over a long time. A decade to be exact! And it takes it characters all throughout the Inner Sea. Most importantly: this adventure is not always played with the same characters. That is to say, you’ll make a group of ‘Primary’ characters, who will play three parts of this adventure together: parts 1, 4 and 7. For the other four parts you will play different heroes who do tasks related to the primary character’s ongoing story. Each of these side groups will be created for a specific purpose and are only used once. These characters will play parts 2, 3, 5, and 6. Intrigued? Then read on!

Doomsday Dawn tells the story of the Aucturn Enigma, which was first introduced in the module Entombed With The Pharaohs, and was also featured in the module The Pact Stone Pyramid, both of which came out before Pathfinder had its own official rules set. No idea what that is? No worries. Neither do your characters. Basically this adventure involves Ancient Osirion, the Dominion of the Black, the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, The Night Heralds, the planet Aucturn, and nothing short of the end of the world. Yup, the stakes are high! For more information on Osirion, you can check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Osirion, Legacy of Pharoahs.

Pathfinder Playtest Doomsday DawnIn the year 4718 A.R. (later this year) the celestial bodies will align allowing the Dominion of the Black an opportunity to merge the planet Aucturn with that of Golarion. If this happens life as we know it will end. This doomsday is only possible with objects of power from Ancient Osirion which were put in place long ago in preparation for this time. A group of evil cultists called the Night Heralds seek to bring this end into being, while another group, the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, seeks to stop them. That’s where your many different characters come in.


The first part of Doomsday Dawn is entitled The Lost Star and is intended to introduce new players and GMs to the rules of Pathfinder Playtest. During this adventure you’ll get the hang of encounter mode, and generally get a handle on the new rules. The Lost Star is played by your primary characters, who will begin at level one. They will follow all of the regular character creation rules as detailed in the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook, except for their background, which will be chosen from the special backgrounds presented at the start of Doomsday Dawn. These special backgrounds include: Budding Osirionologist, Esoteric Scion, Family Friend, Goblin Renegade, Mind Quake Survivor, and Pathfinder Hopeful. Each of these backgrounds is much more specific than the generic backgrounds in the Playtest Rulebook, and is meant to not only tie your primary character to adventure’s story, but also provide them with lore skills that will be of use. There are no other special considerations you need to take into account when making your characters, although it is recommended your primary characters form a balanced party from a wide variety of ancestries, classes and backgrounds.

Rise of the Runelords
Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.

The Lost Star begins in Magnimar in the year 4707 AR, which is eleven years before Golarion’s present and a week or two before the start of Paizo’s first Pathfinder Adventure Path: Rise of the Runelords. It takes place in the Varisian city of Magnimar and involves a noblewoman by the name of Keleri Deverin. Keleri is a relative of Kendra Deverin, the mayor of Sandpoint. With the upcoming Swallowtail festival to to begin in Sandpoint soon, Keleri headed down into her family’s vaults to pick up a family heirloom known as the Star of Desna, in hopes of getting it blessed at the festival. Unfortunately, she found the vaults robbed by goblins. And one was left behind! She questioned the brute, only to discover that the little goblin’s tribe (the Mudchewers) had been conquered by a nasty hobgoblin by the name of Drakus the Taker. Poor little goblins! Sensing opportunity, Keleri sought outside help. She hired a group of adventurers — your Primary PCs — and sends them down into the sewers of Magnimar to both obtain the Star of Desna and, possibly, to forge an alliance with the remains of the Mudchewers. But unforeseen events are at work, and clues discovered under Magnimar will lead to greater adventures after this. The Lost Star makes use of one side of the flip-mats in the Pathfinder Playtest Flip-Mat Multi-Pack.

My family has already had a chance to play The Lost Star. We found it great fun, although it was not without difficulty. We had a tough time with Drakus the Taker, having multiple characters fall unconscious, and one die. We also had some trouble with our alchemist running out of resonance in the first battle. She had to overspend her resonance for the rest of the adventure, which was dicey at best. On an upcoming playtest where I get to make a character, I’m going to make an alchemist of my own, to see how it works in other hands. About the same, I expect. Lastly, we had trouble identifying treasure. It takes an hour to identify a magical item and, since my family’s character’s weren’t forced to retreat and rest, that means they never had a chance to identify or utilize a single piece of treasure throughout the adventure. Obviously, this is disappointing. That said, it’s not the fault of the adventure, so much as a part of the Pathfinder Playtest rules itself. In addition, there are some ways for characters to shorten this timeframe down. Alternatively, this can be solved by your players retreating to rest, recover resources and study objects. However, I didn’t really find this adventure suited that tactic very well. It’s not so much that you don’t have the chance. You do, if you want to, but that my players had no reason to. They were comfortable pressing on.

PZO9226_500
The Inner Sea World Guide contains information on all of the nations visited in Doomsday Dawn.

All in all, I rather enjoyed the Lost Star. It’s a fun introduction to the game, with some very intriguing elements. My family particularly enjoyed the polluted fountain, and the glimpse of the future. In an effort not to spoil the adventure too much, I won’t say much more on the topic. Just know that we enjoyed it. In fact, my kids had so much fun, they turned the title of the adventure (Doomsday Dawn) into a song that they’ve been singing around the house. My daughter also made a delightful little sign that reads ‘We Be (GOOD) Goblins!’ She gleefully made a goblin as her primary character.

Those of you looking for more information on Magnimar, can check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Magnimar, City of Monuments. Those of you looking for more information on Varisia in general can check out the Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide.


The second part of Doomsday Dawn is called ‘In Pale Mountain’s Shadow.’ It takes place two years after the end of the Lost Star. During that time, Keleri Deverin and the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye have been hard at work looking into the clues uncovered by the Primary characters during their foray into the goblin caves. They’ve recently learned of an Ancient Osiriani object of power called a countdown clock, which is counting down to a time when the world will come to an end. Believing that having one of these countdown clocks (there’s a lot of them) in their possession will give the Primary Characters and the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye an advantage in foiling the apocalypse, they have been hard at work attempting to track one down. Thankfully, they’ve succeeded. Unfortunately, there are others after the same countdown clock. In order to get at it in time the Esoteric Order will have to hire outside help. This is your second characters.

Legacy of FIre Howl of the Carrion King
Legacy Of Fire: Book One: Howl Of The Carrion King

This second group is a team of adventurers or mercenaries who live in and around the recently liberated town of Kelmarane. Yes, you heard right. This adventure takes place in Katapesh, in between Legacy Of Fire: Book One: Howl Of The Carrion King, and Legacy Of Fire: Book 2: House Of The Beast. Legacy of Fire is one of my all time favourite Adventure Paths (as anyone whose visited my d20 Stories page may have noticed… Haha), so I was more than a little excited for this connection. My children are equally excited to play through this part of Doomsday Dawn, as they’re currently in a play-by-post Legacy of Fire campaign and are working their way up to liberating Kelmarane as we speak. (But that’s a story for another day!)

‘In Pale Mountain’s Shadow’ sees your new adventuring group hired by a noblewoman representing the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye. She tasks your PCs with travelling through the surrounding wilds, to the slopes of Pale Mountain, where they will enter through a back-door to the tomb of Tular Seft. They must retrieve the countdown clock before another enemy group does (The Night Heralds), and may keep anything else they find in the tomb. Oh, and they’ll be well paid, of course. This adventure features a lot of exploration mode and travel through the wilds, so at least one of your group members should be capable of navigating and surviving in the wilderness (two is better!). In addition, it is built to test out how terrain, hazards, and other difficulties affect battle. They’re interested in if such battles are still fun to play, or they drag out too long. They’re also interesting in seeing if the terrain makes battle too difficult. So once you’re done playing through this section be sure to give your feedback. It will directly help them hammer out this aspect of Pathfinder’s new ruleset.

The characters you will be making will be brand new fourth level characters made following all of the character creation and level up rules found in the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook. In addition, three uncommon languages are available for your characters to select with their languages known: Auran, Gnoll, and Ancient Osiriani. Knowledge of these languages can open up new opportunities throughout the adventure, it is not necessary. As for gear, each character gets one 3rd-level item, two 2nd-level items, one 1st-level item, and 300 sp to spend on additional items.

Overall, ‘In Pale Mountains Shadow’ looks like a lot of fun. It has an actual introduction, which Lost Star didn’t, and is a relief. The exploratory portion has interesting encounters which I think will play well at the table. These travel encounters all occur on maps you’ll be drawing yourself, or creating with your own map products at home. There are detailed instructions for drawing these maps, and feedback is desired if this was handled adequately in the surveys you’ll be filling out. After the exploration portion (which will likely take a single play session for my family), we get to the Tomb of Tular Seft himself. This portion of the adventure includes an image of a custom map which is not  included in the Pathfinder Playtest Flip-Mat Multi-Pack so you’ll have to draw it yourself. It’s an awesome looking tomb, with a lot of nifty features. It’s my kids favourite map in the entire Doomsday Dawn Adventure, for sure, and has them quite intrigued. The tomb also has some interesting role-playing opportunities which your group may or may not be able to capitalize on. At some point, your players are bound to run into their rivals — the Night Herald cultists who have been sent to acquire the countdown clock before you can. When this occurs is entirely up to your group and will vary from table to table. There’s even a chance they might slip in and out without ever meeting the Night Heralds (though the chances of that are infinitely slim). The battle looks tough, and like a lot of fun. Particularly because it allows your players to interact with the  Night Heralds for the first time. It think it’s going to be a lot of fun. That said, this battle involves multiple different, complex, NPC stat blocks, and GMs should prepare accordingly. In fact, I think that this chapter is actually my favourite adventure within Doomsday Dawn. Whether that will be the case after running it at the table next week remains to be seen. Haha.

Those of you looking for more information on Kelmarane and the Pale Mountain region can check out Legacy Of Fire: Book One: Howl Of The Carrion King. Information on Katapesh can be found in Dark Markets, A Guide to Katapesh, or the Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide.


Our story continues in a few years later in part three of Doomsday Dawn: ‘Affair at Sombrefell Hall.’ The Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye has a been researching the strange cult known as the Night Heralds, and their plans to bring about the end of the world. Thanks to the efforts of mercenaries the Order has acquired a countdown clock, and have a timeline for the apparent coming end. They’ve discovered enemies, allies, and even discerned that this ‘doomsday’ involved the Dominion of the Black. They’ve gleaned all they can on their own, but now is the time to call on outside help. Your third group of characters will be a team hired by (or a part of) the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye who are sent to Ustalav to contact the foremost expert in the study of the Dominion of the Black, Dr. Verid Oscilar, and obtain his assistance in determining the plans of the Night Heralds. Upon arriving they discover that the good doctor is currently taking a break from teaching, and is relaxing at his personal manor in the countryside. Your characters will head to the manor, and try to obtain his help. Unfortunately for both your characters and Dr. Oscilar, the Night Heralds are more than aware of his expertise, and seek to make him one of their own. …Sort of. We’ll leave that a surprise for now. Haha. It doesn’t make use of any flip-mats, so be sure to have a blank map and your markers ready. You’ll be doing a lot of drawing!

Carrion Crown Haunting of Harrowstone
Carrion Crown: Book One: Haunting of Harrowstone

This section of the adventure takes place in Ustalav during the events of the Pathfinder Adventure Path: Carrion Crown: Book One: Haunting of Harrowstone. That said, they take place in completely different parts of the country and aren’t going to have any effect on each other. It’s meant to be a survival horror adventure, which will feature a lot of combat against a lot of undead with minimal preparatory time in between. This is meant to test out the healing resources of a group that includes multiple healers against undead forces. GMs will need to track not only how long each battle takes, but also how much healing is used in each fight. Your group must include at least two clerics capable of channeling energy. The other members of the group must be characters capable of healing to some extent (which can include bard, druid, paladin, or a sorcerer that has divine spells and, to a lesser extent, the alchemist). These new characters will be level seven. They will follow all of the character creation and level up guidelines for characters found in the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook. For gear, they will begin with one 6th-level item, two 5th-level items, one 4th-level item, two 3rd-level items, and 125 gp to spend as they see fit. One character in the group also starts with one +2 magic armor. Good luck deciding who gets that bit of treasure! Haha.

‘Affair at Sombrefell Hall’ is a dark, difficult adventure that takes place at an interesting location. It makes wonderful use of the locale, giving players a chance to explore well before the danger starts. This can give them some really interesting combat options once the battles do begin. The adventure itself begins with some interesting (and probably suspicious) social encounters, and some good old fashioned snooping around. I’m a fan of the survival horror genre in my d20 games, but, due to the nature of the playtest, this one is going to be particularly difficult. You’re going to take a lot of damage, use a lot of healing resources, and probably lose a party member or two. Hopefully, you all come out alive in the end. And, if not, at least some of you survive and secure the aid of Dr. Oscilar to enlighten your Primary Characters. Even if you don’t, you can continue Doomsday Dawn and move on to the next chapter. Perhaps the most important part of this section of the adventure is giving your players a glimpse of the evil that the Dominion of the Black is capable of. And man, oh man. They’re just so… evil! Haha.

Players looking for more information on Ustalav can check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Rule of Fear or, for more general information, Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide.


Part four of the Doomsday Dawn, ‘Mirrored Moon,’ reunites your players with their Primary Characters. This are the same characters who played the Lost Star. They will be levelled up to 9th level, following all of the levelling rules from the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook. They begin with all of the gear they acquired during the Lost Star, plus they get to purchase one 8th-level item, two 7th-level items, one 6th-level item, and two 5th-level items. They also get 250 gp to spend on extra gear. These characters are now considered to be either agents or members of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye, and have been off doing tasks and missions together for the last few years. Currently, they’re in a section of the River Kingdoms known as Thicketfell, on the hunt for a mystical lake known as the Moonmere, where they hope to find ancient ruins that were once used by a villain (and possibly founder of the Night Heralds) named Ramlock. There, they will scour the ruins for information on what the coming apocalypse will bring, in order to stop it. Unfortunately, the Night Heralds are already there, and the trouble they’re up to could destroy a nation (at least). Finding the Moonmere will be the least of their troubles!

Kingmaker Stolen Land
Kingmaker: Book One: Stolen Land

This adventure heavily uses exploration mode, and is meant to test out what kinds of challenges the characters can handle when they only get in one battle per day. The battles are difficult, so expect to go all out during each fight. That said, you’ll also very often have opportunities to scout out locations ahead of time, which should allow for some clever planning and preparations from players. This adventure makes use of one of the flip-mats from Pathfinder Playtest Flip-Mat Multi-Pack, as well as three other flip-mats: Pathfinder Flip-Mat Classics: ForestPathfinder Flip-Mat: Giant Lairs, and Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Hill Country. These maps aren’t necessary, and can easily be replaced by hand-drawings on a blank map. This adventure also makes use of a terrain hex map featuring the Thicketfell region, much like those used in the Kingmaker Adventure Path (which begins with Kingmaker: Part One: Stolen Land).

I’m not a huge fan of sandbox-style explorations like those found in Kingmaker. It’s just not my cup of tea. That’d not to say its not fun. It is. It’s just not my favourite genre for d20 games. I point this out for context. I’m heading into this one pretty sure that the actual exploration itself isn’t going to be my favourite part of this adventure (or Doomsday Dawn as a whole). Far from it. That said, I always try to put aside my biases, or at least point them out. I intend, as always, to head into playing this section of the adventure with an open mind. After giving it a thorough reading I can safely say that the Mirrored Moon has the most eclectic, enjoyable cast of NPCs found throughout the entirety of Doomsday Dawn, which is going to make it quite fun. Throughout the adventure there will be plenty of opportunities to explore, roleplay, forge alliances, and gain intelligence, which should make for an interesting adventure. The gnomish citizens of Korlabablin were a particular favourite of mine. All in all, I think this is going to be a fun, challenging adventure.

For more information on the River Kingdoms, check out Pathfinder Chronicles: Guide to the River Kingdoms, or the Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide.


Part Five of Doomsday Dawn is entitled ‘Heroes of Undarin,’ and may turn out to be the most controversial part of the playtest adventures. Why? Well, in short, it keeps a secret from its players, which I honestly believe should be shared. More on this later, but for now, we’ll take a look at the adventure itself.

Wrath of the Righteous Worlwound Incursion
Wrath of the Righteous: Book One: The Worldwound Incursion

‘Heroes of Undarin’ takes place in the Worldwound, after the events of the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path (which begins with Wrath of the Righteous: Book 1: The Worldwound Incursion). It assumes that the Worldwound has been closed, the Fifth Crusade is winding down, but that demons still infest the region and are being slowly battled. It will probably take a decade or so to make the region safe for travellers again, so for now, it’s still a dangerous, post-apocalyptic type place, infested with demons and other evils. Your players will be making brand new level 12 characters who are all members of the Crusade. They’ve fought battles against demons many of times before and are well-prepared for this mission. They’re hardy, brave, self-sacrificing folks who won’t flee from a fight. They’re… hardened. To create them you’ll be following all of the standard character creation and levelling up rules found in the Pathfinder Playtest Rulebook. As for gear, there’s a specific list of magical items they’ll have access to. In addition, they’ll get 100 gp to spend on anything they want. Its highly suggested you create a balanced and diverse party. This adventure is intended to test the limits and capabilities of mid/high level characters.

So who the heck are these people, and what do a bunch of crusaders have to the with Doomsday Dawn? In short, your Primary Characters are in need of information housed in an ancient ruin in the region and your Crusaders have been tasked with escorting them to the site, and protecting them while they’re there. These Crusaders have no idea whats going on with the overall plot line, which will be a bit of a refreshing change of pace. Upon arrival, the Primary Characters descend into the ruins to discover the information they need isn’t mobile. It’s not a book or a tablet. It’s all over the walls. They’re going to have to copy it. Your Crusaders will have to defend the ruins from demonic intruders while the Primary Characters are out of sight doing whatever that entails. It’s a difficult and thankless job. Note that you will NOT be playing your Primary Characters during this adventure at all. Only the Crusaders.

Now, onto the potential controversy. Note that the next paragraph after this contains SPOILERS. If you don’t want to know, don’t read it. It should be noted that the adventure specifically asks that GMs not tell their players the following piece of information. I totally understand why this is, but I disagree with the necessity for secrecy. I can honestly say that if I ran this for my family, without telling them the secret, the session would end with everyone very angry and upset. My kids would literally be in tears. No joke. I’m a firm believer that games should be fun. Tears and anger? Not what we’re aiming for. Because of this, I have one further piece of information to share with our readers. If you don’t want to know, definitely skip the rest of this section on the ‘Heroes of Undarin’ and head on down to the nice big words I’ve added that say ‘Spoiler over.’

SPOILER:

As mentioned, this adventure is meant to test the limits of mid/high level characters. Most specifically, its designed to determine how much is too much. Your characters will fight wave after wave of demons. And in the end? It’s entirely expected they’ll die. All of them. Dead. It’s been stated that knowledge of this tidbit will cause players to create characters who are purposely made to ‘survive’ which could throw off the results of this playtest. Throwing off this calibration will do no one any good. That said, I personally believe that if a player knows what they’re getting into, and what’s at stake, they’ll play fair. Roleplaying games are a game about trust, and I trust my players, just like players should trust their GMs. Sending players into a certain death scenario without their knowledge is a breach of that trust. Therefore, I’m telling you. And when my family plays, I’m telling them. Your characters will die. I suggest you embrace the spirit of that. Embrace that self-sacrifice during character creation. Embrace your death scene and make it epic! Don’t make characters made to ‘win.’ Winning isn’t fighting to the end. Winning, in this instance, is making sure that the playtest receives accurate results. It’s being an honest player. So make yourself a team of crusaders, and enjoy pushing them to their limits and beyond. And when your doomed character meets their end, be happy you’ve had a chance to ensure that mid/high level play during Pathfinder Second Edition will be of a fair and challenging difficulty.

SPOILER OVER

For more information on the Worldwound and its surround lands, check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Worldwound, or Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide. You can also read the novel: Pathfinder Tales: The Worldwound Gambit, written by Robin D. Laws.


The sixth (and second last) adventure in Doomsday Dawn is a definite change of pace. Entitled ‘Red Flags,’ this adventure is meant to test how fun and engaging social encounters, espionage, and skill based adventures can be at high levels of play. That’s not to say that there’s no combat in it. There is. But, that’s neither the point, nor the focus. The focus is on your skills, subtlety and guile. To that end you’ll make powerful level 14 characters who are members of the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye. Its recommended that they be characters whose role among the Order is to act as one of the following; archivist, diplomat, historian, researcher, spy, or something similar. Don’t make a character who’s geared towards combat. This is an interesting challenge that I’m very excited for. The gear they can utilize is a mix of gold, and specific magical objects, but it’s long, so I won’t write it all here.

Skull and Shackles Wormwood Mutiny
Skull & Shackles: Book 1: The Wormwood Mutiny

These Agents of the Order are sent to a fancy gala on a volcanic island in the Shackles held by a white feathered tengu Free Captain by the name of Whark the Alabaster, the lord of Plumetown. They’re tasked with obtaining an important book from Whark’s treasury called The Last Theorem. Its hoped that the information contained in this book can help the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye (and your Primary Characters) stop the coming doomsday for good. The stakes are high! This adventure takes place after the end of the Skull and Shackles Adventure Path (which begins with Skull & Shackles: Book 1: The Wormwood Mutiny). It utilizes a neat custom map which is not included in the flip-mats. It looks like a lot of fun, but due to the nature of espionage style adventures, I’m going to refrain from saying any more on the matter than that.

Players looking for more information on the Shackles can check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Isle of the Shackles, or Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The Inner Sea World Guide.


Which brings us to the end. The climax. The final chapter of Doomsday Dawn. It’s called ‘When The Stars Go Dark‘ and it is a finale in every sense of the word. It will be played by your Primary Characters, although they’ll be levelled up all the way to 17th level. They’ll have a chance to stop the Night Heralds and the Dominion of the Black, thereby preventing an apocalypse that would destroy all of Golarion. Perhaps they’ll triumph. And perhaps they’ll fail. Whatever the outcome, this is one fun, challenging adventure. It takes place in the present time (for Golarion) on a demiplane known as Ramlock’s Hallow. The purpose of this final playtest is to have fun! They want to know if the game is still enjoyable and challenging at high levels. So get in the game, and have a blast! Oh, and try to save Golarion while you’re at it.

The adventure itself is complex. I can say for certain that my kids will pretty much have no idea what’s going on. Haha. For them it will be more of a ‘point them at the bad guys and they’ll fight’ kind of scenario. That said, they’ll still enjoy it. Those of you who understand what’s going on will obviously get a lot more out of it than that. There’s a good variety of encounters, and getting to the end will involve more than just muscles. You’ll need to put on your thinking caps. I particuarly enjoyed the flavourful encounter with the Ashen Man.

I don’t want to give away too much more about this adventure. But, I will say, that I think it’s an epic conclusion to the Doomsday Dawn.

For more information on demiplanes be sure to pick up the awesome hardcover, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Planar Adventures.


And that’s a wrap!

That’s what you can expect from Doomsday Dawn.

It’s definitely a different style of ‘campaign’ than I expected. It’s longer, and more… disjointed. That said, it’s a lot of fun, and an imperative aspect of the Playtest. This adventure allows the folks over at Paizo to test out the aspects of the game they need help to calibrate. It allows all of you to have a say in the final product, while simultaneously helping them fine-tune the game balance.

I highly recommend that players interested in the Playetst find a group and play through Doomsday Dawn together. It’s my hope that this article can help people get excited about Doomsday Dawn, and head into it with appropriate expectations.

I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts on both the Playtest and your experiences playing Doomsday Dawn. If you’ve had a chance to play, be sure to leave a comment and let me know how it went!

Later this week we’ll take a look at the Pathfinder Society Playtest Scenarios, my family’s Pathfinder Playtest Characters, as well as the new Pathfinder Society Scenarios that were recently released for Season 10, and the new Starfinder Society Scenarios! In addition, we’ve got articles on Starfinder Roleplaying Game: Pact Worlds, and Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of the Sea on the horizon!

This month is going to be crazy!

Until next time,

Jessica

 

Summer Flies By! (And other news)

Well, it’s been a busy summer so far. We’ve visited family, celebrated birthdays, gone swimming, tended our garden, played at the park and… Well, frankly my allergies are acting up like CRAZY! Whoo, I feel horrible! Haha. Still, my kids are happy, and I’d rather get out and enjoy the summer than I would let it pass me by.

In gaming news we’ve had a chance to play the Mummy’s Mask Adventure Path a few times, Reign of Winteronly once, Shackled City a few times (look for an update soon!) and haven’t had a chance to play Iron Gods at all (sad!). In fact, we haven’t had a chance to play Starfinder at home lately, either. (Double sad!).

A while ago my daughter asked me if I would start moving some of our d20 games online to play-by-post. She felt that she never got to play her many, many, many adventures and characters because when the weekend comes we only have time for one game, and it’s going to be one of the ones everyone agrees on. That means that we could go months without playing some of her characters.

“Pleeeeeeease, Mom?” she asked. “Some of my characters might as well be DEAD! I would rather play them one post a day than take no turns EVER! PLEEEEEEASE!?!?”

She’s a little dramatic, but she got the point across. Haha.

So, at my daughter’s request, we moved one of our ongoing family PFS games online and we moved our family Dead Suns Adventure Path online. My kids and I also have a lot of campaigns that involve only me and them. I told them they could choose one to move online for now. They gave this a great deal of thought and, although they have a ton of characters they enjoy playing, they also have campaign envy.

What?

Campaign envy.

Every time the grown ups play Mummy’s Mask, or Iron Gods, or Reign of Winter they are desperately jealous. A while ago they began their own Mummy’s Mask campaign and they’ve been begging me to let them start Iron Gods and Reign of Winter ever since. In the end, they chose the Mummy’s Mask Adventure Path. I’m actually really excited, since they created a very entertaining group of characters that shook up our typical party dynamics. More details on that will come in an upcoming blog post.

In other news, Gameday VII will start in another few weeks, which is super exciting! I can’t wait! GenCon is coming up (for those of you lucky enough to attend such things), and Paizo recently released their Puzzle Hunt from PaizoCon online for mass consumption. No idea what that is? In short, its a series of Golarion-themed puzzles within puzzles that were given out at PaizoCon back in May. It’s a free download on their website, and you can talk about the puzzles with other gamers on the boards. I gave them a read and am actually super excited to try them out. It looks fun!

Paizo recently announced their upcoming Pathfinder Society Scenarios, which include the finale for Season 9 and the start of Season 10! They’ve also shared details on the next four Starfinder Society Scenarios. Soon we should get information on two new Adventure Card Game adventures, and the first three of their upcoming Pathfinder Playtest Scenarios! I can’t wait to get my hands on these beauties at the end of the month!

Speaking of the Playtest, there have been some awesome spoilers lately. My favourite turned out to be the BARD. Now, I’ve always had a soft spot for bards, so I was pretty sure I was going to love it no matter what they did. After reading their recent blog post on the topic I was elated! It’s got full spellcasting, performances are now a special sort of bard only cantrip called a composition (which means you’re not going to run out of music!), and some of the performances are reactions (counter song, here’s looking at you)! It’s just… awesome! I can’t wait to read the whole class!

Luckily, we don’t have much longer to wait. Pathfinder Playtest releases on August 2nd, along with the Doomsday Dawn Adventure, free maps to go with it, and a trio of Playtest Society Scenarios. I’ve had the good luck to join up with a group of play-by-posters who are going to be playing all three PFS scenarios in a row, which will give me a chance to try the game as a player. Meanwhile, I’ll be GM for Doomsday Dawn (and perhaps even the PFS Scenarios) for my family at home. I expect there will be a lot of characters being made around the house at that time, so who knows what we’ll end up playing with! It’s exciting.

Now I just have to find the time to read all of that…

Today I’m going to leave you with a photo my daughter took especially for d20 diaries. And yes, it has rabbits.

Enjoy

Jessica

d20diaries rabbit

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Mummy’s Mask: The Tail of the Asp

Another week, another game night! Today on d20 diaries we’re heading back to Wati for more of the Mummy’s Mask Adventure Path. So, sharpen your khopesh, pull out your holy water, and let’s get ready to take on the dead!

Mummy’s Mask is a six part adventure path for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, intended to bring your characters from level one to around level seventeen. This campaign takes place in the deserts of Osirion, and involves trap-filled pyramids, haunted tombs, scorching deserts, bustling bazaars and more undead than you can shake an ankh at! The Mummy’s Mask Player’s Guide is a free download on Paizo’s website, and contains a ton of useful information for players looking to make characters that have lasting ties to the campaign. For more information on Osirion, you can pick up Osirion, Legacy of Pharoahs. Players looking for desert-themed character options can also check out People of the Sands.

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Mummy’s Mask: Book One: The Half-Dead City, by Jim Groves.

My home group has recently completed Mummy’s Mask: Book One: The Half-Dead City, and have moved on to Mummy’s Mask: Book Two: Empty Graves, both of which take place in the desert city of Wati. For those of you looking to run the game as a GM I highly recommend picking up the Mummys Mask Pawn Collection, which has a over a hundred unique pawns for use in this campaign. You’ll also get a TON of use from the Mummy’s Mask Poster Map Folio. The campaign is also available in other formats, including The Pathfinder Card Game: Mummy’s Mask Base Set, and as a series of audio stories beginning with Pathfinder Legends: Mummy’s Mask 1: The Half-Dead City. If you’ve ever listened to the audio stories, let me know what you think! I haven’t had a chance to check them out myself.

If you’re interested in my previous posts about Mummy’s Mask, check out Mummy’s Mask: Game AidsMummy’s Mask: The Shrine of Wadjet,  Mummy’s Mask: The Canny JackalMummy’s Mask: The Dead Come Knocking…, Mummy’s Mask: Death in the Streets, or learn more about our characters in Character Focus: Mummy’s Mask: Fateway Five.


The Fateway Five left the Precinct of Left Eyes behind, and set off for their friend Manaat‘s house, deep in the slums of the Asp District. As they travelled, the streets got tighter, the homes smaller, and soon neither doors nor shutters protected the cowering inhabitants from the horrors outside. Only tattered curtains offered a barrier between the families hiding in their overcrowded homes from the zombies and skeletons stalking the streets.

“We need to get these people out of here…” Arc remarked. He was an awkward, red-headed herb witch from Thuvia. He wore little in the way of clothes and held a staff in his hands. On his back he wore a bag of dirt in which he grew a tiny garden and carried his pet rabbit.

“All of them.” Kasmet added. She was a fiesty catfolk dressed in ancient Osiriani finery with a pelt like that of a cloud leopard and an unhealthy fondness for shiny jewels.

Nazim Salahadine, a portly catfolk cleric of Pharasma who looked like an overgrown Persian housecat, spent no time in conversation. Instead, he let out a loud ululation and leapt into battle with his khopesh and shield against every undead he laid eyes on. Arc and Kasmet followed him a moment later.

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Mummy’s Mask: Book Two: Empty Graves by Crystal Frasier.

It took them a long time to fight their way through the streets to Manaat’s house. Although the wandering, weak undead posed no challenge to them, there were plenty to fight off. To make matters worse, most of the dead were relatives and pets of the residents, who had been buried under the floors of their homes due to an inability to afford burial in the Necropolis. This meant that families didn’t just have to fight off a roaming zombie, they fought off grandma, or a cousin or their previous pet cats. They also faced freshly risen zombies — residents of the Asp who were killed recently and reanimated by the necromantic pulses that had been washing over the city.

Arcs little pet rabbit looked around at the chaos with a sad look and a twitching nose. A silvanshee named Kal sat beside her, mocking every move Arc made.

“This is it!” Kasmet suddenly exclaimed.

The group hurried into the tiny house to find it under attack. Undead had literally crawled out of the tiny home’s back wall. The house was no more than ten feet by fifteen feet, and was packed with a bed, table, and cupboards, not to mention Manaat’s husband, twelve children and three zombies.

In between attempting to maneuver through the house, combat the undead, and protect the children, this turned out to be the groups hardest battle yet! Thankfully they pulled through without any of the family being injured. As Arc and Kasmet ushered the family out into the streets and explained to the father who they were, Nazim inspected the walls. The house was built right up against the Necropolis, so he was worried that the undead had broken through the Necropolis walls and into the home. Luckily, that wasn’t the case. It looked like the undead were purposefully interred within the walls, although he wasn’t sure if they had been honoured ancestors unable to pay for a proper resting place, or murder victims buried in the sly. Whatever the case, he was certain the Necropolis walls were still holding strong.

The group filed out into the streets and started to make their way back towards the Grand Mausoleum.

“Wait,” Kasmet exclaimed. “The people in these homes have no protection. We need to get them out of here.”

“Agreed!” Nazim declared. “But we cannot take them all. If the group is too large we will not be able to protect them.”

Arc nodded. “This neighbourhood, then. We’ll gather whoever will come with us from this block.”

“And the others?” Kasmet asked. “We can’t leave them.”

“We will come back for them!” Nazim purred loudly. “For now we announce our intent to return and tell them to ready themselves! Now, hurry! Let’s be off!”

The group took to the streets shouting that there was safety at the Grand Mausoleum and that evacuations were under way. They banged on the walls of those homes who they could escort now — some of whom joined them — and shouted their intent to return in another hour for another group. As they left the neighbourhood behind with nearly forty other citizens in their care, they prayed that the people of Asp could last that long…

Arc ordered Kal ahead to scout for danger. Surprisingly he offered no quips or arguments. Despite his frivolous demeanour, Kal cared for protecting innocents, particularly from his hated foe: undead. With their guide hopping between rooftops as a lookout and the Fateway Five armed and ready for battle, they managed to get back to the Grand Mausoleum without any casualties.

The Fateway Five were tired and sore. Battered and bruised. Though they still has magical resources at their disposal, it had been a long night. Fatigue would set in soon.

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Zombies, skeletons and many other undead menaces can be found in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary.

But as the residents of the poorest sections of Wati fell upon the steps of the Grand Mausoleum and wept in relief to find sanctuary; as Manaat’s family rushed into her arms crying “Mommy;” they decided it had all been worth it. It would all be worth it… For they were far from done. The slums were large, and there were many other families who needed help.

The group beckoned over some healers to tend to their wounds, then headed off to speak with  High Priestess Sebti. They found her in the sanctum making up sleeping pallets for the refugees. The group told her all they had learned so far, and informed her of the weakening of the wall wards, the rising of the recently deceased, the plans of the Voices of the Spire, and the Voices intent to summon psychopomps to supplement their numbers.

Sebti was grateful, but also worried. She thanked the group for aid and sent for the clergy’s resident expert in holy wards. While they waited for him to arrive so they could escort him to the Necropolis gates, Nazim explained their plan to protect the poor of the Asp district. Sebti was both shocked and pleased.

“A wise decision,” she told them with a smile.

Just then a regal looking man with pale skin, a bald head, and long blue robes strode into the room. With a very imperious look he assessed the Fateway Five. He sighed in disdain.

“You called for me, High Priestess.”

Sebti smiled at the scholarly priest and quickly introduced everyone. “This is Ahrutep Mahetree, our foremost expert on religious blessings and defensive wards.”

Ahrutep smiled.

You’ll be escorting him to the Necropolis gates.” Sebti finished.

Ahrutep frowned. “I… uh… that is… High Priestess!” he stammered. “I am a scholar.”

Sebti smiled. “I wish you the best of luck. May the Lady of Graves watch over you.”

With their reluctant scholar in tow the group left the safety of the Grand Mausoleum and headed out into the abandoned streets. Kal hopped off to scout ahead. Not long after he shouted down from the rooftops,

“Hey! Losers! There’s some dead-heads over here.”

The Fateway Five took a slight detour over a block, heading towards the undead.

“What? No! Go the other way, you fools!” Ahrutep exclaimed in a panic.

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Pawns for Osirion-themed undead (and NPCs!) can be found in the Pathfinder Pawns: Mummys Mask Pawn Collection.

Nazim let out a loud ululation, drowning out the man’s complaints, and leapt into battle. It was a trio of zombies, so combat was quick. During the fight Kal hopped down into Arc’s dirt-bag  and cuddled up next to Arc’s rabbit. Arc offered some ranged support, and Kasmet attacked with her claws.

Ahrutep panicked, shrieked, and hid behind Arc.

Kal laughed at the top of his lungs. “A-HA-HA! THIS POMPOUS FOOL IS THE BIGGEST COWARD!”

Ahrutep was too scared to care.

As the battle came to an end he cleared his throat and smoothed out his robes. “Ahem… Yes, well… A fair job…”

Kal scoffed. “I’ve seen braver babies at Insula Mater!”

As Ahrutep stammered in embarrassment Kal rubbed his side against the rabbit, then hopped back up to a nearby rooftop and disappeared.

Only a handful of steps later and there was a strange glow emanating from the space behind the Ahrutep! He turned slowly so see a human-shaped figure made of glowing light.

“AHHH!” he shrieked. He hurried to hide behind Kasmet and cowered in terror.

The Fateway Five looked at the glowing figure. Kasmet bared her claws, while Arc and Nazim tried to determine if it was undead. Suddenly both of the men relaxed and rolled their eyes. Nazim held out a hand to prevent Kasmet from wasting her energy.

“It is but a trick!” Nazim explained.

“Not funny, Kal,” Arc remarked aloud. “We’ve got important things to do.”

From above they could hear the silvanshee laugh. “AHAHAHAHAHAHA! Did you SEE that? Get that guy a change of shorts!”

Ahrutep fumed angrily and sputtered out a rebuttal.

Kal laughed and turned, showing off his backside to the scholarly priest. “Ha! Okay, I’m really leaving now.”

And with that, he was gone. Again.

The short trip to the Necropolis gates took far longer than expected, but in time the massive gates loomed large. They could see Bal Themm and her reinforcements holding the gate against the hordes of undead who banged against the gates from the other side. The howls of the undead made a loud cacophony that gave chills to even the bravest of souls.

“Greetings, Bal! Here is your holy water,” Nazim said, handing over the vials. “And here is your priest.”

They pushed forth Ahrutep.

The scholar cleared his throat and stepped forward. “Lead the way, Voice.”

As the pair walked away, Kal laughed. “We should call that guy ‘yellow.’ And why was he wearing a dress?”

Arc, whose elaborate loincloth was more akin to a skirt than shorts, blushed. “Get a move on, Kal! We need to hurry.”

“Sure, sure,” Kal groaned as he scampered ahead.

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My wonderful, heavily used, much beloved map of Wati! I cannot express how helpful it is for my player’s during Mummy’s Mask: Book Two: Empty Graves. This map can be found in the Mummy’s Mask Poster Map Folio

The journey to the tail end of the Asp continued with Kal making a mockery of the Fateway Five, and pointing out all the undead in their vicinity. The PCs made quick work against all of the undead in their path. They battled zombie cats, skeletal members of the Silver Chain gang who were looting nearby homes at the behest of their skeletal champion gang leaders, sun-baked dead who had died of dehydration out in the desert and slums, and even an attic whisperer who stole Nazim’s voice.

Much to my amusement Nazim’s player, my brother, played the rest of the session only acting and mouthing out Nazim’s words. We all had one heck of a fun time guessing and replying in character. I particularly enjoyed playing Kal, who assured everyone that he could read lips, and then proceeded to translate everything Nazim attempted to say horribly wrong, and thoroughly insulting. It was a complete and total blast! So much fun! We probably spent more time laughing than we did playing. Haha.

The Fateway Five pushed themselves hard, and made a total of six trips to and from the Asp district, escorting the residents to the safety of the Grand Mausoleum. They were surprised to see a few familiar faces among the residents. Senja Messeniah, a dancer who occasionally performed at the Tooth and Hookah was  among the citizens. As was Tais (a half-orc who had befriended Kasmet a few days earlier), Frida Bylo (a partying dwarven lass who had tried seduced Arc in the hopes of robbing him blind. Her flirting stopped abruptly when she realized all he had in his room was plants). They also met the Pahnet, the wife of a dead man they had discovered in the Necropolis on their second day of the lottery.

Unfortunately, undead weren’t the only ones to cause trouble. Kal tricked Arc into an embarrassing encounter with a thief girl that Arc had a massive crush on. While Arc blushed, Kal threw his voice and gave his best Arc impersonation, then proceeded to make chauvinistic comments at the young woman. She was less than unimpressed.

On another trip the group discovered that they were missing a handful of refugees! They backtracked and found the missing citizens trying to rob a local shop. Outside the battered and bruised teenaged girl who worked there sobbed in the street. To make matters worse, one of the refugees was a kid. The Fateway Five ended up beating the robbers into unconsciousness, then dragged them through the streets to the Grand Mausoleum and handed them over to High Priestess Sebti. The shopgirl refused to come with them, knowing that her father had told her not to leave the shop unattended.

On their last journey, right at the end of Mender’s Row, where the slums transition to the lower class section of the Asp (as opposed to the destitute section) they heard screams and some strange growls. The Fateway Five called a halt, left Kal in charge of the refugees (which he loved), and hurried over a street. There they reached a fabric and dyer’s shop called Rising Pheonix Textiles, which happens to be the place that Manaat worked as a dyer. Out front they saw the owners — Ohmun Kotem and Shamihn Hep — being attacked by zombies while two massive beasts tore the zombies apart. The creatures looked like wide, panthers with ruffled black feathers around their necks, and skeletal crocodile heads.

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Esoboks are a psychopomp originally published in Mummy’s Mask: Book Two: Empty Graves and reprinted in Bestiary 6. It’s mini is available in the Mummys Mask Pawn Collection as well as the Bestiary 6 Pawn Box. These guys are a blast!

“Esoboks!” Nazim exclaimed. “Psychopomps who devour all in their path!”

“You mean the Voices of the Spire summoned those things even though you told them not to?” Kasmet shrieked. “Fools!”

The esoboks finished devouring the zombies and approached the women with open, bloody jaws. Ohmun and Shamihn shrieked in panic.

“Ah!” Arc exclaimed. Then he waved his arms and starting yelling at the beast. “Hey! Over here! You’re ugly and… you look like the undead! HA!”

The esoboks turned at the word undead, pinning Arc with their baleful gaze. The Fateway Five dashed into battle intent on not only destroying the esoboks, but protecting the women. It was a fun battle, that really showcased some of the esobok’s cool abilities (wrench spirit, anyone?) which was made extra challenging due to the maidens in danger. In time the esoboks were defeated, and vanished in a puff of gravedust, confirming that they were summoned creatures brought to Wati on purpose. Although they had combatted the undead, as the Voices of the Spire intended, they also were a threat to the living, as Nazim had warned. Nazim took a quick look around for the caster, but couldn’t find him (or her), while Arc and Kasmet tried to calm the women. They offered to escort the ladies to the Grand Mausoleum, which Shamihn accepted, and Ohmun complained about. After some fine diplomacy checks the Fateway Five convinced them to join the refugees.

“Oh!” Kasmet suddenly remarked. “And Manaat sent us to check on you, you know.” she lied. “You owe her your lives. You should probably give her a raise or something.”

When they finally reached the Grand Mausoleum the sun was rising.  The Fateway Five reported to Sebti, ensured the citizens were well cared for, and then headed off to their rooms down the road at the Tooth and Hookah to fall asleep. They hadn’t slept in almost 24 hours.

Undead still stalked the streets. Citizens were still in danger. And there was a group of impatient nobles waiting at the Grand Mausoleum to be escorted to their homes. But, the Fateway Five had saved a lot of lives. They had held the Necropolis gates, coordinated the major religious organizations, evacuated the most at risk neighbourhood in Wati, and slayed dozens of undead.

They had done an amazing job. But, there was much left to do.

Wati needed heroes.

So heroes they would be.


Thanks for joining us on another trip to Wati! I hope you enjoyed your time with the dead as much as we did.

Until next time,

Watch out for esoboks!

Jessica


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Skitter Shot

Welcome, welcome, gather round! Need a hand? Today there’s plenty of furry hands just itching for a chance to be helpful! Curious what’s up?

Skittermanders.

For this year’s Free RPG day, Paizo released a wonderful Starfinder module entitled Skitter Shot. This adventure is written by Jason Keeley and is intended for a group of four level two characters. Each player gets to select one of four pre-made skittermanders and get helping! My family and I were incredibly excited to give this adventure a whirl, so I gave it a quick read and within a day we settled in to play.


The first job? Picking your character! There are four up for offer, and each of them is a member of the Clutch, a salvage ship run by a vesk named Nakonechkin, whose entire crew are fluffy, manic little skittermanders. First up, Dakoyo, a purple furred priest mystic, worshipper of Ibra, and the ship’s doctor. Dakoyo is obsessed with learning about ancient forms of medicine, and is pretty sure life before the advent of modern medicine must have been horribly stinky and disease ridden! My husband took on the task of playing this contemplative fellow. Up next is Gazigaz, a green furred xenoseeker envoy who loves nothing more than being helpful and making friends. In fact, he grooms himself constantly, in an effort to always look his best. Even when under attack he’s prone to make excuses for his attackers. Perhaps they had a bad life? No choice? They’re just confused! We can still be friends!? Right? My son happily took on the role of this chipper, friendly guy. The third skittermander is a red furred, female spacefarer soldier named Nako. She idolizes their captain, Nakonechkin, and even took his name as her own. She fights with a doshko and is the most battle-minded of the skittermanders. Nako wears her hair in a big braid on the top of her head, and enjoys playing her exotic finger drums (which are sized for someone much larger than she is, so she wears them around her forearm). My daughter happily picked Nako (she picked first). Lastly, there’s Quonx. Quonx is a blue furred scholar mechanic who loves to fix things. Everything. Machines, computers, wounds, and even reality. Or, at least, she’s trying to fix reality. Her tools don’t really work yet… But… Theoretically, if it did work, she could fix things! This messy but well-meaning skittermander was my favourite of the four, so I was thrilled to play as the delightful Quonx.

With our character selections made, it was time to get rolling! The adventure started innocently enough. Your salvage ship discovered a cruise liner aimlessly drifting through the Vast. Initial scans show no signs of life, so Nakonechkin went aboard to check it out, leaving his helpful crew behind, with the promise not to ‘fix’ anything while he was gone.  But, it’s been a long time since then, and the skittermanders are restless. Deciding that their captain must be in trouble, my daughter (as Nako) ordered her crew to follow her! There was saving to be done!

“Whoah, whoah!” I made Quonx exclaim. “I can fix it! I’ll check the scanners!”

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Skitter Shot is a free download on Paizo’s website.

Unfortunately, I rolled horribly, and all we discovered was the location of their airlock. Armed with this imperative information the skittermanders turned on their armour’s protections and space walked over to the cruise liner. Unfortunately, Nako and Dakoyo spotted something strange coming right for us. Tiny meteorites! Quonx bravely tried to fix it with her quantum wrench, but alas! My wrench still couldn’t repair reality. Gazigaz (my son) and I got walloped pretty hard, but Dakoyo and Nako slipped by unharmed. Quonx opened the airlocks and we all slipped inside.

The cruise ship was fancy looking, and we immediately were greeted by some robots! Unfortunately, the robots thought we were pets, and tried to stuff us in cages. My kids thought this was HILARIOUS. Gazigaz tried to make friends with the confused robots, while Nako was offended, and pulled out her doshko to do battle! The robots proved little trouble, but Nako almost got shoved into a cage. My daughter was hopping around and shrieking in a panic every time the robots tried to lock her in.

As we left the broken robots behind, Quonx resisted the urge to fix them… But it was so hard! They needed it so bad! And think how much MORE amazing she could make them!

Dakoyo convinced the group to take a bit of a rest, and then they moved on, only to hear an announcement from the ship’s AI. It informed the passengers — wherever they were — that pets were on the loose, but they would be captured soon. Please inform your porters if you find one!

Quonx decided immediately that the AI was bonkers! Clearly it needed fixing! Joy!

Nako was pretty sure it needed smashing, while Dakoyo — the contemplative one — wondered where all the passengers were. Gazigaz was pretty sure that wherever the AI was, they would soon be great friends!

More importantly, where was Nakonechkin?

They hurried deeper onto the ship and discovered a room full of cool stuff! Holographic billiards tables, cards, and a dart board where Nako found a really fancy dart. After that they found a room full of hurt sick people who pointed guns at them! Wow! New friends!

Gazigaz put his stylish hair and pleasant words to the test, and convinced the dirty, scared people with guns (passengers) who were hiding in the dining room to not shoot them! Yay!

My son was very excited. Making friends is one of his very favourite things about d20 games. He was absolutely adorable, prancing around the table in excitement, and trying to learn everyone’s names and problems. They learned that the AI, M2, had gone crazy! In an effort to make the relaxing cruise much more relaxing, it altered their course to empty space, and started drugging people who caused trouble or were stressed. It even sent robots to attack them in an effort to force them into their rooms. Gazigaz was pretty sure that M2 only needed a friend, and Nako still said we should smash it. (My daughter was taking great glee in being the strong character for a change!).

Meanwhile, Dakoyo used his magical powers to heal a wounded man.

After learning a bit about they layout of the ship the helpful skittermanders continued on their quest for Nakonechkin!

As they entered what was supposed to be the observatory, they found the room unnaturally dark! They heard sounds in the dark, and soon little skittering, shadow bugs appeared! Nako sliced and diced with her doshko, while Gazigaz tried to befriend the bugs. Maybe they didn’t know any better?! Luckily, Quonx and Dakoyo realized that in the centre of the room was a tiny portal to the plane of shadow, which was being drawn in by some magical rocks around the room. Well, alright, there was more to it than that, but they knew explaining that to the others wouldn’t be worth their time. Quonx and Dakoyo worked together to deactivate the onyx shards and shut down the shadow portal, while Nako and Gazigaz battled against the bugs. After a bit of work, the observatory was saved! Quonx used her wrench to fix reality around the portal — but really it was Dakoyo using his mystic arts.

“Yeah! Fixed it!” Quonx exclaimed.

Leaving behind the observatory, the skittermanders hurried down the hall. Stairs were on their left, and ahead was the bridge, but to their right they heard a sound…

Nako gasped! (My daughter shrieked). “It’s Nakonechkin!” (Or rather, she tried to say Nakonechkin. It came out more like ‘Nakokochiky.’ I’m not sure why they decided to give the vesk such a long and tough to say name. We butchered it constantly during play. Haha!

The group bust into the room to find Nakonechkin relaxing at the spa! Or, was he relaxing? Why was he in pain?

Quonx knew what was up! “The robotic masseuse is massaging too hard! NO MEANS NO! I’ll fix it!”

Quonx leapt upon the robot and whipped out her tools — her proper ones, not the quantum reality spanner — and in no time flat she disabled the robotic massage arms and Nakonechkin was freed!

Nako helped Nakonechkin up while Dakoyo healed him.

Nakonechkin thanks his ‘little fuzzballs’ for helping him and gave them new orders: get to the bridge, shut down the psycho AI and take control of this ship. He was sure that the cruise line would pay good money to get this ship back — and some hush money for them to keep this debacle quiet! And with that, the skittermander’s brave and fearless captain… went back to the Clutch.

“Got it, Boss!” Nako exclaimed. Then she turned to boss around the rest of the crew. “You heard him! To the bridge!”

The door to the bridge was locked, but that was no trouble for Quonx, who had the door open in a jiffy. The group hurried inside only to find a dead crew member on the floor! Dakoyo went over to check on him while Quonx approached the computer consoles.

A moment later the crewman moved! Yay!

And bit Dakoyo in the face!

No!

The poor crewman looked like he had come into the bridge to try to shut down the AI and had been electrocuted! Oh, no! The shock messed with his augmentations and he arose as a cybernetic zombie! Double oh, no!

The zombie managed to deal a lot of damage to the little skittermanders when stuck in the close quarters of the bridge — particularly by shooting electricity from its arms! Poor Gazigaz’s hair was never the same after that…

But, in time, they poor crewman was defeated.

Gazigaz tried talking to the corpse. “I’m sorry we had to kill you, Mr. Deadman. Now that you’re not trying to kill us, did you want to be my friend?”

The crewman didn’t argue.

“Yay!” Gazigaz exclaimed. He shook the crewman’s hand ‘hello’ while Quonx tried to access the ship’s mainframe…. to no avail! The clever M2 had disabled these consoles. In order to access the ship’s mainframe and shut down the mad AI they would have to reboot the computer core (which was likely on the engineering deck!)

It was at this point that the calm, soothing voice of M2 came over the loudspeakers once more. She had decided that we were not, in fact, pets. We were rebellious intruders here to upset her passengers! We needed to be calmed! Preferably into unconsciousness!

Gazigaz tried to explain that we were only here to make friends, but M2 didn’t respond. The group of hyper skittermanders hurried down the stairwell to the lower level of the ship. There they found the crew and guest quarters, as well as a second airlock where baggage would have been loaded onto the ship.

As they investigated the various cabins Dakoyo noticed something strange… He felt a little sleepy… And what was that sound…? A quiet hiss..?

Poisonous gas was pouring into the rooms though the vents! That sneaky AI was trying to knock them out!

As Dakoyo explained the many proper uses for knockout gas, Quonx tried to override the ventilation controls and jam them all shut. Luckily, it worked, and the skittermanders hurried on to the engineering deck. But they did not go unopposed! Outside the doors was one final robot who stood over the corpse of another crew member.

Before Gazigaz could even try to befriend the robot Nako dashed into battle! Overcome with the urge to help the others followed suit and soon the robot was defeated. Quonx hacked her way into the engineering deck while Dakoyo and Gazigaz checked on the corpse. Quonx ushered everyone inside and took a look at the layout, quickly determining that they would need to dismantle parts of the computer’s core which would be located somewhere in the ship’s framework. Unfortunately, Quonx had no more time to ponder. The AI made another pleasant announcement.

In order to rid the ship of pests it would vent the entire interior of the ship to space!

The skittermander thought on that for a moment.

Finally Gazigaz asked, “Would that kill everyone?”

Dakoyo very helpfully assured him it would.

“Ah!” Gazigaz exclaimed. “I have to go help the people!” Then he ran off, heading back upstairs to try to get all of the passengers into emergency space suits.

Nako and Dakoyo looked to Quonx. “What do we need to do?” they asked.

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Quonx, the delightful skittermander mechanic, is one of the four main characters of this adventure.

Quonx got right to work. “Nako! Pry open that panel! We’re going to have to head into the walls and shimmy through the vents to get to the core.”

Nako did as told, Quonx led the way into the vents and Dakoyo followed. From down the hall they could hear Gazigaz struggling to carry too many suits up the stairs.

“I’m going to help Gazigaz!” Nako exclaimed. She couldn’t help it!

Quonx and Dakoyo hurried through the vents and came upon the core.

“Uh-oh!” Quonx exclaimed. “She’s got a decentralized core! It’s bound to have at east a few nodes we need to break!” Quonx hurried forward, but Dakoyo stopped her.

“No! There’s a magical aura around here. If you get any closer you’ll get burned!”

Quonx explained that she had no choice, but Dakoyo shook his head. “Nope! I will go first. Then you can break the node!”

Dakoyo proudly moved forward and, sure enough, a ball of fire exploded on him. He moved to heal himself while Quonx took the opportunity to scurry forward and deactivate the node. Then they hurried off to the others.

It was a race against time!

Which the skittermanders won!

They cheered! They danced! They celebrated!

The skittermanders took control of the ship and assured the passengers that they were saved, while Quonx repaired the ship and got it up and running. Soon after they sent a hail to Nakonechkin on the Clutch.

He didn’t answer.

The proximity alert sounded and Quonx fired up the sensors…

“Pirates are approaching! They’ve already hit the Clutch with an EMP! We’ve got to hurry or we’ll be next!”

“NO! NAKONECHKIN!” Nako shouted. (The word Nakonechkin was once again mutiliated). “To your stations!”

Gazigaz leapt into the pilot’s chair. “Are you sure we can’t be friends?”

Nako fired up the guns, Quonx switched over to the engineering console and rerouted auxiliary power to the guns, and Dakoyo calmly climbed atop the Captain’s chair.

“Fire at will, Nako.” he ordered.

The battle was underway!

The battle was a short one. Although the enemy ship had a lot of guns (and the cruise liner had few), the cruise liner was also a higher tier ship with solid defences. Our group wasn’t in any real danger of being defeated. Still, my kids were on the edge of their seats, and it was a blast.

The skittermanders left the pirate ship broken in the Vast and flew off, with Nakonechkin and the Clutch. They had a cruise ship to return to Verces!

All in all, a good day’s work for a group of helpful skittermanders! And a great day’s gaming. My whole family enjoyed the adventure and it’s colourful cast of characters. They’re already talking about next year’s Free RPG Day, where they hope the skittermanders will be back in action!


As we cleaned up, my daughter turned her big brown eyes up to me and gave me a pleading look.

“Mom? You know I LOVE Starfinder. And I love PLAYING Starfinder.”

“I do,” I replied.

“I want to play Dead Suns!”

I laughed.

That was a story for another day.

Until next time,

Jessica

 

Tails of Equestria

My children love d20 games. My son’s favourite is Pathfinder, while my daughter’s is Starfinder. They love to make characters, craft adventures, play online via play-by-post, and play as a family at our dining room table. But, they need help. The rulebooks use a lot of complicated jargon, and, even though my son reads well above his grade level, they’re still only six and seven. The books aren’t really geared at kids that young.

There are other games out there, of course. Easier games we could invest in, learn, and play, but that’s always a gamble. Besides, who says they’ll be a better fit for a young kid?

Recently a fellow gamer, who happened to be playing alongside both of my children via play-by-post, suggested that I give a game called Tails of Equestria a try. She and her daughter had recently played it at Origins and had enjoyed it.

My first thought was: My Little Pony? My kids love my little pony!

Followed closely by: My Little Pony? I love my my little pony!

There were plenty of other thoughts that followed.

For those of you who don’t know My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is a super popular kids show. It’s aimed at girls, but I know just as many boys who enjoy it as much as girls. As a bonus, it’s hilarious. My husband and I both enjoy the show immensely. Its one of those shows that typically Mom and Dad don’t mind being on while they’re in the room. I know I certainly enjoy it more than a lot of other shows my kids like.

Even if you don’t have kids of your own, or young relatives who have watched it, the stores are filled with movies, toys, and games featuring the characters.

But, what the heck is Tails of Equestria?

I looked it up. For starters it’s full name is Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game. It’s a nice thick hardcover book, and on the back it explains simply and plainly that it is a cooperative storytelling game, where multiple players and a GM forge a tale together. Then it goes on to clearly and simply explain what a Game Master is, and how the game works.

pony__30773.1501248493Right there, on the back is a clear, concise, easy to understand description of what the heck a d20 game is. And it revolves around a world my kids already know and love. The whole book is like that. It does away with jargon, and presents a streamlined, easy to understand game. At the same time, it doesn’t talk down to you. An awesome introductory d20 game that looks like a ton of fun. Light-hearted, family friendly, fun.

A lot of the book is devoted to creating your very own pony. The character sheets looks fun and even have a little template for a blank pony, so your kids (and you) can draw in your own pony details and appearance and still come out with a decent looking horse.

Perhaps the best part? It has a strong focus on teamwork, and overcoming obstacles together. In fact, parts of the game are built specifically to reward players for cooperating and being generous. Although battle is a component of the game, it’s not the focus. ‘Scuffles’ are short and rare. More often, you’ll be aiming to avoid, befriend, calm, or trick an enemy. It’s a nice change of pace, but definitely means that games are going to be structured differently that I’m used to. Luckily, the book itself has a sample adventure right in it. And a relatively involved one, at that.

The only problem? Getting my hands on it!

Tails of Equestria: The Storytelling Game is available on amazon.ca. As is Tails of Equestria Expansion – The Festival of Lights and Tails of Equestria Expansion: The Curse of the Statuettes, although they are very expensive. Both expansions are actually long adventures, some of which come with extra material, like a GM screen, dice, character sheets, and so on. The Bestiary of Equestria is available, but not in stock. Amazon.com has all of the products in stock and available, although then I would have shipping, duty fees, and the exchange rate to worry about. I also found the main book available on paizo’s website, although the others aren’t. There is a local game shop or two in my city that might have it. I’ll have to check.

Unfortunately, while I scoured the internet for information, my children peeked over my shoulder and saw exactly what I was looking for.

“My Little Pony RPG?!? AWESOME!” exclaimed my daughter.

“That looks fun, Mom!” added my son.

They then immediately proceed to ask when we could get it. Could they have it as an early Christmas gift? How about a graduating from Kindergarten and Grade 1 gift? Just because I love them? But, they’ll do chores!

“You know, Mom. You promised we each could get one book after school was over, but it had to be a tough one that we would work at reading this summer. You said we could pick it out ourselves. I think that book looks pretty tough…”

Yeah, Mommy had a much smaller budget in mind for that book, kids…

The conversation soon evolved into discussing what I had learned about the game system, followed by my kids contemplating what kind of characters they’ll make.

I honestly cannot express how excited they are. They’re just…

Man, they look so happy. Haha.

Now, if only I had an excuse (and the funds) to buy it for my children…

Jessica

Character Focus: “Scaredy” Sir Lansle Eine

My kids have grown to love play-by-post gaming over the last few months. They created their first Pathfinder Society characters back in December so they could play a scenario my brother wrote. Scenario #9-10: Signs in Senghor was a ton of fun. Mr. Ice, Bunny Paras, Paras and Enzo Jeggare accomplished their goals, made allies, and escaped the clutches of a dangerous monster. So when OutPost was announced they made the decision to move their characters online so they could play some more. In addition, they made their second characters. Lady Naysha and her beloved stuffed animal Miss Whiskers, the ever forgetful Fuzzzy and his clever owl Bobby joined the ranks of the Pathfinders.


Note: For more information on Mr. Ice, Bunny Paras, Paras and Enzo, check out the following posts: Joining the Pathfinder Society, Signs in Senghor Part One, Signs in Senghor Part Two, Farewell to OutPost, and The Many Fortunes of Grandmaster Torch. For more information on Fuzzzy and Lady Naysha, check out these posts: Outpost 2018 and Farewell to OutPost.


Recently, they decided they wanted to do more. They each took some time to think, and registered their third Pathfinder Society characters. Today, we’re going to take a look at my son’s.

He wanted to make a paladin. He also wanted to make someone from Fuzzzy’s past. Someone who knew Fuzzzy before he was a forgetful old man. Someone who knew he was a hero. He’s a big fan of demons in his d20 games, which worked well with his concept. In no time at all, on the way to school, he announced suddenly:

“Mom, I am going to make Fuzzzy’s brother. He died too. But when he came back, he didn’t get to forget. He remembers. And it makes him really scared.”

Immediately, I smiled. “That’s a great idea! Do you think he’s going to give in to his fear?”

My son thought for a moment. “He will be very scared. He will shake and stuff and hide behind his shield. But he is a paladin, Mom. Even though he is scared, he will try to protect other people. He will be a hero even if he wants to pee himself in fear and run away.”

“That sounds like he is very brave.” I pointed out.

My son nodded. “The bravest!”

By then we were at school, so he waved at his friends and handed me his backpack. I reminded him not to talk about ‘demons’ too much in school — unsurprisingly a touchy topic for a grade one classroom — and off he went to play.

After school he did his homework (with only mild complaints), and slowly typed his way though his play-by-posts. He pulled out our Pathfinder books and began to look at the pictures. After dinner we say down to make his character.

Choosing a race, class, and religion was easy. Fuzzzy had been a human in life, and his brother would be one as well. He worshipped Iomedae, and was a paladin. We quickly discovered a favoured class bonus for humans that he loved: “Add +1 to the paladin’s energy resistance to one kind of energy (maximum +10).” He chose to go with Fire Resistance 1 to start with, due to his unfortunate past with demons. He knew he wanted to fight with a longsword and a shield. Dented ones! And some big heavy armour that was scratched. The same gear he wore in his battles in the Worldwound. He chose improved shield bash, and weapon focus longsword for his feats.

He also chose his stats quite easily: Str 18, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 8. Strong and healthy. A little smart and a little wise from his time in the military. But not very nimble — his armour is too hard to move in for that. And not charismatic at all! He’s so nervous and scared that it bugs people. Also, he’s used to friends turning out to be traitors and demons and things! So he doesn’t trust people very easily. He is too scared they might be demons in disguise to be good at making friends! He knew that the low charisma could be a problem for a paladin, but he decided he was fine with that.

Then something wonderful happened. As we were browsing through archetypes we came across two that he wanted: torturer crusader and warrior of holy light.

Tortured Crusader is an archetype from Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Horror Adventures that represents a paladin who has lived through more terrifying and horrifying experiences than most. These events have left a scar on him. Perfect! It uses Wisdom instead of Charisma — even better! It gives him access to more skills per level than a normal paladin, and new skills. He gives up diplomacy and handle animal (fine with him!) and he gains access to survival skills, and a bunch of skills that would be super useful to a guy who tries to battle demons everyday. They can’t detect evil. Seeing the evil all around them only reminds them of how horrible life is. This could also help keep his new character scared all the time, since he has no idea where evil might strike from next! Their smite evil is also a little different. It’s less effective at level one, but later becomes more effective. My son thought this was alright with him. They can’t use their healing powers to heal others, instead he can only heal himself with them. This is because they want to protect others from evil so much, that they can’t ask others to fight beside them. Even though this is quite a downside for his healing powers, my son liked it. He decided that his character wanted to protect everyone from the pain and trauma that the demons caused him, so he would fight them all on his own. Also, this ability would give him extra uses of smite evil, which he thought was pretty cool. Soon he’ll also gain the ability to set conditions that could cause his healing powers to automatically trigger on himself. My son loved this idea, deciding that it was Iomedae herself, still granting him some extra help now and then.

The second archetype he liked is the Warrior of the Holy Light from Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Advanced Player’s Guide. This archetype made him give up his spell casting. Instead, he can make a magical aura of light that makes himself and his allies a little bit better at fighting. Later, it can do other things, like healing ability damage, providing energy resistance, and even harming evil creatures. He immediately decided to give himself this archetype along with the trait, birthmark. His paladin would have a birthmark on his left palm that looked like a glowing sword. It works as his holy symbol, and helps him shake off charms and compulsions, which is really helpful against demons! When he gets access to his light abilities, it will be his holy birthmark that glows with light. When this happens, his scared paladin will turn into the man he used to be. Iomedae’s holy light will help him remember what its like to be brave.

From there, filling in the rest of his character was easy. He chose ‘a sure thing’ as his second trait, gave himself ranks in Knowledge (planes), Knowledge (religion), Perception, Profession (soldier), Sense Motive and Survival. He chose abyssal as his bonus language. And he spent his money on some good gear. A longsword, heavy steel shield, scale mail and some javelins. He also invested in holy water. He made sure to pick up a wooden holy symbol of Iomedae and a battered old copy of her holy text. His, from before his death. He also invested in a shield sconce and some torches. The rest of his gear was pretty basic: backpack, bedroll, so on and such. With a bit more tweaking, he was ready!

We painstakingly typed up his character sheet on our computer, registered him online. My son browsed through character images and quickly found one he liked. Then we spent some time writing his character biography.

He was ready!


So, on behalf of my son, we’re introducing Sir Lansle Eine. Brother of Fuzzzy. Paladin of Iomedae. Known to most as Sir ‘Scaredy.’


Sir Lansle Eine and his brother Sir Palad Eine were holy paladins in the service of Iomedae. They battled together in the Worldwound and saw many horrors. In the end, at twenty-four and twenty-five years of age, they died. But as the demon tore apart their bodies, Iomedae plucked their souls from the Boneyard and placed them in new bodies. They were brought back to life by their faith and devotion and self-sacrifice. But when they came back they were not the same. Death changes everyone.

Palad came back in the body of an old man, with no memory of his past life. He calls himself Fuzzzy now, and doesn’t remember Lansle at all. Fuzzzy has a pet owl who is very smart—a gift from Iomedae—who keeps Fuzzzy safe and on track. Lansle visits his brother often, but it always makes him both happy and sad. It hurts being forgotten.

Lansle didn’t change as much as Palad. He looks the same, and he remembers everything. That’s the problem. Dying at the hands of demons was terrifying and it left a deep scar on Lansle’s soul. He is scared of dying, and all the things that might make him die. But, he is still a paladin in his heart.

He can’t stand on the sidelines when evil is in the world. He won’t waste his second life.

Sir Lansle decided to do some good. He takes care of his brother, even though Palad/Fuzzzy doesn’t remember him. And he joined the Pathfinders. More specifically, the Silver Crusade. Through his missions he is going to make the world a better place. Even though it makes his knees shake, and his arms turn to jelly. He is a scared, but very brave, guy.

Lansle is a young man in his twenties, with brown hair that is starting to go gray on the sides from worrying too much. He wears heavy armour and carries a big shield. They both have Iomedae’s holy symbol on them—a glowing sword—but they are also both dented and scratched as if they have seen a lot of use in battle. Lansle was probably handsome once, but he has big bags under his eyes he never smiles. He always looks very scared and nervous. His knees shake and his eyes look back and forth nervously all the time. He has a longsword on his hip, and a holy symbol of Iomedae around his neck. He carries an old, worn out holy text of Iomedae in his bag, and in the back he writes his own prayers and poems. He has a birthmark on his palm that is in the shape of his holy symbol, and once in a while, when he is in very deep trouble, it glows, and then Lansle remembers what it’s like to be brave.

Luckily, my son had no trouble finding a game for him to play in. Sir Lansle is currently working his way through Scenario #7-10: The Consortium Compact. Stopping a shipment of horrible drugs from being spread across the Inner Sea? Definitely a good start!

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my son’s new character. I know I enjoyed helping him make it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Jessica

 

Wayfinder 18: Fey and the First World

As you may have heard, the latest issue of Wayfinder Magazine was recently released. Wayfinder is full of fan-created content for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and is a free download on Paizo’s website. Over the years they’ve made an astounding 18 issues of Wayfinder, as well as a Bestiary! Nearly every issue has a theme, with this latest one being Fey and the First World! So whether you you’re a fan of the fey, or a fan of free, I highly suggest you give this little gem a chance!

But, what’s inside it anyway? A lot! At around 75 pages for each issue, that’s a lot of free stuff! The articles inside offer new player races, archetypes, feats and spells. As well as new equipment, both magical and mundane. In addition to player options, there’s plenty for GMs with adventure ideas, plot hooks, characters that can be used as allies or enemies, unique monsters, and even short adventures. Both players and GMs can make use of a ton of locations, personalities and gazetteers that are described throughout. To round things out there’s also songs, poetry, and fiction. And let’s not forget the awesome art!

There was a lot that I loved inside Wayfinder 18. My favourite archetype was the ‘Bogeykin,’ a spiritualist who has formed a bond with a dead bogeyman that urges her to sow terror! This archetype is written by Calder CaDavid, features art by Adam Munger, and can be found on page 26.

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For more information of the First World, check out Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The First World, Realm of the Fey

For spells, check out ‘liar’s light,’ ‘mother’s embrace,’ and ‘seneschal’s rebuke,’ all of which are inspired by Eldest of the First World, and can be found on pages 34-35. These spells are written by Jason Daugherty and Wojciech “Drejk” Gruchala, while the art in that article is by Jess Door.

I’m not a big fan of style feats, so imagine my surprise when my favourite feats all turned out to be styles! I’d suggest giving both the ‘Cold Iron Style’ (page 37) and the ‘Quickling Style’ (page 50) feat trees a read. These are written by Stewart “Reduxist” Moyer, and Matt “Helio” Roth, with art by John Bunger.

If it’s gear you’re interested in, be sure to check out the ‘living spear,‘ a +3 living wood called spear which is home to a dryad! This sure-to-be-fun weapon is on page 39. If you’re a worshipper of the Lantern King, then you should also check out the ‘vagabond’s cloak,’ found on page 40.

There are a lot of cool new creatures inside, but my favourites turned out to be the poppy leshy, a CR 1/2 creature found on page 65-66 which has adorable artwork. I also love the zolavoi, a somber little CR 5 creature found on page 67-68.

My favourite campaign inspiration was a plot hook on page 48 entitles ‘Rise of the Gerbie,’ which was written by Amanda Plageman and features art by Adam Munger. I also adored the article entitled ‘Sailing Across Eternity: Locales and Personages of the Sea Without a Shore‘ on page 54. Written by Matt Roth, with art by Fil Kearney, this is a mini gazetteer which takes a look at a few super unique settlements located within the Sea Without a Shore.

My children also enjoyed the Wayfinder Magazine. My daughter’s favourite part was an article on how animal companions can become altered by the First World. This is in no small part due to the wonderful art of a rabbit shooting fairies out of it’s mouth by Beatrice Pelagatti. The article itself is written by Calder CaDavid and features a ton of cool, creative ideas. I’m sure my daughter will be using some in the near future.

Meanwhile, my son’s favourite part was an article about the unintended side effects of bartering with fey. I highly suggest you check it out for yourself on page 14. Entitled ‘First World Trade,’ it’s written by Taylor Hubler, and features art by Jeremy Corff. It’s hilarious!

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For more fey-themed player options, pick up Pathfinder Player Companion: Legacy of the First World

For more information on Fey and the First World, be sure to pick up official Paizo products, Pathfinder Player Companion: Legacy of the First World, and Pathfinder Campaign Setting: The First World, Realm of the Fey.

Want some more Wayfinder? Be sure to check out their many, many other issues on Paizo’s website!

Want to contribute to the next Wayfinder issue? You can! The next issue’s topic is Stafinder: Absalom Station! Head on over to the Paizo message boards, here, for more information on how and what you can submit! Each person is only allowed three potential submissions, so send your best! My children have both already submitted a creature each for consideration, while I’ve penned a ‘Weal or Woe’ article which I’ve submitted for consideration. I’ve also got an archetype and a theme in the works, but we’ll keep those under wraps for now. If you don’t own them, be sure to pick up the Starfinder Core Rulebook, and Starfinder Roleplaying Game: Pact Worlds before penning your submissions. Best of luck!

I hope you’ve enjoyed checking out the contents of the latest Wayfinder with me. If you happen to have contributed to it: Thanks! And if you’re thinking of applying for the next issue: I wish you the best of luck!

Have fun!

Jessica

 

Free RPG Day 2018

Saturday, June 17th was Free RPG Day 2018.

Did you participate?

We sure did!

Free RPG Day 2018 d20diaries

My husband, my children and I headed out for a trip to our local game shop. There’s a few places you can go in Winnipeg for RPG products, but our shop of choice is Game Knight Games and Cool Stuff. It’s a bit of a trek to get there, two buses and at least an hour and a half of travel time for us, but it has a great selection of RPGs, board games, miniatures, and collectible card games. They also have a spacious game space. It’s a wonderful store. The buses were accommodating, and we made good time. In no time at all we headed inside and perused the goodies on offer. There was quite a selection! Over ten books to choose from, but with only one per customer. Luckily, there were four of us.

There were two products we knew we wanted to bring home with us: ‘Skitter Shot,’ a Level 2 adventure for the Starfinder Roleplaying Game written by Jason Keeley; and ‘We Be 5upergoblins,’ a Level 6 adventure for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, written by Crystal Frasier. But the other two? We had no idea. Something new.

Deciding we should pick out our purchases before picking up our free RPG books, we spread out around the store to browse.

For Father’s Day, we wanted to get my husband a book of his choice, so we set him loose on the store. He ended up choosing Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of the Ancients. Those of you who follow this blog will know that I’ve been dying to get my hands on this awesome new release, so we were very pleased with his decision. Haha.

My kids also got a small budget of five dollars to spend on themselves. Not much, I know, but they accepted the challenge with enthusiasm. My daughter fell in love with a set of pink dice, which was too expensive. As she agonized over the cost and attempted to convince me she would empty out her piggy bank (which contains about two dollars) to make up the difference, my son browsed the boxed minis. All too expensive, of course. So, the three of us moved on to the singles cabinet. They looked over the plastic pre-painted minis, and squealed over all the expensive ones. They each found a mini they liked, but we moved on too keep browsing. In the end, they pooled their budget and picked out three boxes of unpainted miniatures. Pathfinder Goblin Pyros (89002), Dragoth (Dark Heaven Bones, 77201) and Shadow Hound (Dark Heaven Bones, 77366) which is a lovely clear purple colour.

With our purchases in hand we headed over to peruse the Free RPG books up for offer. As already mentioned, there were a lot of cool choices, most of which we didn’t know anything about. Exciting!

My six-year old daughter immediately scampered over to the table and swept up Skitter Shot! While I grabbed We Be 5upergoblins! This left my son and my husband a bevy of books to browse. In the end, my husband settled on a book for Numenéra, which he had heard good things about. My son fell in love with the maps inside a Dungeon Crawl Classics book, so he hugged it close, I paid for our products and left.

We took a walk down the road for lunch to eat at a local Mexican restaurant called Carlos and Murphy’s, which everyone enjoyed, and then headed home for the best part: reading them. In short: they were awesome!

Dungeon Crawl Classics, by Goodman Games, came with basic rules and character details for making characters of up to second level, as well as character creation rules and two different adventures. One for level 0, entitled ‘The Portal Under the Stars,’ and one for level 2 entitled ‘Man-Bait for the Soul Stealer.’ This game has a definite old-school D&D feel to it. Also, it’s SUPER deadly. You roll up a bunch of meek peasants and hopefully one of them will survive long enough to reach level 1 where they can choose a class. The random character creation rules were quite fun, and the adventures were entertaining. My son loved all the black and white artwork in this book — of which there was a lot! He also loved the maps. All in all, it’s not my cup of tea, but as a family we liked the system — especially my son. He’s super excited to get to put it on his bookshelf, instead of mine. For the full rulebook, pick up: Dungeon Crawl Classics .

‘Ashes of the Sea’ is a complete adventure for the Numenera Corebook, which uses the Cypher System and is published by Monte Cook Games. The adventure is written by Sean K. Reynolds. Chances are, both of those names are familiar to you. Haha. In addition to containing the adventure, it also contains details on the setting, some of the rules, a mini-bestiary, a link to a collection of pre-generated characters. It also comes with a nifty coupon that could earn you a second free adventure if you purchase a Numenéra sourcebook from the same store you got the Free book from. A pretty solid pay off! We really enjoyed the Cypher System, although it will certainly take some getting used to. I also like that the focus of the game is discovery. Not battle or influence. Discovery. I feel like it’s going to be very character and role play driven. I can’t wait to give it a try.

PZO9500-12We Be 5upergoblins!‘ is a level 6 Pathfinder Module written by Crystal Frasier. It’s the fifth instalment in the much beloved ‘We Be Goblins’ series. It should go without saying — but I’ll say it anyway — that this adventure was AWESOME. Hilarious. Entertaining. I burst out laughing many times while reading it. It’s just a ton of fun! It’s also sanctioned for Pathfinder Society Play, which is an extra bonus, and comes with four regenerated goblins: Chuffy Lickwound, Mogmurch, Poog of Zarongel, and Reta Bigbad. So what’s up this time around? These crazy goblins explore the wonderful world of Bagland. It’s awesome, I promise. My kids particularly enjoyed the character ‘Golgum the Tall.’ And the ending? So good! If you didn’t get your hands on this amazing product, don’t worry. You’ll be able to download it for free on Paizo’s website in two weeks or so, and can purchase a physical copy for around five dollars American.

PZO9500-13The last book we got out hands on was ‘Skitter Shot,’ which is a level two module for the Starfinder RPG written by Jason Keeley. It’s sanctioned for use in the Starfinder Society, and even gives you a boon which can (with a lot of work) allow you to unlock Skittermanders as playable race! AWESOME! But, enough about the boons, what’s up with the book? This delightful adventure lets your players take on the role of four adorable and enthusiastic skittermanders who work on a salvage ship with their vesk boss. Unfortunately, their boss went out to scavenge what he could from an abandoned luxury liner, and hasn’t returned! Lucky that skittermanders love to help! The pregenerated characters are really fun to play and sufficiently unique. The adventure was a lot of fun. So fun, in fact, that we played it today.

The verdict?

It’s a BLAST. I highly recommend it.

If you weren’t able to get a copy on Free RPG Day, a free download will be available in another few weeks on Paizo’s website. Keep your eyes open!

The products we purchased were great. My kids love their new minis, and Blood of the Ancients was as great as my husband and I hoped. I’ll be dedicating an entire post to it later this week.

I hope a lot of you got out to Free RPG Day! If you did, I’d love to hear what kind of products you got your hands on, and what you thought of them.

Happy gaming!

Jessica

 

A Trip Down Memory Lane…

I recently started watching iZombie (iZombie: The Complete First Season (Blu-ray)) on Netflix. For those of you who don’t know, it’s a show about zombies that is currently starting its fifth season. Now, this isn’t some depressing ‘Walking Dead’ (The Walking Dead: Complete Series) type show (although I also love that…). It’s more like a funny cop/murder mystery show. Except if one of the main characters was a zombie who needed to feast on brains in order to retain her humanity. Oh, and she works in a morgue. It’s loosely based on the comics (iZombie Volume 1: Dead to the World) that were written by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred, and published by Vertigo.

My husband and both thoroughly enjoy it, and are currently nearing the end of the third season. Anyway, we were watching last night and suddenly came upon an episode entitled “Twenty-Sided, Die” wherein our beloved zombie heroine devours the brains of a dungeon master in order to help solve his murder. It was a hilarious episode, and completely absurd, but halfway through she convinces her friends to play a session with her, in order to help stimulate memories of the deceased. So there they are, sitting at the table: four people attempting to humour their friend. One secretly wants to play, one’s there to give it a shot, and the other two would rather be doing anything else. By the end of their session nearly everyone has had a blast, and gotten right into it. At the end the episode one of the serious cop characters tells the zombie girl that she should run a game every week. It was just SO refreshingly entertaining.

Which got me thinking.

It’s rare you get to see d20 games featured in popular media. I adored this episode of iZombie, and of course, there’s plenty of wonderful Dungeons and Dragons cameos and references in Stranger Things (Stranger Things (Season 1: Collector’s Edition))). But where else have I seen good d20 references? I know there’s others out there, but I couldn’t recall any specific instances.

More than that, though, it brought back memories.

The first time you played a d20 game.

Remember that?

Trying to figure out the rules while you make your first character? Being a little nervous at first, as you figure out what you can and can’t do? Finding your voice? The laughter?The nerves?

The first time I made a character for Dungeons and Dragons I was in high school. A friend had insisted a big group of us make characters and get together to play. Most of my friends said no, but I was one of the few who said I would. A few years before that I had stumbled across a copy of the Dungeons and Dragons Player’s Handbook (3.5) in a bookstore and flipped through it. I wanted the book so bad, but had no idea what it was. I must have looked at it over the next twenty trips. Passing by, browsing, but never buying. Flash forward a few years and I suddenly went ‘A-ha! That’s how you use that book!’ I made myself a dual-wielding elven ranger with long red hair named Meloriel. We went to the store and browsed minis until I found the perfect one. And then…. Nothing. We never played.

It wasn’t until many, MANY years later that I finally had the opportunity to play again. This time I made a half-elven bard named Lorelei. My husband (we had just started dating at the time) played her boyfriend, a gnome illusionist named Blount who worked as her stage-hand. My brother played a fierce minotaur warrior, while co-workers of my brother and husband played a lizardfolk and a half-orc monk. It was DMed enthusiastically by another co-worker of my brother’s. The game wasn’t very long-lived, but it sure was fun. We immediately began buying the rulebooks and campaign settings. I got addicted to Dungeon Magazine. We went out and bought pewter miniatures, only to paint them ourselves with whatever we had on hand. I even cracked out my pencil crayons and drew my own character art. Sadly, the campaign came to an abrupt end when my husband and I went on a vacation, but we never lost our love of the game. We were hooked from that first roll of the dice!

In the years since we must have remade our characters at least three times. But, each time, they never get further than a few sessions into their tales. Maybe we’ll make them again one day. Perhaps as Pathfinder Society characters, or in a home game with my kids.

It’s funny, I suppose, that something as simple as playing a game for the first time can change your life so completely. But, here we are.

I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Have any stories to tell me about your first characters or first experiences playing a d20 game? Know any awesome shows or films that reference d20 gaming? Let me know in the comments! I’d love to hear what you have to say.

Jessica

 

Character Focus: Mummy’s Mask: The Fateway Five

In the past I’ve spoken a lot about my home game of the Mummy’s Mask Adventure Path. Played by my brother, sister-in-law, and my husband, with me GMing, it’s one of the only face to face games I have running that is adults-only. We play on Friday evenings (presuming everyone is free), while our kids run around like maniacs, enjoy a movie night together, and indulge in some popcorn. It’s been a total blast. But, despite the many times I’ve mentioned it, I have yet to get into detail about the characters involved. Safe to say it’s overdue!

But first…

What is Mummy’s Mask, anyway??

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Mummy’s Mask: Book One: The Half-Dead City, by Jim Groves.

Mummy’s Mask is a six part adventure path for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, intended to bring your characters from level one to around level seventeen. This campaign takes place in the deserts of Osirion, and involves trap-filled pyramids, haunted tombs, scorching deserts, bustling bazaars and more undead than you can shake an ankh at! The Mummy’s Mask Player’s Guide is a free download on Paizo’s website, and contains a ton of useful information for player’s looking to make characters that have lasting ties to the campaign. My home group has recently completed Mummy’s Mask: Book One: The Half-Dead City, and have moved on to Mummy’s Mask: Book Two: Empty Graves, both of which take place in the desert city of Wati. For those of you looking to run the game as a GM I highly recommend picking up the Mummy’s Mask Adventure Path Pawn Collection, which has a over a hundred unique pawns for use in this campaign. You’ll also get a TON of use from the Mummy’s Mask Poster Map Folio. Trust me, by the end of Empty Graves your map of Wati will have had one hell of a workout. Mine’s already covered in a ton of numbers and labels I’ve added in permanent marker, to help my players keep track of the many locations in this quirky city. The campaign is also available in other formats, including The Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Mummy’s Mask Base Set, and as a series of audio stories beginning with Pathfinder Legends: Mummy’s Mask 1: The Half-Dead City. I haven’t had a chance to play either the Card Game version of the campaign, or to listen to the audio tales, so if you’ve done either let me know what you thought of it in the comments!

 If you’re interested in my previous posts about Mummy’s Mask, check out Mummy’s Mask: Game AidsMummy’s Mask: The Shrine of Wadjet,  Mummy’s Mask: The Canny Jackal, and Mummy’s Mask: The Dead Come Knocking…

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Mummy’s Mask: Book Two: Empty Graves, by Crystal Frasier.

Now, let’s meet the heroes of our tale…

Our home game centres around three wonderfully colourful characters played by my husband, my brother, and my sister-in-law. Together they make a powerful team called the Fateway Five. No, that’s not a typo. So who are these three numerically challenged heroes? I’m glad you asked!

First up, Kasmet! Kasmet is an attractive catfolk rogue with a pelt like that of a clouded leopard, and an exceptionally long, fluffy tail to match. She’s sneaky and greedy, and particularly adores shiny, sparkly treasures, jewelry and gems. She can pick locks and disable traps–although so far she’s had quite foul luck with that disabling thing. Nimble and quick, she’s prone to tumbling around the battlefield, flanking her enemies before tearing into them with her sharp, well-manicured claws. Kasmet’s a worshipper of Bastet, the ancient Osirion goddess of cats, pleasure and secrets. She can speak the ancient tongue, and is particularly interesting in discovering what she can of Osirian’s ancient past. She’s a sassy thing and more than a bit…. catty. She wears the most luxurious equipment she can get her hands on, and has a particular fondness for clothing and jewelry with an Ancient Osiriani aesthetic. Kasmet travelled to Wati to delve into the recently opened tombs in the little town’s massive necropolis. On the journey, she travelled with another catfolk, although the two couldn’t be more different.

Nazeem Salahadine
Artwork discovered on Pinterest that looks similar to Nazim Salahadine. If you know the artist, let us know so proper credit can be given!

Nazim Salahadine is my brother’s undead-hating catfolk cleric of Pharasma. Nazim looks like an overgrown persian cat. He wears traditional Osiriani armour, and wields a khopesh and shield. He always leaves his chest fur exposed, which he strokes whenever he’s excited, causing him to purr loudly. He’s territorial, and is prone to rolling around all over the things he desires or plans on visiting, marking such places with his scent and hair.  (I’m sure you can imagine how much the innkeeper likes that habit…) He eats a lot (and often), favouring fish and a nice tall cup of milk. He’s incredibly pious, and is often heard spouting Pharasman prayers, or blessing himself and others with a spiralling motion over the heart. He’s also a well-trained midwife. He despises undead with his whole being, always attacking them without remorse, with an ear-piercing ululation on his tongue and his khopesh held high!

Nazim also came to Wati to explore the necropolis, although for entirely different reasons than Kasmet. While she was drawn by greed, he was guided by fate. Not long ago, Nazim died. He had been prepared for death. Had known it was coming. So as his spirit wandered the endless desert he had died in, he opened his heart to his goddess, and prepared to walk the spiral. To allow her to draw him into the Boneyard and her realms. But as her psychopomps appeared before him, another made their presence known: Anubis, an ancient death god of Osirion. Anubis destroyed the psychopomps and punched Nazim right in the chest while uttering the words: “Your time has not yet come.”

Nazim awoke on the hot desert sand, dehydrated and alive once more. Emboldened with purpose, but worried at having been denied his judgement in the Boneyard, he found a single word written in the sand beside him. ‘Wati.’ And there he traveled.

Since arriving in Wati, Nazim has made cherished friends and met the love of his life: the mysterious Black Kiss. Unfortunately, her skin is toxic. Also unfortunately, she left him. Sort of. More accurately, she left town. They were never really dating in the first place. It was more like he announced that they were meant to be together and she laughed. Although, his persistence did earn him her attention and some smiles. But, with his beloved soul-mate gone, Nazim is now heartbroken and forlorn, periodically breaking down into sobs and tears. Kasmet thinks he’s being an idiot.

MIKE
Wonderful art by onionholic which inspired the appearance of Arc Goodstorm.

The third and final member of our party is Arc Goodstorm. Played by my husband, Arc is a socially awkward, plant-obsessed witch. He grew up with his over-bearing, druidic mother, Gwen, in a desert oasis, and until leaving a few months ago had never spoken to another person. Prone to blushing brightly and stammering at women with wide-hips (who he finds incredibly attractive), Arc’s still learning the ways of the world, and the intricacies of social interaction. He’s hilarious to see in action!

But, Arc’s not all adorable awkwardness! He’s a dependable spellcaster, a magical healer, and a talented herbalist capable of making all kinds of wondrous balms and cure-alls. He’s a caring physician, and a passionate gardener. On his back he carries a deep, heavy basket filled with soil and luscious plants, which he tends with care. His rabbit familiar, Mischa, lives inside the basket, and a sarcastic silvanshee named Kal follows him around most of the time, mocking him and his friends. And his dates. And everything, really. Except the rabbit. The silvanshee LOVES his rabbit. Which brings us to members four and five of the team. See? They can count!

Why, you might ask, does a silvanshee follow him around? The answer is part love and part laziness. Kal (short for Kalenthadris) is charged with finding and putting an end to undead on the material plane. Unfortunately, he’s extremely cowardly and doesn’t like to put himself in danger. But, you know who does? Humans! They’re super reckless! And there’s so many of them! Enter Arc! Despite Kal’s irritating jokes, constant pranks, and habit of leading Arc into trouble (only to promptly vanish and leave Arc to fend for himself) Kal’s a big softy. He’s enchanted with Arc’s rabbit familiar, Mischa, who he converses with as if they could understand each other. And when push comes to shove, Kal’s been there to heal Arc on more than one occasion.

And there you have it! The Fateway Five. Heroes of Wati and, maybe one day, something more…

Tune in later this week for an update on our Mummy’s Mask Campaign!

Jessica