New Life for West End Games

Back in the late '80s and early '90s, West End Games (WEG) was a major player in the tabletop rpg industry. Best known for the classic Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game, WEG also held licenses at various times for Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones, Xena: Warrior Princess and Men in Black. It also developed classic games such as Paranoia and TORG. Unfortunately, even the Star Wars license couldn't sustain the company, which declared bankruptcy in 1998. In 2003, WEG, now stripped of all its licenses, was purchased by Eric Gibson, who hoped to develop its game mechanic, which became known as the d6 System. Gibson's company published the core rules as three books, d6 Space, d6 Fantasy and d6 Adventure as well as announcing the release of Bill Coffin's Septimus campaign world. However, it could not repeat WEG's past success. In 2008, Gibson dissolved the company, released the d6 system and Septimus as OGL and sold off its remaining IPs. Gibson retained nothing except rights to the name. Apparently, the name still has some value, however, because Stewart Wieck, one of the original designers of Vampire: The Masquerade and other White Wolf titles has just announced that he has acquired the rights to WEG. The first plan for WEG is to make all the d6 products and Septimus, which are currently available for free download, available for print-on-demand. Wieck has also set up a Kickstarter to bring back Web and Starship, an '80s era boardgame published by WEG.

I once had a great deal of fondness for WEG and still have a sizeable collection of original SW:TRG books as well as all the free d6 content. Although I've long since moved on to other games, that nostalgia will probably entice me to keep an eye on new WEG developments.

-Rognar-

Ultimate Intrigue - Early thoughts

First and foremost, as the title suggests, this book is highly focused towards an intrigue style adventure/campaign. It works best in at low levels or in a low magic environment. If you are like me and looking for cool things to inject into a standard campaign you will be somewhat disappointed. This book is full of options but I found most of them to be very niche.

The Vigilante is pretty cool but I can't see myself playing one which is a bit of a shame. This could be one of those classes, like the Oracle, that I grow to appreciate over time but currently I don't see enough to excite me. The Avenger (Fighter) type Vigilante has great social options, and can do pretty good damage but I'm not sure they have enough defensive options. Overall I think the Avenger is decent and much more useful compared to the Stalker.

The Stalker (Rogue) seems to be built around the element of surprise. The problem with Pathfinder is that it tends not to support "one hit kill" style that the stalker seems to be built around. The stalker is devastating on the first round but then find its usefulness drop off severely.  I suppose you could pull the video game stunt of running away for 2 minutes until everything resets but no GM I know would allow you to get away with something so gamey.

Most of the new feats are geared towards an intrigue game although there are a few notable exceptions. Starry Grace brings me one step closer to finally be able to run a PC built around effectively using Star Knives.

Most of the Archetypes are niche as well. Many of the trades are for Intrigue options which won't be so useful in a standard game so form that point of view most of the archetypes are downgrades. Once I get the module for HeroLab I'll do more than throw some numbers together on paper but from a quick and dirty standpoint, many were very lackluster from a combat standpoint.

Overall the book contains lots of creative ideas and options but most are focused on an Intrigue style game which could be a lot of fun but we tend to play a more direct style.

Savage Tides 10 - Tides of Dread

With 30 days until the Crimson Fleet arrives, the PCs began to improve the colony itself. The harbor was booby trapped and defensive structures were built. The Wall was strengthened and the militia expanded and better trained. Scouts maintained a vigilant watch to ensure the colony would have sufficient warning before the Fleets arrival.

The PCs expected the Pirates to attempt a direct assault on the harbor and so had the Jade Ravens guarding the rear and side gates.

The Crimson Fleet arrived almost exactly on schedule . Everyone had time to take their positions before the battle began. Bytor and McDougal assumed command of a Trebuchet on each side of the Harbor opening. As the Fleet approached, one of the 6 ships split off and began to sail to the south around the island as the other five continued forward and began to exchange siege weapon fire with the colony.

The outer two Trebuchets were taken out by Fireballs originating from one of the pirate ships. Bytor abandoned his position to join with his team mates on the beach but McDougal opted to stay. As the Pirates began disembarking into longboats for the assault, McDougal prepared his spell that would catch many of them in a whirlpool. The tactic succeeded and many of the pirates caught in the whirl pool drowned while the rest were trapped outside of the harbor entrance.

More siege fire was exchanged but before long the ammunition was expended and a standoff resulted. Four Flesh golems rose out of the surf and began dismantling the beach defenses. Meanwhile, McDougal sneaked aboard the pirate ship containing the Fireball caster. He was quickly confronted by 5 human looking pirates but began to question things when they attacked him with slam attacks and bites. The "human" pirate wizard targeted him with more fire spells and McDougal was forced to withdraw. Realizing that the whirlpool was not going away anytime soon, the main pirate landing group rowed off to another landing point.

As he arrived on the beach he assisted the rest of the party in taking out the golem trash leaving the harbor once again secure.

A signal was sent from the side gate and the PCs rushed over to find the Jade Raven locked in combat with 40+ pirates.  Between the two groups of heroes the pirates didn't last long however more foes entered the battle. Four Vrocks flew over head and began to dance. Two rounds passed with the PCs feeling rather impotent having no effective ranged attack modes (Trevain the Wizard was MIA), fortunately the Jade Raven proved they are not completely useless and downed one of the Vrocks. Furious that their dance was interrupted they charged the two groups of PCs. Much Carnage was unleashed but eventually the heroes stood triumphant.

Another winged humanoid flew over the village and landed near the Mayornenshi and Vanderboren manors. The heroes were at first hesitant to investigate knowing that the main body of pirates had yet to arrive but after hearing screams, decided to help.

The Vanderboren manor's door had been ripped from its hinges and one of the servants lay unconscious in the door way. Moving inside quickly they found Lavinia squared off with some demonic creature. The PCs quickly realized that this thing was once Lavinia's brother Vanthus.

Vanthus tried to compel the PCs to leave but they managed to throw off the Suggestion and the battle began. Vanthus was pretty nasty but against 4 PCs and Lady Lavinia he didn't have a chance. Just before his death he pulled a fist sized Black Pearl from his pocket, smeared his blood on it and then wished the PCs to Hell as he dropped the floor.

All of the PCs dove for it and all missed it save for Isis who had to spend a Hero Point to reroll his reflex save to catch it. Vanthus tried to Sunder the Pearl but Isis was able to protect it. McDougal stabbed Vanthus and finished him off.

At this point the remaining pirates called for a retreat and in their haste left two of the ships behind including the ship Vanthus was captaining, the Brine Harlot.

The colony of Farhsore survived relatively intact. Only a few building were damaged by siege weapons and only a dozen or so colonists lost their lives - mainly Trebuchet crews.

With the colony defended from the pirates, Farshore's future must now be decided.

Savage Tide 9 - Tides of Dread

I've been distracted so this post is a bit late but here goes:

The PCs arrived at long last in Farshore only to find it aflame. The natives dropped everyone off on the beach and then paddled away quickly not wanting to get involved. The description of the scene laid out several encounters that largely involved pirates running amuck killing colonists and burning buildings. Isis first rescued Tilde Swenten from a burning building. Next, the colony's alchemist, Hervik Aldwattle was laying on the beach bleeding out so Bytor healed him up.

A melee broke out at the burning church between several pirates and the PCs but the pirates went down pretty easily. The pirate leader was standing by the well killing anyone who came near and preventing the colonists from forming a bucket brigade to extinguish the fires. He hit pretty hard but Slipknot Pete died just like the other pirates and the PCs got the flames extinguished.

As the smoke cleared, Lavinia, the Jade Ravens and Lord Manthalay Mayornenshi. Lord Manthaly is Avner's uncle and wasn't initially happy to see him. Manthalay provided leadership to the colony in the Vanderboren's absence and is less than happy at Lavinia's attempts to take back control. The Jade raven's were unhappy with the way Lavinia introduced the PCs to the colony as "saviours of the colony" since they had battled the pirates as well.

One of the pirates had been captured alive and after being charmed was interrogated. He explained that the pirates were third party contractors for the Crimson fleet and mostly they collected exotic animals and shipped them back to civilization for sale. They had been told to scout the colony for a coming attack by the Crimson Fleet but seeing it so poorly defended, Pete got greedy and attacked.

Lefty the pirate warned everyone not to be around when the pirates arrived which should be in about 60 days. After some discussions the decision was made to try and defend the colony. A long list of potential improvements was drawn up and the PCs decided that the first order of business was to recover their ship - the Sea Wyvern. Lavinia made the Blue Nixie and the colony's carpenter available but first they would need more pitch. This tarry substance was normally acquired from the natives but lately it had been unavailable.  The PCs decided to visit the natives to aquire more tar and ask for their assistance in the coming battle as well.

The smaller villages refused to help unless the village of Tanaroa assisted as well. Tanaroa was the largest of the native settlements and was located at the great wall. The prestige of guarding the wall gave the village leadership in the loose native confederacy.

Upon arriving in Tanaroa, the PCs found a religious ceremony underway. The native were chanting around a burning effigy of a bat-like creature. The effigy came to life, threatened the village if the stolen idol was not returned. To back-up its threat, a far off volcano began to erupt. The PCs immediately began to wonder if the strange idol they found on their journey to the Isle of Dread might be the stolen idol in question. The natives confirmed their suspicion and after appeasing the natives suspicions that the PCs were the thieves, the villagers offered to provide guides to the Temple of Zotzilaha.

Upon entering the Temple, the Avatar of Zotzilaha immediately attacked them. Iowa the Bard displayed the idol to the Avatar and it ceased to attack them. The avatar opened a secret chamber and commanded the PCs to place the idol within. For returning the stolen idol, it offered each PC a treasure from the room. The avatar spotted a rolled up leather strip and commanded the PCs to take the strip and its contents with them as it was not a sanctified offering to Zotzilaha. Wrapped in the strip was a pointy tooth - a fang. Trevain suspected that the magic item was in fact an artifact. They took it with them and left.

With the villagers appeased, the PCs proceeded to the tar pits. The villagers warned them that a large dinosaur had taken up residence in the area and was preventing anyone or anything from collecting tar. At the Pits they found a large Tyrannosaurus Rex  chasing a bunch of small creatures that looked like a cross between Rocket Racoon and the lemurs from Madagascar - the Phanaton.

Trevain charmed the enormous beast thinking it would be perfect to use to defend the colony from pirates. The problem was they had no way to control it. No one had any skill at handling animals and no one had any magic for the job. After spending a great deal of time trying to come up with a solution they ended up killing it.

The Phanaton were thrilled that the tar pits were once again clear of large threats and offered to take the PC back to their village for a feast. The PCs knowing a plot hook when they hear one accepted and journeyed with the small creatures. Along the way to their Ewok tree house, they were ambushed by strange creatures called Skinwalkers that had not been seen in this part of the island in many years. The remaining Phanaton introduced the PCs to their tribe and told the PCs a tale of the Rakastas, the sister race of the Skinwalkers.

The Rakastas were a peaceful race of jaguarfolk and battled their corrupted brethren. The Skinwalkers continued to grow in power and eventually drove the Rakastas to extinction. The Phanaton were pretty sure that the Rakastas had created a weapon depot to battle their evil cousins but never had the chance to use it. Perhaps the PCs would be interested in it.

The PCs found the temple and it was largely unguarded. Only a Coatl remained, it she only long enough to tell the tale of the Rakastas and encouraged the PCs to take the treasures of the now vanquished Rakastas and use them to fight evil.

The PCs took the choicest weapons for themselves and then arranged with the colony for the rest to be transported back as well as confirmed that there was now enough pitch available to repair their ship.

The Blue Nixie set for towards the wreck of the Sea Wyvern. She carefully maneuvered through the reefs until she pulled up close to the Sea Wyvern, still trapped on the reef. A battle with an aquatic creature known as a Kopru broke out but the PCs were able to slay it and claim its treasure - a Headband of Wisdom +4, that it was creating.

A week of hard work and the Sea Wyvern was seaworthy again. The two ships set sail and returned to Farshore with 4 weeks remaining until the pirates are due to arrive.

Ranking the Paizo Pahtfinder Adventure Paths (update 2016)

Rise of the Runelords, Curse of the Crimson Throne, Second Darkness, Legacy of Fire, Council of Thieves, Kingmaker, Serpent's Skull, Carrion Crown, Jade Regent, Skull and Shackles, Shattered Star, Reign of Winter, Wrath of the Righteous, Mummy's Mask, Iron Gods, Giant Slayer, Hell's Rebels

I received a request to update my ranking of my favorite Paizo Adventure Paths and since I have lots of time on my hands let's do this. Criteria is the same as last time: fun to play,  role playing, interesting combat encounters, cool themes, and great story. This is just my opinion and I'll admit to my biases: a dislike of long dungeons, and that high level pathfinder (14+) does not play well. So with that out of the way, here we go.

1. Hell's Rebels. It is like someone gave Paizo a list of my likes and dislikes and they ended up with a near perfect adventure path. My last post went over why I like it so much so I won't repeat it here.

2. Curse of the Crimson Throne. Still awesome but parts 4 and 5 just don't fit in well with the rest. I still think this would best if it were expanded into a full multi-year expanding campaign. We would just blaze through this one too fast to give it proper justice.

3. Kingmaker. The adventure path where you can pretty much do what you want. This one was a big favorite in my group and everyone had tons of fun with it. The glue between the various parts is weak but in this situation it is not a deal killer. It falls a bit into Star Trekiness later on when you wonder why the ship captain and bridge crew, err I mean King and his senior advisors, are wandering around caves killing trolls when they should be running the kingdom and leaving this stuff to minions.

4. Rise of the Runelords (Anniversary Edition). This one is great because they got to go back and fix the minor flaws from the first time around. This one has some great role-play elements, fun combats and great back story that is slowly unveiled over the first few parts. In the last third, things start to go down hill. The dungeon in part 5 is both rather pointless and is so long. Part 6 isn't too bad but we usually have ADD by this point in the campaign and the way its written is very long and drawn out. We played a shorted version of it.

5. Wrath of the Righteous. We'll ignore the mythic rules for a moment and look at the AP itself. It has a very interesting cast of NPCs (too many actually), a great plot, lots of epic action and tons of cool encounters. If your players don't try and break the game with Mythic rules it might be workable but most groups will turn into vortexes of mythic destruction and all encounters will be won or lost in the first 2 or 3 rounds. Mythic is very swingy. I do love those re-rolls though. I found Part 6 to be weak but that's pretty common but otherwise if you can work around the Mythic rules problem this is a great AP.

6. Iron Gods. I've never had a problem with Robots in my D&D since it has been an element of the  since Blackmoor but many others do. I really like the first two and the last 2 parts of this AP but I found the middle two a bit weak. I think this would be a great AP for all those weird PCs builds in your stable. I love the chainsaw greatswords, the laser blasters, the nanobot healing kits. Sign me up!

7. Reign of Winter. This AP wasn't really what I was expecting and it won me over as I read through it. This is one of the rare APs that seemed to get stronger as it went along instead of the other way around. Part 5 is down right weird and yet is rather appealing. Who hasn't wondered how high level PCs would do against WW1 troops and tanks? The thing to keep in mind is that this AP is largely about travel. You will go to weird new places and kill lots of strange monsters. In a good way. The first part of this AP is deadly if you play with environmental rules.

8. Giant Slayers. This one benefited from low expectations on my part. This AP includes some unique encounter locations, great role-playing opportunities and would work surprisingly well with a stealth oriented group. I particularly like the transition from part 5 to part 6. Enchanter type PCs are no doubt rubbing their hands together in glee at the though of a giant oriented AP but don't worry, Paizo doesn't let their toys work on the bosses.

9. Shattered Star. I am not a fan a huge dungeons but if you are, I'm sure you would rate this one higher. Sure the dungeons have very different themes, contain some interesting role playing options but over all it just didn't appeal to me. There is usually at least one part in each AP that is "WOW" and this one really didn't have one. It was just consistently good.

10. Mummy's Mask. I had high hopes for this one and the first couple parts work really well. However the whole tomb crawling theme works best at low to mid levels. I wanted this one to feel like Indiana Jones or the Mummy and it does a decent job early on but not so much later.  The railroad on this one feels stronger than most and I can easily see a group running off the rails. The one might be a good candidate for ending it early.

11. Carrion Crown. Speaking of "Ending it early"... This one grew on me the more times I read it. The horror themes were fun and I thought the first two parts were quite unique and entertaining (and difficult). Part three was a bit like "Clue" before ending as a zombie movie. I cut this campaign off here because I didn't really care for the second half. Part 4 tries very hard to be Lovecraftian. Plot wise Part 5 makes no sense, and although Part 6 had one super awesome encounter (OK maybe 2) most of the book was rather blah and the BBEG was a pushover.

12.  Skull and Shackles. I really wanted to love this one but after Part 1 I found it just fell flat. A DM who loved the material and really put some life into this AP could probably make it great but it definitely needs some love as most of it just seemed rather blah and generic.

13. Legacy of Fire. Pugwumpies. That word still sends shivers down my spine. May I never encounter them again. This one had a great theme, lots of fun in the first two parts but kind of lost its way in the middle. Part three was a blatant railroad and then both Parts 4 and 5 involve being trapped in either a pocket dimension or another plane of existence. A bit repetitive and by the time we finished part 5 we were still walking around in same gear we had in part 3.

14. Jade Regent. Don't get me wrong I liked the Asian themes but this AP just didn't work for me. Chapters written by James Jacobs are generally great and Part 1s are generally great but I just didn't care for the first part of Jade Regent. The caravan rules are broken. I didn't love the NPCs (even though some are returning from earlier APs), and I didn't love the dungeon. Part 2 didn't really work for me either. I had to read it three times to understand the flow of events. I liked the traveling in Part 3. Its rare that the environment plays such a central role in the game. Part 4 started out strong but I didn't like the dungeon that it led to. I heard someone replaced it with the Jade Ruby Tournament which sounds like fun. I love the idea behind Part 5. Rally different factions into rebellion against the Jade Regent but I was not thrilled with its execution. It could easily be expanded and made more awesome.

15. Council of Thieves. They tried to fix the problems of Curse of the Crimson Throne and failed miserably. The first part was largely forgettable as all of the NPCs you meet are then ignored for the rest of the AP. The back story is handed out in bits of pieces but never really comes together. Even after you killed the BBEG you are wondering who the guy was. The best element of this AP was Part 2. It actually comes with a script and the PCs can act out the murder play. For a theatrically inclined group it would be amazing, but for a group of dice rollers not so much.

16. Second Darkness. This one isn't as bad as its reputation suggests. Parts 1 and 2 are actually really good. Part 3 is fun but the elves come across as very unlikable. Part 4 is unique and part 6 was fun with lots of tough boss fights. The big reason people love to hate this AP is part 5 which is a total disaster and needs a complete rewrite. One interesting fix for this AP is to drop parts 1 and 2 (which didn't really fit with the rest of the AP) and make the PCs Lantern Bearers.

17. Serpents Skull. Part One is one of the stronger adventures out there and darn near perfect (but very hard if played as written). Part 2 is fun if you play up the different faction rivalries. Part 3 is a big mess like Part 5 of Second Darkness. There were so many things they could have done with Saventh-Yi and what we got was WoW style quests to kill 60 Mobs which will pacify a sector of the city. Thanks. Part 4 was only OK except for the Gorilla King which I thought was a excellent encounter. Parts 5 and 6 mainly involved trips down into the Darklands to kill snakemen. Yawn. I still like the BBEG of this campaign but I'm worried that he'd get over whelmed by action economy. Needs minions.


And there you have it! It is largely the same list as last time. I made a few minor changes but aside from including the new APs it is pretty similar.

Hell's Rebels (may contain some small spoilers)

Well Paizo has finally done it. Curse of the Crimson Throne has long been my favorite Adventure Path mainly on the strength of the first three (mainly the first two) adventures. It has all the components of what I think makes a great Adventure Path.

Let's go over those:
1. A simple but deep story. This one is hard to pull off. The players should get a sense of the story early on and it should stay consistent through the AP. It is nice if the BBEG or Organization is revealed fairly early so the PCs get a sense of who they are up against. Each part of the AP should be moving forward the PCs goals against their antagonist.

2. A solid cast of recurring NPCs. This is an area that I always struggle with. It is great if the DM can really bring the NPCs to life. The PCs should form relationships with them, liking some and not others but most importantly remembering who they are, using them as resources later on.

3. A big variety of encounter types. I'm not  a fan of long dungeons. If the dungeons or encounter location doesn't fit on a standard play mat it is probably too big. That's not to say I don't ever like exceptions but that is my rule. The occasional big dungeon is a nice change of pace but I prefer seeing only one or so per AP.

It is not a secret that Paizo staff read the message board and I'm sure they spend extra time carefully reading the threads about what AP are people's favorites and why. Kingmaker, Runelords and Crimson Throne are almost always the top choices. I can see elements of Runelords in other APs, but they have not really tried to do another Kingmaker style Adventure Path. With Crimson throne the major critique was that people didn't like the McGuffin hunt in parts 4 and 5 and would have prefered to stay in the city. Taking this to heart, with the release of the Pathfinder Role Playing Game they launched Council of Thieves Adventure Path at the same time. This AP takes part entirely within or nearby the City of Westcrown.

The problem is that Council of Thieves is a mess and largely fails miserably to capture the magic of CotCT. With CoT we made the mistake of playing the AP as it was being released. There were huge production delays and so our DM was left scrambling to fill in two months of content while we waited for the next book. Never again.

Even without the delays, CoT breaks lots of my rules. The story line is a mess. We never really understood why were were doing things and simply followed the obvious plot points to move on to the next location. The villain(s) are not at all obvious until the very end and even then we were hoping for some big reveal and didn't get it. The recurring NPCs get ignored after the first lackluster chapter and the only part that really stands out as cool and interesting is the Opera in Book 2.

With Hell's Rebel's, Paizo has taken a good look at their previous attempts to make the ultimate in Urban adventures and learned from their errors.

1. It is pretty obvious from even the players guide what this adventure path is all about. Barzillai Thrune is the new Mayor of Kintargo, and is a Tyrant who must be removed. Most of the things the PCs do in this book are dedicated towards the ultimate goal of freeing the city from Thrune's grasp. Even the side quests often progress the main plot or provide plot hooks for later adventures. The whole thing fits together nicely and feels like 6 pieces of a whole instead of a series of 6 loosely connected adventures.

2. NPCs are introduced slowly over the course of the AP and most do a pretty good job of being memorable. Later volumes give the DM ideas about how to incorporate early NPCs into later adventures.

3. Hell's Rebel's has some really memorable encounters. There lots of battles. These are as varied and interesting as any other AP in lots of different environments - underwater, in sewers, dwarven castles, plus lots of cityscapes. It is also the wide variety of non combat encounters that really stand out. There is a cool negotiation scene, a dinner party, a grande ball and encounters where stealth/deception are the best way to go.

Part 6 is especially notable. Too often part sixes are the weakest chapter of the AP. They are hard to write and balance around high level PCs that can just about anything. This part six limits what the PCs can do, but does so in a way that fits the storyline to such a degree that no one will care.  Part 6s should have an epic feel to them and this one pulls it off in spades.

I only have 2 beefs with this AP. The first is its over reliance on point systems. In every volume there is some sort of point system that needs to be tracked. Rebellion points, Notoriety points, Vote points, Concession points. Ugh. I understand why the different systems are there but they just all seem so gamey. The second is that the end of part four is such a climax to the plot that part five feels a bit slow as the tension starts to build again to the surprisingly awesome Part 6.

Overall this AP just blew me away. It has been a long time since I've seen an Adventure Path that I've loved so much. The last few years Paizo has been putting out APs that are decent but nothing really outstanding. I can understand why people would like them but none of them stood out for me. Hell's Rebels hits everything on my checklist and I hope to play it or DM it at some point.

Savage Tide 8 - Here There Be Monsters

The PCs packed up camp and began the final part of their journey to the Wall and beyond to the colony of Farshore.

Leaving the high mountains, the road quickly faded away to nothing more than an animal trail as the adventurers continued on into the jungle. Soon the fog became all encompassing and the party was lost. Small snakes were plentiful but non-threatening. The vegetation seemed to be changing as well, slightly discolored and malformed.

Trevain tried to fly above the fog and to get his bearings but the fog continued well above the canopy of the jungle and strangely continuing to fly eventually caused him to fly downwards. There was something strange going on.

The party continued to march around the jungle trying to find a way out to no avail. Things became worse when three baboon demons attacked the party, grabbing Morton Longfellow and teleporting away with him while also nearly killing Isis. Spooked and at a loss about what to do next, the party found a small clearing and camped for the night. Everyone was haunted by terrible dreams. Each person was in a vast cavern surrounded by evil looking baboon statues and overlooking a huge sacrificial fire pit. Each person held a long dagger in their hands placed over their hearts. Ironically it was only the cleric Bytor that would not resist the urge to plunge the blade into his heart and throw himself into the fire. Everyone awoke with a sense of dread but Bytor felt a terrible compulsion to run off into the jungle and sacrifice himself. The rest of the group realized this may be a clue and encouraged Bytor to head towards the source of the compulsion. Unfortunately, the sensation passed and the PCs were left to wander randomly around the jungle again.

This time they stumbled across a strange encampment. A clearing in the jungle filled with ancient crumbling ruins not of Olman origin. Set up at the camp was a campfire pit filled with dry firewood and at the back was a wooden frame that had a human body attached to it. Kaeless went to investigate only to discover that the human was the sailor that went missing in the road under the mountains. He had a huge gash down his chest made by a blade and was quite dead but was still able to talk somehow. It went on creepily about the "Master" and how everyone would soon be joining him in the state of deadness. Kaeless had enough pretty quickly and shut it up by chopping off its head.

Again the Baboon demons attacked the camp, this time grabbing and teleporting away with the sailor, Mango. The PCs reacted better this time and the demons inflicted much less damage before retreating. To ensure that someone would feel the draw for self-sacrifice, Kaeless did not try and resist the effect and killed himself in the dream that afflicted the party again. This time the PCs rushed off and discovered a hidden temple in the jungle.

Built into a large rocky hill the side facing the PCs consisted of two large carved baboon heads. Trevain figured they might be associated with the Demon Lord Demogorgon.  The PCs ventured inside both the rescue their missing companions and to lift the foggy curse that has them trapped in this jungle.

Traps were disarmed and puzzles solved as the PCs made their way through the temple. The female baboon demons were dispatched, a mob of fiendish baboons defeated, but the PCs got suckered by a ghoulish Mesmerist that appeared to be a trapped island native. He would join in the battle with Olangru, the lead Bar-Lguras demon. The battle was complicated by Morton and Mango being trapped in cages and being slowly lowered into the sacrificial fire pit. The PCs managed to rescue their companions as well as finish off the demon.

Things were not quite over as one of the giant statues in the room, this one a depiction of Demogorgon rumbled to life to strike down the adventurers. It too was destroyed but as it crumbled to pieces it took a good long hard look at each of the PCs present. A new enemy was made this day.

The good news however was that the fog was lifted as the PCs left the temple. The remaining NPCs outside were thrilled and morale was good for the last days journey through the jungle. Mid day of the following day they reached the Great Wall of Thanaclan.

The Great Wall stretches across a narrow isthmus and separates the peninsula where most of the human villages exist with the far more dangerous greater island. It is guarded by the village of Tanaroa, the largest and the leader of the confederation of natives. The village was cautious with the outsiders but eventually welcoming after Kaeless was able to converse with them in their own language. The villagers agreed to allow them to rest in their village for the night before providing and escort to another village that would be able to canoe them the rest of the way. Farshore is on an island.

This part of the journey was relatively uneventful. However, as the expedition approached the colony, smoke could been seen  at a distance. Part of the colony were on fire!

The native guides do not want anything to do with the battle but agree to paddle up quietly and allow you to disembark at the edge of the colony along the shoreline. As you disembark....

Curse of the Crimson Throne Hardcover

Ironic. I finally find a Pathfinder Adventure Path that I think is superior to CotCT and Paizo decides to re-release it as an updated Hardcover. They did a great job with Rise of the Runelords but I'm not really sure what they will do here to improve CotCT. It was pretty awesome already.

Hell's Rebels review coming soon.

GiantSlayer

When I first heard about this adventure my initial response was "Ho Hum". I flipped through the first part but nothing really grabbed me about it. I was also in a bit of a Pathfinder funk at the time and just had no real interest.

While looking for ideas to jam into Savage Tide, I went back and read the entire Adventure Path. It is actually better then I initially thought. The first part doesn't seem to fit well with the others but it is a fine adventure by itself. It starts with a mystery and ends with a really epic battle. Now, I love me my epic multi-encounter battles but it just seems to be rather tough for a group of level 4s. It is the climax of the adventure so I guess its ok that it will be quite taxing on resources.

Part two is where I found the transition starts. Most of this adventure path is about sneaking around, screwing with giant folk, and not getting discovered. Most of the time the PCs are vastly out numbered, and out gunned. This would be a great AP for a group of adventurers that are focused on stealth. Each adventure seems to follow the formula: screw with minions without getting caught until you can reach the boss. Kills the boss and minions disperse. Each adventure has a different theme and there's enough variety I don't think it would get old. It is pretty railroady as you move from location to location shutting down the BBEG plans but it is an AP so that's somewhat to be expected, it is just nice when the rails are a little more hidden.

Over I liked it and thought it had a stronger ending than most APs. That being said I look at the Adventure Paths we have not yet played and I don't think this stands out as one that we need to play right away. It is average and with the right hands could be made great but there are others I'd rather play or GM first.

Strange Aeons

Generally I am not a huge fan of Cthulhu Mythos type stuff but I have to say, I'm quite intrigued by this adventure path. You start out in an insane asylum with amnesia and have to escape before the place is overrun with horrible creatures from Beyond. I can see how this sort of thing will work for the first adventure, maybe even the second, but it becomes hard to maintain a sense of dread and fear as the PCs turn into reality bending superheroes.

I enjoyed Occult Adventures far more than I expected and those classes (except the Kineticist) seem like a natural fit for an adventure path like this one. This AP definitely looks like a good one and it will be interesting to see how it shapes up.

Savage Tide 7 - Here There Be Monsters

Shipwrecked!

After assessing their situation, the PCs began organizing for their overland trip. Morton was pretty sure the safest route was overland as these waters were said to be filled with nasty monsters and that a makeshift raft would have trouble sailing 200 miles over rough waters.

A monstrous giant reptile wandered onto the beach and helped itself to a couple sailors before turning its sights on Isis. The reptile was slain before it snacked on anyone else. After the battle, the monster was identified as a Tyrannosaurus Rex, a giant beast thought to be extinct.

Mountains could be seen to the south and it was hoped that they could be reached by nightfall and a pass could be found to cross. The journey through the mosquito infested jungle started out rather uneventfully but that peace was not to last. Terror Birds, Dire Tigers, and more dinosaurs all wanted to fill their belly's with these tasty humanoids.

Not all the encounters were hostile. They met a strange old spider lady who was only able to speak with Morton since no one else spoke the Olman language. She wished to know about where the group was from and Morton told her stories of the outside world. She told the group of an old road under the mountains to the south and provided two warnings. The first is that a flock of Terror Birds nest near the entrance and second that an old evil was awakening on the island and that the old road may no longer be safe. Morton thanked her and the group moved on.

The Terror Birds did indeed try to protect their territory but were no match for the PCs. The entrance to the road under the mountains was found and the PCs fortified as best they could and tried to get a decent sleep.

The road continued in utter darkness for many hours. The construction was old and had been masterfully engineered. The tunnel was still clear centuries after it had been built. A strange sensation of being watched was felt by most of the travelers. At one point Marty the sailor simply vanished without a trace. The sound as rocks falling caused the group to bolt ahead in the darkness only to return later and find the tunnel still clear.

At long last the group reach a chamber. On a throne was a ribcage being supported only by an old long spear which had pierced it. There was also an old fountain filled with stagnant water. The PCs explored the complex, dealing with Shadows, Puddings, and stuck and sealed doors. Eventually Kaeless found a tiny passageway which lead outside. With that knowledge they unsealed the water doors and ventured out into the open air again. The PCs made camp here before continuing along the road that was now cut into the mountains.

The mountain road was followed for a few days. There were many troubles along the way and Kaeless began to believe the island or the road was cursed. Food went missing, the corpses of terror birds arranged in patterns, a native committing suicide in the distance but no body was found. A rock slide that included humanoid skulls. There were deserted villages and a lift that was sabotaged. The gargoyle attacks were just an added bonus.

After five days of traveling the road he PCs finally reached the point where it descended into the island's interior and should reach the Great Wall in 2 or 3 days, beyond which most of the island's native's lived. A clear blue lake could be seen in the distance as the PCs made camp one last time before entering the fog enshrouded jungle.

Current Survivors at this point:
The PCs
Tavey, the cabin boy
Avner MayorNenshi
Morton Longfellow
Barth the Sailor
Mango the Sailor

Savage Tide 6 - The Sea Wyvern's Wake

The voyage to the Isle of Dread continues.

First up was a Crimson Fleet blockade. The Crimson Fleet is a faction of Shackles Pirates that has grown strong in recent years and focuses on controlling trade in the southern Garund waters. The fleet patrols an area around several islands (one of which contains a Crimson Fleet outpost). Lavinia's plan was to pass the blockade one ship at a time, close to show to make the ships harder to spot. The PCs wanted to pass through together in case something went wrong and so it was.

The Blue Nixie and the Sea Wyvern were unfortunately spotted by two ships. There was some hard sailing but in the end the Pirates were able to catch up. The PCs decided to take the fight to the pirates and boarded their vessel and managed to kill most of the enemy crew while only losing a few of their own.

The PCs decided that two ships was better than one and wanted to keep the Purity's Prow. Lacking the extra crew needed to sail a second ship, they decided to tow her. Lavinia frowned on the idea but left them to their own devices and agreed to meet them at Farshore.

Towing a ship proved to be problematic. They no longer could rely on the Blue Nixie to help keep them on track and the going was slow. Arrivnig at one of their planned supply stops to find that it had been burnt to the ground months earlier. As a solution, Bytor the cleric, began casting summon food and water to keep everyone alive since supplies were running low.

The next stop was a primitive settlement and the PCs decided that progress was just to slow towing the Purity's Prow and left her behind in a remote cove where they hoped they could later return and retrieve her. A few final supplies were purchased and the last outpost was left behind and the oceanic voyage began.

Things started out fairly smoothly. A storm blew through but caused little damage. A strange island appeared which the PCs spent a couple days scouting but decided to move on.

One morning a strange fog appeared from nowhere and the sea became strangely calm. That continued for a day and by next morning the fog cleared only to reveal the Sea Wyvern trapped in an enormous Sargasso that stretched to the horizon in almost every direction. There was a ship only a few hundred meters away that was covered on seaweed but didn't look as old as as distant as the other wrecks so the PCs decided to check it out.

On board, they were attacked by some plants but managed to retrieve a journal of the ship's former owner. His journal was mostly doom and gloom. They weeds grow back faster than they can be cut away. At night, plant creatures attack the ship. The owner's only hope is that there is some force out there that is controlling this animated threat and so he sets out with his few remaining cohorts toward the center of the mass.

Seeing few other options, the PCs decided to try the same tactic and hoped for a better result. It was slow going across the seaweed but they made it to an old ship near the centre of the mass that was both very old and strangely well preserved. As they approached they could feel an empathic call go out for a assistance and the word "Outsiders" formed in their minds. The Sargasso itself seemed to be stirring as if alive. The PCs began to hurry.

At the ship's heart was a room filled with plant growth. A strange stinking hole was in the floor of the ship consisting of solid plant matter that went well below the water line. As the PCs approached, the Mother rose up and attacked along with more of her vines. The Mother retreated into the hole forcing the PCs to follow. A hard battle was fought but in the end the PCs were victorious and the Mother of All was no more. With its death everything began to come apart. Thankfully there was lots of debris to cling to and before long the Sea Wyvern was spotted and picked them up.

With only a days voyage left another storm appeared on the horizon. This one looked worse than the last. The Sea Wyvern tried to outrun the storm but the massive hurricane struck and for ten hours the PCs, through both great skill and magic, managed to keep the ship afloat. When the worst had past, several crew were missing and the ship had taken damage. Rather than try and lip the rest of the way to Farshore, Isis decided to  beach the ship and try and repair her since the damage was quite severe.

Unfortunately a reef was struck and the Sea Wyvern was stuck.  Examining the extent of the ship's damage revealed that there were not sufficient supplies on hand for a repair of this magnitude and that Farshore would have to be reached overland to get help.

Surviving Crew:
Amella Venkalie
Tavey Nesk
Lirith Veld
Avner Meravanchi
Banaby Chisk
Skald
Morton Longfellow
Marty
Barth
Mango

Savage Tide 5 - The Sea Wyvern's Wake

Departure day arrives!

The crew is ready to go and the cargo is loaded. Unfortunately where is Avner MayorNenshi (he was renamed by the PCs)? He shows up 30 minutes late with 2 servants and his prize steed Thunderstriker as well as a wagon full of personal effects. There wasn't room for all of this so the PCs humored him to get him on board and then left most of it especially the horse behind. Aver was even more upset when Captain Isis evicted him from the captain's quarters which Avner had claimed as his own. Avner would continue to stir up trouble until Isis finally threatened his life if he didn't shut up and keep a low profile. Avner has continued to stew in silence ever since.

The second night Lavinia invited the PCs over to the Blue Nixie for a feast. Everything went pretty smooth until they tried to return to the Sea Wyvern. Someone had cut through most of rigging allowed passage between the two ships. Had anyone tried to use it, they would have ended up in the water.

To try to get a handle on the crew, Isis and Kaeless started having dinner with three different crew members a night. This led to the second attempt when someone tried to poison their meals. More interviews and some searching led to nothing.

The third attempt was when someone cut some of the rigging causing a yard arm to swing wildly and knock Trevain off the side of the ship. He was rescued quickly enough and Kaeless began a search of the ship top to bottom for a culprit. Searches had been done before but this time he was using See Invisibility. Down in the hold he spotted an invisible stowaway - Rowyn Kellani, former Lotus Dragon guild leader. Kaeless managed to resist her Hold Person spell but failed against her Charm Person. Kaeless tried to lure the other PCs away from Rowyn but Kaeless is much better at seeing through lies than telling them. The PCs figured out what was going on and search relentlessly for their old foe. They found her and short battle ensued where she was assisted with a summoned Babau but in the end she and her summoned minion were defeated. They looted the former guildmistress and then dumped her body over board.

 A flotsom ooze attacked the ship and killed several red shirt crew members before being destroyed. A few supplied were purchased at a trading outpost. Father Feres became deathly ill and was only saved from a ghastly death by the timely intervention of a cure disease spell. Father Feres admitted that he is actually not a priest and was only a courier that was supposed to deliver a package to some cultists at Fort Blackwell. He was only able to cast spells due to Imbue with Spells that he had had cast on him.

As the expedition approached the Ruins of Tamoachan, Morton Longfellow admitted he had a sketchy treasure map for these ruins. As the PCs dealt with the variety of threats: Basilisk, Varrangoin, Gibbering Mouthers, Will O' Wisps and a multitude of traps; Longfellow made numerous notes and sketches and generally tried to record as much as possible. The treasure turned out to be a golden statue of decent value that was magical. The exact nature of the magic was indeterminable but it seems to be some sort of key. Unable to find the door to which the key belonged, the PCs returned to the ship and carried onward.

So far, the weather has remained great.

Savage Tide 4 - The Bullywug Gambit

Wisely, the PCs decided to wait for the storm to pass before returning to Eleder. By morning, the skies had mostly cleared and the seas were calm enough to sail back. It still wasn't easy going rowing and they didn't arrive at the docks until early evening only to find that the Serpentfall festival was in full effect. Celebrating the fall of Ydersius and the failed Serpentfolk coup attempt in Eleder, many of the locals were dressed up in elaborate snake costumes.

The PCs pushed their way down streets packed with party goers and ran into some trouble. A drunken gnome was tossed into the crowd but 3 stilt-walking assassins were not so easily dealt with. Eventually they were knocked down and dispatched and the PCs continued on to the disturbingly quiet and dark Vanderboren manor.

A few dead guards were found outside along along with a bullywug still searching the body. They made quick work of him and then sneaked into the manor. Since the PCs live in the manor they knew most of its layout well and guessed the that first mate was either on the top floor or the basement. The guessed the top floor and went their first.

In the master bedroom they found Lavinia and two unconscious Jade Ravens. Guarding them was Drevoraz Kabran, Captain Javell's first mate and the shaman of the bullywug tribe. Expecting Vanthus and not the PCs, Drevoraz realized he'd been duped and tried to murder Lavinia but the PCs were too quick for him. Isis disarmed him and largely removed him as a threat. The shaman was a little more difficult, but being outnumbered, died quickly enough.

Lavinia thanked them for the rescue and explained how she managed to stall them by telling them Vanthus was due to return in a few hours. Devoraz wanted to kill Lavinia and her minions in front of Vanthus. Unfortunately, the halfling servant was killed to prove how serious he was.

After returning to consciousness, Morgoth and Ivy explained how the bullywugs gained entry from the basement. The Jade Ravens had fought most of the tribe in the courtyard but had been overrun and seperated. Jessica and Ruggan had escaped but their current whereabouts were not known.

The PCs went to the basement only to hear a woman shrieking. Silver spoons had been tied to the remains of Jessica's dress and she was being chased around the basement by what the PCs would late realize was a rust monster. The chief of the bullywugs and some of his tribe were still present enjoying the show. When the rust monster destroys the last of the silverware, the chieftain had promised to eat Jessica alive.

After the rust monster devoured McDougal's armor, everyone tended to shy away from the monster.  It was finally killed followed by the bullywugs although the chieftain got in some big hits with his club.

Ruggan was later found unconscious in the secret armory. He had been knocked unconscious by a trap he'd accidentally sprung. The last of the bullywugs were found in the games room. The tribe's chief hunter put up a fight but she too was eventually dispatched.

Over the next few weeks things around the manor were restored and returned to normal. Vanthus' trail went cold and slowly Lavinia's burning desire for justice faded as her focus moved on. She spent more time reading her mother's journal and eventually decided to carry on her parent's ambitions.

They had started a trading colony on the far off Isle of Dread. The local natives were reasonably friendly and willing to trade local spices and exotic lumber. Many exotic animals live on the island that can fetch a good price is brought back to civilization.

Lavinia was looking for a second ship for the expedition and the PCs had just the ship in mind. They returned to Kraken's cove to find the Sea Wyvern right where they'd last seen it. They sailed it back to port and offered to leave it to Lavinia in exchange for some magic items.

As the departure day draws nearer the ships are being loaded with cargo and potential colonists and investors are being sought.

So far the crew includes:

Isis: Pilot
Kaeless: Navigator

Amella Venkalie: First Mate. A slight but powerful woman with fine blonde hair tied neatly back from her forehead. She dresses to fight and sail. A thin scar graces her right cheek.

Tavey Nesk: Cabinboy













McDougal: Crew
Trevain: Crew
Bytor: Crew
Iowa: Crew
Johnston: Crew
Marty: Crew
Barth: Crew
Mango: Crew

Lirith Veld: Crew. A red haired tomboy sailor who wears flamboyant scarves and silks.












Passengers:

Father Feres: Middle aged balding priest of Abadar













Avner Meravanchi: A local nobleman's son. His father is funding part of the expedition and Avner is representing that interest.
Banaby Chisk: Avner's servant
Quenge Asper: Avner's servant

Skald: A shifty-looking, hunch shouldered man with pale skin a nasally voice and unsettling eyes.













Morton Longfellow: an eccentric scholar of Olman civilization. Has requested a stop at the Ruins of Tamoachan.

Thoughts on the Arcanist class

Is the Arcanist the best arcane spellcasting class in Pathfinder? For this comparison, I will be leaving aside the Magus and the Bloodrager, which are really martial classes that use arcane spells to improve their combat abilities. The true arcane spellcasting classes, in my opinion, are the Wizard, the Sorcerer, the Bard and the Arcanist.

Bard:
Advantages - medium BAB advancement, decent weapon and armour proficiencies, lots of skill points, healing magic, two good saves, best "face" in the game
Disadvantages - medium spell advancement, heavily-weighted toward mind-affecting magic, no high-level spells

Synopsis - Limited combat ability, decent, but not great spellcasting, some healing, vulnerable to creatures with resistance to mind-affecting magic
Nemeses - undead, constructs, high SR creatures

Sorcerer:
Advantages - good spell advancement, high-level spells, good balance of spells, one major stat
Disadvantages - low skill points, poor weapon and armour proficiencies, underwhelming bloodline abilities, limited metamagics

Synopsis - poor combat abilities, yet many bloodlines encourage melee, good spellcasting
Nemeses - constructs, high SR creatures

Wizard:
Advantages - best spell advancement, high-level spells, good balance of spells, one major stat, unlimited metamagics, low skill points balanced by high INT
Disadvantages - poor weapon and armour proficiencies

Synopsis - poor combat abilities, best spellcasting
Nemeses - constructs, high SR creatures

Arcanist:
Advantages - good spell advancement, high-level spells, good balance of spells, many supernatural abilities, unlimited metamagics
Disadvantages - low skill points, poor weapon and armour proficiencies, two major stats

Synopsis - poor combat abilities, good spellcasting, supernatural abilities
Nemeses - you tell me...other arcane spellcasters, perhaps

Based on this analysis, I call it a toss-up between Wizard and Arcanist. The Bard makes a great addition to a party, especially when a lot of social interaction is involved, but you definitely don't want him to be your sole arcane spellcaster. The Sorcerer is also pretty good, but there are too many conflicting abilities. The supernatural attacks of the Arcanist are great for dealing with monsters that have high SR and really good saves, but they still require a ranged touch attack, so a decent DEX and a couple of ranged attack feats are essential. This forces the Arcanist to spread himself a bit thin compared to the Wizard. Otherwise, the Arcanist is solid, with a wide variety of abilities and no obvious weaknesses.

-Rognar-

Note: In hindsight, I realize I didn't consider the Witch in my analysis. I have never played one, so I have little experience with the class. Perhaps Obiri can enlighten us and make an argument for the Witch class.

Savage Tide 3 There is no Honor - The Bullywug Gambit

We are playing back to back weekends so I have to get this updated or else I'll fall behind.

We left off with the PCs deep in the Lotus Dragons Guild lair. I realized that most of the remainder of the guild that was unexplored would fit on a roll out map so I drew it all out a head of time and only left out a few secret doors and hallways.

Heading towards the main part of the Thieves' base, the party triggered a trap and half of the fell down a chute and landed in should deep water. A mystery woman's voice taunted them a bit before a large crocodile attacked them. Bytor and Trevain lowered a rope down for Isis, McDougal and Kaeless allowing them to escape after Isis put down the Gator.

Rogues harassed the party as they continued exploring, popping out from behind corners and taking sneak attacks before trying to disappear again. Eventually they made it to the where the rogue's boss was waiting. A big brawl ensued but most of the thieves were knocked out immediately when Trevain hit them with a Sleep spell. He proceeded to end the sleeping thieves' lives while the rest battled the now invisible Guild boss and her bard enhanced pet Drake.

Rowyn sang her bardic tune while Guttugger tried to chomp on the PCs. It took some effort but eventually they managed to kill Guttugger. Rowyn cursed them and became silent. The PCs did their best to keep her from escaping but somehow she got away. Stealth + invisibility is tough for 2rd level PCs to over come.

They searched the rest of the lair and this time managed to break into the part of the guild that they couldn't reach their first attempt. They found Rowyn's bedroom which contained lots of fine clothes and jewelry as well as some spicy letters from Vanthus. They also found the vault. Some of Lavinia's family gold was still here which they returned to her. There was also lots of unmarked funds which they kept for themselves. Lavinia would also reward them for their honesty so they ended up with a pretty good score loot wise.

Going through the letters reveled some hints of details to Vanthus' plans. His other lover has connections with the Crimson Fleet and the two of them are going to go rob the pirates of their loot at a location called Kraken's Cove.

The PCs do some research and discover the location of the cove and then rent a boat to make the trip. It takes them about 8 hours in their little sail/row boat to make the trip. As they approach they see smoke rising from the cove. The source are three fairly large sailing ships that are burning. There is a fourth ship moored further out which seems to be unharmed.

This ship, the Sea Wyvern, is both deserted and in full working order. The PCs are a bit hesitant when they realize that the ship belongs to the Crimson Fleet and so they decide to leave it alone. They do spot something weird on the beach. Two pirates are walking along the water's edge but they've changed in some way. They've been mutated some how and now have extra limbs, tentacles, teeth, claws, horns and all arranged in very unnatural ways.

The PCs engage the two on the beach to discover that these things have a nasty habit of first taking a death bite just as they are killed and then exploding into pools of acid. The Golden Retrievers explore the beach but only find a cave entrance. Going inside the find the place filled with horrors. Half eaten and mauled bodies are everywhere with many more mutant pirates wandering around looking for another meal. The PCs even do battle with a mutated Oviraptor.

Killing mutants as they go, in the deepest cave they finally find someone unmutated and alive. Captain Harliss Javell is battling a few mutants but with the PCs help finishes them off quickly. She explains what happened.

Vanthus and his lover showed up and posed as potential buyers. The pirates allowed them to hang around until the next shipment of goods showed up which included a black pearl the size of your fist.  When the goods arrived and were being unloaded Vanthus dropped whale oil into the bay and lit it on fire. As the pirates fled, Vanthus and his lady slipped on board and started stealing the choicest loot. Javell caught them and began a duel. Vanthus was losing badly and dropped the now blood covered pearl he had grabbed which dropped to the desk and cracked. If began oozing some sort of foul smoke. Alarmed, Javell tossed the pearl into the bay but it exploded releasing a wave of madness and evil. Javell and Vanthus were both unaffected but most were turned into the hideous mutants that they had seen. Vanthus fled by leaping into the bay, but Javell returned to the caves to try to restore order and rescue any still unchanged. She and another pirate captain had survived for a while but he had recently been overwhelmed.

Javell realized that if the PCs had made it this far the path behind them was likely clear. Isis escorted her out of the caves while the remaining PCs searched for more loot. Javell warned Isis of her revenge. She had sent her First Mate Drevoraz back to Eleder to deal with Vanthus. He was headed to the Vanderboren Manor where he would slay Vanthus, his mother, his father, and his dear sister Lavinia, then burn everything to the ground. No one messes with the Crimson Fleet. Now she was leaving here ASAP and he better not try and stop her.  Isis tried to get her to stop her first mate since Lavinia and Vanthus don't exactly get along but she Javell didn't trust them and was having none of it. Isis let her go in peace.

With the caves clear of mutants, the PCs decided to quickly get back to Eleder and save their boss. Unfortunately the gods are cruel this day and high winds and rough seas make it impossible for the PCs to leave immediately. They must spend the night in the cove before they can leave when things calm down in the morning.

Savage Tide 2 There is No Honor

Where is Vanthus Vanderboren?

The only clues Lavinia could offer the PCs is that she'd heard Vanthus was shacking up with some artist in the Azure district of the city.

With only that weak lead the Azures shuffled over to the Azure district and started asking around. Lots of people knew Vanthus and many had seen him - just not recently. After posting rewards for information about his whereabouts, the party were contacted by a shifty half elf named Sefton Rosk who claimed to know where Vanthus was hiding out. The party was suspicious but with no other leads they accepted his offer to lead the party to Parrot Island where Vanthus was hiding in some old smuggler caverns.

Sefton led them to the island, up through the thick vegetation along a well trodden path. At a small clearing was a trap door leading into the earth. Sefton offered to stay behind and watch the boat and the PCs, though again suspicious, agreed.

Spying on Sefton a bit, the PCs decided it was safe to descend. The half elf was nervous but didn't seem like he was going to betray them. Climbing down the rope ladder the PCs found them in a dark dank smell passage. As they slowly crept down the tunnel, they heard a noise coming from the room with the ladder, like a heavy weight being dropped from a height. They quickly return to the room to find the body of Sefton lying at the base of the ladder. A figure could be seen above silhouetted by the light. He called down, "Say 'Hi' to Penkus' ghost for me while you are down there. Later losers." He then slammed the trap door shut and started moving heavy rocks to cover it.

The PCs took this instride and searched Sefton's body to see if he still had the money the PCs had paid him to take them to Parrot Island. He did so the PCs felt a little better about their situation.

This didn't last long as they started to explore. The whole place echoed with strange noises. Some of was probably a sea cave but some of it sounded like moaning. It didn't take too long to find the source of both. Sections of these caves were flooded and there were a bunch of zombies down here. The PCs quickly figured out how to deal with the zombies - attack them and move away. Zombies are slow. Things got a little more complicated when they ran into the Huecuva but since they'd found a silver dagger then eventually managed to kill it without getting infected by its contagion.

With the smuggler cave's undead occupants all dead, the PCs found the smugglers vault with some treasure remaining. The key item was an Earth Elemental Gem which was used to remove the debris from the trap door and allow the PCs to escape. Just outside the vault the PCs found the body of Penkus. He had been trapped down here and left to die. He has become infected by the Huecuva and had slowly wasted away. He managed to pen a letter begging for revenge.

The gist of the letter is that Penkus no realizes what Vanthus' game plan is: to get in with the Lady of the Lotus  and with Penkus out of the way it should be easier. Penkus reveals an entrance to the Lotus Thieves Guild where Vanthus should be. There is a trap door in the Taxidermist's guild hall that leads into the Lotus guild.

The PCs returned to Lavinia's manor  to report what they'd discovered and recover. The next day they bought a few supplies in towns and with two late PCs in tow, they strolled over to the Taxidermist Guildhall.

No one greeted them at the front door but a plethora or stuffed beasts all all shapes, sizes and prices. Rather than ding the bell for service they let themselves into the back of the shop area and started to search around.

The Guildmaster, Nemien Roblach was not pleased to see them and after quickly determining that they were not here to buy, order them to get out. Trevain tossed a Sleep spell at him and knocked Nemien out.

The PCs quickly found the trap door leading down in the thieves guild. The party found a training room and battled a few thieves but one escaped. They chased after him but between another Rhagodessa and a solidly locked door, the thief escaped.

The PCs had a debate about whether or not it was evil to kill sleeping rogues but then accidentally woke them up. The rogues were killed and the PCs explored a bit more of the underground lair before we called it a night.

Next time: The Lady of the Lotus.

Savage Tide 1 There is No Honor Intro

The Golden Retrievers are a recently formed mercenary/adventure group. There first mission was success retrieving some rare mushrooms from a far off jungle and now they are looking for their second gig. While hanging out at the local adventurer's guild, the Drunken Dragon, the  team were approached by a young child carrying a note. The note read:

"Greetings, and I trust this missive finds you in good health! My name is Lavinia Vanderboren and I humbly request your attendance at dinner at my estate on Festival Street and Blue Skink Lane tomorrow evening. I think that I can present you with an opportunity uniquely suited to your skills. Please inform the carrier of this letter of your response to this invitation and I hope I will b speaking to you soon."

The PCs accepted the invitation and showed up at the Vanderboren estate the next evening in their adventuring gear. The had no trouble getting past the guard and upon knocking on the door met Lavinia's chief servant, the old halfing woman Kora Whistlegap. She escorted them to the dining room and helped them get settled. While waiting for Lavinia to arrive they encountered another group of adventurers pass through. Kaeless recognized as members of the Jade Ravens, another of Eleder's adventuring parties, which have been in Lavinia's employ for a couple years.


After dinner and a bit of small talk Lavinia got down to business. Her parents had recently died in a boating accident and she had inherited their estate and a large number of debts. There should be enough money in the family vault to cover everything but she did not yet have one of the signet rings that would allow passage. Her mother's ring had gone missing over a month ago, and her father's was kept on his ship, the Blue Nixie. Because no one had been paying docking fees, the ship has been impounded by the harbor master. She paid the fine to one of his employees, Soller Vark. She didn't think to get a receipt but the man then claimed to have never received the payment. The PCs first task is to get Lavinia access to her father's former ship so that she can reclaim his ring. Idealy this will be achieved in a lawful manner but the exact method was left to the PCs.

The PCs went down to the docks in the evening only to find the Blue Nixie was no longer where it had been docked. Trevain the sharp eyed elf spotted the ship anchored further out in the bay. After renting a row boat, the PCs rowed out and climbed up onto the ship trying to be as quiet as they could. There were two guards on the deck and the PCs managed to quietly knock one unconscious with a sleep spell but the other one escaped into the hold.

The PCs slammed the trap door to the hold shut and prepared for battle. A number of scruffy humans emerged from another entrance to the hold and began to battle the PCs. Several of Vark's guards were hit with a fire spell and jumped into the water to escape. One tried to steal the PC's rowboat but was dispatched by Trevain's arrow. Vark was rendered unconscious but not before smoke began to pour out of the hold of the ship. Kaeless tried to descend the ladder that they had initially blocked only to encounter another ruffian trying to escape. The fire in the hold was panicking the animals and numerous exotic monkeys, and birds escaped. Also in the hold was a strange arachnid type creature that managed to break free of its cage. This beast killed the poor girl who had set the fire and too big chunks out of most of the PCs before they finally brought it down.

Vark was tied up and the PCs began to search the ship. They managed to find Verik Vanderboren's ring as well as a piece of parchment that listed some numbers. Lavinia was thrilled to hear of the PCs success and after freeing Vark they set off to Castle Teraknian to enter the Vanderboren vault.

They entered and encountered the vault guardian - an iron cobra. Kaeless was fascinated with it and wanted to keep it. It was ordered back to its alcove. In order to open the inner chamber a secret door needed to be opened. The slip of parchment found on the Blue Nixie corresponded to the number of eyes of the many examples of creatures depicted on the walls of the vault. The PCs activated the creatures in the correct order and access to the inner vault was granted.

Lavinia was upset to find that many of the chests were empty but there was still enough left to pay off the PCs as well provide a list of a large number of debts that were owed to the Vanderborens. Upon leaving Lavinia asked the custodian if anyone else had entered the vault lately. The man admitted that he had seen her brother Vanthus enter a few times, the last only a few days ago. Lavinia was quite shocked by this as she had believed he had left town.

Lavinia provides some backstory about her brother. They used to be close but after getting caught committing a major prank, he was sent to do a few years of hard labour and she was sent to a special school for girls where she was taught proper manners. After they reunited, her brother was no longer the free spirit of his youth but had a hard edge to him and he had started hanging out on the wrong crowd. They no longer got along and after one argument he hit her. He was shocked for a moment only for the hardness to return and he stormed off. When her parents had died he was furious that they had made Lavinia their sole benefactor. After another fight, he packed his bags and left the estate. Lavinia had assumed hed left town but apparently he is still around.

Lavinia tasked the PCs to find her brother and return him to the manor so they can talk.

The Major Players of Savage Tide

This post denotes key characters in the Savage Tide campaign. I will update and add details to each character as we go.

The Cast:
Lavinia Vanderboren

Her parents have died in a boating accident leaving her in charge of the family estate. She has hired a new group of adventurers to help her reclaim the family fortune and pay off some debts.

















Jessica of Waldsby 

Leader of the Jade Ravens, the other adventuring group working for Lavinia

















Ruggan the Dwarf

A member of the Jade Ravens


















Ivy

A member of the Jade Ravens













Morgoth the Mighty

Member of the Jade Ravens

















Vanthus Vanderboren

Lavinia's brother. Missing for the last month, it is now believed he has recently stolen some of the Vanderboren family fortune. The PCs current task is to find him.












And the PCs: (I will add more PC pics as they send them to me
Trevain the Arcanist

Trevain Avallorn was born to a small tribe of nomadic desert elves that wandered back and forth across the desolate wastes of Osirion and Thuvia. Originally descended from wild elves of the Mwangi Expanse that migrated north during the time of the great ancient Osirian empire, Trevain’s people retained much of the knowledge of that time, knowledge that had mostly been lost by the human descendants of the ancient Osirians.

Trevain was fascinated by stories of the great Ancient Osirian mages and their Elder Elemental allies. Being a talented practitioner of the magical arts in his own right and desiring to learn more than his fellow nomads could teach him, Trevain journeyed to Sothis, capital city of modern Osirion. Sadly, Trevain was gravely disappointed by what he saw. The human inhabitants knew virtually nothing of their former greatness, having only recently overthrown their Keleshite rulers. They were debased and avaricious. Even the most learned among them seemed only interested in using their intellects for selfish purposes. Still, Trevain remained in Sothis for a decade, learning what he could from the fragmented remains of Osirion’s great libraries.

During his time in Sothis, Trevain learned of a technique by which the Ancient Osirians could fuse elemental and human bloodlines to create the first Ifrits, Undines, Oreads and Sylphs. The Keleshites would later consort with genies, creating weaker, degenerate versions of these original geniekin. Yet, Trevain was fascinated by these original elemental bloodlines. He moved on to Absalom, the scholarly capital of the Inner Sea, in order to continue his studies. There he learned of another ancient civilization, the Shory Empire, which was most known for its great flying cities. The Ruins of Kho, in the northern reaches of the Mwangi Expanse, which Trevain had heard of during his youth, were the crashed remains of one such city. Trevain theorized that the Shory were inheritors of ancient Osirian magic. He decided he had learned all he could in Absalom and booked passage to Sargava, the most southern outpost of the Inner Sea nations in Garund. He would spend several years there learning what he could and eventually becoming entangled with a group of fools called the Golden Retrievers. But that is a story for another time.

Isis

Isis grew up on the island of Aegos in the Land of the Linnorm Kings. His family was all fisherman and by the age of 14 Isis ran away to find something new and exciting. Instead he entered virtual slavery aboard a privateer. By 18 he had moved through the ranks and was looked on as a risk because of his popularity with the rest of the crew. Understanding his predicament, he ran and travelled far to the south to avoid his old crew.

On his way south Isis met with Kaeless a fellow traveller with a strange brother. One of the largest problems Isis has run into is the huge difference in how his crew and culture in general treated women and the ways in more civilized parts. This has led to many miss understandings and a few angry mobs. Isis Cosby has vowed to try and understand theses strange southerners and do better here.

Kaeless

"My brother and I were raised in the northern city of Riddleport.  He was never really accepted in Riddleport, so we had to live in hiding or on the periphery of the city.  Still, the scummy citizens of that diseased port eventually turned on us and drove us out.  We happily left, joining The Run from last season.

"I met Isis on the long voyage.  Of all the creatures on that ship, Isis alone was worth any conversation and camaraderie.  Isis was kind to my brother and I appreciated his rapist wit.  It was on that voyage that we decided to work together at the terminus of our long voyage.

"if the pay is good, and there is a chance to uncover lost knowledge in dark jungles of the south, I will always be interested in working with the Retrievers.  I know you all have good intentions and that I can rely on your powers when the time comes."

Kaeless is a human that speaks very little.  However, when he speaks, it is for a good reason.  He is curt, sometimes abrasive and seems to have little appreciation or patience for social graces.  Still, he is loyal, brave and seems to use his abilities for the benefit of all the Retrievers.  While his blunt tongue seems to chafe with the public, it is clear that he has no ulterior motives and says exactly what is on his mind.

Another curious point about Kaeless regards his brother.  His brother resides in Eleder but not a single retriever has actually interacted with him.  Kaeless seems to spend a large portion of his gold buying supplies for his brother...

And we're back! Savage Tide

Things have gotten a little dusty around the blog as no one has felt like posting much this year. Hopefully that is about to change. We kicked off a new campaign last weekend, an old Paizo Dungeon adventure path - The Savage Tide.

We played the opening session where we finalized the PCs, worked out background details and got the story rolling. I will try to do recaps in the future and as soon as I get the notes from last session finalized I'll post the first recap.