Pathfinder 1E Building my own AP

[Ramm83]

Ok so I am starting to write my own Adventure Path

I am still not sure if i go till lvl 15 or lvl 20 as Adventure Path but here is the general idea. What do you guys think?

Next Campaign Idea


- Children get abducted by evil priest ( lvl 1 – 5 )
- Evil priest seems to work for a reclusive sect with members all spread out over country.
- As party goes look they come across a widespread network of a cult who uses these childsacrifices to awaken some ancient evil. The head of the cult is the king himself. Party will be too late to stop it. King gets infused by the ancient evil who will imprison the Party in some sort of extradimensional prison. ( lvl 5 – 10 )


2000 years pass.


- Party gets awakened in a world filled with evil. They are the last hope as some prophecy talked about them. Now they need to escape the ruins they are in ( lvl 10 – 11 )
- Adventures to find lost artifact needed to defeat the Emperor ( lvl 11 – 13 )
- Adventures to get to Emperor Castle ( lvl 13 – 14 )
- Final Showdown ( lvl 15 )


I can even go further with making sure the emperor died but the evil infused in him escaped to its plane and the party has to delve into the planes to defeat the evil itself which will take the party from lvl 15 – 20.

 

[delericho]

I'd be inclined to go for a shorter time-jump - perhaps a century or two. That way, you can have some very long-lived NPCs still be around in the time after the jump, either to provide needed exposition, or even to be responsible for waking the PCs.

 

[Ramm83]

That would be a nice idea, but my idea was that one of the good guys ( high lvl cleric or maybe even an acolyte ) would receive a vision from his god foretelling this event ( the imprisonement of the good characters, and one person, some person with yellow hair and golden eyes would be born to free these characters giving her life to open the prison, her life being godly infused magic or some sort ). This would eventually turn into the prophecy, which the emperor knew off eventually and ordered every yellowhaired baby to be killed at birth. Eventually one child with golden eyes was born, and the underground monks who were trained for it began their mission to train this child for the mission. This sets all sorts of moral dilemma's

 

[delericho]

That would be a nice idea, but my idea was that one of the good guys ( high lvl cleric or maybe even an acolyte ) would receive a vision from his god foretelling this event

That's fine, but I don't see why that requires a 2,000 year time-jump? 200 years would surely have much the same effect?

This would eventually turn into the prophecy, which the emperor knew off eventually and ordered every yellowhaired baby to be killed at birth. Eventually one child with golden eyes was born, and the underground monks who were trained for it began their mission to train this child for the mission.

Please tell me this golden-eyed child isn't one of the PCs...

(The problem with making it one of the PCs is that then that one character is the "star" of the campaign, which is unlikely to go down well with the other players... and it also has problems if that one player drops out, or wants to change character, or even if that PC just dies.)

 

[Ramm83]

Part 1 : The missing children ( Lvl 1 – 5 )


Adventure Synopsis

The PCs are from around, they are all going to town to some sort of festivity. After the festivities one of the mayor's children has been missing. The PCs go and search for clues. During investigations another child gets missing, crimescene gives some clues leading to some known thugs. After visiting the thugs, trail leads to nearby forest where an ancient hidden fort is being used by an evil priest who uses these children to sacrifice to some evil god. PCs confront the priest. PCs find information that their are more of these priests active in the country. PCs get back to town with the missing children, they are heroes of the town. After mayor sees them they are asked to bring this information to the king, since it is a threat nationwide.

 

[Ramm83]

No the golden eyes child will give her life to free the PCs from their prison. And 2000 years can be 200 years as well, this is true.

 

[Ramm83]

Chapter 1

Arrival at Hurlontown

Hurlontown:
This town is the most northern town before the Great Wall of the North begins, a big mountain range in the north. Being the only big town in the region, most local people come here to do their trading and get supplies for the harsh winters. To the south there is a big lake, Hurlon Lake, and to the west the great pineforest of Arkat begins. This forest is inhabited by all sort of creatures, including a small wild elf settlement. The east is one big tundra with barbaric humans living there. The last decade, there have been no troubles with these barbarians, and trade with them is properous as well. Times have been different.

The main trade of Hurlontown is furs, metals ( brought in from the dwarves from the Endwall ), fish from Hurlon lake and the Hurlon river, and offcourse wood from Arkat forest. Most trading happens in spring and summer as during the winters the lake is frozen most of the time. The adventure starts during the Buzzardsday, a local festivity celebrating the coming of spring, refering to the arrival of the Buzzards from the southern parts of the continent. Now that the lake thawed there will be a lot of southern merchants as well, as they want to be first buyers of prime goods. This is an excellent opportunity to introduce all sort of PCs ( Dwarves can come from the Endwall, Elves can come from Arkat forest, Humans can be locals or they can come from the south with a caravan, Halflings and Gnomes they can come from the south, can be local. )

 

[Ramm83]

Hurlontown :
LN Small Town
Corruption +0; Crime +0; Economy +1; Law +1; Lore +1; Society +0;
Qualities Abundant, Trading Post
Danger +5;

Demographics
Government autocracy
Population 1,500 (1,100 humans, 200 dwarves, 200 other)

Notable NPCs
Mayor Burlot Strongarm (LN male human expert 2/fighter 3)
Head of Guard Torn Strongarm (LN male human fighter 4)
Head of Merchants Bordrek Karkor of Tarndrin (LN male dwarf expert 4)

Marketplace
Base Value 1,000 gp; Purchase Limit 10,000 gp; Spellcasting 4th
Minor Items 3d4; Medium Items 1d6; Major Items —

 

[Ramm83]

Gathering Information in Hurlontown

DC10 : In the last few weeks, 3 children have gone missing. They haven't been found since. The missing children have been the talk ever since.
DC15 : Some local has seen one of the missing children getting carried away by three persons into Artak forest. This was reported to the local city guards who have started an investigation.
DC20 : One of the local rangers who went into Artak forest to search for these children has been missing as well, he should have returned a few days ago.
DC25 : The Barbarian tribes in the east are massing since a month for some unknown reason.

 

[Ramm83]

Climate

Hurlontown is the most nothern civilized town of the continent, and as such the temperatures are cold. Winters are very harsh and temperatures can drop down to 0°F, there have been days even colder. Summers are short and temperatures are agreable. The time the adventures starts temperatures have risen to about 40°F. The thawing which has been going on since a few weeks makes travel overland rather difficult as most ground is rather muddy. The rain and occasional hail does nothing to improve this situation. Towards the east and the north when entering the tundra the climate drops, and harsh cold winds are a nuisance. The forests in the east are constantly plagued by fogbanks.

Mud: Threat the ground in and around Hurlontown as difficult terrain. Moving through a muddy space costs 2 squares of movement to move into. Mud increases the acrobatics and stealth checks by 2. Running and charging are impossible.

Weather rules:

Rain: Rain reduces visibility ranges by half, resulting in a –4 penalty on Perception checks. It has the same effect on flames, ranged weapon attacks, and Perception checks as severe wind.

Hail: Hail does not reduce visibility, but the sound of falling hail makes sound-based Perception checks more difficult (–4 penalty). Sometimes (5% chance) hail can become large enough to deal 1 point of lethal damage (per storm) to anything in the open. Once on the ground, hail has the same effect on movement as snow.

Fog: Whether in the form of a low-lying cloud or a mist rising from the ground, fog obscures all sight beyond 5 feet, including darkvision. Creatures 5 feet away have concealment (attacks by or against them have a 20% miss chance)

---

Wind effects:

Moderate Wind: A steady wind with a 50% chance of extinguishing small, unprotected flames, such as candles.


Strong Wind: Gusts that automatically extinguish unprotected flames (candles, torches, and the like). Such gusts impose a –2 penalty on ranged attack rolls and on Perception checks.


Severe Wind: In addition to automatically extinguishing any unprotected flames, winds of this magnitude cause protected flames (such as those of lanterns) to dance wildly and have a 50% chance of extinguishing these lights. Ranged weapon attacks and Perception checks are at a –4 penalty. This is the velocity of wind produced by a gust of wind spell.