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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Libertad" data-source="post: 9761456" data-attributes="member: 6750502"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/LcwYQrD.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 637px" />The first chapter of the adventure path proper, Prophecies in the Sand is split into 3 major parts, taking the PCs from 1st to 4th level. Sands of Doom supports both experience-based and milestone leveling, with the former listing noncombat experience for completing certain tasks as well as discretionary experience points for the DM to hand out during play.Additionally, the early parts of the campaign incorporate a mechanic known as the Paths of Fate. A sphinx by the name of Prophecy is manipulating events behind the scenes, and attempts to guide the PCs to certain actions and events in their furtherance. She is a potential ally against the risen Anubians, as she wishes to bring about the true death of the risen Pharaoh Lord Ammu and destroy his Ankh of Life. However, her actions and edicts are not always the most moral choices. Certain points of the adventure path call out moments where the PCs will gain a point for one of three paths. The Path of Devotion represents those who keep loyal to Prophecy and follow her heed, the Path of Benevolence represents potential allies to Prophecy but who care more for doing what’s right than the “ends justify the means.” The Path of Erudition represents actions most at odds with Prophecy’s commands, where she will gradually distrust the PCs and may even treat them as enemies. There are around ten moments in the adventure path where the party can gain points; one of which grants 2 points in a Path rather than 1, and one choice where they can gain 1 point each in Benevolence and Erudition.In addition to shaping the PC’s relationship with Prophecy, the Paths also determine which NPC becomes a recurring ally based on perceiving the party as closely sharing their values and/or goals. They are not necessarily DMPCs, as they will not be constant travel companions, but they will aid the party both directly and indirectly at certain points in the campaign. Souk is the NPC for the Path of Devotion, a sebek (anthropomorphic crocodile) warrior who believes that the Aru are cosmic parasites who starve native worlds of souls, and is working with Prophecy because she’s had a hand in killing many Aru over the past two millennia. Although loyal to her, one of Prophecy’s commands during the adventure path has him commit an abominable act, which will weigh upon his soul.Malicia is a black dragon raised by a gnoll priest by the name of Menkare, who after awakening sought to study what happened to the remains of the Anubian Empire. During that time he became corrupted by the Will of the Sands, and subjected Malicia to an experiment turning her into a vampire spawn. The process was intentionally left incomplete, so she still remains a living creature, albeit afflicted with a wasting curse kept at bay by a Divine Relic known as the Amber Eye on her person. She managed to break free of Menkare’s control, killing him as part of a larger uprising, but still abides by Menkare’s original mission of purifying the Cataclysm-stricken land. Recognizing the foul influence of the Will of the Sands, Malicia believes that the Ankh of Life needs to be wielded by someone of sufficient power to defeat the Will. She believes that Lord Ammuis the only one capable of this, but he spurns her aid and comes into conflict with her.As for the Path of Benevolence, there are some NPCs and events that are also folded into the Path of Devotion, but the unique ally for this path is a cyclops named Nemisis who is one of the gatekeepers of the Duaat, the realm of the dead. He is less active in the adventure path than either Malicia or Souk, but he helps the PCs participate in a magical ritual to depose Lord Ammu in order to appoint a more peaceful ruler for the Anubians.In the here and now, Prophecy has been delivering messages among pawns, both aware and unaware of her true nature, to organize an expedition to a recently discovered Grand Pyramid. It is the largest Anubian ruins discovered so far, earning much discussion in Al’Kirat and no small number of glory-seekers wishing to plumb its depths. The PCs are presumed to be interested in joining this expedition, likely hired on by the promise of wealth, knowledge of lost eras, or any other common adventuring motivations.Additionally, the many magical visions and whispers Prophecy’s been passing around have been interpreted a specific way by people from cultures without a god to call their own (kenku, harpies, lizardfolk, humans, and worgs). They believe these voices to come from an imprisoned snake god yearning for freedom, basing their information on ruins dedicated to a serpentine god found in the wasteland, and have organized into a cult called the Coiled Whisper. The gargoyles, who are actually in service of said snake-god who is known as Aku’Tal, are confused by the actions of this cult, with some acting for and against them. But one gargoyle by the name of Drazul is more than willing to take control of these cultists in hopes of reawakening his patron deity. Prophecy, of course, is aware of this and hopes to use the conflict to steer the PCs to the tomb so as to better prepare them for the eventual war against the Anubians.The adventure begins with each PC contacted by Prophecy in a dream whose environs are shaped in line with what makes sense for the character’s backstory/personality. In the dream, she asks the character if they believe in fate. If most PCs say ‘yes,’ this grants 1 Devotion Path point, ‘no’ grants 1 Benevolence, and non-committal/unclear answers grant 1 Erudition.Part 1: Abduction throws PCs into the thick of things. While traveling in the wilderness with the caravan, a horde of undead attack. During the chaos the cultists abduct several people including one Rumbold Tomekeeper, a tiefling archeologist who specializes in lore of the Anubian Empire. The cultists are acting on orders to kidnap him due to his ability to read hieroglyphs, and the kidnapping happens technically off-screen as the PCs are busy fighting skeletons alongside NPC guards. Should a cultist be captured, the information they can divulge will be vague, as their orders were received via dreams.The caravan sustained too many casualties to continue to the Grand Pyramid, so the expedition is called off and most of the survivors are in favor of returning to Al’Kirat. One member, a tiefling warrior by the name of Kallista, wishes to rescue the kidnapped members and will try to convince the PCs to go along with her. She will tempt them with a share of spoils from tracking down the raiders, and give them healing potions in the meantime. Tracking down the cultists’ camp requires a group-based Survival check, with the amount of total successes determining how many hours it takes the party to find it. The time it takes to reach the camp has no bearing on the events, which makes the rolling feel like busywork to me.The camp is heavily-populated, with 8 cultists led by a lizardfolk who has a pet constrictor snake, although they are secure in their numbers and thus don’t post sentries. A harpy is watching over four abducted caravaneers but will surrender without a fight if the PCs confront her. If a fight breaks out, the lizardfolk will take out a chunk of heka amber to offer to an obelisk, which will draw the amber into itself before granting the effects of a Bless spell to the lizardfolk and will persist until he dies. As this isn’t the only obelisk in the campaign that accepts amber offerings, it’s a means of foreshadowing this game mechanic to the players for the future*. As for Kallista, she uses modified Berserker NPC stats but with several skill proficiencies and a magic greataxe that deals 1d4 bonus fire damage.*For 50 gold pieces, Obelisks can grant a Bless spell that is concentration-free, cannot be dispelled, and lasts until the character uses it to complete a “heroic achievement” per the DM’s discretion. 150 gold pieces grants them the benefit of Restoration plus the benefit of a Long Rest. A character can only receive the Bless benefit once from any individual obelisk; in order to gain it again, they must find another obelisk and pay the tribute anew.The cultists are quite wealthy, having quite a bit of treasure in the form of gold, a Dagger of Venom, 2 more amber chunks worth 50 gold each, and a giant lizard pack animal holding a fair number of weapons and precious gems. Kallista lets the PCs keep any magic items but otherwise takes an equal share. As for the prisoners, Rumbold is not among them. The others will say that they witnessed the archeologist taken away by “flying creatures of stone.”When the PCs arrive back at Al’Kirat, any cultists taken prisoner will be arrested and interrogated by the Vizier, and Sultana Zanara Zin’Zara will deliver a summons to the party via Kallista to meet with her concerning the failed expedition. Overnight, Prophecy will contact the PCs again via dream, shaping it to reflect the most important moments in their lives, followed by a question of what their greatest life goal is. Answers focusing on bettering the lives of others grants 1 Benevolence, answers involving seeking inner wisdom and higher meaning grants 1 Prophecy, and answers involving self-improvement grants 1 Erudition. PCs will advance to 2nd level if the Milestone system is used.Thoughts: This is pretty combat-heavy for a 1st-level adventure, but the use of NPC allies, healing potions, and a less-attentive enemy encampment helps stack the deck in the party’s favor. My main complaint is that “Prophecy manipulating all sides behind the scenes” can feel pretty convoluted, as I feel that I need to keep a scorecard on which individual/faction knows what and from who.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/3P1ZsYn.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 589px" />Part 2: Search is much longer, leveling up the characters to 3 during its sequence. Morgiana will be waiting to greet the PCs at the Ruby Quart, the Sultana’s residence, and after providing them with gemstones for rescuing the kidnapped caraveneers and instructing them in courtly etiquette, will lead them on to meet Al’Kirat’s most powerful person. The Sultana and Vizier will ask the PCs a variety of questions about the cultists and what transpired, and believes that Rumbold Tomekeeper was targeted in particular due to what he knows about Anubian civilization. The Sultana wishes to hire the PCs to rescue Rumbold, and in exchange will reward them with their choice of money or 1 favor per PC, and can grant them a spot alongside Rumbold on the Skylark, Al’Kirat’s only working airship.The PCs won’t be sent off without a lead. Vizier Rashid imprisoned captured cultists in a Mirror of Life Trapping (whose purpose he won’t reveal to the PCs), which he’ll use as the material component to cast a Scrying spell upon Rumbold who will voluntarily fail his saving throw. Taking the PCs to observe its casting, they will see the tiefling being forced to translate hieroglyphs in a chamber full of red sand serpent motifs. The scrying sensor is detected by Drazul, who quickly smashes it but not before the mirror gets a good look at his face.Rashid can deduce in conversation with the PCs that the creature’s a gargoyle, that Rumbold is being held in an Anubian ruin, that the Anubians have not been known to worship a snake-deity nor are any Aru known to be serpents, and that the telltale red sand points to the location being somewhere within the Wasteland. In addition to these leads, the PCs are pointed by Morgiana to the local Adventurer’s Guild and gives the party a Sending Stone to keep in contact with the Sultana.The Adventurer’s Guild is a very prosperous organization in Al’Kirat due to the city’s heavy reliance on contract labor, and specializes in mercenary work for dangerous jobs. The Guild also provides lodging, but most adventurers are currently at Kunatan Keep. We get a detailed overview of the Adventurer’s Guild, complete with map, write-ups for 3 NPCs including personality traits and referenced stat blocks in the core rules, and even a bar complete with drinks named after game mechanics in a meta way. Such examples include Long Rest, which is a creamy blended fruit drink, or Hellish Rebuke, which is an alcoholic beverage containing a chili pepper hidden at the bottom which will burst at a random time.The rest of this adventure is an open-ended investigation consisting of three major Leads. The party will reach 3rd level after investigating 2 of the 3 Leads, but they cannot pursue all of them. Kallista will investigate one of the non-Temple leads the PCs don’t initially pick. While her task will be successful, as she’s just one person she will not find out everything or resolve the lead as well as the PCs might possibly do. Between Leads, PCs will meet the black dragon Malicia disguised in human form. During the first meeting she will be a newcomer to Al’Kirat and ask the party about “common knowledge” questions that reveal her inexperience. While during the second meeting, she will give the PCs a vial of blood along with a vague warning about the Will of the Sands, instructing them to throw the vial in order to distract any pursuing undead.The first Lead involves looking into an outbreak of snake infestations in the slums, with many locals blaming a kenku named Ribbit. Ribbit runs a pet shop specializing in amphibians and reptiles, and explains that his latest shipment of hissroot was stolen. Hissroot is a fungus whose spores attract snakes, and the kenku believes that a small group of lizardfolk and humans who visited his shop two weeks are the culprits. He explains that their mishandling of the hissroot most likely led to the outbreak of snakes. In order to drive the snakes out of the slums, Ribbit requires more hissroot to lure them away, and the mushrooms grow in the nearby Deadrock Butte. Searching for the hissroot at the Butte is a short series of encounters, initially involving finding a snake-filled cave and overcoming the masses of poisonous serpents to obtain the hissroot. While there, the PCs will meet a minotaur by the name of Windhowl, who is acquainted with Ribbit and will tell them of witnessing large groups of outsiders coming to the Butte to harvest hissroot. Windhowl can tell the PCs more about the supposed serpent-deity communicating to cultists in their dreams as well as provide healing spells. She’ll offer to help the party find the cultists, provided that they help her craft Potions of Poison Resistance. This “crafting” involves summoning vine blights out from a nearby river, both to cleanse the water source and harvest the potion components from their corpses. Ribbit will pay the party for giving him hissroot, and also gives them a free poisonous snake as a pet if they want one.The second Lead involves reports of another undead attack, this time their target was a group of orcs performing a pilgrimage. The orcs are currently camped out in the wilderness, having not moved from their position on account that one of their chieftain’s sons and a triceratops have been infected with mummy rot, and none among their number have the ability to heal them. Dalira, the Adventurer’s Guildmaster, suggests the PCs look for a tribute in order to approach the orcs in good faith. But the only shop in town claiming to have proper goods is a dwarf well-versed in orc culture, but his wares fall short of qualifying as gifts from an orcish perspective.The orcs are wary of travelers, threatening them to come no closer and will attempt to take anyone who looks like a healer prisoner. The PCs can get them to stand down with a proper social skill check, at which point the party will be challenged to a one-on-one duel, and winning the duel will let the party in and the rest of the orcs more willing to hear them out. Should an all-out fight break out, the orcs will surrender if they sense that they’re losing, and thus submit to the PCs. The infected orc is named Ahuatzi, and he and the triceratops both bear signs of rapidly wasting away. The orcs know that the cultists are camped out in a nearby set of ruins, and Ahuatzi will be eager to accompany the party to fight alongside them, but will not do so unless the triceratops is cured or dies from it. Curing Ahuatzi isn’t as important, as he will be satisfied with dying in battle before the sickness takes him.As the PCs are too low-level to learn or prepare Remove Curse, the only means of casting this spell in the adventure at this time is to complete the third Lead. Otherwise, the alternative is to harvest a toxic plant known as hagsbane. It can be used to cure mummy rot, but unless handled by a skilled healer the plant can be fatal to the ingester. Time is not on the PC’s side, so getting enough in time requires a successful skill challenge to harvest enough in the nearby environs, or calling upon allies and contacts in the city (such as using the Sending Stones given by Morgiana) to gather enough to meet them halfway while traveling. Once obtained, the healer must succeed on a series of Medicine skill checks of increasing difficulty, and the imbiber must succeed on a Constitution saving throw. The former skill checks provide advantage/disadvantage on the save as appropriate. Success means the imbiber’s cured, failure means death.The third Lead is never chosen by Kallisti, meaning that it’s always a scenario the PCs will do. Rumbold acquired an imp familiar by the name of Grigori from the Church of Asmodeus, and the imp vanished just before he departed with the caravan. Lucy is the Arbiter in charge of formulating the contract, and when the PCs visit the Temple of the Five-Pointed Star it becomes clear that the devil-worshipers are none too happy with Grigori either, for via their contacts in Hell’s bureaucracy learned that the imp facilitated the signing of an illegal Diabolic Contract. The details are censored, so Lucy doesn’t know the specifics, but this is bad for devils because mortal souls part of such contracts will not have their souls taken to Hell upon death.Lucy gives the party a magic item known as a Pact-Finder to help track down Grigori, and it works by sensing where the imp most recently left the strongest impression. They’re also given a Scroll of Imp Binding which, if read within 30 feet of the Imp, will force it to obey the reader’s commands for the next 8 hours. The Pact-Finder leads the PCs to a tavern, where they learn that Grigori was a most unwelcome host due to heavy drinking and disruptive behavior. Grigori is actually nearby, invisibly coaching a group of orphans calling themselves the Emberlings how to run various scams. One of the children, named Spark, is the only human out of the tiefling orphans and was the signer of Grigori’s illegal contract. Wanting to better fit in and desiring the powers of tieflings, he gained the ability to cast the Suggestion spell (which the Emberlings have been using to aid in their scams) and will also become a tiefling once he comes of age. Prepubescent children in hellish law are “statutorily innocent,” meaning that they’re too young to bear the weight of their decisions and thus don’t count as “willing,” which is a requirement for the signer of a contract. As cosmic law doesn’t prevent such contracts from being signed, they do prevent devils from benefiting from them.The Emberlings will attempt to steal from the PCs by luring the group to an alley via a “child in distress” appeal, and then each will engage in a fake pickpocketing attempt on a PC before running off in various directions. Hoping that the party splits up, Spark will find a lone character to use Suggestion to get them to turn over their gold and return to their companions by acting normal.About one or two in-game hours after their encounter with the Emberlings, the PCs will find the child who kept watch during the above scam crying in the middle of the plaza, but no adult is coming to her aid on account that she and the Emberlings are known scammers. She will explain that harpies overwhelmed them, putting the rest of the children to sleep before stuffing them in bags and flying off. The child will also tell the PCs about Grigori the imp, the contract that Spark signed, and that the imp was already on the run from similar-looking figures who had already kidnapped him once before.It is possible for the PCs to catch Grigori early; if they don’t, he will be kidnapped by the Coiled Whisper cultists along with the Emberlings. The PCs can continue on with the adventure if they already have Grigori and return him, in which case saving the rest of the Emberlings is more to appeal to their good nature or try and capture more cultists for information-gathering.Regardless, the cultists have taken the hostages to a fishing vessel still moored in the city, with six human cultists standing guard and the Emberlings placed in the cargo hold. Grigori, if present, is sealed in a locked chest, its key hidden among the cargo supplies. Beyond some meager gold, the other treasure of significance here is a Scroll of Remove Curse, a specific item worth 50 gp or less one or more PCs hinted at desiring during the campaign, and a magic sword named Doomcoil. This sword and the variable item were placed by Prophecy. Doomcoil is in a form best-suited for the PC most likely to wield it, and deals 3d6 bonus damage to snakes and snake-like creatures, with the text helpfully outlining what other monsters in this campaign qualify for the extra damage.At a dramatically appropriate time of the DM’s choosing, a gargoyle and four dust mephits will attack the fishing line. The Coiled Whisper cultists here actually stole the chest containing Grigori from Drazul and the elementals will treat both the cultists and PCs as enemies. I can’t find a reason why the cultists stole from Drazul in this adventure; presumably they got conflicting orders from Prophecy’s dreams.Upon being returned to the Temple, Lucy scolds Grigori and outlines the details of why the infernal contract was illegal. She gives Spark the choice (if he’s present) to keep the contract or annul it, and has until his 13th birthday to decide. Spark’s decision will depend on prior interactions with the PCs, and he will annul the contract if the party convinces him of his own self-worth and talent as a human without the need for supernatural backing. For penance, Grigori will be assigned to accompany the PCs in their search for Rumbold should the party so desire, with an even stronger contract that permanently charms the imp to the signator. The contract lasts until they bring Rumbold back safely.Thoughts: I like the open-ended investigation avenue of this portion of the adventure. The narrative gives various methods for “failing forward.” For example, if the PCs fail to cure the mummy rot they will be down a valuable ally for the future, but can still learn about Rumbold’s location. And even should the PCs be unable to learn the information from the orcs, the adventure mentions that they can use the knowledge obtained regarding hissroots to follow snakes to the cultist’s hideout in the temple.<img src="https://i.imgur.com/TqXzWPT.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="" style="width: 704px" />Part 3: Rescue is a dungeon-crawl, where the PCs manage to locate the cultist’s hideout in an old temple to the snake god Aku’Tal. It is located 8 hours away from Al’Kirat, and the PCs can bring along one NPC companion (plus Grigori, possibly) to accompany them. Which NPC they choose gives them 1 point in a particular path: Devotion for Kallista, Benevolence for Windhowl, or Erudiction for Ahuatzi. The NPC will inform the party about common knowledge of the Wasteland and desert environments. After two hours of travel, the party will face a small group of skeletons reanimated by the Will of the Sands, with a minotaur skeleton added if the party is accompanied by an NPC ally.By the time the PCs reach the temple, they will see evidence of a prior fight between cultists. Prophecy gave them visions to kill Drazul and the other gargoyles, causing a civil war among the Coiled Whisper. The sphinx did this to ensure that Drazul will have enough humanoid sacrifices to resurrect Aku’Tal, and to thin the numbers of the cultists who are at risk of later defying her.The dungeon itself consists of 8 areas spread out among one floor. It has a mixture of puzzles and combat, with the former including filling a basin with blood or heka amber to open a magically-sealed door and a room filled with hundreds of poisonous snakes who can be lured away via a harvested hissroot mushroom. Rumbold Tomekeeper is in the sixth room of the dungeon, forced to translate the hieroglyphics on the walls. During his research he found out how to open up sealed doors elsewhere in the dungeon, and due to his bond with Grigori the two can communicate telepathically. Grigori will be mostly truthful in relaying information to the PCs, but will add some falsehoods and unhelpful advice, such as suggesting to use snake blood for the basin puzzle earlier. This action will offend Aku’Tal, who summons monstrous snakes to kill the party.The temple is pretty heavy with magic items for treasure, with quite a few themed around poison and snakes, such as a Staff of the Adder. Spell scrolls found here are written in Anubian, which PCs cannot read until they find and attune to one Divine Relic. Rumbold has the stats of a Noble and no weapons or armor, meaning he’s not useful in combat unless given gear, but he has double proficiency in History along with advantage on said checks related to the Anubian Empire. This makes him a useful asset for loredumping. Rumbold will tell the party that Drazul the gargoyle took several other prisoners further into the temple to be sacrificed. They’ve all since perished, but the archeologist doesn’t know that and will want to discover their fate. The PCs have the opportunity to get the benefits of a Long Rest if they bring the Staff of the Adder near a black obelisk in the room Rumbold is in. The obelisk can also accept heka amber to bestow magical benefits as detailed above.Drazul is the first “boss” of this dungeon. He is using two heka amber gems corrupted with the blood of the living, and a Divine Relic known as the Emerald Hourglass as part of a ritual to resurrect his god. He will call upon Aku’Tal to aid him during the fight, and his prayers are answered as the room fills with giant snakes to fight at his side every two rounds. The summoning can be stopped if the heka gems are pried from the shrine or otherwise destroyed, and Drazul uses the stats of a typical gargoyle but with 85 hit points and higher mental ability scores along with some skill proficiencies. Malicia, who was exploring the dungeon via a hidden tunnel entrance, hears the sounds of battle and tells the PCs from afar via echoes to “destroy any shrine they see.” If the DM is feeling merciful, she can arrive to aid the PCs in combat, but will otherwise arrive after combat to see to the safety of the Emerald Hourglass.Aku’Tal will soon come into the world, albeit in weakened form as a many-headed snake using hydra stats. The PCs are more than free to flee to safety (something which Malicia wishes to do, and she will retreat during combat if she gets too wounded), which grants +1 Erudition and Benevolence, but +1 Devotion if they choose to stay and fight along with the immediate benefits of a Short Rest as divine energy fills their spirits. Defeating Aku’Tal results in a spectral voice delivering a vague premonition about “the Will, forged in Aru’s arrogance, cannot be undone, and no Prophecy can delay ashes from crumbling to dust.” The PCs will then absorb fragments of Aku’Tal’s divine power, manifesting in +2 to an ability score of choice, and the next time they sleep Prophecy will give them a dream of the Wasteland magically restored to a lush paradise. This dream grants each PC a once per Long Rest ability to add a d10 to an ability check, attack roll, or saving throw.Malicia will realize that the Emerald Hourglass is depowered, and thus has no need for it. But she offers to tell the party more about Divine Relics in general and even how to restore the Hourglass in exchange for the party telling her about who they work for, how they found the temple, and if they’ve been having any strange dreams. Being honest about the dreams will have Malicia advise them against trusting the voice and to rely on their own instincts instead.The chapter ends once the PCs safely escort Rumbold back to Al’Kirat, at which point they will reach 4th level if using the Milestone progression. We also get a rundown of Chapter Developments detailing the fates of various NPCs. Several of them have no more role to play in the adventure path by default, but some have roles to play in future chapters and we also get writeups for what they’re doing “offscreen” while the PCs continue their adventure.As for the Emerald Hourglass, it is currently useless, but it can be restored if the divine essence from heka amber is used to repair it. Merely placing the amber close to it is enough to start the process, and it requires 5,000 gold worth of amber to regain functionality.Thoughts So Far: This chapter’s adventure is quite well put-together. While still linear, it allows for enough player freedom and failure in places that the plot won’t grind to a halt if the party doesn’t do things exactly as expected. There’s a good mixture of combat and non-combat challenges, and while the PCs are still the stars of the show, allied NPCs also show initiative where appropriate and can come to their aid.Join us next time as we take a trip by airship and see the rise of the Anubian army in Chapter 4: the Grand Pyramid!</blockquote>

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