Absalom in Shadow: A Pathfinder Campaign from InnRoads Ministries

Announcing InnRoads Ministry’s

        Pathfinder Campaign Recruitment

 

 

With the InnRoads community growing over the past few months, it seems the time is right to set those bonds in the realm of adventure!  As has been hinted at in the Game Store Prophets podcast, we’ve been tinkering with the prospect of Play by Post gaming.  The Paizo Community site has a great set up for gamers from across the globe to get together and role play.

Ultimately we’ll be looking for 6 to 8 players to join in the first campaign, a home brew module called Absalom in Shadow.  The submission process is outlined below and will be open from 2/1 through 2/28.  What follows is an outline of the adventure and submission guidelines.

So read on and submit your characters!!

 

Absalom in Shadow

Absalom, City at the Center  of the World, the hub about which the Inner Sea spins. Paladins the world over get their start in the Tempering Grounds of Iomedae. Clerics gaze upon the Ascendant Court to serve their venerated deity.  Wizards looking to broaden their understanding of the arcane arrive in her harbor with the hopes – or the scholarship – to attend one of the two most prestigious magical universities in Golarion.  And of course, Absalom holds the Grand Lodge of the Pathfinder Society; hunters of knowledge and antiquity whose missions delve into all corners of the world.

There is glory to be found within her walls if you’re willing to make the right sacrifice.  There are equal parts ruin too.  But there is no mercy, not for noble or peasant, politician or servant. Certainly none for a group of new adventurers sailing from the Taldoran port of Cassomir.  They board a ship, all of them sent to meet with a new mentor, an old bard named Caleb with a past to match that of Absalom herself. The adventurers each have a history all their own, and a story as yet unwritten.  Soon enough, they will find that their stories are intertwined more tightly than the streets of their destination.

There is a new darkness taking shape in the city. It’s tendrils are stretching forth to greet the waiting world outside.  Disappearances, strange music in the night, a villainous fog moving against the wind and the skin saws have been more active of late.  It began with a single choice, but the ramifications are being felt like a slow-burning fever.  Can the new heroes discover the heart of this new darkness before it’s too late?

 

The Hook

Absalom in Shadow is an adventure in the Pathfinder Campaign setting, designed for characters starting at 1st Level.  It begins aboard the Prince Rhineholdt, a one of a kind galleon sailing from Cassomir to Absalom. The PCs have been recruited by either a relative or an official to be mentored by Caleb the Scroll, a bard of some renown.  Each PC may have their own reasons for going; a man like Caleb has connections. For instance,  a burgeoning Wizard or Sorcerer may find an invitation to attend the Arcanamirium on the other side of services rendered.

Over the course of travel aboard the Prince Rhineholdt, the PCs will be getting acquainted. They can either have shared histories (to be developed once chosen) or friendships can be forged during the weeks spent in Cassomir and on the voyage which will be role played out.  The adventure will open with the group’s departure from Port of Cassomir.

Adventure Flavor & Mood

This adventure will pit the group against a myriad of mysteries and opponents. The overall tone will be a mixture of investigation and fantasy.  Plenty of grit, plenty of wonderment and healthy doses of action. An inquisitive Bard would feel right at home alongside an intuitive wizard.  And a justice seeking paladin would benefit from the company of a surly warrior who knows his/her way around a tavern.

Best comparison? Think Usual Suspects meets the 13th Warrior meets the Others.

Character Creation

Here’s where we get to the crunchy bits:

• 20 Point Buy: This is going to be a dangerous adventure.

• Core Races Only: Those found in the CRB.

• All Paizo Classes (no 3rd party): A note on gunslingers, guns are emerging, so owning one (or brandishing) comes with its own set of risks/rewards.

• Max HP: See 1st bullet point

• Max Starting Gold: Specific to your starting class

• 2 Starting Traits: These should be woven into the character’s backstory. More on this later.

• Alignment: Anything non-evil. Even a True Neutral.  The campaign will have enough touches of evil, trust me, you don’t want that floating around in the group. Especially for our first go round.

Okay, now that’s out of the way, into the more important part of character creation; the character!! While the crunch is great, it pales in comparison to the importance of having a great backstory and a great concept as to how your character interacts with the world.  Don’t get me wrong, the numbers I mean a lot in a rules heavy game like Pathfinder. But the numbers should be just an emulation your character concept.

So in your submission – and saved to you alias in paizo – I want to see a history built for your character. Something that delves into why he or she wound up in Cassomir. Are they escaped convicts? A Baker down on his luck and turning his skills with an oven to the

creation of potions? Perhaps a nobleman, seeking to send his son to Absalom in the hopes of garnering a family in which to marry and grow the fortune?  It’s open season on creative license, so have at it. I only ask that the build of your character; Skills, Feats, Traits etc, reflect this history. So instead of saying: “Hey, I got Two Weapon Fighting!”, perhaps work into the fact that your character was found to be ambidextrous due to a childhood injury that forced you to be proficient with your off-hand.

Next, as a separate entry from your history, I’d like to have a brief description of your character both physical and personality.  For example: “Joseph the fighter stands 6 feet 5 inches with long flowing purple hair. He enjoys long walks by the moonlight and also smashing in the faces of goblins because they grind his gears.  Joe’s quick tempered and tends to keep his mouth shut to avoid getting his companions into unnecessary fights.”

 

Submissions

Once you’re done, either post your submission to the Tavern Facebook group (Word or PDF), or head on over to the Paizo forums to create your account and alias. Here’s the format I frequently use at Paizo: Keegan son of Rahland.  Once you’re logged in, head over to the Absalom in Shadow Campaign site and post a greeting in the Discussion board.

In addition, feel free to email your submission (Word or PDF) to my email address at Jeff@innroadsministries.com.

Other options for character generating is Hero Lab (costs money) or ScoreForge (free). Not only do they it aid in stat building and tracking, but they even output a Stat Block you can cut and paste into your Paizo character alias.

 

Information Sources

Since this is a homebrew campaign, I’ll be leveraging a few of the Pathfinder books for reference. I’ll be borrowing generously from the Pathfinder Chronicles – Guide to Absalom tome, but will deviate from it to take some creative license with the big city. Other than that, the following are good suggestions:

• Pathfinder Cite Rulebook

• The Inner Sea World Guide

• Advanced Player’s Guide

• Ultimate Combat

• Ultimate Magic

Now here’s the good news; if you’re anything like me, you’re not made of money. So I’ve got a couple of “on the cheap” options. First, visit the paizo.com site, search for the books you’d like, and see if the PDF version meets your needs. 9 times out of 10 they’re 30% less than the hard copy book.

The second option is using the Pathfinder SRD site for book and rules information. Also the Pathfinder Wiki page has more information than you’ve any right to know about Golarion, the home world in which the game is set. In fact, you’ll find a lot of what you need to get started with our first two locations – Cassomir and Absalom.

• Pathfinder SRD

• Pathfinder Wiki

 

 

 

A Little About the GM

My name’s Jeff Romo. I got my start in RPGs a little over… starts counting fingers and toes…20 years ago. First game was Shadowrun: Bag o’ D6 Edition, and a Street Sam named Mace with a penchant for Stuffer Shack slushies.  From there it was a natural gravitation to the beloved Earthdawn, then side adventures in Rifts, Vampire and then to D&D. During that time I’ve been gaming with the same group and loving every minute of the friendships we forged over the gaming table.

I’m looking forward to seeing what comes out of this new venture with InnRoads Ministries, and especially this new adventure group.

Until next time, Brave Sojourners!

– Jeff