Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 44 [RPG]

[Wealday, 24 Sarenith 4708 A.R. continued]

 

After an intensive evening of discussion with Thousand Bones at the campsite of the Skoan-Quah (Clan of the Skull), the Harrowed Heroes retire to their guest yurt to rest for the night.  Outside, the wind howls, and for several hours the entire camp is assaulted by a powerful ash storm.  Fortunately, in the safety of their fur-lined tents, the newcomers to the Cinderlands are able to avoid the blinding, choking particles.  But it’s surely a sign of the dangers that await them on the journey ahead.

 

[Oathday, 25 Sarenith 4708 A.R. continued]

 

In the morning, a layer of ash almost a foot deep covers everything in the camp.  But the winds have died down, and the sun shines brightly.  The travellers from Korvosa discuss how to best earn the respect of the Shoanti peoples so that the Sun Shaman of the Sklar-Quah (Clan of the Sun) will reveal the truth about the Midnight’s Teeth and the nature of Ileosa’s power.  Anorak and Ralph Blackfeather agree that visiting the Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers—a ruin that brave Shoanti warriors enter to prove their courage—should be the first destination.  Goldcape isn’t so sure, however, and raises the possibility of going to Cindermaw first to replicate the deed of the legendary Shoanti hero Skurak by being swallowed by the beast.  Goldcape says she should be the only one to be swallowed because of the Harrower’s reading, but there’s not universal assent to the proposition.  Ralph Blackfeather asks Ahalak, the apparent leader of the four Shoanti Boneslayers assigned to be their guides, about visiting Flameford to find Krojun.  Ahalak replies that the Sklar-Quah are the least hospitable Shoanti clan to tshamek, and that open violence could result.  Yraelzin attempts to resolve the question of where to go first through his newfound hobby of reading the Harrow, but is able to prophesy only that the group will meet a juggler in the future—a seemingly absurd statement given the harshness of the Cinderlands.  Eventually, the group reach a consensus around visiting the Acropolis first.

After saying farewell to Thousand Bones, the Korvosans and their native guides depart the Kallow Mounds.  But in the intense heat of a summer’s day in the Cinderlands, Ralph Blackfeather (now wearing the guise of The Reckoner) begins to sweat profusely and tire after barely an hour!  He asks Ahalak how the Shoanti survive the heat, and hears that each of the three clans in the area deal with it differently: the Skoan-Quah ask the spirits of the land for respite from the heat, the Lyrune-Quah (Clan of the Moon) travel only at night, and the Sklar-Quah push themselves through sheer fortitude and willpower to embrace the sun in all its glory.  The group continue on, and one of the Boneslayers, Nalmid, seems very interested in hearing about life beyond the Cinderlands.  He’s surprised to hear that in “wetlander” cities, the wisest and bravest aren’t necessarily the wealthiest or most respected.

After almost a full day’s travel, interspersed with frequent rests, the group has barely covered a dozen miles!  Even Anorak’s and The Reckoner’s horses from Kaer Maga are exhausted and plodding slowly across the parched earth.  Ahalak and the other Boneslayers offer no aid or critique—perhaps learning to survive in the Cinderlands is another, unstated, test that the Korvosans are being judged on.  But there are more dangers than just heat in the Cinderlands, dangers that even the Shoanti aren’t fully prepared for.  While attempting to make up some time in a final hour’s march before setting camp, a wide pit suddenly opens up under the group.  Although the Korvosans and their mounts manage to retreat back to solid ground in time, two of the Boneslayers—Nalmid and Hargev—tumble into an underground cavern almost forty feet below the surface!  Both are hurt but conscious, and as Hargev gets to his feet and looks around, he realises the true enormity of the danger they’re in—a purple worm tunnel!  He raises a finger to his lips as he looks at the others gathered on the lip of the hole above, urging them to silence.  But the falling rock has already echoed through the tunnels.  On the surface, Anorak presses a palm to the ground and feels rumbling in the distance—rumbling that is getting closer.

 

While the others talk of ropes and such, Goldcape acts quickly by dramatically leaping onto Rocky’s back and diving into the cavern.  She pulls Nalmid and Hargev aboard Rocky’s back and shouts for Rocky to fly back to the surface.  But the steep ascent is initially too difficult for the overloaded roc to make, and she hits the ground with a heavy THUMP! that carries down the subterranean tunnels.  Back on the surface, Anorak realises the rumbling sound has intensified in speed and that a purple worm will appear in just seconds!  They shout for Goldcape to hurry, and this time Rocky’s powerful leap and flapping wings are enough to get the fallen Boneslayers back to the surface. 

But now a decision has to be made for the entire group: fight, or flee?  Anorak and The Reckoner decide to fight, remembering how they already slew one purple worm.  Anorak cleverly conjures the illusory sound of dozens of huddled people talking and moving about to lure the purple worm into emerging at a precise spot.  When it does, The Reckoner charges into attack as the Boneslayers (having retreated some distance away) launch a volley of arrows that bounce harmlessly off the purple worm’s armored exoskeleton.  Anorak sends bolts of lightning and bursts of flame at the creature, but it mostly shrugs off the elemental attacks.  Goldcape’s archery is more accurate than the Boneslayers, but she decides it’s too risky for The Reckoner to be the massive beast’s only target, and directs Rocky to attack as well.  The roc’s talons tear open a deep wound in the worm’s soft underbelly, but it retaliates by rising up to its full height and then crashing down to swallow Rocky whole!  The Reckoner’s powerful earthbreaker has done tremendous damage, however, and the worm itself dies seconds later.  Knowing that Rocky has only seconds to live, The Reckoner heroically plunges into the worm’s open mouth.  With his ability to see in darkness thanks to the mask of the mantis he wears, The Reckoner finds Rocky and cuts open the worm’s hide to pull him out.  Anorak does his part by magically stopping Rocky’s bleeding in the nick of time.  Having witnessed the amazing series of events, the Boneslayers can’t help but be impressed—even if they must think the wetlanders are a little crazy!

Ahalak says there is a small Sklar-Quah camp nearby named Blazehearth, and, given how wounded and exhausted the travellers are, it could be worth the risk to seek shelter there for the night.  But when they arrive, it’s obvious something isn’t right: many of the tents have been torn down or burned to the ground, a wooden totem has been chopped down, and there are no Shoanti in the area.  On closer inspection, the situation becomes even worse—this was no mere skirmish, as multiple charred bodies are in the camp’s central firepit!  Goldcape rushes forward to see if there are any survivors, but her instincts stop her just in time as the perpetrators of the horrible crime emerge from hiding: Hellknights!  With weapons and armor identical to those encountered in Kaer Maga, it’s clear that the Order of the Nail has penetrated into the Cinderlands on a mission of terror—and to their mind, anyone who would help the Shoanti are just as “uncivilised” and “barbaric”.  Promising to bring order to chaos, they rush toward Goldcape and assault her with supernatural waves of unholy energy, but she keeps her feet and mocks their pretensions.  Anorak decides Hellknights can’t complain about fire, and immolates two of them with a powerful spell!  Boneslayer arrows drop a third, while Goldcape gets her revenge by summoning hailstones out of the desert sky to crush the skull of a fourth.

 

A search of the tents finds no survivors, but additional footprints—from heavily armored figures—heading off in a direction of a nearby bluff.  Noticing that one of the Hellknights has a signal horn, the Korvosans decide it’s time to turn the tables by springing an ambush of their own.  Once everyone hides, Goldcape blows the signal horn.  Tense seconds follow, seconds in which The Reckoner alone experiences something unusual.  And then, the rest of the Hellknight expedition into the Cinderlands appear: a pair of tieflings wearing blood-red robes marked with pentagrams, and a heavily armored warpriest bearing a flaming ranseur!

 

Having triumphed in every battle, the Harrowed Heroes are ready for the Hellknights.  But have they already proven themselves unready for the simple rigors of the Cinderlands?

--------------------------------------

GM Commentary

In Janderhoff, Yraelzin bought a Harrow deck.  This session has an example of him trying to learn how to use it.  It's not as easy as the Harrower makes it seem!

I was really able to bring out the natural dangers of the Cinderlands this session, as the PCs learned just how hard it is to travel through heat extremes with proper preparation.  The group was really dragging as the Fortitude saves got harder and harder as the day wore on, and the effects (from fatigued to exhausted, plus accumulating nonlethal damage) started to stack.

The purple worm was from another highly-unlikely roll on the random encounter table.  I guess, if nothing else, it gave the PCs some extra XP and another memorable encounter.  The Fly rules once again have an impact.  The Reckoner was extremely heroic to wade into the worm's entrails to rescue Rocky just in the nick of time--otherwise, Goldcape's animal companion would have surely perished.

The stuff with the Hellknights is from "Slash and Burn", the sidequest for Chapter Four in the "Runescars" volume of the Pathfinder comic.  It's not a major or important plot point, but seemed to work well here. (and it earned them an extra Respect Point or two)

Starfinder Bounty # 3: "A Green Place" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

A Green Place  is another instalment in the Starfinder Bounty series of adventures for Level One PCs designed to be playable in an hour or so.  I played this one through play-by-post with my journalist character and frankly thought it a bit "meh".  It has a simplistic Saturday morning cartoon approach to conflict resolution combined with one of those cheap "hidden treasure seek and find" point-and-click computer games.  The more I see adventures like this, the more I start to think that maybe I'm just not in the target audience for Starfinder.

SPOILERS!

The adventure starts in Thamal, a small city in a pastoral region of Verces.  For some reason unexplained to the reader, tourism and its accompanying development has started to really flourish in the area around Thamal.  But, the PCs are told by a city councilor named Kirslin Auganir, there have been frequent energy-flow disruptions from the nearby power plant, causing flickering lights and so forth.  Drones sent to the computer-run power plant mysteriously disappear.  The PCs are hired (for an indeterminate sum of money) to investigate and make sure Thamal's newfound growth doesn't end prematurely.  It's a fine premise for an adventure.

When the PCs arrive, they need to overcome some minor obstacles (electrified oil puddles and little "scrap rats") before they learn the cause of the problem.  A hesper (a type of fey) named Qhibell has taken up residence in the power station and is dampening its output to stop or slow the new tourism industry from destroying natural habitats in the area.  The PCs can instantly solve the problem by getting her to agree to a vague compromise to preserve a portion of the natural habit around Thamal from development.  In effect, the scenario creates a very realistic dilemma with deeply contentious political, moral, and practical dimensions and then presents a nicely gift-wrapped solution that instantly satisfies everyone involved.  Done! (Or, the PCs can just kill Qhibell, which the scenario oddly sees as an equally satisfactory resolution).  Anyway, after dealing with Qhibell one way or another, the PCs then need to hunt around for four missing parts of the reactor, each of which is hidden in a different part of the station.  

It's all a bit saccharine for my tastes, though I guess the scenario would be a good introduction to the game for young players.

Pathfinder Adventure Path: "Curse of the Crimson Throne, Chapter Four: A History of Ashes" [RPG]

NO SPOILERS

 

Curse of the Crimson Throne is a great adventure path, and Chapter Four (A History of Ashes) doesn’t let the team down one bit.  It adds breadth to the campaign by introducing some new geography for the players to explore while simultaneously adding depth to both the story and the setting through an excellent portrayal of distinct cultures.  If that all sounds too academic-sounding, there’s some fantastic set-piece encounters as well!  A History of Ashes is something that, in lesser hands, could have come across as cringey—but in Paizo’s hands, it’s a real winner.

 

As always, we’ll start with the non-spoilery back matter and overall design.  The cover art is fantastic—the images of the Iconic barbarian in the foreground and a giant fanged worm about to swallow the Iconic paladin in the background really pops.  We have to enjoy these Wayne Reynolds covers while we can, because he doesn’t stick around forever!  The interior art is a real mixed bag, with some pieces that Paizo would be proud to show off today and others that are frankly a bit amateurish.  The geographical maps are excellent (and may still provide more detail than any other map for certain areas), but the encounter maps are often a bit plain.  The interior back cover is a stylised chart of the various major groups and NPCs relevant to Chapter Four—I didn’t think to use it, but some GMs might find it handy.  The issue has half-page entries for four Level 10 pre-gen Iconics, and the usual one-page preview of next issue.

 

In terms of back matter, there are four substantive articles.

 

“The Cinderlands” (8 pages) provides an excellent naturalist’s overview of the geography, environmental challenges, flora, and fauna of the area.  It was obviously written by someone with knowledge in geology, which makes a fictional setting seem very realistic.  The overall impression one gets is perfect: the Cinderlands are not to be trifled with!  It is a harsh, imposing landscape and unprepared travellers or explorers are likely to find nature as much or more of a threat than any inhabitants they encounter.  One of the reasons I enjoy reading, reviewing, and implementing flavour from these 3.5-era issues (despite primarily relying on the hardcover version of the AP) is that they contain detailed content like this that just isn’t available anywhere else.

 

“People of the Storval Plateau” (8 pages) is still the best, most in-depth resource I know of about the Shoanti.  It covers the history of the Shoanti peoples along with a few paragraphs of description on each of the seven quahs (tribes), including their territory, rites of passage, common totems, and totem-worship clerical domains.  One of the tricky things Paizo pulled off here was discussing fictional indigenous-themed peoples without resorting to lazy stereotypes, treating them as all alike, or one-dimensional portrayals.  If I were to make a Shoanti PC, this overview is still the first place I would turn.

 

I’m full of praise today.  Is it the iced coffee and banana bread, or is this just an excellent issue?  Maybe both!

 

“Pathfinder’s Journal” (6 pages) continues the tale of Eando Kline.  In this instalment, he and his Shoanti guide Joskan need to cross the plains of Belkzen where rival orc armies are getting ready to fight each other!  It probably turns out mostly the way you’d expect, but is still lots of fun nonetheless.

 

“Bestiary” (10 pages) starts with a useful Cinderlands random encounter chart (interestingly, the hardcover AP also has one and they have some very different entries!).  I like the little sidebar discussion on the use of random encounter charts.  As it says, a GM is sometimes in a dilemma: creating a truly “realistic” chart means that there will be a wide span of CRs: some so low that PCs might find them laughably easy, and others so high that they’re potential TPKs.  On the other hand, a random encounter chart that always delivers exactly a CR-appropriate threat to the PCs can seem artificial (and frankly, a little boring).  The advice the sidebar gives is the method I use: if an unbalanced encounter turns up, roll with it while keeping in mind that not every encounter has to be a combat encounter—if I roll a CR 15 red dragon and the PCs are only level 10, perhaps they see it a great distance away and have a chance (if they’re smart) to hide.  Etc.  Okay, aside over.

 

The entry contains four two-page entries of new monsters.  First up is probably my favourite, “bonestorms”.  They’re a supernatural vortex of bones that sometimes arise in cemeteries or battlefields, and they take the game form as a CR 8 swarm.  It’s an excellent concept (we need more higher-level swarms), and I especially liked the connection to Bloodsworn Vale.  I’m surprised Paizo never reprinted it for PFRPG use.  Next up is the “cinder wolf”.  Essentially a mix of a wolf and a hell hound, I found this unremarkable despite the good ecology section.  Third is the “havero”—at CR 24!  This creature has a great Cthulhu mythos feel, and a really smart point-based tentacle mechanic.  If you need a *real* boss for a campaign, the havero might suit.  Last is the “red reaver”, a CR 13 brute monster with an interesting twist in that it bonds itself to a site of great beauty but can be lured away by presenting it with something even more beautiful.  As a side note, I’ll flag that the little bit about the red reaver of Roslar’s Coffer is taken up in PFS scenario # 10-04.

 

Okay, on to the adventure!

 

SPOILERS!

 

The two-page Foreword by James Jacobs explains what’s important about A History of Ashes: it asks the PCs to leave Korvosa!  As he discusses, it’s a lot to ask a group that has invested ten levels’ worth of adventuring to leave the city they call home, but, on the other hand, it might just be time for a change.  Amusingly, the players I ran this for thought they were just making a quick “there and back” jaunt to the Shoanti-held Cinderlands, and had no idea the entire chapter would be set there!  It was interesting to read that the Shoanti come from one of Jacobs’ college campaigns, which is a real inspiration to homebrew GMs everywhere.  I also have to note the irony where he says he was worried the art designer might not be able to fit double-digit volume numbers on the AP spines and then says “I wonder if it’s too early to start worrying about how we’re going to fit a triple-digit number on the spine”?  2008 James Jacob would be chuffed to hear from 2023 Jhaeman that this concern has been solved.

 

In the Adventure Background, we get some more information on the origin of the Crown of Fangs that influenced Ileosa’s evil machinations.  The Crown is made from the fang of the slain blue dragon Kazavon and is one of seven relics that remained indestructible (and holds the power to potentially resurrect him).  There’s also a bit about Serithtial, the enchanted sword used to slay him.  Much of this will get covered in much greater depth in Chapter Five.  I have to confess that I’m not a big fan of the “magic sword” and “seven scattered relics” elements—too video gamey for me.

At the very end of the last adventure, the PCs learned they would have to head to the Cinderlands to learn about the source of Ileosa’s new invulnerability.  Part One assumes the PCs do depart on this journey, but acknowledges that getting the PCs out of town might not be easy and gives the GM a little advice on what to do if they’re reluctant.  Assuming the PCs escort Vencarlo Orisini and Neolandus Kalepopolis to safety at Blackbird Ranch near Harse, the PCs will also get to catch up with Trinia Sabor (from Chapter One).  Here, Neolandus reveals what he knows.  This section also provides the GM with information on two of the major threats the PCs will encounter there: the Red Mantis assassins (led by a cool NPC named Cinnabar) and a Shoanti-hating ranger named the Cinderlander (whom I wish had been integrated more into the story so he’s not just another foe to fight).

 

Part Two has the PCs reaching the Kallow Mounds, home of the Skoan-Quah (the Clan of the Skull) where the shaman Thousand Bones explains that only the Sun Shaman of the xenophobic Sklar-Quah (Clan of the Sun) knows the history of the Crown of Fangs.  But getting the Sun Shaman to speak to outsiders will be incredibly difficult, and the PCs will have to earn his respect.  This is handled through a well-designed “respect points” mechanic wherein the PCs accumulate points for achieving specific tasks (or lose points for disrespecting Shoanti customs).  Earning the respect points primarily comes from undertaking what we could uncharitably call “chained quests”—where each task has to be accompanied in order to move on to the next one.  A lot of groups apparently felt a bit railroaded here, so one of the innovations of the hardcover version was to “unchain” the quests and allow them to be completed in any order (and make it so all of them weren’t necessary).  This part of the chapter also introduces a good NPC, Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills (a rival who could become an ally).  Interestingly, there’s a lot of discussion about the Shoanti potentially warring on Korvosa—either that’s a story theme that wasn’t taken up in the hardcover version, or I just missed it.

 

Part Three is set at a Thassilonian ruin called the Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers.  The location has a cool backstory (that ties into Karzoug) and an excellent subterranean hazard (curious tentacles of a dormant havero).  I found it hard to run though, as there are three other NPC groups to account for: Krojun’s band (stalking the PCs), Red Mantis assassins (trying to kill the PCs), and a Kuthite sect called the  Brotherhood of Bones (observing and potentially allying with the PCs).  It makes for, as a sub-heading calls it, “A Crowded Dungeon”!  One bit I particularly liked is a bit of meta-fun in the form of a special glyph trap that has the PC standing still to try to make sense of it; every time the player asks whether their character has figured it out, the GM is encouraged to play along and say it’ll take just a little bit longer—and when the player has finally had enough and tries to have their PC stop, the magic of the trap means they might not be able to!

 

Part Four features a battle against a red reaver (a creature described above) that has occupied a site sacred to the Lyrune-Quah (Clan of the Moon).  The PCs need to aid the Lyrune-Quah in order to earn the services of their Truthspeaker, a man who never lies and whose word therefore is trusted even by the sceptical Sklar-Quah. 

 

Part Five is why the PCs need a Truthspeaker, and it’s a treat.  One member of the group needs to get themselves swallowed by a ginormous fiendish purple worm named Cindermaw and then cut their way out!  By doing so, they replicate the deeds of a legendary (and probably apocryphal) Shoanti hero, a deed that even the Sklar-Quah would have to admire.  Because the AP version made the quests optional, my group didn’t do this one—which was disappointing (I would have loved to see it!), especially for the player of a PC who had received a vision from the Harrower that it was the character’s destiny.

 

Part Six is the big climax.  Assuming the PCs have been successful and have earned enough respect points, they’re allowed to enter the Sklar-Quah’s campsite at a place called Flameford.  There, the Sun Shaman forces them to endure one final challenge: the Trial of the Totems.  This was really fun (at least for me as the GM!) as it’s truly a Strength- and endurance-based trial that allows all sorts of fun effects to come into play (the heat, lack of food, thirst, etc.).  After the challenge, there’s a big final battle when Flameford is invaded by the Red Mantis and their gargoyle allies.

 

In the Conclusion, the Sun Shaman reveals what the PCs must do to defeat Ileosa: travel to a massive haunted castle named Scarwall and find the legendary lost sword Serithtial.

 

Overall, although I might quibble with a bit here or a bit there, Chapter Four is a real winner.  It forms a memorable part of Curse of the Crimson Throne, as it gets the PCs out of their urban comfort zone and exposes them to entirely different cultures and challenges.  If the GM does their job right, the players should finish the chapter hating and respecting the Cinderlands in equal measure.

Starfinder: "Character Operations Manual" [RPG]

 The 2019 Character Operations Manual was the first major expansion of character options for Starfinder (a bit like the Advanced Players Guide was for Pathfinder 1E).  The Character Operations Manual introduces three new classes, several new themes, new options for the Core Rulebook classes, and loads of new feats, equipment, and spells.  Importantly, it adds to the roles that characters can take in starship combat and provides a Downtime system (important for those 5d6 days passing through the Drift!).  It's not essential for the casual Starfinder player, but for someone who is seriously into the game, it's definitely worth picking up.

Let's start with the cover--great "hero poses" of the the three new Iconics.  If this were the cover to issue # 1 of a new comic book, I'd buy it!  There's no way the interior art can be quite so cool, but it's still very good.  The hardcover has an index at the back and a two-page overview at the front.  The body is divided into six chapters, providing a natural structure for this review.

Chapter 1 is "Theme and Race" (30 pages).  Seven new themes are on offer: Athlete, Grifter, Guard, Law Officer, Noble Scion, Sensate, and Street Rat.  I won't go through them one-by-one, but I'll say generally that they're all done well.  (I always find Starfinder's Level 18 Theme abilities clunkily implemented for such a small reward, but that's neither here nor there).  Each of the Core races then gets two pages of new options, such as alternate ability adjustments (to which I ask, why bother having race-specific ability adjustments at all?), alternate racial traits, feats, and class options.  Some of the new feats have race prerequisites, but not all, and some are pretty powerful (perhaps OP)--like getting arm extensions for androids (so you have reach) or "nanite integration" (allowing failed saves vs a variety of conditions to be re-rolled by spending an RP).  There's a new Crusader connection for mystics, and some surprisingly good stuff for shirrens.  In addition to the Core races, the "legacy" races (gnomes, halflings, etc.) each get a page worth of new material, and it's great to see them supported as well.

Chapter 2 is "Classes", and it's the big one (72 pages) as it introduces three new classes.  Biohackers use fringe medical knowledge to bolster their allies and inhibit their foes, usually by shooting them with injection darts!  I really like the class concept, and they fill the "adventuring scientist" niche well.  I don't understand why Sleight of Hand and Bluff are class skills for them though.  Their ability to identify creatures easily can be a big advantage.  I've seen biohackers at play in several SFS scenarios and in one AP I run, and the players seem happy with them.  (I have heard that some players feel they don't get enough "biohacks" at higher level).  Vanguards are . . . well, I still don't really understand the setting premise for them.  From a design perspective, they're meant to be MMORPG-style "tanks" I guess.  There's some poorly-written flavour stuff about them channeling "entropy" or something, but it just doesn't really fit together.  The class is built around getting hit and then using "entropy points" to do stuff, but it really just amounts to a bucket of vaguely tank-style special abilities.  Definitely not a fan.  Witchwarpers are my favourite!  They peer into alternate worlds and futures and use magic to pluck elements from them to affect their own.  They're primarily a spellcasting class, and admittedly their "Infinite Worlds" special abilities can be a little underpowered--but definitely flavourful and fun to role-play.  Their "grenade shifting" and "thwart ability" abilities can be great.  I had a witchwarper for Starfinder Society, but she got hit by a crit and died at Level 1 (R.I.P. Madrigal Zern!).

After the new classes, each of the Core classes gets four pages of new options.  The Envoy gets some meaningful class features, improvisations, and expertise talents.  I think they still need more high-level options, but it's a start.  In addition to some new tricks, Mechanics get an alternate class feature called "experimental prototype" that allows them to have an experimental suit of armor or weapon instead of an exocortex.  It's a nice addition, and I've GM'd for a player using the experimental armor prototype option.  Mystics get something called "epiphanies" as an alternative to connection powers.  A couple are pretty interesting, like "solar connection" and "wrecking fists".  Two new connections are introduced: "melophile" (music lovers) and "warmonger" (self-explanatory).  Operatives should get nothing (indeed, they should be nerfed!) but instead they get alternate class features like "Stunt and Strike" which allows them to do all sorts of cool stuff in addition to attacking in a round.  Solarians get two new solar manifestations that provide them a ranged attack option ("solar flare") and a defensive option ("solar armor").  Word on the street (okay, the Paizo forums) is they're not especially powerful, but I don't have any firsthand experience.  Soldiers get feat boosts to replace gear boosts, and some are pretty nice like actually making Cleave useful or increasing the number of targets that can be attacked with Spring Attack.  There's also some new fighting styles.  Finally, technomancers get new magic hacks and  variant spell caches.  I especially like the "energy alteration" Level 5 hack--being able to change the type of damage a spell does could really take advantage of a foe's known weaknesses.

It's a big chapter, because in addition to all the class stuff, it also contains ten new archetypes!  Frankly, most of them don't really give much of mechanical value (or give it at far too high of a level for most adventuring).  A few that I did like are the Esotericist (devotees of pure magic who reject magic-tech hybridization), the Fixer (in a criminal organisation sense), Medic (though healing serums are pretty cheap . .. ), and Starwright (though granting spell resistance or incorporeality to a PC for 24 hours seems potentially problematic!).

Chapter 3 is "Feats" (12 pages).  There are a lot that improve what the PC can do in surprise rounds and many that are grenade focused (I like "Cook Grenade"--just don't roll a 1!).  Pistol-wielders may enjoy "Double Tap".  There are three feats in the "Eldritch Lore" line that essentially allow spellcasters to gain additional spells known.

Chapter 4 is "Equipment" (8 pages).  Considering Armory is an entire book of equipment, one might not expect a lot here.  However, shields are introduced (something a lot of players demanded) and there are a variety of injection weapons to support Biohackers.  The "Rad-Out Serum" is surprisingly cheap for dealing with one of the major environmental threats in the game.

Chapter 5 is "Spells" (16 pages).  Mystics and Technomancers get new spells, and the Witchwarper gets its own spell list (drawing plenty from that of the other two classes').  Solid additions overall.  There are a couple I think could prove problematic, like deadly countermeasures and know coordinates.  I thought phantom cycle could be fun.

Chapter 6 finishes off the book with "Other Rules" (12 pages).  It's a boring name for a chapter that's actually pretty handy.  It introduces two new roles for starship combat:  Chief Mate and Magic Officer.  Chief Mate is a sorta cheesy way to get Strength-based (high Athletics skill) PCs more involved in starship combat, while Magic Officer is, obviously, designed for Mystics.  Neither is essential, but I guess it's good to have options--especially when six PCs are on a ship.  There are also new "Open Crew Actions" and "Minor Crew Actions" that provide any character some additional choices.  One of my favourite additions from the book is a selection of Downtime activities.  The system is handled well here, as PCs are given a wide variety of choices that have a meaningful (but not over-powered) impact.  They may just want to Lounge (getting some temp hp and a small morale bonus to saves), do Research (reducing the DC of some Recall Knowledge checks), Retrain (swap some skill ranks), etc.  It's definitely a system I would integrate.

Like most Starfinder hardcovers, the Character Operations Manual is a bit pricey considering its slim page count.  But cost and length aside, I think it contains several valuable additions to the game and is worth owning.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 43 [RPG]

[Toilday, 23 Sarenith 4708 A.R. continued]

As they rest from the heat of the Cinderlands during their journey to the Kallow Mounds, the Harrowed Heroes see a truly fearsome foe approaching like an undulating snake capable of breaking through solid rock: a gigantic purple worm!  The Reckoner calls out a warning and judges he has just enough time to use various wands to cast spells to increase his combat prowess.  Goldcape leaps on Rocky’s back and tries to cast an evocation, but misjudges the distance.  Anorak grips his waraxe and readies spells of fire and lightning, while Yraelzin hurls the jade elephant figurine found in Arkona Palace—with a mystic word, it turns into a full-sized elephant that stands between the behemoth worm and the adventurers.  At Yraelzin’s command, the conjured elephant gores the worm with its tusks, slowing the beast.  But then the purple worm raises up to its full height and its maw comes crashing down, completely enveloping the elephant and destroying it instantly!

The Reckoner rushes in and smashes his war-maul into the purple worm’s thick chitinous exoskeleton.  But he’s not ready for its tail stinger to whip around and stab him in the torso, simultaneously injecting a toxin that turns his muscles to jelly!  Goldcape conjures ice spears that stab into the beast’s softer underbelly while Yraelzin’s magic turns the beast’s exoskeleton brittle.  Anorak tries to race in to aid The Reckoner, but the severely wounded purple worm is too fast and bites the dwarf, shaking him vigorously and nearly swallowing him.  But although injured and poisoned, The Reckoner has enough strength for a massive swing that finally brings the beast down!

 

After several attempts, Goldcape’s nature magic succeeds in drawing the poison out of The Reckoner’s body.  The purple worm’s corpse is butchered in the vain hope that it carries swallowed treasure.  Despite Goldcape’s warning that the worm’s flesh is dangerous to eat, Anorak harvests seven pounds of its flesh.

 

[Wealday, 24 Sarenith 4708 A.R.]

 

The Harrowed Heroes wake to find powerful winds swirling ash and dust across the mostly-barren surface of the Cinderlands.  But although it limits their vision and makes travel arduous, the wind at least helps keep the summer’s heat at bay.  Rocky’s powerful wings are strong enough to manoeuvre despite the air currents, allowing Goldcape to fly high enough to spot a route around the volcanic cones that blocked progress the day before.  After a few hours of travel, piles of stones arranged in rough pyramids begin to dot the landscape, with most topped with animal skulls.  The pyramids, which serve as both signposts and warnings, appear more frequently as the group travel east into the area known as the Kallow Mounds.  The Reckoner removes his helmet (a disguised symbol of the Red Mantis) and calls out that he and the others come in peace.  Without warning, four Shoanti warriors wielding bows and wearing white, skull-like face paint emerge from hiding places around them.  The Shoanti aren’t rude or hostile, but nonetheless demand to know why tshamek (strangers) come to the Kallow Mounds.  Goldcape does the talking for the group, and the Shoanti warriors visibly relax once they hear mention of Thousand Bones and his deceased grandson, Gaekhen.

 

The Shoanti warriors, known as Boneslayers of the Skoan-Quah (Clan of the Skull), lead the travelers further into the Kallow Mounds, where hundreds of cairns mark the resting places of revered warriors and elders of every Shoanti tribe.  Before long, the travelers see a small but permanent-looking camp: a few dozen yurts arranged around a fire circle.  Several Shoanti look at the newcomers with a mixture of hostility and curiosity before going about their daily tasks.  Sunning atop a cairn not far from the largest tent in the camp is a creature with a lion’s head and the body of a small dragon, but stumps are all that remain of its wings.  Anorak recognises the creature as a dragonne, and one of the Boneslayers explains that it is named Wicked Claws, and now protects the Skoan-Quah after its life was saved by the clan’s chief during a battle with a bulette.

One of the Boneslayers runs off and soon returns with a tall, rail-thin Shoanti man of sixty winters.  The man leans heavily on a walking stick—the polished femur of some giant beast crowned with a firepelt cougar’s skull—and wears a shirt decorated with countless jangling animal bones and a bearskin cloak draped about his bony shoulders.  Although his eyes are milky, as if he were blind, he navigates the camp without difficulty.  And oddly, a regal red-feathered crow sits on his shoulders!  Goldcape and Yraelzin instantly recognise Thousand Bones, and in return the shaman greets them warmly with words of welcome.  Ralph Blackfeather and Anorak are introduced in turn.  When the travellers begin to explain why they’ve come, Thousand Bones holds up a palm to stop them.  He says he knows that trouble in Korvosa has poisoned the Queen, and that he fears what she’ll do to the Shoanti if she continues building power.  But, he says, the time to speak of serious things is this evening, over the Bone Council Fire.  For now, the travelers should rest while Thousand Bones consults with the Skoan-Quah’s chief.  The newcomers are taken to a guest yurt, and food and water is brought to them.

Thousand Bones returns after about an hour, bearing the good news that Chief One-Life has agreed they may stay in the Kallow Mounds as guests of the tribe.  Ralph breaks the news that Rolth Lamm, the necromancer and suspected serial killer who had disfigured Gaekhen’s body, slipped through the group’s grasp again.  Thousand Bones nods sombrely and says that Rolth is a coward who lacks honour.  Thousand Bones thanks Ralph, Goldcape, and Yraelzin for retrieving Gaekhen’s body so that his spirit could be laid to rest properly.  He leads the group to the cairn under which Gaekhen’s remains lie, and Goldcape leaves a memento to mark his passing.

 

As the group are returning to the camp, the sound of several horses galloping in can be heard.  A half-dozen Shoanti, brash and young with tattoos very different than that of the Skoan-Quah, lead their mounts into the center of the camp.  Their apparent leader, an intimidating, muscular brave, pulls the body of a slain Shoanti from where it lays slumped over the saddle.  Boneslayers silently accept the body and take it away for internment.  Seeing the Korvosans, the leader of the newly-arrived Shoanti sneers and calls out for Chief One-Life.  “Why do the Skoan-Quah harbor tshamek trespassers?”  he says in the Shoanti tongue—which both Goldcape and Ralph are able to understand.  But Thousand Bones responds sharply.  “Tell me, Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills, when did the Sklar-Quah become judges of who trespasses upon the Kallow Mounds where the ashes of our fathers lie?”  Krojun snorts, “Your words change the question, Thousand Bones.  These ones bring trouble to the Cinderlands, and you know it.  The coming days shall reveal to us all who is right about them.”  “Perhaps,” Thousand Bones replies.  “But not today, and not here.  Would you have word that Berak’s burial was tainted by bloodshed get back to your Sun Shaman?”  Cords in Krojun’s neck strain, but then he exhales and grins.  “You misunderstand me, Thousand Bones.  My grief has wounded my words.  But see to it that no tshamek defiles our memories here.”

Krojun then pulls a leather loop from one of his packs.  “Certainly, though, guests of the Skoan-Quah must be brave to come this far.  You wouldn’t mind if I tested the courage and strength of your guests, would you?”  Thousand Bones looks at his guests with a shrug to indicate that the choice is theirs, and Ralph steps up immediately to accept the challenge.  Although the rules of the contest, called sredna, is unfamiliar to Ralph, its nature is abundantly clear: a test of strength, endurance, and willpower.  The two contestants face one another on their hands and knees with their foreheads spaced just over a foot apart.  The leather loop that Krojun retrieved is placed around the competitor’s heads, like a headband, so that the contestants are bound to one another.  When the match begins, each contestant is to spend three “breaths” staring into the other’s eyes before attempting to crawl backwards—and it’s clear the resulting tug-of-war will cause extreme pain as the leather digs into the soft part of the back of the neck and skull.

The match begins, and immediately Krojun begins to growl and gnash his teeth like a rabid dog to intimidate Ralph.  But Ralph gives as good as he gets, insulting Krojun’s bad breath.  The two begin to pull, their bodies straining while all in the camp observe.  They’re almost evenly matched and every time one manages to gain a few inches, the other pulls him back.  But Krojun is more experienced at sredna and has learned how to transform rage and frustration into raw strength—finally, Ralph is forced to give!  But although Ralph has lost the match, he has gained respect.  Krojun claps him good-naturedly on the shoulder.  “Almost as good as an aurochs calf.  Nothing to be ashamed about.” With a hearty laugh, Krojun reclaims his strap and returns to his kin to see to their brother’s burial.

 

As night falls, Thousand Bones invites the Korvosans to join him at the center of the camp for the Bone Council Fire.  The rest of the Skoan-Quah have retired early, leaving only Thousand Bones, Chief One-Life, and the tribe’s most revered shaman, an elderly woman named Ash Dancer, present.  Only Thousand Bones speaks, but Ash Dancer sprinkles the fire with a greenish-brown herbal dust, and the resulting fumes slightly blur the vision and bring on a feeling of ease.  Thousand Bones begins: “You have already done my people a great favour by returning the body of one of our warriors.  I sense now you come to me to ask something in return, yet know that by asking for this, you are helping us all.  The Skoan-Quah are a peaceful people, yet we are also all but shunned by our kin.  Our willingness to mix with tshamek shames many of my brothers and sisters in the other quahs.  Only their respect for our tradition of guarding and protecting the dead of all Shoanti keeps them from open hostility against us.  And thus, my words do not reach their ears when I warn them of Queen Ileosa and her rise in power.  They hear tales of the city in flames, of its kind dead, of disease ravaging its people, and they see this as a just punishment for a hated enemy.  My people do not see that a greater threat is growing in this turmoil.  And now, you come to me with concerns, seeking the aid of my people.  Speak of what you wish of the Shoanti, and perhaps we may find our needs are the same.”

 

Goldcape begins by explaining that the Seneschal of Castle Korvosa is still alive, and believes that Queen Ileosa has been corrupted by something she found in the deepest vaults under the palace: the fangs of an ancient warlord named Kazavon, which may be the same thing as an ancient Shoanti legend called Midnight’s Teeth.  Thousand Bones grows visibly distraught when he hears the words.  Ralph provides a full recounting of how the Harrowed Heroes fought the derro to recover Gaekhen’s body, discovered that the Queen’s own agents were responsible for the disease called blood veil that swept the city and killed so many, and how Rolth Lamm managed twice to escape justice for his crimes.  Ralph raises the possibility that the group has been guided on their path by forces seen and unseen—the divinations of the Harrower, and perhaps the spirits of the Shoanti peoples.  Thousand Bones nods with recognition and expresses his appreciation, as the Skoan-Quah value a tale well told above almost all else—for such stories can pass from mouth to ear across generations from time immemorial into futures of unimaginable duration.

 

Thousand Bones ponders for a long moment and then begins to speak again.  “My people dwelt where your people live now, not so long ago.  We remained there for many, many generations, but across the centuries my people have always kept the lore of our ancestors in mind, passing knowledge to the new generations.  Yet when Cheliax came to us with war and drove us to the Cinderlands so many years ago, we fought.  And died.  And many of those who died took this lore to their graves.  The name ‘Kazavon’ is not entirely unfamiliarly to me—it is a name associated with a great and ancient evil, and many Shoanti believe to repeat such a name aloud is to preserve the evil.  This, coupled with the deaths of so many lore keepers, has sequestered the knowledge I suspect you seek in the minds of a rare few: the Sun Shamans of the Sklar-Quah—the Clan of the Sun.  They alone preserve the history of the Shoanti time in the lands you now call Korvosa, but they do not readily share this with tshamek . . . or fellow Shoanti, for that matter.  Yet . . . . if you were to build your names among my people, to earn proper respect, even the eldest of the Sun Shamans would agree to provide the knowledge you desire.”

 

Thousand Bones congratulates Ralph for his fine performance in the sredna match against Krojun Eats-What-He-Kills, and says already the group has begun to gain respect among the Shoanti.  But much more would have to be done before a Sun Shamans would share the truths entrusted to them by their ancestors.  Thousand Bones proceeds to outline several possible ways the Korvosans could earn respect, emphasising that no single method will suffice, but no single method is mandatory either.

 

He begins by relating the tale of Skurak, a legendary Shoanti hero.  “Skurak was a great warrior and greater traitor to the Sklar-Quah.  He slew his brother, a man of even greater courage.  To the Sklar-Quah, family is purity—crimes against family are the greatest one can commit.  Although Skurak claimed the death was an accident that occurred while he and his brother were hunting, others spoke of murder spawned of jealous rage.  Skurak was declared a tshamek by the Sun Shaman and cast out.  But before Skurak left, he said he would be born again and return to his tribe.  This, he did.  He went to the killing grounds of great Cindermaw the Clan-Eater.  Skurak walked up to the beast carrying only his dagger.  Without fear he dove into the beast’s mouth and cut his way out.  He returned to the clan and declared he had been reborn, and had left his misdeeds behind in the cleansing fire of Cindermaw’s belly.  The legend says the Sun Shaman accepted this and Skurak’s time as a tshamek was spoken of no more.”  Thousand Bones says Cindermaw still lives, and if his guests were to travel to the great worm’s killing grounds and replicate Skurak’s deed, their legend would grow.  But such a feat would need to be witnessed by Shoanti eyes to gain veracity when the tale is told.

 

Thousand Bones then relates a second possibility: if they can convince a member of the Sklar-Quah to proclaim one of the Korvosans as his nalharest—honorary sibling—then the Sun Shaman would surely see this as a sign they are to be trusted. 

 

A third option, he says, is to secure the endorsement of a Truthspeaker—one who has lived many lives without lie, and who achieves the gift of speaking only truth after decades spent in chastity, self-control, and introspection.  But, Thousand Bones says, he knows of only one living Truthspeaker in the Cinderlands today—a man named Akram who lives among the Lyrune-Quah (Clan of the Moon).

 

Next, Thousand Bones speaks of the Thrallkeeper’s Mark, explaining how, in ancient times, a caste of spellcasters his people remember as the “Thrallkeepers” kept them as slaves.  Although the Thrallkeepers are now gone, some of their buildings remain.  Once such building lies in the Cinderlands, a dangerous acropolis some Shoanti warriors enter to prove their courage.  Those who return are marked by their experience and known to be powerful, lucky, or both.

 

Another means to earn the respect of the Sun Shaman is more direct: to undertake the Sklar-Quah’s Trial of the Totem and survive it.  This would be a demonstration of the travelers’ dedication and perseverance.

 

Finally, Thousand Bones raises the idea of demonstrating bravery and prowess in combat by slaying the long-standing enemies of the Shoanti and returning with trophies in the form of their severed heads.  Powerful orcs, giants, dragons, and criminals known to the Shoanti would earn the group esteem.

Thousand Bones says he has no intention of sending his guests into the Cinderlands on their quest alone or unarmed.  He calls forth four brave young Skoan-Quah Boneslayers—Ahalak, Hargev, Nalmid, and Shadrar—to serve as guides and witnesses to the adventurers’ deeds.  Ralph intuits that the way he and his allies treat the Boneslayers is another, unstated, test.  Thousand Bones then provides the group with some gifts in the form of magical wands, potions, and pots of Shoanti war paint.  He concludes by saying the group is welcome to stay in the Kallow Mounds as long as they desire, and to return for advice and rest as needed.  Thousand Bones and the other leaders of the Skoan-Quah then retire to their yurts.

 

Ralph makes a special point of welcoming the Boneslayers and getting to know them; it seems that Ahalak is the speaker for the group and the Boneslayers specialise in destroying undead.  Ahalak is quizzed about the distances to the locations mentioned by Thousand Bones.  Ahalak says he and the others move slowly and cautiously across the Cinderlands, and for them, the Ash-Blown Lands (Cindermaw’s hunting grounds) would be six days’ walk, while the Thrallkeepers’ Acropolis would be about five days’ walk, with the House of the Moon (where the Lyrune-Quah would be camped at this time of the year) a little further on from it.  The nearest location to the Kallow Mounds is the settlement of the Sklar-Quah—a place called Flameford.  Ralph says he’s leaning towards challenging Cindermaw as a first step, while Anorak is inclined to visit the Acropolis.  But for now, with the evening wearing on, the visitors settle down for a good night’s rest—knowing that, tomorrow, their real tests begin.

-------------------------------

GM Commentary

This is a pretty long recap, mainly because of the necessary exposition by Thousand Bones of ways that the PCs can earn the respect of the Shoanti.  I thought the introduction to the Kallow Mounds, Krojun, the sredna match, etc., went very well (I pretty much followed the script as outlined in the book).  I personalised the four Boneslayers assigned to the group by giving them individual names and personalities--I figure if they're going to be spending so much time guiding the PCs, they should be more than nameless background NPCs.  I was happy with the feel of the Kallow Mounds, and the style of speaking I adopted for Thousand Bones--solemn and dignified, but with warmth for those who aided him in a time of need.  The PCs did an excellent job telling their stories about what had happened so far, and it was encouraging to see how involved they were in the plot.  Some groups are like "why are we here again?", but I was fortunately to have players who took an active interest in the overall story.

The purple worm battle at the beginning of the session was pretty exciting.  The Reckoner proved his mettle, though that poison was hard to get rid of (it had a high DC for the purposes of neutralize poison).  I don't know why Anorak decided to carry seven pounds of its flesh around though :)

I have to give a shout-out to Paizo's artwork in the hardcover AP.  It's amazing, and really brings the setting and NPCs to life.

Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 42 [RPG]

 [Moonday, 22 Sarenith 4708 A.R. continued]

 

In the anarchic streets of Kaer Maga, after a journey filled with disagreement and tension, The Reckoner brings everyone together to clear the air and find a way forward as teammates.  The Reckoner undertakes not to needlessly kill animals or magical beasts, while Goldcape agrees not to go off on her own unless it’s a group decision.  Everyone agrees that it’s all for one, one for all when it comes to combat.  They also discuss the best way to pay for resurrection magicks should a party member die in the course of their quest to bring down the cruel Queen of Korvosa.  The conversation goes well, and the renewed spirit of teamwork seems to bode well for the future.

But as the group’s discussion is winding down, panicked shouts and screams can be heard coming from the mazelike collection of streets known as The Warrens.  Goldcape drags Yraelzin onto Rocky’s back to scout from the air, and they see a scene of utter chaos!  Discrete knots of Kaer Magans are acting incredibly strangely—babbling, hitting their heads against the wall, or even clawing and biting each other!  The strange behaviour is clearly clustered around something even more disturbing: slithering, tentacled horrors larger than horses!  “Seugathi!” Yraelzin calls out, explaining they’re evil telepathically-powerful creatures from below the ground.  Goldcape steers Rocky toward the closest seugathi, but they’re not the first responders to the emergency: Hellknights are there!  The merciless warriors wearing black, spiked-armor and wielding ranseurs have also engaged the seugathi.  Goldcape points out a rooftop just overlooking the nearest monster for Rocky to land on.  The tentacles of the seugathi are incredibly long and somehow wield both blade and wand, leading to several injuries.  But although they feel a psychic assault, Yraelzin, Goldcape, and Rocky manage to resist the aura of madness that has affected so many of Kaer Maga’s residents.  With the help of the Hellknights, the first monster is quickly destroyed.  Goldcape has Rocky fly herself and Yraelzin toward another seugathi, while the Hellknights attack yet a third, demonstrating a willingness to trample any Kaer Magans too slow to get out of the way of their heavy warhorses!

Anorak and The Reckoner try to follow their allies on foot, but The Warrens are difficult to traverse: dead end streets, an open sewer channel, and fleeing pedestrians all make progress toward the threat incredibly difficult.  When Rocky lands near the second seugathi, disaster strikes: the grotesque horror launches a powerful mental attack that makes Goldcape imagine she’s being attacked by a massive molten-red worm so large it blocks out the sun as it looms over her!  The overwhelming fear is just too much for the vanara’s heart, and she dies instantly, tumbling from Rocky’s back to land on the street below.  Rocky, too, is affected by the seugathi, as the roc becomes unable to distinguish friend from foe and attacks Yraelzin!    The priest of Razmir uses short-range teleportation magic to escape and fetch help.  Meanwhile, The Reckoner’s magical boots have allowed him to run, jump, and climb a circuitous route to reach the battle.  He smashes into the seugathi with his earthbreaker, leaving it badly hurt. When Yraelzin teleports back with Anorak at his side, the dwarf conjures a powerful lightning bolt that nearly blows the seugathi apart!  Several streets away, the Hellknights have triumphed over the last seugathi, but not without also paying a price: the madness aura caused one of their members to slay another.

With the sudden threat ended, the streets of Kaer Maga return to as “normal” as they get.  The surviving members of the Harrowed Heroes pool their gold and pay a (not-too-inebriated) cleric of Cayden Cailean to cast the necessary spell to call Goldcape’s spirit back to her body.  The vanaran wakes up shouting about the monstrous apparition, but the others manage to calm her down despite her protestations that it couldn’t have been a mere illusion.  Still, she’ll be weakened by the experience for several days.  Anorak raises an important question: why did the seugathi attack on what seemed like a suicide mission?  The Reckoner speculates it could have been an attempt to sow chaos and undermine any resistance to the giant armies of the north, perhaps in the same way that the sabotage of the earth elemental’s summoning circle might have been intended to slow down the production of weaponry by the dwarves of Janderhoff.  The tired adventurers decide to find an inn for the night, passing by an entrepreneur buying and selling corpses from the back of a cart—including the body of a slain seugathi.

 

[Toilday, 23 Sarenith 4708 A.R.]

 

The final step of the journey toward the Kallow Mounds begins as the team make their way through The Warrens and out of the city without any further complications.  The journey east introduces the group to the unforgiving nature of the Cinderlands, a rugged, inhospitable terrain full of rock formations, canyons, gullies, and deep gorges.  Large areas are solid rock, but other areas have stretches of leached soil and silt.  Short, weedy scrub grows in patches throughout the Badlands, interspersed with occasional sights of more exotic plants, but it is clear food and water will be hard to come by.  The wind is ceaseless and unrelenting, and dust and ash get into everything: backpacks, canteens, boots, eyes, and nostrils!  But it’s the boiling heat that quickly takes a toll on the group, leaving them sweating and tired after just a few hours.  Goldcape uses magic to alleviate some of the fatigue, but even her spells have limits, and the travellers make the risky decision to remove their armor to make it easier to deal with the heat. 

 

At one point during their journey into the barren landscape, they come across a gruesome display: the rotting head of a Shoanti man mounted on a sharp wooden pole, the other end of which has been jammed into a cleft between two rocks.  Bright red crossbow bolts, aged and weathered, have been driven into each of the head’s eyes.  From her research in Korvosa, Goldcape immediately recognises this as a totem left behind by the legendary Cinderlander: a mysterious figure that has stalked the Cinderlands for many years, attacking lone Shoanti braves with strange, screaming crossbow bolts.  Goldcape relates that she came across plenty of legends and tales about where he’s from and why he hunts Shoanti.  The Skoan-Quah (Clan of the Dead) believe he is the unquiet ghost of a Korvosan general who stalks these lands and will continue to slay Shoanti until the number he kills equals the number of friends and family they took from him.

 

After about a half-day’s march in total, the travellers come across an area spotted with hills of blackened rock pouring smoke.  Before they journey into the area, one of the hills explodes into a fountain of magma, ejecting globs of half-cooled rock hundreds of feet into the air!  With the beating sun continuing to beat down on them and progress through the area looking extremely dangerous, the decision is made to look for a place with shade to cool down before continuing through.  A little backtracking secures the group some shade in a steep-sided gully.  Goldcape persuades the group to pitch camp for the rest of the day and plan to complete their journey to the Kallow Mounds in the morning. 

 

But as they’re enjoying their evening meal, the ground around them begins to shake.  Chunks of rock roll down the sides of the gully, and in the distance, the ground has started to split apart in a crack slowly headed right toward them.  The Reckoner is the first to realise this is no natural phenomenon when he spots some sort of dark purple plates in the crack.  Suddenly, a truly gargantuan worm rises up out of the ground, its giant, tooth-filled maw capable of swallowing an ox!  With only seconds to act before it arrives, the Harrowed Heroes better act fast.

-----------------------

GM Commentary

The seugathi encounter was pretty exciting.  I think I put it in for a few reasons: to add a bit more excitement to what would otherwise be another travel session; to give the PCs a chance to interact with the Hellknights, something that didn't really happen in Korvosa; and to get a chance to use some new urban flip-cards I had.  The flip-cards definitely made a maze of streets, but one of the unanticipated consequences was that there wasn't always a land path to get from one of the monsters to another!  Fortunately, Rocky could fly some of the PCs there and The Reckoner could climb and jump well.  The seugathis' aura of madness was a pain to manage for me, as I had to roll checks for all the NPC Hellknights and even some attacks they had against one another.

Notably, Goldcape died in the battle--the result of a phantasmal killer.  Even though she was raised from the dead right afterwards, it was probably eye-opening for some of the players.  I think it was good in the long run because it kept the group from thinking they would automatically easily win battles by playing on cruise-control or that I would intervene as GM to make sure nothing really bad ever happened.

This scenario also has the PCs' first taste with the Cinderlands.  I tried to work hard to really bring out just how inhospitable of a landscape it was.  And despite the warnings they had back in Korvosa, the PCs weren't ready for it.  The high temperature alone really started to wear them down.

And as for that last bit at the end, they triggered a random encounter and when I rolled on the table, it was the very worst danger: a purple worm!