Roleplaying Tips Weekly E-Zine Issue #374
Personality-Driven Encounters
Contents:
This Week's Tips Summarized
Personality-Driven Encounters
- The Personality Core
- The Emotional Nexus
- Time-Based Objectives
- Morality And Alignment
- Personal Restrictions
- Ignorances, Antipathies, And Empathies
- Prioritisation
- Encounters
Readers' Tips Summarized
- Pros and Cons of Designing a W.O.D. Campaign in a Fictional City
- 5 Room Dungeon: Thieves' Guild
- 5 Room Dungeon: Isles of Ice
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Return to Contents
A Brief Word From Johnn
Review of Khaas
Khaas is a massive game world bound within a single volume,
published by Emperors Choice. It's a huge product with big
ideas, but it also has a wealth of details that will flesh
out any fantasy / alternate universe campaign to a high
degree. This book was obviously a labour of love, and the
ideas within it are inspiring.
Continue reading for more info, thoughts, and pics:
http://www.roleplayingtips.com/articles/reviews/khaas.php
5 Room Dungeon Contest - Excellent Chances of Winning
Thanks to everyone who has submitted their 5 Room Dungeons.
There have been about 20 entries so far, which is awesome.
It also means every entry has a great chance of winning a
prize. The contest deadline is September 26, so time is
running out to get your entry in.
In the Readers Tips section of this issue are two entries to
give you an example of the format and ideal length.
The Contest
Use tips from Issue #372 as a short format template for
making quick 5 Room Dungeons. Send your designs to
johnn@roleplayingtips.com for a chance to win great loot.
Additional entry guidelines.
Prizes
In conjunction with the fine folks at Strolen's Citadel, the
5 Room Dungeon contest gives you a chance to have fun
wielding your creativity, help other GMs with your designs,
and win any of the following:
5 x Adventure PDFs
From: Expeditious Retreat Press:
- 1 on 1 Adventures #5 Vale of the Sepulcher
- #6 Shroud of Olindor
- #7 Eyes of the Dragon
- #8 Blood Brothers
- Advanced Adventures #3 The Curse of the Witch Head
1 x D&D Icons Gargantuan Black Dragon
From: Legend Games
3 x D&D modules
From: Goodman Games:
- DCC #46 Book of Treasure Maps
- DCC #47 Tears of the Genie
- DCC #50 Vault of the Iron Overlord by Monte Cook
3 x MyInfo Personal Reference Software licenses
From: Milenix Software
Get some gaming done this week.
Cheers,
Johnn Four,
johnn@roleplayingtips.com
Return to Contents
Carnage - Hangin' 10
Nov 2-4, 2007
Lake Morey Resort, VT, USA
About 3 hours from Montreal.
Now in our 10th year, we continue to offer you the best
little convention in the North East, USA.
The Game listing for Carnage 10 [PDF] is now posted on the web.
Return to Contents
Personality-Driven Encounters
A guest article by Mike Bourke
Johnn's article on Characterisation in Roleplaying Tips #363
[ http://www.roleplayingtips.com/readissue.php?number=363 ]
was pretty good, but I think there is more to be said on the
subject, and several different ways of looking at the
problem, some of which might be better-suited to some
players and GMs. So, here's one of them.
Note, I use the word personality a lot in this article,
as the word character has so many different meanings in the
context of an RPG, and could be confusing.
1. The Personality Core
2. The Emotional Nexus
3. Time-Based Objectives
4. Morality and Alignment
5. Personal Restrictions
6. Ignorances, Antipathies and Empathies
7. Prioritisation
8. Encounters: Exposers, Definers, Allies, Enemies, Inhibitors, Educators, Enlighteners, and Enablers
8a. Morally-White Encounters
8b. Morally-Grey Encounters
8c. Morally-Dark Encounters
8d. Morally-Turbulent Encounters
Return to Contents
1. The Personality Core
You can over-simplify and stereotype all personalities to a
single sentence. The first step in defining a character's
personality is to work this magic in reverse, deciding on a
personality core for the character.
Examples:
- Lovable Rogue
- Prince Charming
- Insecure Misfit
- Smiling Assassin
- Rough-and-tumble Brawler
- Dour Pessimist
- Cockeyed Optimist
- Greedy Merchant
- Discerning Mind
- Natural Detective
Notice that class and race are largely irrelevant to these
stereotypes.
That said, not all of these might be suitable for a given
race or class. At the least, the player should think about
how race, social class, economic class, and caste fit into
this personality core. Greedy merchant for an elf might
refer to the barter of favours and obligations in a proto-
Bushido style, for example, instead of to the more common
(and human) acquisition of personal wealth.
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2. The Emotional Nexus
Who and what does the character care about more than
anything else? This could be individuals, generalisations,
ideals, political concepts. The only restrictions on the
identification of Emotional Nexi for a character are:
- It be appropriate for the game genre and campaign
cultural background
- It be appropriate to the personality core.
A "cold-hearted assassin" is unlikely to have "pro-life
movement" as his emotional nexus, for example, just as a
"Liberal Democrat" is inappropriate for a feudal Japanese
culture.
In discussing this with various people, I found some felt
only the strongest personal affiliations should be
mentioned, others wanted one from each category, and others
thought an exhaustive list to be more useful, together with
a method of rating or prioritising the list entries.
My thought is the answer will vary with game system - for
Champions, where the character gets construction for these
things, a more extensive list is needed than in D&D. So the
extent and handling of this aspect of personality definition
is left in the hands of the individual, but is something
that should be considered. A better way of phrasing the
question is to ask what the character cares about enough to
risk death, poverty, or disgrace for.
In combination with the campaign background, this
information (plus race and class) should be enough for the
player to come up with the bulk of a character's personal
history. There are times when it's desirable to go to the
effort of doing so, and others where that is unnecessary -
again, this depends on the style of the campaign. If in
doubt, players should consult their GMs.
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3. Time-Based Objectives
The combination of the ingredients chosen to date, plus the
circumstances and background of the campaign, will enable
the player to start defining personal objectives for the
character. These should be time-based.
What does the personality want to achieve in the:
- Next week
- Next month
- Next year
- Next decade
- Within their lifetime
Note the character should have a substantial and detailed
idea of how to go about achieving their more immediate
goals, but might have no notion of how to even begin work on
long-term objectives, or even if those goals are possible.
It's also important to distinguish between the character and
the player at this point. While the _character_ might have
no idea how to achieve something, the path could be obvious
to the player. It's also important to factor the character's
capabilities, especially intelligence and wisdom, into these
plans and objectives.
These objectives are useful for the GM. Aside from
facilitating an entire class of personality-based encounters
and conflicts, they enable the GM to craft adventures the
characters will care about (it has to be hoped these are
also objectives the player cares about seeing their
character achieve).
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4. Morality And Alignment
Some might find it significant that we've come as far as we
have without bringing morality and alignment issues into
consideration. A character's alignment is often used as the
defining characteristic of a personality. At best, in my
view, these provide boundaries that shouldn't be violated in
general, but can be violated in specific cases.
Having defined the character's objectives -what the
character considers important to achieve - the next question
has to be, "How far will they go to achieve these things?"
A companion question that often has a slightly different
answer is: "How far does the character _think_ he will go to
achieve his goals?"
The answers to these questions, in general, are defined by
the character's alignment, and in specifics, by their
morality. This is also where racial prejudices rear their
ugly heads. A paladin who considers orcs to be so morally-
corrupt they are exempt from any restrictions due to honour
can be quite a surprise. Such a character will cheerfully
break his word after giving it to an orc, would happily
perpetrate acts of genocide against an orcish population,
would never trust an orc under any circumstances (though he
might pretend to), would attack orcs from behind - with none
of it troubling his conscience in the slightest.
This brings in another important consideration: the imposed
moral code. Society imposes certain aspects of morality upon
its citizens (it can be argued this is the definition of a
society). These often give different answers to those
decided for the individual, lines in the sand that, if
crossed, will bring undesirable consequences for the
character. If powers or abilities are obtained from some
form of superior being (clerics and paladins), then this
forms yet another boundary. While nothing stops the
character from crossing these boundaries, once again, there
will be consequences. This point in the personality-
generation process is the right time to highlight the
differences between these externally-imposed moral codes and
those of the character.
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5. Personal Restrictions
Finally, a catch-all category for any other personal
restrictions that might impact the character. These can come
from anywhere, such as a campaign restriction (e.g. PG13), a
personal dislike for certain types of action or activity by
the player ("my character hates to humiliate himself", "he
hates bullies"), a referee-imposed restriction, whatever.
Into this category should also be placed any restrictions
that are known to cause other players to react badly ("will
not betray party" is a common one, "dislikes immature humour
and practical jokes"' is one that I have found to apply to
one of my regular players).
Any violation of these latter restrictions might have
consequences that are broader than the campaign, and the GM
should be prepared to veto any inappropriate action choices
- friends are harder to replace than characters!
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6. Ignorances, Antipathies, And Empathies
This section should be completed in consultation with the
GM, who has had very limited input into the personality
generation thus far.
It's all about future interactions
between the character and the campaign world.
- What subjects is the character ignorant of?
- What prominent groups and individuals (and races and clans
and castes and...) is the character aware of for which his
personality would create a particular empathy or antagonism,
and is this emotional bias justified or not, and to what
extent?
- What types of people would the character choose to hang
around?
- What types would he try to avoid?
This is important information, because it deals with issues
that can drive an adventuring party apart. Each PC should
have some reason for hanging around with the other PCs both
individually and collectively.
There may need to be exceptions granted to some of the
character's general precepts, or the player may request (and
design) a sequence of subplots in which he learns to
overcome a prejudice against one of the other PCs. (I have
once had one player request an encounter in which another PC
saves his character's life for the specific purpose of
generating such an exception).
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7. Prioritisation
The character's personality should be well-defined by now.
The player should have all sorts of notes that offer
guidelines for how his character will react - or will not
react - to all manner of situations, either specific or in
general.
The final step is for the player to go through all these
notes and place some level of priority on them. A character
who hates and mistrusts dwarves, or drow, or priests, or
whatever, might rate that prejudice as more important than
achieving his goals. alternatively, it might be the other
way around: despite his prejudice, he may be willing to work
with the devil himself to achieve some noble (or ignoble)
end. The road to hell, it is said, is paved with good
intentions. This section is all about sign-posting which
particular roads to hell the referee can draw upon.
Once this is complete, the player should rewrite his notes
tidily (they are usually all over the place in the first
draft) and give a copy to the GM.
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8. Encounters
The fun comes when the GM uses these details to construct
encounters and scenarios that impact different characters in
different ways. A passionate seeker of justice and a
puritanical law-enforcer will usually be in accord on most
issues, but there will be times when justice is better
served by a technically-illegal act, putting the party on
two sides.
With the option of betraying each other excluded by personal
restrictions, the two have to find some means of reconciling
their differences. Perhaps the law needs to be changed?
Personality-based encounters can be summarised into 8
categories:
1) Exposers
2) Definers
3) Allies
4) Enemies
5) Inhibitors
6) Educators
7) Enlighteners
8) Enablers
- Exposers exist purely to permit a PC to display his
prejudices, empathies, Ignorances, or priorities. They don't
challenge any of these personality elements, just reveal
their presence.
- Definers help a PC clarify his thinking on an issue or
subject, and raise issues the player had not considered when
crafting his character's personality. Where does the paladin
stand on the issue of slavery, or of a species that he is
prejudiced for, or against? How about an evil NPC who
perpetrates acts of generosity to bolster his public image
and weaken himself to the point where the noble orders must
defend him against his enemies?
- Allies are encounters who have something in common with
the PC. What if they are morally reprehensible in some
respect? Or perhaps they are too good to be true? Maybe they
are so dogmatic that they really are that good, but the
slightest lapse from their self-imposed standards results in
an imposed punishment?
The saintly old man who cares for orphaned children and
happens to be a religious fanatic? How about someone who
renders children down to spare parts to keep his daughter
alive? These are people with whom the PC can cooperate in
the short term, but whose long-term prospects might or might
not be as bright.
- Another entertaining category is enemies who (under
different circumstances) might have been - or might yet be -
an ally. Any number of good men have given their word of
honour to someone less scrupulous - and have chosen to
honour their word over their own repugnance. Every villain
should have some redeeming aspect to his personality if he
is to recur more than once.
- Inhibitors are encounters that are designed to block an
objective of the PCs, perhaps for the right reasons.
Forcing a PC to choose between a cherished goal and betrayal
of a fundamental principle is always fun. Is it morally pure
to rig an election to place a good but undervalued contender
in office instead of the secretly-corrupt incumbent?
- Educators exist to forge a relationship between an area
of ignorance of the character and some other group or ideal
over which they have strong feelings, in effect converting
an ignorance into a prejudice, which might or might not be
well-founded.
- Enlighteners overturn prejudices or counter
misconceptions on the character's part. Perhaps they reveal
the difference between an ideal and a dogma. Maybe they
reveal the true cost of fulfilling one of the character's
goals as being more substantial than they are willing to
tolerate. Placing a character in a position where he is
forced to choose between two things he cares about always
prompts a little soul-searching.
- Finally, Enablers permit a character to achieve an
objective; whether or not the consequences of doing so will
be what the character wants is another question.
All of these encounter types are notable for their capacity
to force personal growth on the part of the PC. Not every
encounter should be one of these. Most should be
straightforward and exactly what they seem, but the
occasional head-scratcher is good for a PC.
- Morally-White Encounters
These offer the PCs, collectively, a choice between two
desirable goals, as mutually-exclusive as the GM can make
them. A lover of justice must choose whether to release a
murderer who is innocent of the actual charge on which he
was convicted? What is more important, justice, or keeping a
monster off the streets? Feeding the hungry or freeing the
slaves?
Little lets players feel ownership of a campaign more than
letting PCs achieve their goals, permitting that success to
have the desired effect, but also having some undesirable
consequence after the fact. Remember that road to hell....
- Morally-Grey Encounters
These are encounters that are neither good nor bad, but are
a little of both. Compromises often leave characters feeling
dirty. Most such encounters involve a conflict between
short-term and long-term goals, such as doing the
politically-expedient thing. Politics are a notoriously
dirty business.
- Morally-Dark Encounters
These encounters force the PCs to choose the lesser of two
evils - a subjective value judgement that might or might not
be borne out by later events.
- Morally-Turbulent Encounters
Finally, there are encounters in which different members of
the party have priorities in conflict. These are dangerous,
because they can lead to party members turning against the
party, but short-term conflicts can be the source of the
most exciting play
The important things to bear in mind before introducing such
an encounter are each affected player's ability to
distinguish between character actions and players actions,
and ensuring there is some means of reuniting the factions
before the conclusion of the plotline, preferably without a
dues ex machina.
* * *
Ultimately, personality-driven encounters are all about
conflicts between what two characters have decided
concerning their personalities, or between two things that
one specific character has decided. Anything that was noted
in Tips 1-7 can come into conflict with anything noted
anywhere else in those sections. These encounters can be as
significant or trivial as you desire, with consequences
ranging from the insignificant to the campaign-redefining.
Return to Contents
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Readers' Tips Of The Week:
Have some GM advice you'd like to share? E-mail it to johnn@roleplayingtips.com - thanks!
1. Pros and Cons of Designing a W.O.D. Campaign in a Fictional City
From: Arjade
First up, I would like to say that I have 'grown up' on
Roleplaying Tips weekly. So thanks. Here's my tip.
When I suggest the idea of designing a fictional city to
most veteran World of Darkness players or narrators, they
recoil like I just said something terribly apocalyptic. But
hear me out.
Benefits of fictional settings:
- It gives you the power to create a setting that fits in
with your campaign.
If you want a city where everything is close together, you
can make it an urban centre, but you might also want that
city to seem cut off from everything, so maybe that urban
centre is out in the middle of nowhere. Now, you have to
compensate in other areas for why an urban centre is no
where, but you are all talented enough to do that I'm sure. :)
- It's cut off.
This is the main advantage to GMs is travel in and out is
regulated, which is restricting, but not prohibitive, to
players. After a few sessions, the players cottoned on to
the in-game bus time table and the level of mischief
increased.
The player advantage consists of using the same principle to
hide from people on the outside world, and while NPCs can
find a way in, my players feel like they have a Home Field
Advantage right when their enemies get off the bus or train.
On that note, GM and PC advantage: a closed setting makes my
players feel at home. They have taken an ownership of the
area, and rightly so, since they have made almost all the
fluff for me through their gaming.
- I haven't travelled overseas, nor do I know much of what
is out there. I can barely remember the layout of my local
shopping centre. For this reason, I prefer fictional home
settings for my players just so I know what everything looks
and feels like.
Problems with fictional settings:
- Player reaction is the number one problem. Once they get
over the fact that this isn't a real city the game runs much
smoothly. To aid in preventing this, I only have two
fictional settings for all my W.O.D. The history for the
main one is mostly in-game PC actions from previous
campaigns (and the resulting aftermaths). This makes my
players feel very familiar with my cities.
- Its isolation makes many GMs and players nervous. It
doesn't have to be completely cut-off; you can allow the PCs
to travel where they want to if you like. I have my small,
backwater fiction area connected to a large fictional city,
which is connected to the real world. I find this helps
transition from fake to real. This also helps put new
players at ease, and I get an early warning to prepare
before they go into the real world.
- You have to design a whole area by yourself. I was lucky
in that my first fictional campaign started out as a lock-
down in a mansion, and the players slowly broke out into the
world and spread. That area was then the basis for the next
campaign, and so on, enabling me to develop it piece by
piece.
I love running my fictional W.O.D. setting, and adding a
little more history to it. The setting has transformed due
to a spread over two versions of vampires, mortals, mages,
and more. Though I always make sure the players are okay
with it being fiction, and if even one person is not willing
to give it a try, I run something else. At least every other
adventure involves something outside of my setting to keep
players fresh and connected to the real world, as well.
2. 5 Room Dungeon: Thieves' Guild
From: Aki Halme
- Entrance And Guardian: The Invitation
To break into the thieves' guild, the PCs need to get an
invitation. Contact can be made by entrapment, bribery, or
tracking low-level thieves into safehouses. Regardless of
the method, the challenge at this stage is the guild's
internal security.
- Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge
New members of the thieves' guild are not cleared for
sensitive information - big crimes, major meetings, more
important safehouses, crucial contacts, etc. Advancement is
kept slow as a safeguard against infiltration. By the time a
member advances to positions of access and responsibility
the guild leadership will have accumulated a considerable
file of information on him, and the new member has been
implicated in enough heinous crimes there is no easy turning
back. Here the challenge is to defeat the catch-22, getting
access without getting stuck in the guild web.
- Trick or Setback
Digging deeper, the PCs will get hints that not all is as
they expected, not in the guild, the town, or their mission.
Are the thieves truly a wicked force, or a heroic resistance
to oppression from the ruling class, helping the weak with
some portion of their funds? Are they the true patriots of
the town, and the corrupt leadership under the influence of
a foreign power? Are the ones who sent the PCs also in the
employ of the thieves' guild, and the mission a part of a
power struggle?
Maybe the PCs will get followers - adoring youngsters or a
romantic interest, who sees a PC as an awesome robin hood
style figure. In a situation like that, it will be hard to
betray the guild and invite a sweeper team to torture and
maim or execute everybody. Intrigue, doubt, betrayal, and
mixed motivations make it hard for the PCs to continue
effectively.
- Climax, Big Battle Or Conflict
The mission will involve a battle with a highly skilled
thief, possibly an assassin, possibly with other
capabilities, and maybe a killer team of his own. This might
be a security chief, another highly skilled thief, perhaps
even the crime boss himself or family member thereof.
To get this far the team must have made the battle
necessary, perhaps by shaming the boss into a duel that he
needs to restore his grip on the guild, or perhaps this is a
vengeance.
In any case, the battle ground and/or the time may be chosen
to enhance the strengths of the NPCs and make them shine,
giving the PCs a serious fight. Shadows and traps and secret
passages could well be a part of this. Further, the
strengths of the PCs might be largely known to the enemy,
whereas the enemy might have kept something (or everything)
hidden from the PCs.
- 5) Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
The PCs might have contributed to making the town a better
place, and their patron might reward them for it. Or, they
might find themselves drawn into guild power struggles that
tend to involve severed horse heads in the bed, garrote
attacks, poisoned food, and mysterious accidents. If there
is little monetary reward, they will at least learn more
about the place they live or work in.
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3. 5 Room Dungeon: Isles of Ice
From: Mothshade
- Entrance And Guardian
The challenge is set within a group of floating-in-air
icebergs on another plane of existence, possibly a pocket
dimension or demiplane of icy winds and bitter cold.
Alternatively, the 'bergs can be placed in a polar region of
the campaign world.
While the PCs can attempt to navigate the treacherous air
currents and sudden blasts of ice, there is a race of flying
whales somewhat friendly to the adventurers and their goals
that can safely bear the party in their mouths to the
'bergs.
- Puzzle Or Roleplaying Challenge
Not only do the players need to figure out which floating
iceberg is their goal, they must convince the whales to
carry them there. Will all the characters trust these
enigmatic creatures enough to ride forth inside their
mouths?
The icebergs float through the air and occasionally collide,
causing quaking and breakage. The frozen masses are
honeycombed with tunnels and chambers, created by the
inhabitants - frost salamanders.
The icy walls of the tube-shaped passages are incredibly
slippery - an issue ignored by the frost salamanders that
negotiate ice as easily as solid ground. Many of these
passages slope and twist crazily, threatening to shunt
intruders right out of the 'berg if they slide out of
control.
- Trick or Setback
The heroes will find that a previous impact has broken a
large portion of the iceberg free, and the entire structure
is in two pieces. They must cross a wide gap of empty air
and whirling shards of razor-sharp ice to reach the other
portion. Savage winds and the erratic motion of both
icebergs further threaten the crossing. It is always
possible the two halves will collide at any time, or that
another 'berg will drift too close for comfort.
- Climax, Big Battle Or Conflict
A large chamber houses the lair of a pair (or as many as
necessary) of unusually large frost salamanders and their
nest of unhatched eggs. A piece of an item that is the
heroes' goal might be found here, but the greater portion
lies elsewhere. Alternatively, an item belonging to an
individual to be rescued might be discovered, but the victim
is somewhere else. Some treasure will also be collected
here, from previous intruders.
The salamanders will fight savagely to protect their eggs,
possibly gaining morale bonuses in combat. If more tension
is needed during the battle, another iceberg could collide
with this one -- hurling the characters about, but not the
salamanders. Adventurers who rely on fire effects in battle
will find themselves suffering falling ice and sudden flash
floods.
- Reward, Revelation, Plot Twist
The final great chamber at the heart of the iceberg is
dominated by a steaming pool of water and an enormous mass
of dark ice. A large shape can be seen within the ice - it
is a truly massive frost salamander (possibly part dragon or
enhanced with elemental properties) lying dormant within.
Also noticeable is the object of the quest...frozen within
the grasp of the monster. Whether an object or a person,
this thing is grasped firmly by the monstrous frost
salamander and frozen deep within the mass of ice.
The heroes will have to risk freeing the gigantic salamander
to reach their goal. The mass of ice is in the middle of the
steaming pool, and the water is melting it in any case, as
well as undermining the structure of the 'berg. Time is
running out. Of course, there is some sort of fire-enchanted
item at the bottom of the pool that is causing the melting -
an object that can be used to great effect against the
salamander if it can be reached in time.
During the final conflict, the 'berg will probably begin
breaking up - whether due to supernatural melting, or the
collision of another drifting mass of ice. A faithful whale,
or nearby iceberg, might be the PCs' only hope for
salvation.
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Pathfinder #1: Rise of the Runelords "Burnt Offerings"
by James Jacobs
The Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path begins in the small
coastal town of Sandpoint. In a time when rumors of
rampaging dragons and massing armies of giants have everyone
on edge, the people of Sandpoint eagerly anticipate the
coming festival to commemorate the consecration of a new
temple. Yet, at the height of the ceremony, disaster
strikes. A band of goblins assaults Sandpoint, and it falls
to the heroes to defend the new temple.
In the days that follow, a mysterious malady that leaves its
victims monstrously deformed and dangerously insane spreads
through the town. The PCs must not only determine what's
causing this strange contagion, but also discover the
sinister connection between the plague, the goblin attacks,
and the emergence of a strange rune from an empire thought
to be long dead.
This volume of Pathfinder also includes extensive details on
the town of Sandpoint, several new monsters, and information
on the mysterious ancient empire of Thassilon, whose cruel
and despotic rulers may not be as dead as history would have
us believe.
For characters of 1st to 3rd level.
Pathfinder #1: Rise of the Runelords "Burnt Offerings" at RPG Shop