Transition to Pathfinder

So I've been working on and off for a couple months now on translating the campaign I made while I was still in the navy from DnD 3.5 to Pathfinder. Along the way I've been updating, altering, and generally screwing around with everything I have already and in some cases, remaking it from the ground up.

I've created new gameplay mechanics that fundamentally alter the way magic works and that has introduced some interesting quirks into some of my encounters. Some were easy, but most require heavy alteration.

My storytelling skills and attention to detail have changed since I started this project which has caused me to retweak the storyline over and over. I'm going through it again this week, tweaking some things that felt too forced and trying to help create the organic feel between the transition between the structured/linear portions and the open world portions.

It's hard to predict player reactions, but I think I'm striking a good balance, playing on expected reactions and using that to get them to do what I want them to. That whole illusion of choice concept that Bioware once had perfected before becoming a soulless husk following their acquisition by EA is what I'm trying for. Hopefully they'll bite.

The bounty system I've developed should help keep things fresh and interesting between story quests, with plenty to do of they end up taking a different direction. The addition of the trade rules also gives them some options to spice things up and earn cash easily without any real adventuring. Which is a blessing and a curse.

I still need to redesign about half of my PC-Class mobs and make sure the random encounter tables are level appropriate too. Sometimes I wish I still stood mid-watches, it would make this so much easier to find the time to do.

With the custom ships I've been designing I've figured out that most of the D20 stuff just doesn't seem to do Age of Sail ship combat justice. I'm now looking at alternative combat systems, particularly Hex-based systems, for one that feels right to me.

I've also figured out that the sheer number of things I'm altering, creating, or including is going to necessitate me actually writing up a standardized campaign book in order to allow players to keep track of it all. Maybe that's a good thing.  Maybe I could eventually sell it off, wouldn't that be something... I doubt I'd be able to but that would be pretty damn cool. With how much effort I've put into it and how much more I have left to put in it would be nice to have something to show for it other than some blog posts whining about official systems and maybe a completed and run campaign that some people may or may not have enjoyed.

I'm a little excited though. Two of the players have already started making their characters and have fully embraced the theme. It has forced me to step up my efforts and get this ready to go quicker. Maybe if I can get 2 more players started on creating their characters I'll move even quicker.

Region Profile: Wasslund

This is the first of many articles detailing a specific region of my campaign world. I figure I should start with this particular one since this is the continent that initially inspired me to create this campaign, eventually was relegated to an obscure corner when I decided to go with the nautical theme and then suddenly got brought forward as an important stepping stone in the storyline (and a mini-campaign in and of itself). These are meant to be a general overview of the land as a lot of specifics still need to be filled in still. Things like names of major cities, locations, geographic features/formations and such are not determined yet and will be added as I think of them or need them.


This first area is the Continent of Wasslund and it is home to the Sacred Empire of Alamari. It is located in the North-Western portion of the world map and is a few weeks travel from the infamous Storm Wall. It is primarily a temperate climate similar to our world’s European/North-Eastern US with a little bit of the Pacific North-West mixed in. There is one major mountain range with two major passages through. South of this mountain range is a temperate rainforest while North of it there is primarily plains, farmland, hilly lands, small mountains/valleys and forests similar to what you would find in Europe or the American North-East. In the South-Western portion of the continent you will find another temperate rainforest. The Northern coastlines have a large track of coastal woodlands all around the edges.


Between the Temperate Rainforests you have the main passage of shipping trade, the Sea of Mercy. A calm and shallow area perfectly suited for funneling shipping into the Straight of the Law Giver which leads into the Bay of the Faithful. The Northern most portion of this bay is where you will find the Capital of the Sacred Empire, Alamari’s Beacon. This is the largest trading port in the Empire.

In the North you will find another bay called The Bay of Penance. This is a place where most of the heretics of the nation end up travelling to, either due to necessity or by being shipped off by the Empire for failure to pay their tithing. The area surrounding the bay has a reputation for being less lawful than the rest of the land and far more resistant to the changes put out by the High Council of the Archons.

In the South-East, you will find Paradise Sound. Named for their afterlife destination, this is a large shipping area that is primarily known for the large lumber industry nestled inside. Most of the non-human population of this continent reside on the islands within the sound, doing their best to avoid the Empire’s wrath.

The Sacred Empire of Alamari is thousands of years old. It is the oldest Human civilization still in existence and it is only outlived by the Elves of Nusantara. It has largely been left alone by the other nations due to many different factors. The Empire has the single largest army in the world, it is well organized and full of faithful zealots that will defend the home of their faith, and has a large cache of some of the world’s only remaining Magic Items. Those who serve as instruments of the Goddess Alamari typically have a resistance to the taint that magic brings to those who wield it allowing them use of the power granted to them by their goddess against those who might oppose them.

The Empire is ruled by a theocratic council known as the High Council of the Archons. A group of 7 Clergymen elected into lifetime positions by lower clergy is a style similar to an electoral college. The High council selects from among them a single clergyman to be declared the Supreme Archon, a man whom acts as the primary voice of the Empire, directs policy, and chooses appointments for High Offices, like Viceroy and the Hand of Alamari. He is also the deciding vote in any matter the council, basically the legislature, is unable to come to a consensus on. All council members are selected for life to their positions.

The office of Viceroy is an appointment selected by the Supreme Archon and confirmed by the High Council to run the day to day execution of government business. Basically acting as head of state in all things that the Supreme Archon and High Council deems below their interest levels. Budgeting, tax collection, payment for goods and services, and such fall under his jurisdiction. The Viceroy can be removed and replaced by the council at anytime and do not have a set time period for service.

The office of the Hand of Alamari is the supreme commander of the Sacred Empire’s military. He is selected from within the ranks of the Paladin Order to handle all military and law enforcement matters within the Empire. Within the army, his word is law. Typically selected from the ranks of the Guardian Generals of the order (The ranks are, from lowest to highest: Squire, Initiate, Paladin, High Paladin, Templar, High Templar, and Guardian General).

The Supreme Archon also has a personal bodyguard regiment called The Nightguard. This is his own personal army that reports only to him. Not much is known about them. The selection process for entrance is secret and they are forbidden to speak to anyone outside of their order unless it directly has to do with their duties. They are called the Nightguard because they are the only troops allowed in the [grand palace] at night and because of their distinct black and grey uniforms.

The military is designed as the enforcement arm of the goddess Alamari. Every single officer is a Paladin of some type. The rank and file are made up of either volunteers from the Faithful (worshipers of Alamari) or conscripts entirely from non-believers. Non-believers can volunteer as well, but if the army needs spots filled, they will grab what they need from non-believers. If a non-believer serves in the army they are given special rights not normally allowed to those who don’t worship the goddess of the Empire. [The weaponry and tactics of the military are still up in the air. I can’t decide if they are going to allow their troops to use guns or not. Paladins won’t be allowed to, they are given magic weapons and armor for long term faithful service, aka a high faction score. Guns don’t work as effectively on magic armor as they do on normal armor. All magic armor will retain its full armor bonus against all ranged attacks originating from a gun. It is one of the things that makes it very difficult to take the fight into the Empire. Their navy is nothing spectacular, a handful of older, smaller, outdated ships with poor weaponry all typically volunteer civilian captains offering their assistance to their “benevolent” government for some coin. They aren’t officially Privateers, because the empire views that as dishonorable, but they are very similar in everything but name and the occasional guard duty post near the shipping lanes. There is always at least one Paladin onboard a ship to ensure that the Empire is properly represented by these auxiliary units.]

Life for those under the Empire’s rule is separate and definitely not equal. Those who worship the goddess Alamari are allowed to be considered citizens of the empire and receive all the protections and rights that means. The truth of the faithfulness of those in the empire is regularly judged by Inquisitors every seven years or when required. If someone is found to be lying the penalties can range widely and all depend upon the circumstances. Non-believers cannot receive the goods and services provided by the temples, open a business, or do much more than be a subsistence farmer under a Temple’s fiefdom without paying proper tribute/tithing to the Empire/Clergy.

The Clergy take the place of the typical nobility you’d see in a nation this size. Fiefs are controlled by temples and the temples are controlled by a Council of Clergy arranged in the exact same power structure as the high council with a single one appointed as the high councilor who then selects their level’s equivalent of a Viceroy and Hand of Alamari (along with any other unique offices, these two offices are required per the holy scriptures). This structure of 7 appears at all levels of government for the Empire. From the single, local temple, all the way to the High Council of the Archons. Each level deals with different levels of threats or problems. This structure is called out for in their sacred texts and has helped to keep the Empire capable of handling most problems. It can be a very slow process at times, but it works effectively in the end.

New Clergy are selected by the existing Clergy as required or directed (whether that direction is from their goddess or elsewhere is unknown outside of the Clergy who direct it and isn’t talked about.). New Clergy are selected from any particular walk of life, as long as they are one of the Faithful. No real pattern has been observed in those selected. Paladins are selected in a similar manner, but these selections are made by the Paladin order instead, sometimes based off of the judgment of a paladin.

So that's the land of Wasslund, home to the Sacred Empire of Alamari. I might have more to add to this later (like a trade profile and a map! Seriously, I really have one, I'm trying to transfer it into auto-realm as quickly as possible, but I'm still learning the damn program) so stay tuned.

Campaign character guidelines

So I've thought some things over and decided that I wanted to change things up a little with my guidelines for character creation for my upcoming campaign. After digging into Pathfinder more and seeing how much it balances things out, I've decided to change a few things from my earlier post about the guidelines for character creation.


I'm changing the starting stats from the static 13-18 to the Epic Fantasy level of the point buy system. This gives 25 points for the player's to work with, that should achieve the epic feel for the characters and fits with the power level of the pre-designed mobs with PC classes well enough that they don't need a complete restat. I still need to recreate the various premades using Pathfinder's classes but at least I can keep their stats.
I'm going to keep my Max Hit Die at each new level because I'm accidently too brutal to PCs sometimes.
My original idea for having double starting gold was to give the fresh adventurers enough magical tools that I could throw anything at then. That was before I started implementing the magic system changes. Double starting gold doesn't do the player's much good in a world with no real magic items so I'm going to nix that idea for now which leaves you with your standard 3rd level starting gold of 2,700.
I'm going to maintain the ability to select any class, race, etc from before if people want to use something specific. I just want things run by me beforehand so that I can veto something that doesn't fit (doubtful, but there are somethings I'll probably say no to) and to make sure I have a good idea of what your characters are capable of to tailor the modules to you. Oh and letting me know the race is really important, some races are going to be slightly different builds than their core counterparts.
Psionics are up in the air right now, they might not be allowed. Flaws and traits will be allowed, 2 of each (possibly a 3rd trait will be allowed, not sure yet), let's see, what else would you need to know?
Oh yeah, guns! In this world guns and cannons are common weapons. I am using a modified version of the Commonplace Firearms rules for Pathfinder. All firearms are considered Martial Weapons and do not require Exotic Weapons Proficiency (Firearms) unless specifically noted in a racial description (I think that will be Elves, a few of the more savage or nature-friendly races, and some of the monstrous races). Early firearms cost 25% of what their list price is while advanced firearms are their full price under those rules normally, but advanced firearms (revolvers, non-misfiring single shots, cartridge based ammunition, etc) are a little bit too high tech for this setting. So what I'm doing is just ignoring the existence of the advanced guns for right now. Maybe some will become available at double list price or something later on.


Starting level will be changed from 5 to 3. This is because the scenario I had designed as the first module is more for the groups I was playing with while in Washington rather than a group that still hasn't been completely settled upon. I also got to thinking about how I was forcing a pretty hefty storyline piece cold turkey upon the player's and decided that they need to establish their characters and goals first before they get shoved into the story.

Near-release beta for my Campaign Magic System

So I’ve finally finished most of the work on my magic system for my campaign. I will be writing it up in a PDF style format in the near future but I’ll put it here for now so people can look it over. The specific terminology may change and there may be a few minor tweaks depending upon specific mechanics that might pop up as being incompatible with the system, but overall I think this system is play-ready.
Anything in brackets [ ] is subject to change.

Spellcasting Alterations for Generic Fantasy World #4:

Magic in this world is a dangerous and corrupting otherworldly force. By using magic you allow energies not of this world to pass through your mind, body and soul. Magic corrupts that which it passes through and those who choose to wield it tend to suffer all manners of mental and physical disabilities while attempting to master its many nuances. Mages are subject to discrimination and distrust because of these things and choosing to wield magic in this world is a dangerous and depressing decision.

All magic users have a [Sanity] score. You determine this score by taking the character’s Wisdom Score and multiplying it by 5 (Wisdom x 5 = [Sanity]). This is your permanent score and is the maximum your character can have at any one time [and maxes out at 99]. This represents your character’s ability to withstand the unnatural forces coursing through your being.

There are two [Sanity] scores. The first one is your permanent score as previously discussed. The second one is your current score which fluctuates depending upon the amount of magic you’ve been using. As you use more magic your score drops as you temporarily damage your psyche making you more prone to the corrupting influences of magic.

Whenever a spell caster casts a spell they lose 1D6 per Level of the Spell of [Sanity] from their current score. When they lose enough cumulative [Sanity] equal to ½ your Wisdom score the caster must make a [Sanity] Check. A [Sanity] Check is a D% roll versus your Current [Sanity] Score. If the number on the roll exceeds your current score you fail the roll and gain [Taint] equal to the Spell Level of the spell just cast.
Whenever the caster gains [Taint], they must make a Will Save of DC (15 + amount of [Taint] gained) or be Dazed for [1 round]. [Taint] has some interesting effects that it manifests upon a caster’s body. There are 3 levels of [Taint] Manifestations and two ways they affect an individual. They manifest in Physical Corruption, and Mental Depravity. The 3 levels are Mild, Moderate, and Severe. [Taint] Manifestations appear immediately after completion of casting a spell conferring all of their penalties immediately.

Wisdom	No Taint	Mild Taint	Moderate Taint	Severe Taint	Insane
1-4	0	1	2-5	6-13	14+
5-8	0	1-3	4-11	12-27	28+
9-12	0	1-5	6-17	18-41	42+
13-16	0	1-7	8-23	24-55	56+
17-20	0	1-9	10-29	30-69	70+
21-24	0	1-11	12-35	36-83	84+
25-28	0	1-13	14-41	42-97	98+
29-32	0	1-15	16-47	48-111	112+
33-36	0	1-17	18-53	54-125	126+

D20	Mild	Moderate	Severe
1	Dead Eye	Lips Sink	Lich Eyes
2	Aggressive	Treacherous	Murderous
3	Ear Scabs	Fingers and Toes Fuse	Shriveled Flesh
4	Bestial	Deranged	Unbalanced
5	Gums Swell	Bones Thicken	Great Swollen Growths
6	Compulsive	Hysterical	Unresponsive
7	Feet Curl	Joint Pain	Spine Twists
8	Crazed	Jittery	Craven
9	Lumps	Eruption of Sores	Wrigglers
10	Disoriented	Hallucinating	Paranoid
11	Odor of Decay	Paralyzed Face	Nose Rots
12	Mild Phobia	Moderate Phobia	Severe Phobia
13	Palsy	Uncontrollable Seizures	Skull Deformed
14	Neglectful	Distracted	Enthralled
15	Skin Seeps	Blood Eruption	Internal Corruption
16	Opinionated	Solipsistic	Hubristic
17	Skin Sloughs	Skin Thickens	Skin Lichen
18	Prophetic	Delusional	Apathetic
19	Winded	Chronic Illness	Lungs Eaten Away
20	Sycophantic	Weak-willed	Fatalistic

*These two tables have corresponding information that will be in the setting booklet.

This isn’t all doom and gloom though. Spell Casters go into their chosen paths knowing that they will be exposing themselves to these energies. With that in mind they start to develop a level of resistance to the corruption. This is represented by their Threshold. Threshold is equal to the character’s Caster Level. Every day a spell caster can ignore 1D6 of [Sanity] loss per Caster Level. So, a 3 rd level Sorcerer could ignore up to 3D6 of [Sanity] loss a day while a Fighter 2/Wizard 1 could ignore 1D6 a day. This Threshold pool is usable as the person running the character sees fit. The [Sanity] loss is traded out on a D6 for D6 basis. [If this is confusing ask me about it and I’ll try to explain it better]

There is an advantage that magic confers to those who wield it in this world though and that’s the ability to cast extra spells by taking extra [Sanity] loss a caster can exceed their Spells Per Day limit if they deem it necessary. The process for that is you add 1D6 to the normal [Sanity] loss for a spell and immediately must make a [Sanity] Check. If that check fails the Caster gains DOUBLE the [Taint] they normally would and must pass their Will save (DC 15 + [Taint] gained) or be Dazed for 1D4+1 Rounds.

[Sanity] is regained at a rate of [1D8 per Caster Level] per day. It can be quicker if in a special location/temple. [Taint] is lost more slowly, you have to avoid spell casting for 1 week and then you begin to lose it at a rate of [½ Caster Level (Rounded up)] per day until you cast spells again or have lost all of it. This spiritual cleansing process also removes Manifestations. The recovery from it can be sped along by finding special springs or recovery assisted in a specially sanctified temple room.

If a character loses all of their [Sanity] they are temporarily rendered unconscious. [This next part is still in flux. Mostly I’m looking at either making the character unplayable until they gain back at least a ¼ of their sanity. Maybe I’ll have them roll on an insanity table or something like that, but I’m not quite sure exactly how that’s going to happen yet. Losing all your [Sanity] will be a big deal with some type of semi-permanent/permanent consequences. Suggestions are more than welcomed.][This permanent consequences thing will also come up for those who exceed their [Taint] limit.]

Now comes the question of how magic items work. In short, unless they’re ancient heirlooms (most of which are controlled by the Sacred Empire and the Elves), they don’t exist and can’t be bought or constructed. [Item creation feats are going to be tweaked to compensate for this fact, eventually…] Magic enchantment has been replaced with Alchemical contraptions and multiple Masterwork item qualities. [Those systems are still in the early planning stages right now.][There is also a list of spells being developed that either don’t work, don’t exist, or work slightly differently. Mostly things like Wish or true resurrection, things that I feel ruin the game more often than not. If I nix a spell from your book, it’s because I hate the spell, not you.]