Seven Dooms for Sandpoint

How to prepare

- Free account at ForgeVTT - Microphone - Discord - (optional) webcam - (optional) Zoom

What I provide

I am a storyteller and we are going to tell the story YOU want to tell. I create scores of NPCs and try to give them all unique personalities, voices, habits, and motivations. Despite the use of an established Adventure Path, no two campaigns have the same plot, because I customize everything for your PCs. You don't have to be the heroes and you don't have to take every quest. This is as close to an open sandbox as possible while still using Paizo material. I reward investigation, planning, and social interaction. This AP has a variety of sections that are very dungeoncrawly, but the experience is night and day if the party has taken the time to prepare and research while in town. Plkus, there are factions that want to help or hinder your quests. Indeed, the more you know (and the more friends/connections you have), the better armed you will be for what might be lurking below. I always reward players who come up with unique or creative ways to solve problems, and there are no stupid questions (e.g., "Can I swing across the room on the chandelier?" "Heck yeah, roll an Acrobatics check!") I generally follow the rules as written, along with some modifications to keep the game moving (e.g., if the battle is clearly won, rather than sit around for another 4 rounds whittling away at a monster's HP, I may ask if "How do you want to end it?"), but I am also not opposed to the Rule of Cool, especially in climactic moments! My games are high on RP. For important NPCs and factions, I track attitudes and reputation. Sometimes, combat can be avoided with a well-timed diplomatic offer or intimidating threat. That said, my combats are challenging and interesting (lots of modified monsters and varied settings) and character death is always a possibility. If you want to use a voice or accent, that is awesome, but you are also free to narrate your character's actions in the first or third person: e.g., "Beatrice is suspicious of this haughty noble and tries to direct the conversation to learn more about his background" or "I don't believe him, but I want to convince him that I do." As far as resources go, I use FoundryVTT on ForgeVTT (so you just need a free account at the ForgeVTT website and not your own copy of FoundryVTT). I have a subscription to Demiplane's Pathfinder Nexus for creating characters, but most of my players use Pathbuilder. I also use a ton of add-ons and other services, such as Syrinscape, dScryb, assets and mods from content creators on Patreon (Michael Ghelfi, Czepeku, Mr Primate, TheRipper93, etc.) for awesome maps and art, and even some custom-created maps and tokens and customized art from the original Pathfinder modules (all of which I own).

Gameplay details

The party sets expectations at the session zero (which is free) and anyone can stop the game with either digital or visual signs (depending on whether we are also using video) for any reason.

Content warnings

Safety tools used

How will character creation work

Characters start at 1st level. Use the free archetype variant rule and automatic bonus progression. The first rule of PC creation is: Make sure your character has a strong motivation to join a party and pursue the common goal. The second rule of PC creation is: Make a character the other players, the GM, and you will enjoy spending four hours a week with. The Player's Guide, which is located here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1zAipgEb6i530IINDO1udXcBo19Ls , contains the available ancestries, archetypes, classes, and backgrounds. But TLDR: - The civilized folks in this area is overwhelmingly human, but about 20% of the population are halflings, elves, dwarves, gnomes, half-elves, and half-orcs. In rare circumstances (i.e., no more than one per party), a goblin *might* make sense, but we'll need to discuss it. These are the strongly preferred ancestry options. - Druid is a great choice, but keep in mind there is relatively little wilderness exploration. - The most thematically appropriate mysteries for an oracle in this AP are Ancestors, Cosmos, Flames, and Lore. - For witches, the patron themes of Curse, Fate, and Rune are excellent choices. - For wizards, the study of Thassilonian rune magic is very on-theme, and there’s even a faction called the Runewatchers, but if you go that route, just know that your wizard PC will have a hard time earning the trust of Sandpoint’s locals. -The Varisians freakin' love sorcerers, because sorcery provided those suffering under the yoke of a vicious runelord a method to fight back against (or at least endure) the arcane cruelties visited upon them by their rulers. - For summoners, the most thematically appropriate choices for eidolons are Angel, Anger Phantom, Beast, Demon, and Devotion phantom. -No gunslingers. (But watch for my upcoming Alkenstar campaign!) - The most popular deities in town are those of Abadar, Calistria, Desna, Erastil, Gozreh, Sarenrae, and Shelyn. - The most important Lore skill for Seven Dooms for Sandpoint is obvious: Sandpoint Lore. Beyond this, Academia Lore, Library Lore, Mercantile Lore, and Poetry Lore all have a few points where they’ll be helpful in encounters, with Demon Lore and Sailing (or Piloting) Lore being useful each in specific encounters. -Lore skills can also Earn Income: e.g., Alcohol, Baking, Cooking, Engineering, Fishing, Forest, Guild, Labor, Mercantile, Sailing, Scouting, Scribing, Theater, and Underworld. - Avoid feats that work best in large cities or rely upon long-distance travel. Feats that aid in dungeon exploration and combat will, of course, be quite useful, but those relying upon mounts or wilderness-based play will not be. - Most archetypes will work, especially archaeologist, loremaster, runelord, harrower, and to a lesser extent, ritualist. Not so much cavalier, gladiator, horizon walker, or pirate (oddly). - See the Player's Guide for background options.

Combat / Tactics

High

Roleplay

High

Puzzles

Low

Experience level

Beginner