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Pathfinder Roleplaying

PF2 TRD Part 03 Adventure Path

Pathfinder 2 – Thassilonian Resurgence Design

Part 3 – The Adventure Path for the Campaign

For the third instalment of my campaign notes I am going into what the adventure path is going to comprise, more details about using the Pathfinder Society in the storyline and a bit on my own adventure path guide in development.

3e-pzo-sd-b1 Shadow in the Sky
3e-pzo-sd-b1 pzo9013 Shadow in the Sky

Why use Second Darkness?

I will also discuss using Second Darkness as part of the storyline.

Second darkness introduces Riddleport and events going on there being the main three core cities that players will want to venture in. Making them also part of the storyline will hopefully improve the experience for all the character.

The ongoing story related to this might draw the party away from Varisia if they feel its need is more pressing than the ones they are currently facing. No matter what choice they make, bad things are going to happen somewhere as they can’t be everywhere at once. So the moral choice will be who they can afford not to save.

Helping to Build a Campaign

A view of Sandpoint

Now that I have the base cities of the world players need to know sorted out the next big thing is to figure out what stories are important to the game narrative.

  • Rise of the Runelords (All)
  • Curse of the Crimson Throne (All)
  • Second Darkness (Half, send half might draw players away from the rest of the storyline)
  • Jade Regent (Start, some of the other aspects may feature)
  • The Shattered Star (All)
  • Return of the Runelords (All)
  • Modules – Various based in Varisia
  • Pathfinder Society Modules – Various based in Varisia

Some of my players have played these adventures already, but as they will be altered to make them consistent with the overall storyline, don’t expect them to happen as they did before.

Over time most of my players discover I have a tendency to change things as I run them. This is not as an improvement on the original material, this is an adaptation to take into account what my players in that games have done to the storyline. Opponents might switch sides an become allies, based on the characters appearance and backstory.

Though that being the case, my players who have played these adventure path outside of my games should discuss with me what they remember from those storylines. This gives me a chance to then surprise them in game, or give tribute to what they remember.

For example, a the ranger in Sandpoint makes an appearance in at least three of the adventure paths. She appears at different parts of the story and if they are all running at the same time, she would be at different levels in the source material or even on different continents. So to correct this for the nps’s, certain events need to occur in different orders or not at all.

Most the storyline as written assumes that each adventure path starts after the previous one has finished. While I plan to be running their storylines concurrently, there will be significant modification to timeline references, and I expect to have all the Runelords around at the same time, so the story is really about rise and return of all the Runelords and their society. Which is where the name Thassilonian Resurgence comes from.

Everything is waking up, all over the country… how would you deal with it? that is the question my players get to answer.

The Pathfinder Society

This is the namesake of the game, what the social world wide “living” game is named after, and something that creates conflict, provokes storylines and helps change the world with its rich history. There are 11 seasons of the pathfinder society (was started with a season 0) and I intend to bring in related intrigue and story to my players as part of this ongoing narrative.

Pathfinder Society Logo
Pathfinder Society Logo

Each game year will provide hooks, storylines and events based on the level of the group, and their participation with the society as a whole.

Being a member of the Pathfinder society is a requirement in the game, it is not even guaranteed as the in game lore has the characters needing to spend three games years in training before proving their worth in one of three tests based on their preference and teachers. And this is done in Absalom so not an easy feat for characters to get.

What I have on offer is the ability to start the game having done their three years, with just their test to be completed. This is something my players will discover as we build characters to play.

Players can read ahead about the changes, or if they have played with the society will know some of what to expect, just don’t expect anything to happen exactly as it did before. This is a home game after all.

The Adventure Path Guide

This is the core GM document, which could be made available at a later stage (once I have finished the campaign):

  • Adventures: A breakdown of where and when each of the 70-ish adventures from the Paizo releases will be run and merged together to form the ongoing narrative of the story. This will need to include a timeframe to complete, and a notation on what will happen if the heroes are not taking part in it, or fail.
  • Story Timeline: a history of the setting before the story starts.
  • Pathfinder Society Factions: How the factions are intended to change over the course the ten game years.
  • Locations: Details on the various locations around Varisia.
  • Personalities: Details on people found in and around Varisia. Moved to blog
  • Magical Items: Story specific magical items that are being converted over to pathfinder 2 for the storyline.
  • Bestiary of Varisia: The creatures of the region that can be encountered that will also need to be converted over to pathfinder 2.
  • Heroes of Golarion: The Iconic heroes converted over to pathfinder 2 that can be brought in to fill gaps or complete storylines players are not able to reach. Player characters will be added to this list as a resource for future games.
  • References: Where all the material comes from.
  • Index: a master index that will hopefully make things easier to find.

While still mostly a skeleton, the adventure path guide is currently about 100 pages long. I intend it to be moving this document to the blog.

Adventure and Purchase Items

All Items will have ID codes to represent when and where you found them. Giving it a unique id means that you can then refer to the item at a later time, write up more world lore, or incorporate it into a future storyline.

  • Quest Items – #[module][number] represents and item found in a set adventure.
  • Purchase Items – [session number]-[number] this covers items not planned that were claimed in session by players.

Content Updates

  • 2021-07-29 – Updating the layout and linking.
  • 2020-06-15 – Noting what has been moved from the adventure guide to the blog.
  • 2020-03-25 – Treasure notation for adventure path.
  • 2020-03-24 – Structure.
  • 2020-03-09 – Structure and content update.
  • 2019-08-16 – Additional content, and general cleanup.
TRAP Design

Creating a New Campaign:
Part 1 (The Concept),
Part 2 (Main Cities and Guide),
Part 3 (The Adventure Path),
Part 4 (House Rules),
Part 5 (Thassilonia),
Part 6 (Factions and Characters),
Part 7 (Pathfinder Factions),
Part 8 (Learning from Conversion),
Part 9 (Half-Breed),
Part 10 (Using Renown),
Part 11 (Gaining Renown and Fame),
Part 12 (Location Feats),
Part 13 (Adventures),
Part 14 (Faction Points)
Part 15 (Update AR 4709)

Pathfinder 2E

PF2 Menu: Adventures, Classes, Factions, Feats, Items, Races, Rules Updates

TRAP: Campaign, Design

Game Management: Annotated Stat Block, Character Creation, Choosing a New Campaign, GM’s Luck Roll, Playtest Thoughts, Running Games over Skype, Tracking Experience

Class Build: Minion (Mitflit), Barbarian (Nexa Shoanti Half-Orc), Bard (Quest – Goblin), Cleric (Pimwinkle – Halfling, , Krol – Elf Half-Gnome), Druid (Barak – Dwarf, Cangacerio – Human Half-Elf), Fighter (Kordar – Elf Half-Human, Zed – Human), Monk (Willy – Human), Oracle (Luna – Shoanti), Ranger (Duzhar – Orc Half-Human), Rogue (Sparky – Dwarf), Sorcerer (Belath – Cheliax), Wizard (Parry – Elf Half-Dwarf)

Discussing the Rules: Animal Companions, Archetypes, Companions, Crafting PF2 Items, Feats, Minions, Playing the Game, Shapechanging, Summoning

Game Modes: Encounter, Exploration, Downtime

Feats: Background, General & Skill, Location

PF1 Conversions to Pathfinder 2: Adventures, Classes, Items, Faction

References: Creatures, Equipment, Items, NPCs, Spells

Thassilonian Resurgence Adventure Path (TRAP) Campaign

Design, Campaign, Campaign Journal, Runelords

Jade Regent Adventure Path (JRAP) Campaign

Personalities, Campaign Journal, Region – Minkai, Prophecy – The Broken One, Characters – Social Feats

Library of Books

B5, d20 System, Pathfinder, SW

Main Logo

This site is constantly under revision, no blog posts are final as this is a work in progress place for me to develop my game settings and rules. Some posts might be placeholders for future content, so feel free to check back later for updated information.

Basic Links: Who Am I?, Home, Game Tools, Game Session Videos, My Campaigns, My Library, Site Map, Subscription Information

Game Systems: Dungeons & Dragons, Pathfinder 1 & 2, Shadowrun, Star Wars. Other Game Systems

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By thedarkelf007

I am a long term gamer, I run 6 RPG's a fortnight, host board game, card game and LANs each about once a quarter and have an addiction to buying more games. Games I am currently running are Pathfinder (1st and 2nd Edition) and Dungeons and Dragons (5th Edition).