Gatewalkers: Stripping it for parts

I adore Paizo’s Adventure paths. They’re a huge timesaver for busy GMs, and not just those who want to run a long pre-written campaign! You can easily pull out interesting scenarios from the APs. After that, you can rub off a few serial numbers. Slot them into your custom campaign with no one the wiser. I’ve written about this for other APs, and now it’s time for me to give Gatewalkers the same treatment.

Book One

Seven Arches

The book in medias res, with the crew approaching a town with a bit of a mystery. A curse that had killed any elf who entered the town’s perimeter, before a few weeks ago, would die instantly. The crew is there to do some clandestine tests to see what might have changed. This involves running around, dodging guards, and digging for more information. It could lead to the next scenario. Alternatively, it could lead to one custom for your campaign.

Potential hooks:

You’ve been hired by the Pathfinders to check out what might have changed at Seven Arches. They’d go themselves, but they’re a bit banned…
The group stumbles into the town on their own while travelling. They realize something is off after they’re intensely interrogated to see if their crew includes an elf.
The group has some reason to check out the arches in town, and find out they’re fake!
Honestly, it’s a nice town for the group to run through, restock, and chat with locals. Paizo added some good details!

Greenleaf Forest House

A dungeon IN THE TREES! This is a super fun and challenging ‘dungeon’ for low-level characters. A group of rogue druids have taken over a formerly friendly enclave and are causing problems. PCs will have to find a way to free their captives and drive out the interlopers while surviving nature’s wrath.

Potential hooks:

This can be a standard job posting during a regular campaign. It might be offered by one of the enclave members who managed to escape.
More amusingly, the players could be en route to meet the friendly druids. They don’t realize their contacts are all tied up in a closet.
They might stumble upon the druids while travelling. Initially, they might think the druids are nice. Then, they discover the druids’ plans to level the nearby town “for the good of nature.”

Kaneepo Invesgitation

The players find themselves trying to investigate a mystery in a town that, quite frankly, doesn’t want them around. This is a fun investigation that involves a bit of digging, a bit of charm, and a bit of fisticuffs, culminating in a portal to another plane. Because Kaneepo doesn’t show up in this investigation, you can easily swap him out with the BBEG of your choice. You could also import him into your game, since his connection to the overall Gatewalkers plot is fairly loose, and it’s easy to play him as a fey that just loves shit-stirring.

Potential hooks:

The group has tracked their current quarry to a small farming town.
The group stumbles into this odd town, and while most of the farmers ask them to move along, a sympathetic NPC begs them for help. Their friend, Hatria Pebblesworth, was recently killed, but no one wants to look into it.
Heck, go ahead an import Kaneepo into your campaign, since taking him down makes for a decent arc.

The Thinlands

While technically in the First World, this is a part of the plane that is bathed in black and white. Therefore, this could easily be plopped in the Netherworld (Legacy: The Shadow Plane) or in a particularly grim part of Golarion. As for the actual content of this section, it features a compact yet challenging ‘dungeon’ with a varied set of challenges. Some, players can charm their way through, some require some brainpower, and some require some form of violence. Also, due to the nature of how it’s written, it really needs to be done in one go, so players have the additional challenge of minding their resources. Annoyed that your players insist on resting every time they take a break? Throw this a them!

Potential hooks:

A local has been kidnapped, and his family is desperate to get him back (The final room has a hostage in it, so swap them for whoever is interesting)
Again, you can just add Kaneepo to your game! This plus the “Kaneepo Investigation” sections could easily fill a few sessions.
The players stumble onto the hideout and realize it may be corrupting the land around it, leeching color from an otherwise normal area.

Castrovel

Yes! The planet! The book features a gazetteer for running adventures on Castrovel, which could be used to kickstart a whole adventure on its own. If you want to keep it to something more guided, however, Book One has an interesting way of introducing the characters to life on the Elf homeworld. They start off in the wild, with no idea where they are (they think they’re still on Golarion), and they have to fight their way through a dense and dangerous jungle to get to the one sign of civilization they can see. I will say, as a GM, I loved watching the players argue about which part of the Mwangi they’d been teleported to until they finally realized what was going on.

If you’re worried as a GM that you might be stranding the players somewhere, don’t worry: This part of the adventure has a way for them to get back to Golarion.

This arc has three parts: Struggling through the wilds, some dungeon diving, and getting back. Because they’re fairly separate, you don’t have to run all three, and can handwave any connecting tissue fairly easily. While I loved all three sections, I’d say getting back was my favorite encounter, since it hops the players all over the solar system before dumping them where they need to be.

Potential hooks:

Running all three: A strange portal needs investigation! Stepping through, unfortunately, strands them in a strange land as the portal collapses as soon as they exit it.
Running all three: A trap sends them ‘away’ and they have to find their way back
Just the city and dungeon: The elves of the city need information about a ritual to protect their new settlement. Being academics, they really need some muscle to help them out.
Just getting back: The portal could be anywhere! Use it to give the party a shortcut from one place to another, but at a cost.

Book 2

While much of Book 2 revolves around an NPC trying to fulfill her destiny, I’ve found you can pretty much remove or downplay her role without changing the entire story. That makes Book 2 easy to mine from!

Skywatch

Skywatch is a town that has been mysteriously abandoned, and is now beset by those who would plunder what was left behind. It has a number of fun encounters, both social and fisticuffs (including fighting a piece of furniture that had me cackling as a GM). It could be an interesting place for a group of PCs to run into, or be hired to check out.

Potential hooks:

The party has been braving the wilderness for a while now, and could use a chance to restock. Pity that the town they’ve stumbled onto is in such disarray.
Word is that the formerly cloistered city of Skywatch is no longer sealed off from the rest of Golarion! The crew has been tasked with seeing what they were up to.
A group of researchers need to get up to the observatory in the center of town. Unfortunately, not only is the observatory surrounded by looters, but several members of their party have disappeared while attempting to scout.

Mermaid’s Tear

At one point, the Gatewalkers party needs to get across a lake, and ends up on a slightly-haunted ship that’s otherwise sea-worthy. Captain Adney was a favorite NPC for my group, and it made an otherwise colorless journey memorable. Acquiring the ship involves a few steps which can be handwaved, but I found the dungeon to be a nice one-session size. Also, you can’t have a haunted ship without some weird events while you travel, which are included in this arc.

Also, the ship being haunted and only functional while haunted makes it easy to remove from play, if you don’t want your players to have unlimited mobility.

Potential hooks:

Your players need to get across a body of water, but all the regular captains are either booked or unwilling to carry them. They hear a rumor about an ‘abandoned’ boat nearby that could be used if it proves seaworthy, though…
The Temple of the Water Lord can be run independently, and could be a great challenge for a group that wants to learn a particular ritual from the fey waiting at the end.
If you just want to run the seafaring parts, the crew has been hired to hunt down the Red Duchess, a Chelaxian vessel that’s gone rogue for unknown reasons. Previous parties have been sent to look into it, but haven’t returned, which is making the locals nervous.

Egede

A town that’s been taken over by religious zealots, with the potential for spawning a cult! In the AP, it’s easy for the PCs to blow past the plot, but it’s a fairly interesting encounter that can fall out multiple ways. Do they get the zealots to back down and realize the error of their ways? Do they play along? Or do they decide conversations are for commoners and solve their problem with violence? Depending on what they do, they might inspire some already unstable locals to form a following. While in the AP, this is meant to push them to move on, it could be the start of a bigger adventure.

Potential hooks:

Your players stumble into town to restock and rest and end up caught up in the local politics.
They’ve been hired by someone whose brother is being held for a ‘trial.’ Once the party is in town, they realize how deadly said trials are.
Post-hook: If they accidentally create a following, the PCs have to deal with a cult forming around their ‘miraculous’ accomplishments. Seriously, make it awkward.

Crossing the Scar

If you need your players to cross the wilds of Mendev or the Scar, this is a good chapter to grab. It includes not only random encounter tables, but also some unique encounters that feed into how damaged this region is, and a bug dungeon that had so many bugs. It does include an escort quest, but this can easily be removed or downplayed.

This is a great place for those who invested in Survival to shine, especially if they don’t have a chance to buy magical yurts beforehand.

Potential hooks:

A group of pilgrims have asked the group to guide them to a sacred site across the scar.
Reclaimers want to hire the party to find out what happened to some other members of their organization.
You can use Valmer’s Burrow on its own. Valmer has a habit of taking people back to his hidey hole, so if the party has a beloved NPC he could grab…
This section also includes some ruins that can be used on their own, allowing PCs who love investigation a chance to flex.

Book 3

Lepidstadt

Lepidstadt is the largest settlement in Ustalav, and makes for an interesting place for a party to set up camp for a while. I will say that if you want more details, you may want to check out books from the PF1 days. Rule of Fear and The Carrion Crown would be good places to start. Still, if you just need something to vibe off of, what’s in Book Three should suffice.

Potential hooks:

The party has to do some research at the local university, but quickly find out that the professors want rather gruesome favors before they’ll help.
The party has been hired to find a missing loved one, who was last seen heading into Ustalav with their wares. There’s also troubling rumors of cults and secret societies who are always looking for new members… or victims.
The council has hired the party to track down the Beast of Lepidstadt, a legendary monster of the region who is blamed in the recent murder of a rich merchant. Not everything is as it seems, though. Is the monster actually guilty? And why hire outsiders for this job?

Ritalson Manor

Ritalson Manor starts off as a nice break for a tired party, and slowly descends into a the realization that not only is their host an occultist murderer, but that they were lined up to be his next victims. My players loved it, since it offered a mix of research, social interactions, and mayhem. Though it ties in with the overall Gatewalkers plot, it wouldn’t be too difficult to scrub that off of the set-up. The other party could be from any faction friendly with the party, and the discoveries in the basement could tie into any larger plot.

Potential hooks:

Ritalson is a fellow Pathfinder who has invited the party to his manor for a small gathering of the minds. He’s been held up elsewhere, so they’re told to enjoy his manor until he arrives.
The party has been hired to look into the disappearance of a party of traveling academics. Rumors place them at Ritalson Manor, but the local law enforcement has been reluctant to act against such a pillar of society with no evidence.
The party stumbles upon the house deep in the wilds, and are surprised when they’re offered a chance to sleep in soft beds for free. A dark storm gathering to the west makes this a tempting proposal…

Abandoned temple

If you’re bouncing around somewhere cold and want a relatively small dungeon to explore, the Abandoned Temple could easily be slotted into your game. Once serving Findeladra, it’s infested with Blackfrost and creatures that fell to its taint long (or maybe not so long) ago. It also features a nice treasure at the end of it: An Explorer’s Yurt, which is indispensable when exploring hostile regions, or travelling with a bard who whines a bit much.

Potential hooks:

Scouts from a local town have gone missing, and the sister of one of them has begged the explorers to find them, or at the very least, what befell them.
A terrible blizzard has slammed into the party, forcing them to take shelter in the temple until it’s passed.
Do your players need to find some notes to push the campaign forward? Turns out, their quarry holed up in the temple for a while and may have left something behind…

Across the High Ice

This section was rather controversial for many GMs and players, but personally, I liked it. Yes, it’s grueling, but that’s what travelling across a frozen desert should be. It also has a number of interesting encounters, both for combat and setting the mood, that keeps it from becoming totally monotonous. A GM might will need to find a different shortcut if they want to completely scrub the Gatewalkers plot, but this can be done by halving the distance on the map.

Potential hooks:

The party is at point A. Their target is at point B. They need to hoof it.
The party triggers a teleportation trap and ends up at the Crown of the World. Thankfully, they stumble into a cache of gear right away, but they still need to figure out how to get home… (So, reverse the map)
The party has been asked by the Pathfinder Society to do some scouting for them. They’re sure to get a big payday, but they need to gather enough data to earn it…

The First and Last Temple

This temple in the Nameless Spires is the capstone of the AP, finally allowing the players to deal a metaphysical black eye to the stupid fish that caused all of their problems. It’s also a nice size dungeon that could keep a group of players busy for a session or two. It’s filled with fights, traps, and a few weird, otherworldly nerds who will happily talk and/or steal the party’s brains. There’s also a few places where a GM could drop clues for their own campaign, if they need a place to do a lore dump.

Potential hooks:

The BBEG the group has been following stayed here for several months, researching… something? Replace what’s on the murals with your own details.
Strange occurrences have been popping up around the Crown of the World, and the party is being paid to look into it.
A cosmos oracle has been besieged by visions of disaster, and is convinced the temple holds the key. Even better if you happen to have an oracle in your group…

Final thoughts

I thoroughly enjoyed running Gatewalkers as is, but I also understand that some GMs prefer to run their own thing, or aren’t interested in the overall plot. Even so, it offers a ton of things you can grab and reuse without ever stealing your players’ memories or making them amnesiac criminals.

Gatewalkers AP: Book 3 Chapter 3 Recap and GM Insights

Over on D20Saves, I’m running Gatewalkers, one of the latest APs from Paizo! From the official website:

After they walked through that glowing gateway, nothing was ever the same. A band of characters become paranormal investigators to determine the cause of a global amnesic episode. Their quest takes them to lands near, far, and outside this reality altogether. Along the way, the characters meet fellow “gatewalkers,” defeat alien monsters, and explore strange realms touched by the Missing Moment. And when it comes time to learn the grim truth of what happened to them on that fated summer night, what then?

Warning: The first part of this blog will cover what happened in the stream, for the entire AP throughout!

Check out the playlist here if you want to watch the previous episodes.

Recap

After battling the frozen wastelands of the High Ice, the group finally made it to where it all started, and where it would all end: The Nameless Spires. Though whispers called to them through the ice, promising their heart’s darkest desires, they forged ahead with their ghostly companion and the spirit guide Ruun, hoping to lock Osoyo away once more.

Though the fights were difficult, they managed to make it to the inner sanctum, where they were able to seal the prison once more, though it cost the sacrifice of the dream seer and her guide, along with their deviant powers.

After, they were able to return to what was left of their lives, now with their missing memories firmly intact.

GM Thoughts

This final chapter gave us a gratifying end to a wild Adventure Path. The PCs finally got all of their memories back, and got to face off with the threats they had been tracking for fifty sessions.

Being fully transparent, though, I screwed up one encounter. In the Spires, the party is supposed to run into a creature that has taken the appearance of Ritalson. I missed that part, and didn’t realize until I was running the encounter that I should have put a different token down. Oops! It didn’t change much, though, since the players would have killed him on sight, anyway.

Looking back over the AP and how I dealt with the Sakuachi situation. I still stand by my decision to kill her and her party off, but now, I wish I’d attached her geas to one of the PCs. It would be a risky move (what if they die, or the player quits the game?!), but I think it would have lead to the last encounter having even more weight. Maybe the players would have a shared geas? That would have avoided any PC feeling like the ‘main character’ as well. That also starts to step on the toes of player agency…

I think it really comes down to the group. With my players, I probably could have plopped that subplot in any of their laps, and they would have happily become a god-caller. Other groups may not react the same way. It comes down to knowing your players.

Finally, for any future GMs of Gatewalkers, I strongly recommend that you look at the Follower rules from Battlecry!. The AP has several encounters that end with the players having an NPC follow the party, and this can wreck encounter difficulty fast. I have a feeling this could have been rebalanced by only allowing the NPC in battle if a player takes the Captain archetype. I say this because there was never an off-ramp for any of the NPCs you pick up, which can lead to a HUGE party if you’re not careful.

What next?

The group is starting to run Strength of Thousands… and I’m not the GM! Huzzah! I get to play! I’m down to only GMing three games!

Gatewalkers AP: Book 3 Chapter 2 Recap and GM Insights

Over on D20Saves, I’m running Gatewalkers, one of the latest APs from Paizo! From the official website:

After they walked through that glowing gateway, nothing was ever the same. A band of characters become paranormal investigators to determine the cause of a global amnesic episode. Their quest takes them to lands near, far, and outside this reality altogether. Along the way, the characters meet fellow “gatewalkers,” defeat alien monsters, and explore strange realms touched by the Missing Moment. And when it comes time to learn the grim truth of what happened to them on that fated summer night, what then?

Warning: The first part of this blog will cover what happened in the stream, so there are spoilers for the end of Book Two. Part two will include my thoughts as a GM, so there are major spoilers for the AP overall.

Check out the playlist here if you want to watch the previous episodes.

Recap

This chapter features a trek across the unforgiving High Ice as the players make their way to the Nameless Spires. Though they’ve been given some tools to help them survive, it’s still a relentless journey that wears down not only their bodies, but their minds. Every day is a struggle to push forward, and the ice isn’t as uninhabited as they might have hoped. Every night is a battle with Osoyo, who sense their approach and tries to reassert his dominance over his former thralls.

Just as the journey seems likely to break the heroes, they enter The Dreaming with Snowy Owl. There, they witness a tearful reunion with Sakuachi’s grandmother, who seems to have been waiting for them. She helps them recover the last of their missing memories, offers them a final boon, and then moves their hut to within a day’s walk of the Spires. Osoyo must be resealed soon, or all of Golarion will suffer.

Jorge, Don, Ricardo, James, and Daton: I love you all, but you need to LEAVE this post now! Spoilers ahead!

GM thoughts

This is probably the second most griped about section of Gatewalkers. Personally, my players and I enjoyed it, but I made some modifications (shocking, I know).

Pre-rolling: In another AP I’m running [Frozen Link], there’s a section that requires rolling on multiple tables every day. I knew this could get fairly tedious and might lead to the players not seeing some of the cooler encounters. So, for this section, I pre-rolled every day. For the most part, I stuck to what I rolled, but in a few cases, I swapped in an encounter I knew they’d enjoy (my players love a good beatdown).

One thing I wish I had done was figure out how I was going to track expedition points ahead of time. If I were to do it again, I would have kept track of the total points rather than zeroing them out at 8 points. It’s less ambiguous, and I’ll take recalling my timetables from third grade over trying to figure out bad accounting.

Another change I made was killing off Seshu, the grandmother, in order to patch up a few plot holes. The first hole is why Seshu didn’t give poor Sakuachi the full details before she left on her journey. I played it off as Seshu not having the full details herself until she was sent to the graveyard. The second isn’t from the books, but from my players: Our Champion had been searching for his wife this whole time, since she was gone when he returned from the Missing Moment. Guess who else was dead?

I swear, I’m not usually this wanton with the death, but this dream was the last chance to tie up his personal plot neatly. Sorry, Jorge! I promise, I’ll let the next spouse live!

Looking forward

Up next is the last chapter of the AP, which still feels unreal. This AP moves fast if the players stay on task, but is still chock full of different backdrops and challenges.

Gatewalkers AP: Book 3 Chapter 1 Recap and GM Insights

Over on D20Saves, I’m running Gatewalkers, one of the latest APs from Paizo! From the official website:

After they walked through that glowing gateway, nothing was ever the same. A band of characters become paranormal investigators to determine the cause of a global amnesic episode. Their quest takes them to lands near, far, and outside this reality altogether. Along the way, the characters meet fellow “gatewalkers,” defeat alien monsters, and explore strange realms touched by the Missing Moment. And when it comes time to learn the grim truth of what happened to them on that fated summer night, what then?

Warning: The first part of this blog will cover what happened in the stream, so there are spoilers for the end of Book Two. Part two will include my thoughts as a GM, so there are major spoilers for the AP overall.

Check out the playlist here if you want to watch the previous episodes.

Recap

In this chapter, the PCs finally made it back to Ustalav! In the town of Lepidstadt, they made a beeline to Dr. Ritalson’s manor, only to find that they had just missed him. Not to worry, though! The staff invited them to relax for a few days and recuperate from their journey, and perhaps even talk to some of their fellow Gatewalkers who had arrived just before them.

Of course, the gang decided to do some breaking and entering instead.

To be fair, it was clear that something was off in the mansion, which lead to them finding a basement filled with horrors. They realize that Ritalson had not only been spying on various Gatewalkers in their dreams, but also killing them and using their memories to increase his own knowledge and access to power.

They ran off to confront him before he could return, knowing that he is no longer their biggest problem. Ritalson had been working for someone… Osoyo.

Jorge, Don, Ricardo, James, and Daton: I love you all, but you need to LEAVE this post now! Spoilers ahead!

GM thoughts

Honestly, the biggest danger in this chapter is the players themselves. If they’re not suspicious of Ritalson by now (and good lord, they should be), and they take the week to chill out, they could very well end up with their brains in a jar. Hey, at least there’s a new party upstairs they could take over…? But seriously, if your players haven’t twigged to the good doctor being kinda sus, drop some hints in their lap to get them looking around.

The ‘dungeon’ of the chapter was also quite good, and perfect for ripping out and adding to your own campaign. It’s rife with places where you can add in your own plots, and if you’ve needed a place to get some infodumps out of the way, there’s a place to find heap of journals and research. You would just need to update two rooms to fit your campaign, unless your main baddy is also a big psychic whale.

Speaking of looking around, I loved the investigation in this chapter. There are so many clues to find if the players are keen to dig for them. My players aren’t even done yet! Some of the clues are housed in books that they managed to take with them, so they’ll be doing a lot of reading on the road.

Looking forward

We have the big trek over the ice! I think I’ll be pre-rolling most of the encounters to streamline my planning and dead air on the stream. Also, I want to make sure they have the encounters that will hit home the hardest, so… maybe those dice are going to be a bit loaded.

Gatewalkers AP: Book 2 Chapter 4 Recap and GM Insights

Over on D20Saves, I’m running Gatewalkers, one of the latest APs from Paizo! From the official website:

After they walked through that glowing gateway, nothing was ever the same. A band of characters become paranormal investigators to determine the cause of a global amnesic episode. Their quest takes them to lands near, far, and outside this reality altogether. Along the way, the characters meet fellow “gatewalkers,” defeat alien monsters, and explore strange realms touched by the Missing Moment. And when it comes time to learn the grim truth of what happened to them on that fated summer night, what then?

Warning: The first part of this blog will cover what happened in the stream, so there are spoilers for the end of Book Two. Part two will include my thoughts as a GM, so there are major spoilers for the AP overall.

Check out the playlist here if you want to watch the previous episodes.

Chapter Four recap

Chapter four takes place in the long abandoned city of Domora, former home of the Godcallers of Sarkoris. The PCs, determined to help their baby Godcaller fulfill her destiny, branch out over the city to research what they can. After a fair amount of mucking about, they realize they need to investigate a cistern that may contain the magics and lore she needs. After a chat with the spirit Ruun, they run a gambit of challenges, finally allowing Sakuachi to transform into a white owl, her soul bonded to the god of old. They all agree to return, finally, to Ustalav to check in with their patron.

GM thoughts

Okay, seriously, if you’re a player in my stream, DO NOT KEEP READING. Don, James, Jorge, Daton, Ricardo, CLOSE THIS TAB.

Investigation. The players enjoyed the investigations in this chapter, which had a nice balance between lores and skills to keep everyone busy. It helped that each investigation included clearing out some nasties, so even our meatiest-headed characters were vital to moving forward.

Cistern. Most of the cistern was perfectly fine, but the challenges themselves were a bit samey. I decided to spice things up and change two of the encounters. Rather than two stone owls, room F12 had two Griffons, and F7 had two Elite Giant Mantises. I kept F11 the same because the stone owls are kind of cool.

Sakuachi the owl. In the book, Sakuachi keeps her human form… but I decided to just use the owl and give her some limited telepathy. Any powers she has in the book have also been stripped for now, since the players aren’t hurting.

Overall book thoughts

This AP is probably amongst the lowest ranking of the Paizo 2e APs, and it does have some flaws… but flaws that I think are easy enough for a GM to solve without rewriting the whole book.

For me, making Sakuachi a ghost and killing off her party helped fix many of the issues with book two. Also, putting Skywatch in a different plane helped focus that particular chapter. Without it, the whole book hinges on the players helping this random group of strangers out. My players will happily follow plot hooks, but I could have also seen them just leaving and going on their way.

Now, if homebrew is your bag, this is a book that you could absolutely remove and replace with your own adventures! All you really need to do is make sure the players get back to Ustalav, so if you want to do a roadtrip-style adventure, that would totally work. Just make sure they don’t get to Ustalav under-leveled… or do, and watch the struggle bus kick off. It’s your circus, you do what you want with your monkeys.

Looking forward

I am very excited to get back to Ustalav. It’s been on the players’ to-do list for months. They also love investigating and chatting with NPCs, so I think the mansion is going to be fun for them.

Some complain about the long overland travel section, but I feel like it fits perfectly with Lovecraftian mythos. Creepy travel in a hostile landscape with no way to go but forward? Chef’s kiss. Man loved him some unforgiving expanses.

Gatewalkers Book 2 Chapter 3 GM Insights

Over on D20Saves, I’m running Gatewalkers, one of the latest APs from Paizo! From the official website:

After they walked through that glowing gateway, nothing was ever the same. A band of characters become paranormal investigators to determine the cause of a global amnesic episode. Their quest takes them to lands near, far, and outside this reality altogether. Along the way, the characters meet fellow “gatewalkers,” defeat alien monsters, and explore strange realms touched by the Missing Moment. And when it comes time to learn the grim truth of what happened to them on that fated summer night, what then?

Warning: The first part of this blog will cover what happened in the stream, so there are spoilers for the beginning of Book Two. Part two will include my thoughts as a GM, so there are major spoilers for the AP overall.

Check out the playlist here if you want to watch the previous episodes.

Chapter Three recap

You know, it feels like we were just here. When I say this book moves fast, I mean it! Heck, as I’m writing this, the players are a good chunk of the way through chapter 4.

The majority of this chapter takes place in the Medevian city of Egede. Once bolstered by an unending crusade, this town has fallen on hard times without the influx of money and patrons on their way to take on the World Wound. The party had to contend with a paranoid population that had fallen sway to the ‘Committee for Moral Rectitude.’

To the surprise of anyone who’s seen the questionable moral choices of an adventuring party, the group quickly proves themselves to be beyond reproach. Unsurprisingly, this required the judicious application of violence, but if we’re being fair, the other side started it. Now able to rest in peace, the party got a letter from Dr. Ritalson (remember him?) congratulating them on their progress, commenting on their new companion, and paying the party for their efforts thus far.

With their newfound reputation and money, they manage to get a caravan to Kenabras, the only lead they have at the moment when it comes to Sakuachi’s mission. They don’t get far before they’re distracted by a falling star, which their seer interprets as a sign. Breaking off from the caravan, they make their way across the healing wasteland to find a strange insect burrow. Inside, they fight terrible beetles and the crusader they either obeyed or controlled. After rescuing some reclaimers, they finally get a clue as to where they should be going: Domora!

Okay, seriously, if you’re a player in my stream, DO NOT KEEP READING. Don, James, Jorge, Daton, Ricardo, CLOSE THIS TAB.

GM thoughts

I keep saying it, but seriously, this book moves fast. If you’re a GM who only prepares what they think they’ll need for the next session, push yourself a little harder. Players who follow the plot and don’t wander off for side adventures will quickly churn through the available content.

Another warning: The plot heavily depends on following Sakuachi’s lead. If they’re fighting that, you need to find another way to get them to that falling star. Heck, put it on the way to Sarkoris rather than 200 miles off course, and maybe have a few caravaners kidnapped. That way, they can’t avoid it, and the party will get their lead for their next destination.

Finally, Ghost Sakuachi is still doing great, plot-wise. Nothing has required her being physical, and she’s still able to deliver plot points as needed. The only hiccup is the players trying to use her to scout, which I haven’t allowed so far due to how strategic my players are. However, if your party is a bit more chaotic, she could help players think ahead.

Looking forward

The investigation in Domora is already underway. I really love that this AP has included actual investigations, which fits well with my group and the themes of the adventure. They’re also a decent blueprint on how to do investigations that aren’t just a series of die rolls. Leads lead somewhere that the players have to check out and interact with, which allows everyone to participate.

Looking towards the next book, I expect that one to go quickly as well, save for crossing the ice. I’m most looking forward to them finally getting back to Ustalav and putting all the pieces together.

Gatewalkers Book 2 Chapter 2 GM Insights: Smooth Sailing

Over on D20Saves, I’m running Gatewalkers, one of the latest APs from Paizo! From the official website:

After they walked through that glowing gateway, nothing was ever the same. A band of characters become paranormal investigators to determine the cause of a global amnesic episode. Their quest takes them to lands near, far, and outside this reality altogether. Along the way, the characters meet fellow “gatewalkers,” defeat alien monsters, and explore strange realms touched by the Missing Moment. And when it comes time to learn the grim truth of what happened to them on that fated summer night, what then?

Warning: The first part of this blog will cover what happened in the stream, so there are spoilers for the beginning of Book Two. Part two will include my thoughts as a GM, so there are major spoilers for the AP overall.

Check out the playlist here if you want to watch the previous episodes!

The second chapter of Book 2 opens with the players looking out over a great frozen lake with no way to get across. True, they have a raft, but that’s certain to be eaten by the storm-tossed waves before they get too far. Their only option is to scour a ship graveyard and hope something is still seaworthy enough to get them to civilization.

Making their way through wrecks that could barely suffice as kindling, they find a ship that looks amazingly whole. They board her, only to be attacked by the machinery itself. Happily, the captain appears and calms the ship down. Unfortunately, he’s a ghost, though less mad than those on other ships. He agrees that if the crew can get his ship free of the magical ice surrounding it, he’ll sail them to wherever they want. They just have to make nice with a naiad queen.

So, once again, solving everyone else’s problems other than their own, they make their way to her temple, and after clearing out some of the denizens, they convince her to share the ritual that will remove the ice. After some stomach-clenching rolls, the group succeeds and is able to sail into the lake and towards Egede.

Of course, it can’t be all smooth sailing. Along the way they encounter psychedelic bubbles that, at best, force those who inhale them to have hallucinations. At worst, they drive people mad, and they encounter a whole ship of people who apparently took in a deep breath. The party received a worrying glimpse into their lost memories before being set upon by the specter of Osoyo.

They survived, finally coming to the costal town of Egede, where they bid their captain farewell as he finally takes his ship and his crew to the great beyond.

GM Stuff

Okay, seriously, if you’re a player in my stream, DO NOT KEEP READING. Don, James, Jorge, Daton, Ricardo, CLOSE THIS TAB.

This chapter, in spite of having a lot in it, went by fast. Seriously, I almost forgot to write this blog post. As of this writing, the party is almost done with chapter 3! So if you’re a GM who only preps one chapter ahead, maybe reach a bit further for this book.

Encounter-wise, everything was fairly straightforward. None of the fights left the crew anywhere near a TPK, and none of the encounters left them confused. In fact, the hardest thing they ran into was the ritual. It took a few goes, but finally, they succeeded. If your players ranks are low and you don’t want the ritual to just be NPCs rolling dice, consider having the naiad queen handwave it. After all, if the ice isn’t lifted, they’re not going anywhere!

Finally, ghost Sakuachi is still working out fine! Thought I will say that the players are desperate to make her a statted NPC, I play up that she’s barely holding on to the material plane at this point in time. There are spots in the AP where her team could have stepped win with skills, but this group is fairly well-balanced, so can handle pretty much anything that comes their way.

Looking forward

While I’m enjoying book 2, I’m really looking forward to everything coming together in book 3. The mystery, finally talking to their patron, and the trek across the icy planes: It’s going to be so good.

Gatewalkers: Book 2 Chapter 1 done!

Over on D20Saves, I’m running Gatewalkers, one of the latest APs from Paizo! From the official website:

After they walked through that glowing gateway, nothing was ever the same. A band of characters become paranormal investigators to determine the cause of a global amnesic episode. Their quest takes them to lands near, far, and outside this reality altogether. Along the way, the characters meet fellow “gatewalkers,” defeat alien monsters, and explore strange realms touched by the Missing Moment. And when it comes time to learn the grim truth of what happened to them on that fated summer night, what then?

Warning: The first part of this blog will cover what happened in the stream, so there are spoilers for the beginning of Book Two. Part two will include my thoughts as a GM, so there are major spoilers for the AP overall.

Check out the playlist here if you want to watch the previous episodes!

Book Two opens with a bang. Unlike other Paizo books, there’s no gap between books. One moment, they’re on Castrovel, escaping from an interplanetary battle, and the next, they’re in a strange observatory with a rattled seer asking for help from whatever is currently beating down the door.

The gang has found themselves at Skywatch, though not quite on Golarion. Somehow, they’re on the Ethereal Plan, the plane that lies between all other planes. It’s not completely hopeless, however, as there’s a gate right outside of town that will probably get them back to the Material Plane. They just need to collect the seer’s party from various points around the ghostly Skywatch.

The gang is more than up for the challenge as they navigate non-Euclidian streets and beat up everything from bandits to dragons to find all of the stray party members. Everyone gathered, they make their way to the gate, activate it, and find themselves back in the Material Plane…

And all of their new companions dead. The party members they had spent a week saving vanish, with only the Seer, Sakuachi, just barely able to hold onto her form as a ghost. Horrified, they realize that a dark presence had reached out to Skywatch and yanked all who were there through to the Ethereal plane, leaving their bodies behind to freeze to death.

The party agrees to take on Sakuachi’s quest, realizing that they share a common enemy.

GM Stuff

Okay, seriously, if you’re a player in my stream, DO NOT KEEP READING. Don, James, Jorge, Daton, Ricardo, CLOSE THIS TAB.

Ethereal Plane

In my last post, I mentioned that I planned on switching book one to be in the Ethereal Plane rather than ‘weird, but still on the Material Plane’ Skywatch. This worked seamlessly with the overall feel for the AP, and even made the issue of navigating Skywatch more intuitive. It also focused the players’ energy on getting out, rather than pointing towards an exit but saying they couldn’t go there yet. They knew they probably needed Sakuachi’s crew, being all mystic, and they knew that they wouldn’t leave until all of their people were accounted for.

Killing off Skywatch

The bigger change I made in this chapter was killing off all of Skywatch. I had a few reasons for doing this:

Adding what’s essentially a second party to the team was too many moving parts for me
I wanted the PCs to take personal ownership of the quest, since that’s what moves the plot along at several points
It ups the stakes for the group from “let’s poke at mysteries” to “oh crap, this thing is a danger.”
I was worried about another Hubert situation, where they’d take an NPC’s sheet and turn them into an absolute monster in combat.

The players took the reveal in stride and happily took on Sakuachi’s quest, with her trailing behind them as a ghost. Of course, they still made the case that she could have a sheet, but I shot that down. I still expect them to break the plot with her, but it shouldn’t be quite as bad. Also, looking forward, I think she works best as a spirit. Her companions don’t serve a purpose, and for the most part, she’s chilling in the background. Might as well make her see-through!

The rough timeline I gave the PCs once they were back on the Material plane:

Everyone was at Skywatch in the Material Plane for their own reasons. Matz for treasure, bandits for banditry, Sakuachi for her quest.
All at once, everyone was pulled into the Etheral Plane, leaving their bodies behind.
Bodies froze to death over time, since fires went out eventually.
Whatever did this left tendrils of Blackfrost behind.
It’s implied heavily that this Osoyo jerk may be responsible.

Important to know

I’ve finished reading Book Three, and there’s a detail I skimmed over that I wish I had hit harder. The PCs will run across the former denizens of Skywatch later, but in prepping book two, I hadn’t realized that they were still around. So, if the players investigate, leave hints that the whole town left some months ago, heading north.

Also, if you plan on killing everyone off like I did, make sure Matz gives those last details to the PCs before they leave! Otherwise, they won’t know where their next plot hooks are.

Looking forward

After looking at how the rest of the plot pans out, turning Sakuachi into a ghost works pretty darn well. Most of her mission can be easily transferred to the PCs, or maintained with her being a ghostly presence.

I’m super duper looking forward to some of the set pieces, such as the mansion mystery. Hell, I’m even looking forward to the trek across the ice! Some people have complained about it, but if you’ve ever read Lovecraftian works, you know they love dumping the doomed protagonists into a desolate landscape where the only way is forward.

Gatewalkers: Book one done!

Over on D20Saves, I’m running Gatewalkers, one of the latest APs from Paizo! From the official website:

After they walked through that glowing gateway, nothing was ever the same. A band of characters become paranormal investigators to determine the cause of a global amnesic episode. Their quest takes them to lands near, far, and outside this reality altogether. Along the way, the characters meet fellow “gatewalkers,” defeat alien monsters, and explore strange realms touched by the Missing Moment. And when it comes time to learn the grim truth of what happened to them on that fated summer night, what then?

Warning: The first part of this blog will cover what happened in the stream, so there are spoilers for Book One. Part two will include my thoughts as a GM, so there are major spoilers.

Check out the playlist here if you want to watch the previous episodes!

The last chapter opens just after the players have learned that they were all wrong: They’re neither in the First World nor in some underexplored region of the Mwangi Expanse. They’re on the wrong planet! The gate they jumped through landed them on Castrovel, the planet NEXT to Golarion. Just as they were getting their head around the problem of getting home, they accidentally inflicted the elf-killing curse on their best hope of getting back.

Thankfully, she’s only mostly dead, so they take on the task of restoring her and exploring the weird world of Castrovel, which honestly deserves its own AP.

GM Stuff

Okay, seriously, if you’re a player in my stream, DO NOT KEEP READING. Don, James, Jorge, Daton, Ricardo, CLOSE THIS TAB.

The good

The players loved the Castrovel twist. They threw themselves into interacting with the local denizens and figuring out how to get back home. Also, in what’s extremely rare with experienced players, none of them saw it coming, but didn’t feel like it came from nowhere. Bravo, Paizo.

They also had fun in the dungeons in this part of the book, which are fairly unique and evocative. There’s a long-abandoned library that’s utterly alien in every form. There’s an encounter set on the back of a mythical beast. And hooooboy, that final battle is one that no one was expecting. You could take this chapter and plunk it in any adventure for a fun bit of weird.

Oh, and that last fight? Holy cow, that was a lot of fun. If you plan on GMing this, figure out in advance how you’re going to do the transitions, because it’s well worth doing well for the full impact.

Some warnings

It’s assumed that the players hand a cursed key over to a particular elf, who will immediately be struck down. 90% of the chapter involves helping to cure her. If your players have started suspecting that the key they’re carrying is dangerous, I would think about how you’re going to rebrand those encounters. I wouldn’t skip them, because they are a ton of fun, but they do need some reworking when it comes to why the players are doing them.

Also… Hubert. I’m currently reading book three, and I’m fairly confident there’s no off-ramp for this NPC. With my group, the players ended up reworking him as a beastkin fighter, but not every GM wants tagalongs. If you’d prefer to keep the party to just players, I’d recommend either having him stay behind when they gate out of the First World, or maybe stay with the Oatia (Castrovel elves).

Other thoughts

SO MUCH HAPPENS IN THIS FREAKING BOOK. Seriously, it feels like two books worth of material. In a way, I wish they had spread it over two books, because Castrovel was a ton of fun and could have been mined a bit further.

Having prepped book two and started book three, I’ve realized that I want to do some overhauls. It’s a perfectly fine AP and could easily be run as-is, but a few tweaks never hurt.

First, I’m adding more planes. The first book has you jumping around so much that I was disconcerted to find out there were no jumps (at least that I recall) in book two. So, I’m adding one by putting Skywatch in the Ethereal Plane.

It explains why everything is weird.
It created a more focused goal: Escape the plane.
It explains why contact was cut suddenly (everyone got sucked into another plane).

This required fewer updates than you might think. Using Deep Dream Generator, I used Deep Style to update the maps. Uploading them, I didn’t even have to update the dynamic lighting!

The next thing I’m doing is…

Killing off Sakuachi. Kind of.

Look, before you judge me or think I’m going hard on Paizo, I’ll say the NPC godcaller is FINE. Yes, guiding her on her vision quest is a bit on the nose, but I’ll take ‘too direct’ over ‘wait, how do I get my players to this random area where all the plot is?!’ any day. It’s just that I know my players. If you give them an NPC, they’ll want to give that NPC levels and bring them into combats and outfit them, and she has BODYGUARDS.

Y’all, they made the freaking hedgehog a legit BEAST in fights.

I could say no, but I’d be saying no over and over again. So, instead, I’ll pull an Ozymandias.

Motivational Meme format:

Ozymandias stands before two figures. "'Do it?' Dan, I'm not a republic serial villain. Do you seriously think I'd explain my master stroke if there remained the slightest chance of you affecting its outcome? I did it thirty-five minutes ago."

Subtitle: Time Management - Do it 35 minutes ago.

They get to run around with the spirit caller, still fleshy, in the Ethereal plane, hunting for a way out and tracking down her people. Once everyone is together, they leave through a gate and…

Look back upon a wrecked city. The Godcaller and her guards are ghostly apparitions, stunned as the party is. The bodyguards fade, with nothing keeping them attached to the material plane, but Sakuachi stays… barely. She has a job to do, and less time than ever to do it. And she can’t do it herself.

The party is nudged to retrieve some items off of her body (which can be found near the telescope where they met and where the Space Elves lost contact with her) and continue her quest, with the oddly timed approval of the Professor.

I mean, they’ll probably still ask if they can give her levels as a Ghost archetype, but at least I’m not dealing with the bodyguards anymore.

Gatewalkers: Book 1 Chapter 2 Done!

Over on D20Saves, I’m running Gatewalkers, one of the latest APs from Paizo! From the official website:

After they walked through that glowing gateway, nothing was ever the same. A band of characters become paranormal investigators to determine the cause of a global amnesic episode. Their quest takes them to lands near, far, and outside this reality altogether. Along the way, the characters meet fellow “gatewalkers,” defeat alien monsters, and explore strange realms touched by the Missing Moment. And when it comes time to learn the grim truth of what happened to them on that fated summer night, what then?

Warning: The first part of this blog will cover what happened in the stream, so there are spoilers for Book One. Part two will include my thoughts as a GM, so there are major spoilers.

Check out the playlist here if you want to watch the previous episodes!

Chapter Two recap: Through the first Portal

Chapter 2 picks up after capturing the rogue druid Bolan and his followers. The crew now had a name: Kaneepo the Slim.

Since Bolan was interested in only boasting and wasting their time, the crew set out to investigate the surrounding area to see if they could track down this mysterious figure causing so much trouble and who had made off with a valuable artifact called the Shadewither Key. This eventually leads them to a portal into the Thinlands (think First World but Drab), and they fight their way through various flunkies to take out the strange being themselves.

They release a prisoner (an uplifted hedgehog named Hubert), and together, they make their way to a set of Elven Gates that mirror the ones they saw back in the Material Plane. One reacts, and because caution is for losers, they jump through, landing them in a dense, colorful jungle. Progress!

The crew sees a city in the distance and opts to go there, arguing whether they’re in the Mwangi or a more colorful part of the First World. En route, they fight weird slugs, ford blood rivers, dismantle mining equipment, and avoid perfectly harmless mushrooms, finally making it to the city covered in telescopes.

A gaggle of elves greets them, curious if wary, and they find out they are all wrong: They’re not in the First World OR the Mwangi, but on a completely different planet: Castrovel!

SPOILER ALERT! 

After this point, there are major spoilers for players… INCLUDING MINE. So, James, Jorge, Ricardo, Don, and Daton: STOP READING. 

I MEAN IT. 

👿👿👿

The Good

The investigations early in the chapter were outstanding. They gave the players a chance to roleplay and flex their non-combat muscles. I also liked the system in the AP: As players earned “points,” specific facts came to light, making levels of success important. In theory, the rolls should have been secret, but I got lazy at the last minute and had players roll in the open. This isn’t for every group, but it worked for me since I love committing to a wretched failure.

The “dungeon” of this chapter was also a solid challenge for experienced players. There are many varied creatures and traps, and not every encounter has to end in death. The players get more out of the scenario if they resolve things peacefully.

They also latched onto Hubert, an anthropomorphic hedgehog, immediately, making him a party member right after rescuing him.

Some warnings

One thing about Kaneepo’s Lair: It’s meant to be done in one day, which can be challenging for rest-happy players. I didn’t realize this until the end, but the players assumed Kaneepo was “somewhere else,” so they happily burned resources. They were running on dry as they approached the last room, so I removed one encounter and neutralized another so they wouldn’t tempt death. The design isn’t bad, but it’s something to consider with your group. If they’re gung-ho, maybe drop a hint that Kaneepo is home or that they’ll likely have to finish once they start.

If your players are low on acrobatics, Castrovel might be a struggle. Not everyone needs it, but at least one or two people should be okay. I honestly think this is one of the reasons they put Hubert in the crew: He has a surprisingly good bonus.

Some of the moderate encounters felt severe due to the terrain. The players struggled a LOT with a stupid snail because it was in a rushing river, and the cliffhunters brought a lot of pain with the fight being in the air on a small platform. I’m not sure that I’d make them easier, though, because the whole vibe of Castrovel is “you’re in danger.”

GM thoughts

This is such a long chapter. It felt like two chapters if we’re being honest. If you wanted to bump up the end level of Gatewalkers, I feel like there are a few chapters so far that can be split into two with a milestone between them. Later chapters would have to be updated, but adding a level to encounters is generally pretty easy.

I also cut out several encounters. Since I stream this game, I try to keep things tight, which means anything that doesn’t add to the plot or the setting might get removed. If you’re looking to do the same, here’s what I took out of Chapter 2:

Shadow Guards Trap: The players were already low on resources and had already gotten enough information about what went on with Kaneepo.
The Looksee Man: They met him, but I went out of my way to make him non-aggressive. I knew the Big Bad was in the next room, and they were down to one heal.
Death from the Trees: They saw the creature since I felt like that added to the setting, but they left it alone.
Hilltop Ambush: The snail WRECKED the party, so I decided to skip this and move straight to the next plot-nudging encounter.

If you want to keep these, do so! I only remove them because I need less filler as a stream than if I were at a table with way more time.

One regret: I wish I had made more notes about Kaneepo’s motivations because I didn’t expect my players to grill everyone they met about what this dude was doing. Silly, I know, since their whole deal was taking him out, but I completely forgot to make some bullet points for myself.

As for the twist, the players LOVED it, and I do think they were genuinely surprised. Excellent work, Paizo!

As for Hubert, I’m trying to figure out what the heck to do with him. The books don’t offer a graceful place for him to jump off unless you count the unforgiving embrace of death. I’m talking to the players about making him an actual character with a martial class they level and control. Elite levels will only take you so far. Maybe a Beastkin Ranger?

Next Chapters

I’ve prepped half of book two, and… there’s a surprising lack of portals and plane jumping. I’m seriously considering moving one of the major areas (Skywatch) to the Ethereal Plane to add variety.

The “escape” that’s key to the chapter could be getting to and activating a portal that will take them to the material plane.
This could also explain the wonky nature of Skywatch. They’re in a reflection of it!
It could also be why the “call” from the major NPC of that book was cut off. The whole place left the material plane!

I’m still considering it (I have some time), but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea. It also gives me some leeway in the third book to add another plane or two!