Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands Campaign Guide

If all goes well, the party will investigate the massacre of a merchant’s party, explore an abandoned keep and delve into a dwarven hall. The successful party will have the op-tion of picking an additional adventure if they choose to. Characters surviving the Keep should reach third level, with fifth and seventh in reach if the party continues on. Rules are entirely from the Pathfinder Core Rulebook (except for traits). If it’s in the Core Rulebook section of the Pathfinder PRD, it should be fine. This is my first go at GMing. Feel free to point out mistakes: important ones as they happen in Game Play; others more likely via the Discussion thread. Also use Discus-sion and IMs to let me know about things that aren’t working or concerns you have. I’d prefer to work through those as best we can, rather than something festering and a player quitting in frustration.

About the Campaign

What Are We Doing and Why?

Things people often wonder about me. I wanted to recapture some of the fun of table-top roleplaying. But things are a bit more difficult than they were back in the day. Priorities have changed and we have a bit more perspective and maturity (perhaps more of the former than the latter…).

Time is both our most precious resource and the hardest to pool. So, I decided to shoot for a Play by Post game. We’ll use a message board structure where I will post as the Games Master (GM) and you (the Player) will post in response as the charac-ters. This should allow everyone to participate as their schedules allow. It won’t be perfect, but I think it will work overall and the game will progress somewhat steadily.

Inside the Guide:

Paizo & Pathfinder 2

Karlae & the Arthfell Forest

4

Olfden 5

IronFang Keep 8

Golarion 9

GolarionTimeline 10

Gods & Religion 11

Play By Post 13

Glossary 14

Character Sheet 17

Swallowfeld 6

Village of Hommlet 12

Arthfell Groups 7

The Party 3

NPCs 19

Campaign Log 20

Gary Gygax created Dungeons and Dragons and founded TSR. He was actually forced out of his own company and TSR, nearly bank-rupt, was bought by Wizards of the Coast in 1997. Three years later in 2000, D&D Third Edition (3.0) was released to succeed AD&D 2nd Edition.

Most of the folks running Paizo (the company that created Path-finder) worked for Wizards of the Coast and were key figures in the development of D&D 3.0. This version utilized what is now the standard format of the d20 System. It also incorporated The Open Game License (OGL). In a nut-shell, third party developers could produce products using the D&D system without paying for use of it. The market was flooded with modules, campaign books, rules changes, you name it. Some was bad, some was good. But it result-ed in a surge of popularity for D&D.

Only three years later, a revised version came out, D&D 3.5. Among other things, this allowed Wizards of the Coast to publish a whole new set of rulebooks, mod-ules, etc. A lot of D&D 3.0 players were pissed. But even more so when D&D 4th Edition, a major overhaul to make the game more

World of Warcraft –like, came out in 2008.

4.0 also had a much more restric-tive version of what had been the Open Game License and third party product dried up, relatively speaking. But the strength of the OGL was that it could be used forever. So people kept playing 3.0/3.5 and new products kept coming out for it. D&D 4.0 was actually competing against itself in D&D 3.0/3.5.

Paizo had been contracting with Wizards of the Coast to publish Dragon and Dungeon magazines, but Wizards ended that agreement in 2007, bringing both in-house as on-line mags.

Paizo produced OGL products under the Game Mastery line, in-cluding game mats for miniatures and the like. In 2009, with a roster of D&D 3.0 talents, they launched the Pathfinder RPG, which has been commonly referred to as version 3.75. It is seen as what D&D 3.5 would have evolved into had Wizards not decided to scrap the existing game and go more MMORPG-like.

Pathfinder has been very success-ful in the declining market of pen and paper RPGs. Some of their products are outselling Wizards of the Coast’s and there is quite a bit of third party material for the Pathfinder RPG. More than there has been for official D&D.

Each Pathfinder book (and there are new ones monthly, including their signature Adventure Paths) are available in both print and pd form, which has proven popular. Wizards has received considerable

backlash for 4th Edition: in fact, it’s already being abandoned as they are developing Dungeons and Dragons Next, which is essentially fifth edition. Many former D&D players are playing Pathfinder. Aside from the similarity to 3.0/3.5 rules, the shelves of re-source books that players owned were still useable with a little work.

D&D was in danger of disappear-ing when Wizards purchased TSR for $25 million in 1997. Wizards had previously hit it big by creating Magic: The Gathering. They scored again in 1997 by introduc-ing the Pokemon Trading Card Game. The success of those games and the D&D brand name led the mega-company Hasbro to buy Wizards for $325 million in 1999.

The OGL was a community driven concept. Hasbro runs Wizards much more like an IBM-type cor-poration, wanting 100% of the profits, even at the expense of D&D popularity. Thus, the OGL was terminated and in 2009 they stopped selling pdf products through other vendors. Paizo/Pathfinder have benefitted from the ‘open approach’ in contrast to the current marketing of D&D.

In November of 2011, Paizo an-nounced they are developing a Pathfinder MMORPG, while D&D Next (i.e., Fifth Edition) is in the works from Wizards.

Paizo & Pathfinder

The Party

Shadowed Keep

Beau Trill— Born a Chelaxian slave, this halfling was liberated by Andoran knights while visiting Almas. He was taught by acolytes of Desna and became one of her clerics himself. Finding freedom a new way of life, he searches for both lost treasures and his sister Amelia, who the knights could not save.

Darpan— This human monk hails from the continent of Vudra. He came to Avistan as assistant to a swami who then passed on. Roaming this new world, he went westward from Absalom and found himself in the Darkmoon Vale region.

Petracleus— Heir to a large barony, the human named Araneus Chrome III, Petracleus escaped a peas-ant uprising one step ahead of the pitchforks. He eventually returned home, only to find burnt out ruins and no signs of his family. But realizing how poor the ‘have-nots’ lived, he forsook his noble birth, changed his name to Petracleus and earned a living by his sword arm.

Shane Greenbottle— This halfling druid is, literally, a tree hugger. He loves to climb trees. He pre-fers to spend his time in the wilderness: this is no ‘urban druid.’

Wix Knickershins— Third son of a barely noble human family, Wix was basically ignored and en-joyed causing mischief around the house. He also learned some skills not quite normal for his standing. Final-ly tiring of his trouble causing, his family sent him off to become a priest. Since he is now a rogue, he clearly had other ideas.

Karlae was the leader of the Azure Guard, the most successful adventuring com-pany in Andoren history. After the group disbanded, she remained in Olfden and now plays an important role in nearly all town matters. It is well known that she stood tall in the Night of Silver Blood.

She is also a semi-retired Pathfinder and still assists the Society. In addition to magical research, her most common activity is hiring non-members to perform a wide variety of tasks, such as this one. You answered a call for adventurers and Karlae met you at the Silver Bulette Inn, located in the city of Olfden. You must have had all the right answers, as the five of you have been given a commission on behalf of the Pathfinder Society.

Karlae Siegfrost

The Arthfell Forest of Western Andoran was once part of the same forest as its better known northern counterpart, Darkmoon Wood. Due to its relative paucity of darkwood, it has been much less heavily harvested by the Lumber Con-sortium than the Darkmoon and was home to the Forest King, Narven. Another reason the Arthfell sees fewer axes is because of the Shadow Pack, a group of lycanthropic druids who violently protect the forest. This sometimes puts them at odds with another faction, the FangWatch. The Watch is much more moderate and primarily patrols the northern part of the Arthfell. Thatch Wormtar leads a band of hobgoblins in the northern part of the forest. They occasionally cause problems, though they aren’t strong enough to make much of an impact.

Olfden is the largest city nearby. To the west are the Aspodell Mountains, Piren’s Bluff and the Chelaxian Border. Baron Harald Klaustad, a noble who sided with neither Cheliax or Andoran during the Revolution, rules Piren’s Bluff, which plays a valuable role in keeping Cheliax out of Andoren. The village of Swallowfeld is a bustling community because it sits near the convergence of road, stream and forest.

The Arthfell Forest

Shadowed Keep

Olfden

Swallowfeld

A city of just over three thousand (mostly humans), Olfden is home to Karlae Siegfrost. Aware of the inevitable decline of the logging industry, the city has repositioned itself as a base for adventurers in the region. There are dozens of shops, inns and businesses that cater to those setting off for adventure in the area and it is an excellent place for resupplying. It is also home to the largest temple in western Andoran; dedicated to Sarenrae, the dawnbringer.

Oflden works closely with the nearby Diamond Regiment to suppress the werewolves in the Arthfell and to protect the darkwood shipments that keep the area alive. Karlae met with prospective adventurers in the city’s largest inn, the Silver Bulette. The adventure opens there.

Olfden

The adventurers came to Olfden in answer for a call for work from an agent of the Pathfinder Society.

Swallowfeld is a village of about 500, situated at the convergence of the Western Road, the edge of the Arthfell Forest and the stream known as Taran’s Run. Baron Holdstadt of Piren’s Bluff, a few hours ride to the west, is nominal overlord of the village.

There is a small church to Erastil, an inn/tavern, a busy mill, a small castle for the garrison and an arcane tower. Goblins have been known to cause trouble in the area. Swallowfeld will be the party’s base of operations.

Notable Residents

Beryan Teague—she is the bailiff

Kito and Tecca Joliffe- this husband and wife run the mill

Kenan Dobel—he is Erastil’s priest

Melor Keast—he is reeve (think, mayor)

Myghal Endean – he is the village blacksmith

Sowena—she is the village hag

Maban and Bleja Tangyes—this husband and wife run the Wolf’s Head Inn

Sir Talek Annear—he commands the local garrison

Tryfena – she is the local merchant

Jory Mayne—he is a local wizard

Mellyn Vosper—she is the best hunter and archer in the village

Swallowfeld

Reeve Keast

Tryfena

If you grew up when Dragon Magazine was a print edition, your gaming store carried, you saw lots of Larry Elmore art. The iconic artist has provided illustrations for some of Raging Swan’s new products.

Groups of the Arthfell

Shadowed Keep

The Aspodell Rangers—Men and women who roam the Aspodell Mountains, hunting giants, trolls and other threats in the range. They deny the authority of both Andoran and Cheliax. However, their services are so valued that both nations claim them and both support them and petition them for aid.

The Diamond Regiment—An Andoran military force stationed in the fortress of Adamas, west of Olfden. At core a plethora of Eagle Knights, while they are ostensibly there to defend against any goblin uprising out of Isger. Most recognize that the Knights are there to keep an eye on the Lumber Consortium and improve the quality of life of those in the Vale.

The Fang Watch—A group of rangers and a few barbarians who patrol the Arthfell; primarily the northern por-tion. Most distrust the half-masked woods walkers.

The Greenfire Circle—A group of druids who try to foster a balance between the various groups in Darkmoon Vale, including humans, lycanthropes and the fey. As such, they always seem to be in disfavor with multiple groups.

The Lumber Consortium— The most powerful group in the Vale, they have a monopoly on the harvesting of precious darkwood, which is used to build the Andoran navy. The Consortium is a cruel employer and most of its employees, primarily in the Darkmoon Wood, are little more than slave labor. The Consortium will use any means to maintain its activities.

The Shadow Pack—A group of lycanthropic druids who violently protest logging in the Arthfell Forest. They rarely stray from the forest but are more than willing to shed blood within it to preserve the trees.

The Silver Arrows — Little is known of this group that has recently come to the Arthfell. Primarily elven rangers and wizards, they seem to be focusing their efforts on the The Shadow Pack.

The Silverers—A group that hunts down werewolves and feeds them a lethal concoction of silver and wolfs-bane. It is such an excruciating death that even the anti-werewolf inhabitants of Darkmoon Vale disapprove. Thus, membership in the Silverers is secret.

Wormtar’s Hobgoblins—The only hobgoblin tribe of note in the Darkmoon Vale lives in the northern Arthfell, led by Thatch Wormtar.

We had an operative scout the Keep. This map is based on his description. He was forced to flee when a group of humans, likely bandits which have been plaguing the area, spotted him and gave chase.

- Karlae Siegfrost

Weary from his years of adventuring, Valentin Ironwolf sought a place to make a home for himself and his family. For five years, he and his retainers built a fortified keep in the middle of the Arthfell Forest, not too far from the village of Swallowfeld. In addition to raising the structure, he and his wife took sword and spell into the surrounding woods and razed the warring humanoids living nearby. Tribes of orcs, kobolds and goblins fell before their might. However, monies dried up and Valentin lacked the resources to complete his keep. A malaise set in and eventually the enemies he had warred upon banded together and sacked the keep, slaughtering the inhabitants to the last one. Such allies rarely keep the peace and all eventually abandoned the keep. Adventurers occasionally ventured in and many never returned. It became known as Valentin’s Folly and the Shad-owed Keep.

In the past six months or so, raids on local paths and nearby Swallowfeld Village have increased. Some blame bandits; others whisper that something sinister is inhabiting the Keep. Regardless, the mayor of Olfden is concerned. He has enough to worry about without Valentin’s Folly becoming a threat. His advisor, Karlae Siegfrost, agreed to use her influence with the Pathfinder Society to put out a call for a band to investigate the Keep. Pathfinders always have ulterior motives, but none know what Kar-lae’s are: yet.

Ironfang Keep

Golarion

The ancient empire of Azlant grew powerful and prideful. So much so that they planned on overthrowing the aboleths who had raised them up. In a pre-emptive move, the aboleths brought the heavens crashing down as falling stars created a cata-clysm known as Earthfall, destroying Azlant and wreaking havoc everywhere. History has ebbed and flowed and The Path-finder Society operates throughout the far corners of Golarion to uncover this history.

Avistan.

3313 The Witch Queen Baba Yaga creates the country of Irrisen out of the eastern Lands of the Linnorm Kings.

3827 The Shining Crusaders imprison the Whispering T rant.

3828 Taldor founds the province of Lastwall to guard against the Whispering Tyrant’s return.

3832 Iomedae successfully endures the Test of the Starstone to become Aroden’s Herald.

4081 Cheliax breaks from Taldor, taking with it Andoran, Galt, and Isger, beginning the ascent of Imperial Cheliax.

4137 Cheliax assaults Absalom and fails.

4138 Cheliax founds the colony of Sargava in Garund.

4307 The Pathfinder Society is founded in Absalom.

4338 Shadow-haunted Nidal falls to Cheliax.

4499 Choral the Conqueror founds Brevoy.

Age of Lost Omens (4606 ar to modern day)

4606 Rather than fulfilling prophecy and returning to Go-larion, Aroden dies. Demons and Abyssal energy overrun Sarkoris, transforming the barbarian kingdom into the Worldwound. The Eye of Abendego forms off the west-ern coast of Garund.

4609 Khemet I retakes Osirion from the Keleshite satraps.

4632 The province of Molthune secedes from Cheliax.

4640 The diabolical House of Thrune seizes control of Cheliax.

4655 Nirmathas breaks away from Molthune.

4661 Razmir, the Living God, establishes the nation of Razmiran in his own name.

4667 The people of Galt break away from Cheliax in the brutal Red Revolution.

4669 Andoran proclaims independence from diabolical Cheliax in the People’s Revolution.

4674 The Shackles pirates unite under the banner of the Hurricane King.

4710 The current year.

The Age of Darkness (–5293 ar to –4295 ar)

–5293 Earthfall. Falling stars destroy Azlant and the Star-stone creates the Inner Sea, ushering in the Age of Dark-ness.

The elves depart Golarion.

–5102 The orcs break through to the surface world and rampage across much of Avistan, driven upward as the dwarves tunnel toward the surface in their Quest for Sky.

Age of Anguish (–4294 ar to –3471 ar)

The world, broken and shattered, begins to mend itself as its peoples struggle for the power to heal the scarred land—or dominate it. The Spawn of Rovagug emerge from the depths for the first time.

Age of Destiny (–3470 ar to –1 ar)

–3470 Ancient Osirion is founded and stands as a be con of civilization, reaching its peak in –3000 ar.

–1281 Taldor is founded, eventually growing into an em-pire that dominates southern Avistan and much of the Inner Sea.

–892 The wizard-kings Nex and Geb go to war with each other in a conflict that lasts more than 1,000 years.

Age of Enthronement (1 ar to 4605 ar)

1 The hero Aroden raises the Starstone from the heart of the Inner Sea, ascends to godhood, and founds Absalom.

896 Aroden mortally wounds the wizard-king Tar-Baphon on the Isle of Terror.

1707 Taldor’s armies establish the province of Andoran.

1893 Norgorber passes the Test of the Starstone and be-comes a god.

2361 The Varisian hero Soividia Ustav founds Ustalav.

2497 The demon Treerazer begins defiling Kyonin.

2632 The elves return to Golarion from their place of exile.

2765 Cayden Cailean drunkenly passes the Test of the Starstone to become a god.3007 Taldor founds the prov-ince of Cheliax.

3203 The dreaded wizard Tar-Baphon returns to life as the Whispering Tyrant and begins terrorizing central

Religion plays a significant role in Golarion, and not just for clerics and paladins. The worship of deities of all types affects the fates of individuals and nations. The death of Aroden still sends reverberations through Cheliax and the Inner Sea na-tions. Razmir rules the nation that bears his name as a self-declared living god and all religions are outlawed in Rahadoum, which follows The Laws of Man.

Beyond direct intervention, gods can grant boons and powers to their followers. There are atheists in Golarion, but they are relatively few in number. It’s too hard to deny the presence of gods. A character can only worship a god within one ‘level’ of their own alignment. So, a chaotic good ranger cannot worship the lawful evil Asmodeus. Characters can switch faiths, but could suffer consequences as a result. Likewise, a god can sever their connection with a follower, most common in fallen clerics and paladins.

Gods and Religion

Sarenrae helps seal away Rovagug the Destroyer (reminds me a bit of Melkor in LOTR)

Creighton Broadhurst, grand poobah of Raging Swan Press, said that Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands is inspired by the moat house from The Village of Hommlet. Not familiar with that one?

T1: The Village of Hommlet was an Advanced D&D module published back in 1979. It was a nice little adventure in which the characters cleared out an old moat house. Its real significance is that it was a lead-in to The Temple of Elemental Evil (ToEE), just about the most popular AD&D module TSR put out.

Gary Gygax was very busy and it took awhile to get ToEE completed and published. When it was finally issued, The Village of Hommlet was rolled into it and the combo was released as T1-T4: The Temple of Ele-mental Evil (there was never any T2, T3 or T4). I'm telling you, back in 1985, this thing was THE module for D&D.

There was a third edition sequel to ToEE, Return to the Temple of Ele-mental Evil. Hommlet itself was updated and released as a D&D Fourth Edition version of the original.

Atari put out a ToEE PC game in 2003. Bioware’s Neverwinter Nights had come out the prior year and, I felt, made ToEE seem clunky and outdated upon re-lease.

Origins of the Shadowed Keep on the Borderlands

The Moat House was much more than just something to roll through on your way to the Temple.

I will try to make a GM post in the morning and again in the afternoon or late evening. You will make posts in reply, with your character’s action. I know life is busy, but please try to check in and post at least once a day during the week. Any-thing we get on weekends is bonus: real life certainly rules my weekends. But daily posting will keep the game moving; at least at a glacial pace! With iphones/ipads/PCs/Kindles/Nooks this shouldn’t be too tough.

The Discussion tab is the primary forum for questions/clarifications/whatever. You can IM me if you prefer that. You can also IM each other , though you should keep contact consistent with what’s going on in the game. I’ll be a bit suspi-cious if two of you suddenly pull off a six step coordinated movement out of the blue. But any info you would have shared with each other in your characters’ past or something you could have talked about if we were sitting around a table together is fine.

If somebody can’t check into the game for a two or three days, I’ll contact you. If you’re out of contact, I’ll likely move the game forward with your character being passive. The goal is to not to have things come to a halt.. Some days we may have a lot happen, most others, not so much. It’s up to you how much role playing versus combat we’ll have. I’m fine with however it plays out.

Players (not necessarily characters) are to be courteous to each other. We’re among friends. No pornography or disturb-ing stuff; no profanity (swear in dwarvish all you want!) please. This is supposed to be fun. We’ll work things out as we go, but really, it comes down to me posting, you replying, me responding to what you posted, you replying again and every-thing moving along.

PLEASE don’t read any spoilers not intended for you. We’re on the honor system here. When you read somebody else’s info, you’re really taking something away from their character.

Play By Post

Ability Score: Each creature has six ability scores: Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. These scores represent a creature’s most basic attributes. The higher the score, the more raw potential and talent your character possesses.

Action: An action is a discrete measurement of time during a round of combat. Using abilities, casting spells, and making attacks all require actions to perform. There are a number of different kinds of actions, such as a standard action, move action, swift action, free action, and full-round action (see Chapter 8).

Alignment: Alignment represents a creature’s basic moral and ethical attitude. Alignment has two compo-nents: one describing whether a creature is lawful, neu-tral, or chaotic, followed by another that describes whether a character is good, neutral, or evil. Alignments are usually abbreviated using the first letter of each alignment component, such as LN for lawful neutral or CE for chaotic evil. Creatures that are neutral in both components are denoted by a single “N.”

Armor Class (AC): All creatures in the game have an Armor Class. This score represents how hard it is to hit a creature in combat. As with other scores, higher is better.

Base Attack Bonus (BAB): Each creature has a base attack bonus and it represents its skill in combat. As a character gains levels or Hit Dice, his base attack bonus improves. When a creature’s base attack bonus reaches +6, +11, or +16, he receives an additional attack in combat when he takes a full-attack action (which is one type of full-round action—see Chapter 8).

Bonus: Bonuses are numerical values that are added to checks and statistical scores. Most bonuses have a type, and as a general rule, bonuses of the same type are not cumulative (do not “stack”)—only the greater bonus granted applies.

Caster Level (CL): Caster level represents a creature’s power and ability when casting spells. When a creature casts a spell, it often contains a number of variables, such as range or damage, that are based on the caster’s level.

Class: Classes represent chosen professions taken by characters and some other creatures. Classes give a host of bonuses and allow characters to take actions that they otherwise could not, such as casting spells or

changing shape. As a creature gains levels in a given class, it gains new, more powerful abilities. Most PCs gain levels in the core classes or prestige classes, since these are the most powerful (see Chapters 3 and 11). Most NPCs gain levels in NPC classes, which are less powerful (see Chapter 14).

Check: A check is a d20 roll which may or may not be modified by another value. The most common types are attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws.

Combat Maneuver: This is an action taken in combat that does not directly cause harm to your opponent, such as at-tempting to trip him, disarm him, or grapple with him (see Chapter 8).

Combat Maneuver Bonus (CMB): This value represents how skilled a creature is at performing a combat maneuver. When attempting to perform a combat maneuver, this value is added to the character’s d20 roll.

Combat Maneuver Defense (CMD): This score repre-sents how hard it is to perform a combat maneuver against this creature. A creature’s CMD is used as the difficulty class when performing a maneuver against that creature.

Concentration Check: When a creature is casting a spell, but is disrupted during the casting, he must make a concen-tration check or fail to cast the spell (see Chapter 9).

Creature: A creature is an active participant in the story or world. This includes PCs, NPCs, and monsters.

Damage Reduction (DR): Creatures that are resistant to harm typically have damage reduction. This amount is sub-tracted from any damage dealt to them from a physical source. Most types of DR can be bypassed by certain types of weapons. This is denoted by a “/” followed by the type, such as “10/cold iron.” Some types of DR apply to all phys-ical attacks. Such DR is denoted by the “—” symbol. See Appendix 1 for more information.

Difficulty Class (DC): Whenever a creature attempts to perform an action whose success is not guaranteed, he must make some sort of check (usually a skill check). The result of that check must meet or exceed the Difficulty Class of the action that the creature is attempting to perform in or-der for the action to be successful.

Extraordinary Abilities (Ex): Extraordinary abilities are unusual abilities that do not rely on magic to function.

Glossary (lifted directly from the Core Rulebook)

Experience Points (XP): As a character overcomes chal-lenges, defeats monsters, and completes quests, he gains experience points. These points accumulate over time, and when they reach or surpass a specific value, the character gains a level.

Feat: A feat is an ability a creature has mastered. Feats often allow creatures to circumvent rules or restrictions. Creatures receive a number of feats based off their Hit Dice, but some classes and other abilities grant bonus feats.

Game Master (GM): A Game Master is the person who adjudicates the rules and controls all of the elements of the story and world that the players explore. A GM’s duty is to provide a fair and fun game.

Hit Dice (HD): Hit Dice represent a creature’s general level of power and skill. As a creature gains levels, it gains additional Hit Dice. Monsters, on the other hand, gain racial Hit Dice, which represent the monster’s general prowess and ability. Hit Dice are represented by the num-ber the creature possesses followed by a type of die, such as “3d8.” This value is used to determine a creature’s total hit points. In this example, the creature has 3 Hit Dice. When rolling for this creature’s hit points, you would roll a d8 three times and add the results together, along with other modifiers.

Hit Points (hp): Hit points are an abstraction signifying how robust and healthy a creature is at the current m mo-ment. To determine a creature’s hit points, roll the dice indicated by its Hit Dice. A creature gains maximum hit points if its first Hit Die roll is for a character class level. Creatures whose first Hit Die comes from an NPC class or from his race roll their first Hit Die normally. Wounds subtract hit points, while healing (both natural and magi-cal) restores hit points. Some abilities and spells grant tem-porary hit points that disappear after a specific duration. When a creature’s hit points drop below 0, it becomes unconscious. When a creature’s hit points reach a negative total equal to its Constitution score, it dies.

Initiative: Whenever combat begins, all creatures in-volved in the battle must make an initiative check to deter-mine the order in which creatures act during combat. The higher the result of the check, the earlier a creature gets to act.

Level: A character’s level represents his overall ability and power. There are three types of levels. Class level is the number of levels of a specific class possessed by a charac-ter. Character level is the sum of all of the levels possessed by a character in all of his classes. In addition, spells have a level associated with them numbered from 0 to 9. This level indicates the general power of the spell. As a spell-caster gains levels, he learns to cast spells of a higher level.

More Wayne Reynolds

Monster: Monsters are creatures that rely on racial Hit Dice instead of class levels for their powers and abilities (although some possess class levels as well). PCs are usually not mon-sters.

Multiplying: When you are asked to apply more than one multiplier to a roll, the multipliers are not multiplied by one another. Instead, you combine them into a single multiplier, with each extra multiple adding 1 less than its value to the first multiple. For example, if you are asked to apply a ×2 multiplier twice, the result would be ×3, not ×4.

Nonplayer Character (NPC): These are characters con-trolled by the GM.

Penalty: Penalties are numerical values that are subtracted from a check or statistical score. Penalties do not have a type and most penalties stack with one another.

Player Character (Character, PC): These are the charac-ters portrayed by the players.

Round: Combat is measured in rounds. During an individu-al round, all creatures have a chance to take a turn to act, in order of initiative. A round represents 6 seconds in the game world.

Rounding: Occasionally the rules ask you to round a result or value. Unless otherwise stated, always round down. For example, if you are asked to take half of 7, the result would be 3.

Saving Throw: When a creature is the subject of a danger-ous spell or effect, it often receives a saving throw to miti-gate the damage or result. Saving throws are passive, mean-ing that a character does not need to take an action to make a saving throw—they are made automatically. There are three types of saving throws: Fortitude (used to resist poi-sons, diseases, and other bodily ailments), Reflex (used to avoid effects that target an entire area, such as fireball), and Will (used to resist mental attacks and spells).

Skill: A skill represents a creature’s ability to perform an ordinary task, such as climb a wall, sneak down a hallway, or spot an intruder. The number of ranks possessed by a crea-ture in a given skill represents its proficiency in that skill. As a creature gains Hit Dice, it also gains additional skill ranks that can be added to its skills.

Spell: Spells can perform a wide variety of tasks, from harming enemies to bringing the dead back to life. Spells specify what they can target, what their effects are, and how they can be resisted or negated.

Spell-Like Abilities (Sp): Spell-like abilities function just like spells, but are granted through a special racial ability

or by a specific class ability (as opposed to spells, which are gained by spellcasting classes as a character gains levels).

Spell Resistance (SR): Some creatures are resistant to magic and gain spell resistance. When a creature with spell resistance is targeted by a spell, the caster of the spell must make a caster level check to see if the spell affects the target. The DC of this check is equal to the target creature’s SR (some spells do not allow SR checks).

Stacking: Stacking refers to the act of adding together bo-nuses or penalties that apply to one particular check or sta-tistic. Generally speaking, most bonuses of the same type do not stack. Instead, only the highest bonus applies. Most pen-alties do stack, meaning that their values are added together. Penalties and bonuses generally stack with one another, meaning that the penalties might negate or exceed part or all of the bonuses, and vice versa.

Supernatural Abilities (Su): Supernatural abilities are mag-ical attacks, defenses, and qualities. These abilities can be always active or they can require a specific action to utilize. The supernatural ability’s description includes information on how it is used and its effects.

Turn: In a round, a creature receives one turn, during which it can perform a wide variety of actions. Generally in the course of one turn, a character can perform one standard action, one move action, one swift action, and a number of free actions. Less-common combinations of actions are per-missible as well, see Chapter 8 for more details.

NPCs

Shadowed Keep

Karlae Siegfrost—Pathfinder Society agent, retired adventurer and most importantly, your employer. She resides in Olfden. (See page 4 for more details on her)

Tamris—A mysterious halfling who accosted the party outside of the Silver Bulette and warned them that Karlae Siegfrost cannot be trusted.

Saltheas—Saltheas is the leader of the Silver Arrow unit (named ‘quivers’) in the Arthfell Forest. The Silver Arrows hunt werewolf followers of Jezelda, demon lord of such lycanthropes.

Campaign Log

Shadowed Keep

DAY ZERO

Each party member met individually with Karlae Siegfrost, Pathfinder Society agent and advisor to the Mayor. During your ‘interview,’ she related that:

There has been an increase in bandit activity near Ironfang Keep, an abandoned castle in the south of the Arthfell Forest (you are to investigate and find out what is going on);

Years ago, goblins and orcs slaughtered the inhabitants of the Keep and it’s been deserted for decades;

The village of Swallowfeld is a good base to work from;

The Fang Watch (werewolf druids) have been more active than normal in their efforts to hinder logging in the Arthfell;

You are commissioned by the Pathfinder Society and Karlae wants to see/know anything of interest you discover;

There could be future employment if you do your job well.

She also subtly explored any possible connections you have to Cheliax.

DAY ONE

The party met Karlae Siegfrost at The Silver Bulette in Olfden. During the conversation, you learn that she asked about Cheliax because of the common knowledge that the House of Thrune desires to bring upstart Andoran back under Cheliax-an control. She wanted to make sure none of you were infiltrators. She also mentioned that there has been more goblin ac-tivity than usual and rather dismissed reports of a green dragon sighting.

She again suggested you establish a base at Swallowfeld, mentioning the merchant Tryphena as a good contact. She added another warning about the Shadow Pack. The group seemed to agree on a payment of 250 gold for identifying the problem, plus another 250 gold if they clear it up. Plus, they can keep anything found that the Society doesn’t want.

As the party stepped outside the Bulette, a halfling accosted them. Shane and Wix recognized him from inside the tavern. He warns them to be careful of Karlae. She had used up a few of his friends and they ended up dead. Beau invited him to talk about the matter, which spooked the halfling. The stranger fled, followed by Wix and Shane.

Wix called out ot the halfling, who took evasive measures. The rogue quickly lost track of his quarry, though Shane fol-lowed, unobserved, with no difficulty. Shen followed him into the Vulgar Unicorn, a seedy tavern in the bad part of town. He (inadvertently) learned from the barkeep that the halfling, who was sitting with two down on their luck humans at a ta-ble, was named Tamris. Nearly exposed, Shane fled and returned to the town square, sharing his escapade with his compan-ions. Tasked by Karlae with escorting a pack horse to Swallowfeld, the party headed out a few hours before dark, the skies threatening rain.

After a few uneventful hours of travelling west along the road, the party prepared to make camp for the night with darkness coming and the rain still falling. A bloodied and disheveled woman came running out of the woods, throwing herself at Darpan’s feet and begging the party to help her. Almost immediately, three elven rangers burst forth, obviously chasing her. They acknowledged Darpan’s identification of them as members of the Silver Arrows faction and said that the woman was actually a werewolf and demanded the party let them finish her off.

The party, led by Saltheas, defied the newcomers and refused to hand her over. The elves seemed to come to some secret conclusion and suddenly depared, throwing a silver dagger on the ground as they went. The woman identified herself as Camilia, an herbalist who was gathering supplies in the woods when she was accosted by the elves. They toyed with her as she fled, finally coming across the characters.

The party camped for the night, Camilia barely speaking. In the dark hours before dawn, she head-ed off into the woods to relieve herself. She never returned and there was no sign of her in the woods.

DAY TWO

Shortly after starting out the next morning, the party foung a dead werewolf in the road. There was no way to know if it was Camlia or not.

Campaign Log

Shadowed Keep

The rain continued all day as the party slogged towards Swal-lowfeld. After dark, they came upon a massacre. An overturned carriage and six bodies were spread across a stone bridge.