Introduction: Dying in the Desolation

What is Dying in the Desolation?

"What the hell am I reading?"

Though I don't expect anyone besides those directly involved in the game to ever read this, it seemed like a good idea to explain what exactly this blog is on the off chance that isn't the case: It's about a Dungeons and Dragons game, more specifically Pathfinder. Still interested? Yeah figured not, but just in case, this blog will give the blow by blow for my current game which is based on the Slumbering Tsar Saga, an incredibly long and deadly adventure path; the link and others can give it more justice than I ever could, but to put it simply, as a player you are fucked.

If this confuses you, then I'm sorry to say you will remain confused; the purpose here is not to explain tabletop roleplaying games or the Pathfinder system. Sorry for the inconvenience if you somehow managed to get tricked into coming here because you liked the thought of people dying in deserts and misunderstood the title, or if someone currently has a gun to your head and is forcing you to be here; if the latter is the case just man up and hit the X already.

"I totally understand what you are talking about."

So really I'm making this record of my game as it occurred to me that as a long time player that sometimes I just completely forget what the fuck is going on or what I should be doing, though my character certainly knows... or should at least. With that in mind, yay reminder text! If you happened to stumble here from somewhere else, I hope it keeps you amused; it certainly did for me.

The setting

The setting is kept intentionally generic outside of the provided material from Slumbering Tsar, with little information given about the areas outside of the Desolation. Players are free to fill in the blanks as they see fit for their background within the very open parameters given below as the established "canon." The city of Parsantium is also mentioned as being the prize on the other side of the Desolation; characters may visit the area in a side quest fashion at some point in the game.

Player Materials

The following was given to players prior to begin of play; it's a bit rough by gave some perspective.

Background

Past the northern foothills beyond the city of Bard’s Gate lie the ruins of the ancient temple city of Orcus, Tsar, and the surrounding area, known as the Desolation. The area is a cruel and inhospitable place with both constant sand storms and wild creatures roaming the wastes, but still hidden treasures and magical artifacts are found by those brave enough to risk it.

Needless to say, the northern trade road has long been disused due to its danger, and for all intents and purposes its fate seemed to be sealed with the discovery of direct water routes to the exotic markets of the North.

But now such routes are disrupted by a bitter naval war over who will control it. Demand is up and supply is nearly non-existent. As such there has been a renewed interest in re-establishing the land route that runs through the Desolation and the dreaded Tsar.

Seeing this as an opportunity to battle the evil in the area, or more cynically to distract from other problems and gain wealth, several churches have declared it a crusade to cleanse the region: “-insert god- wills it.” Including in the movement is Muir, goddess of Virtue, and Thyr, god of Justice, both prominent in Bard’s Gate even as their influence wanes elsewhere. The organization of such an undertaking on a large scale is not yet complete and may prove ultimately to be impossible, but many small groups will undoubtedly and have already answered the call and set forth for the Desolation.

Now you are traveling several weeks through the northern foothills. Your destination is simply called The Camp, and sits on the edge of the Desolation. It is a wretched hive in every sense of the phrase, inhabited by the desperate, the mad, or the hunted. It was stagnant for many years, barely surviving off the few caravans that still dared risk the northern road or those brave or stupid enough to scavenge the wastes. Now business is booming, but the character of the settlement has not changed. Many have died in it without even reaching the Desolation and likely many more will share that fate.

History

Long ago the churches of the “good” natured gods, with the support of all-encompassing empire of the south, led an assault against Tsar. The resulting conflict was of an unheard of scale and fundamentally changed and scarred the lands around Tsar, creating the Desolation. The war was fought for several years before over night the city was magically emptied by a spell that cost the high priest of Orcus his life. The army fled, causing chaos in its wake, and the forces of good followed. Eventually the armies met in a forest along the coast deep in the south; thinking that victory was at hand, the forces of good pre-maturely named the place the Forest of Hope… all who entered the forest, both good and evil, vanished without a trace.

The effect of losing so many heroes and leaders was devastating. The empire’s territories collapsed back into the kingdoms they had been, and many of those kingdoms fell apart into loosely bound collections of city states. Trade and travel both became more dangerous and scarce; think the collapse of Rome. Only within the past 200 or so years has intense trade been reestablished completely within the boundaries of the old empire. Only within the past 50 has the water route become prominent, a welcome replacement for the dangerous, desperate, and little traveled land route through the Desolation.

Desolation Map

 

Technical details

System: Pathfinder
Starting level: 7, or current party level. Experience is not tracked; levels are awarded based on success.
Starting wealth: 25,000 gold regardless of level, which is slightly higher than standard wealth by level for a level 7 character. This gold may be spent in anyway the player chooses with no restriction on how much may be spent on any single item or how much may be spent in any gear category.
Ability scores: 25 point buy as per Pathfinder's point buy system.
Traits: Allowed, characters start with 2.
House Rules: The game is utilizing both Gestalt and a modified innate bonus system replaces certain magic items with innate character bonuses instead, hence the restricted wealth by level.
Innate bonus system
Starting at 3rd level, all characters receive points when they level up, that they can spend on bonuses to stats and attributes. The total number of points by level is given in the table. For example, a 10th level character has 15 points to spend; on reaching 11th level, they gain an additional 3 points, for 18 points in all.

Level...Points...Max Bonus...Max Bonus (Skills)
01..........00...........+0...............+00
02..........00...........+0...............+00
03..........01...........+1...............+05
04..........02...........+1...............+05
05..........04...........+1...............+05
06..........06...........+2...............+05
07..........08...........+2...............+05
08..........10...........+2...............+05
09..........12...........+3...............+05
10..........15...........+3...............+05
11..........18...........+3...............+10
12..........21...........+4...............+10
13..........24...........+4...............+10
14..........28...........+4...............+10
15..........32...........+5...............+10
16..........36...........+5...............+10
17..........40...........+5...............+10
18..........45...........+6*.............+10
19..........50...........+6*.............+10
20..........55...........+6*.............+10
*Only for attribute bonuses.

Points can be spent on the following bonuses, at the given rates:

Weapon enhancement bonus (melee/unarmed, ranged, or natural attacks): 2 points per +1 bonus
Armor enhancement bonus to AC (none/light or med/heavy): 1 point per +1 bonus
Shield enhancement bonus to AC (one hand free/buckler/light or heavy/tower): 1 point per +1 bonus
Natural armor enhancement bonus to AC: 2 points per +1 bonus
Deflection bonus to AC: 2 points per +1 bonus
Resistance bonus to saves: 1 point per +1 bonus
Enhancement bonus to one attribute (taken separately): 2 points per +2 bonus
Competence bonus to one skill (taken separately): 2 points per +5 bonus

These points can also be spent on permanent minions, such as controlled undead, Eidolons, familiars, or animal companions. Any points spent this way affect all minions (playing that by ear, so it may be subject to change) that have been under your control for at least a day. When you spend points this way, the bonuses purchased only apply to the minions, not the player character.

When the characters have "down time" (being in an area lacking random encounters for a couple days) they may spend time training or practicing to reallocate their points as they see fit. This is an intensive process and as such it is all they are able to do during such a time.

Other changes:
• Cloak of Resistance, Belt/Headband of Plus to an Ability Score, Ring of Protection, Amulet of Natural Armor, and enhancement bonuses to shields, weapons, and armor are not purchasable. Weapons, shields, and armor can still be bought with properties, but with the price of the +1 enhancement included. For example, a Keen sword would cost 8,000 gold, the same as a +1 Keen sword.
• DR is no longer overcome by weapon enhancement alone, except with the possible exception of natural attacks/unarmed strikes. We’ll play that by ear.
• Clerics may pick any Domain or Subdomain regardless of Deity, but should have a coherent explanation for their choices.
• Alignment does not restrict class choice. Feel free to be a Neutral Paladin or Lawful Barbarian, or gestalt the two classes together.
• Ring of Sustenance and similar items exist, but are rare and not for sale. Along the same lines, any cantrip/orison dealing with food or water is now a 1st level spell.