#agents of edgewatch

[xiiparts]

Steed Form

But what does a plant know about the anatomy of a horse? A similar shape will do just fine

[cocallnight]

Sulna: "What did you do?!"

Kamasu: "I either killed us all or nothing."

[monstersdownthepath]

Herald of Norgorber: The Stabbing Beast

CR 15

Neutral Evil Huge Outsider

Inner Sea Gods, pg. 300 (image from Adventure Path: Agents of Edgewatch: Assault on Hunting Lodge Seven, pg. 85)

In a list containing some impressively unimpressive names, it's still no contest: the most unfortunately-named Herald in the pantheon has to be the poor Stabbing Beast (which I will refer to as variations of "Stabs" from now on), Herald of the greediest and most ambitious of all the gods: Norgorber, god of secrets, poison, murder, greed [sound of a scroll unfurling] blackmail, assassins, theft, darkness, alchemy, anonymity, spiders, propaganda--oh whoops forget I said that last one, that hasn't happened yet. Ol' Norby has a major problem with gifting ridiculous names out to his minions, with his other divine servants bearing such titles as Yellowtooth, Secret Shade, and Venomfist, but unfortunately Stabby here draws the shortest straw, as it only does stabbing some of the time and barely qualifies as a beast!

I'm being rough on it, but in truth it's because Stabby has all the personality of a wind-up toy created to perform a single function, ignoring anything irrelevant to its mission to the point it simply bowls over any creature that doesn't get out of its way while it's walking. Any creature that sufficiently annoys it is simply dispatched without a second thought or moment's concern, and any time Stabby has interacted with another living creature through any medium other than violence, it's been to inspire that creature to violence. Whenever Stabby creeps across the world, it's most certainly to either kill someone or destroy something that Norgorber (or one of his powerful followers) wants destroyed, and even its price when called into the universe by mortal worshipers is "kill this specific person for me," presumably as a test.

When it appears, someone will die. As a Herald, it's about as direct and to the point as one could expect from a creature with such a title. But is it any more interesting in combat than any of the other giant scorpions? Let's find out...

Like most scorpions, Stabbington can strike quickly and without warning, often felling its prey before they even realize what's going on. Its Sudden Strike allows it to take a full round of actions during the surprise round rather than just a single standard action, meaning if it appears in the middle of the party via its 3/day Greater Teleport or after sneaking in with its 3/day Invisibility, someone is likely already halfway gone. Stabbington has the usual tricks for a scorpion: a pair of deadly claws (2d6+13) and a lethal stinger (2d6+11) loaded with a Strength-damaging poison to take the bite out of anyone attempting to fight back, or simply to take out the casters who dumped Str.

Each of its natural attacks inflicts a worrying 2d6 bleed damage, adding some additional strain to anyone trying to heal in combat, and worse than that: its claws Grab whatever they hit and Constrict it for an extra 2d6+12 damage every round the grapple isn't broken. Also, do you remember that poison? Because instead of delivering it via a sting, Stabby can use Poison Stream to make a ranged touch attack against a target within 180ft, exposing the victim to its poison while also blinding them for 1d4+1 rounds if they fail the save against it. It can do this either as a ranged attack on its own or by replacing the stinger attack it makes during a Full-Attack, letting it shoot distant targets while it continues to rip apart whoever it has in melee.

And speaking of, it wouldn't be a melee monster if it didn't have some extra ways to keep people from fleeing, would it? It's not any of the usual suspects, either (i.e. Step Up), but one we haven't seen before: the Scorpion Style feat! It can make a single attack as a standard action which forces a DC 20 Fortitude save, and anyone who fails is essentially pinned in place for 2 full rounds, unable to move more than 5ft as the beast tears into them. Even if they could, Combat Reflexes might make them reconsider.

Being the servant of the God Of Underhanded Tactics, Stabbo has some protection against underhanded tactics itself; it's got All-Around Vision and a permanent See Invisibility, +4 to saves versus mind-affecting effects (its base saves are +17/+17/+14!), it is immune to poison, and has Resistance to almost every element; 30 to Acid, 10 to Cold, Fire, and Electricity. Capping it all off is the laughably-easy-to-bypass DR 10/Good and Magic, and the much less easily-bypassed 26 Spell Resistance, making this a bug that's still quite tough to squash! It's got Deflect Arrows as a bonus feat to swat aside the first ranged attack made against it each round to further frustrate enemies trying to keep their distance (enemies which are likely contending with its blinding poison). Also, you can't really gum it down with summons or extra bodies; its Murderers Reward grants it 2d6 temporary HP each time it brings a victim to 0 HP, or 3d6 if its attack kills the target, and this ability has no cooldown or per-day restriction, only the minor downside that the temp HP doesn't stack with itself and cannot grant Stabbo more HP than the victim's max HP stat (so it cannot, say, sting flies out of the air to suddenly regenerate a handful of HP).

We haven't even really covered its spells yet, have we? Most of them aren't going to be immediately useful to it (with one--Keen Edge--being outright worthless to the Herald itself), but with a bit of creative thinking from the DM, it can go from an overt mass-murderer to a stealthy assassin as easily as Norgorber swaps from Father Skinsaw to the Reaper of Reputation. Of course, this mostly relies on the other half of Stabitha's statblock, the half where it's a Medium-sized humanoid.

Yes, this horror isn't always a horror! Stabathan can freely shift from a Huge scorpion to a Medium assassin and back as needed, its fierce twin claws replaced by a pair of +1 Keen Short Swords it can make upwards to five attacks with each round for 1d6+4 damage. It lacks both the reach and the sheer crushing power of its scorpion claws in this form and its sting attack (which it retains) is reduced to 1d6+4 damage, but in return it swords have a 17-20 critical hit rate and almost three times as many attacks, making its humanoid form better at sustained damage than burst damage, especially since it still inflicts bleed with ALL of its attacks... and of course, utilizing its variety of carried poisons to coat its blades.

The primary use for its humanoid form, however, is stealth. A 16-foot-long scorpion isn't exactly subtle, but Stabbity's human form can easily utilize its +32 Stealth modifier to go wherever it needs to, and more easily use its various espionage-focused spell-likes to its advantage. An at-will Charm Person and 3/day Suggestion isn't especially useful to the scorpion, but infinitely useful to the human to get it into wherever it needs to go. Its at-will Poison is less effective than its claws and its own venom, but useful for giving a target a casual pat on the back and watching them collapse dead on the floor 30 seconds later. Similarly, an at-will Absorbing Touch isn't especially useful for the scorpion but allows the human shape to sneak weapons into places they aren't allowed, steal valuables, hide important documents, or any number of other useful tricks. Between False Alibi and Modify Memory at 3/day each, Stabbity can shape the minds of any witnesses to its crimes, either erasing them entirely or making the victims think they did it.

There is only one flaw in Stabamillion's disguise: Its humanoid form is a muscular, armored, masculine entity. This, alongside many of its other weaknesses, is easily rectified by a very powerful at-will: Alchemical Allocation. This spell alone changes the beast's abilities quite drastically, allowing it to essentially use any potion it obtains an infinite number of times. It has no built-in healing, but that doesn't matter if it can just drink a Potion of Cure Moderate Wounds over and over. It can only take one alternate shape, but a Potion of Disguise Self may as well be a Hat of Disguise. It has no climb speed for... some reason, but a Potion of Climbing easily rectifies this. And let's not get into what an endlessly-usable Potion of Haste can do...

Sometimes, it's the smallest things that make the biggest difference! Be it a single spell, a single line of text, or a single stab in the ribs with a poisoned knife. And then another. And then four more, just to be sure.

You can read more about it here.

[yaboybats]

My catfolk Triggerbrand Ime Idris for @flipwonder2n ‘s upcoming Agents of Edgewatch campaign, as commissioned through @echollama

She’s a transfer from Alkenstar, fresh off of both commendation and an awful lot of bed rest. Hopefully she doesn’t need a second hospitalization too quickly…

[dreadfutures]

our stolen fate campaign is coming to a close... and I am facing the daunting fact that between all members of our group we have played a majority of Adventure Paths in both 1e and 2e.

I'm in an Extinction Curse game alongside this one, and we did a Fists of the Ruby Phoenix, and we did Night of the Gray Death and a 2e converted Reign of Winter, and we did Tyrants Grasp, and all of us have played Wrath of the Righteous, and they've done Kingmaker/Agents of Edgewatch/Age of Ashes/Strength of Thousands/all the Runelords games... none of us really want to do the Blood Lords campaign........

[thecreaturecodex]

Cobbleswarm

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[The cobbleswarm first appeared in the Agents of Edgewatch AP, one of the first adventure paths for PF2e. They got reprinted in Bestiary 3, and were the low level version compared to the sturzstormer as a high level counterpart. The sturzstormer first appeared in PF1e as a genuine elemental, and I think I like that better. Still, I love cobble mites and cobbleswarms; they’re a weird bit of worldbuilding that makes Golarion seem more magical, and can come into play for low level groups.]

Cobbleswarm CR 2 N Aberration What appeared to be a mass of irregular cobblestones begins to move by rolling and shifting. Each of the little masses has a mouth, lined with crystalline teeth.

A cobbleswarm is an accumulation of tiny living rocks called cobble mites. Individually, they are basically harmless—they live inside of caves, eating guano, gravel and insects. In large numbers, they can be dangerous, as they work together to overwhelm prey like a swarm of army ants. Their name comes from their association with cobblestone roads. Cobble mites sleep very soundly following a large meal, and their even size and shape may encourage them to be collected and used to make a road. These cobble mites are usually content to feed on scraps of dropped food and manure, but may be startled into emerging by an explosion (such as fireworks), or get up and find food if they’re in an abandoned neighborhood.

A cobbleswarm senses its surroundings by sound, vibration and even a simple sense of smell, but are totally blind. They tend to freeze to protect themselves from larger vibrations (such as horses or wagons), but move towards smaller ones, especially if hungry or frightened. Creatures overcome by a cobbleswarm find their movement impeded by hundreds of shifting rocks, and those that are not strong enough are pulled to the ground and devoured.

A single cobble mite can be encouraged to live as a pet if well fed—they are considered cute by many, especially those with an affinity for earth and stone. A cobble mite can even be taken as a familiar. Treat a cobble mite familiar as a giant isopod with the aberration type, the earth subtype instead of the aquatic subtype, a burrow speed instead of a swim speed and the senses of a cobbleswarm. A cobble mite familiar grants its owner a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves.

Cobbleswarm    CR 2 XP 600 N Tiny aberration (earth, swarm) Init +6; Senses blind, blindsight 40 ft., Perception +5, tremorsense 80 ft. Defense AC 16, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+2 size, +1 Dex, +3 natural) hp 19 (3d8+6) Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +5 Immune gaze attacks, visual spells and effects Defensive Abilities half damage from slashing and piercing, swarm traits; Weakness vulnerable to area of effects Offense Speed 20 ft., burrow 10 ft. Melee swarm (1d6+1 plus grasping bites and distraction) Space 10 ft.; Reach 0 ft. Special Attacks distraction (DC 13), shifting stones Statistics Str 12, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 7 Base Atk +2; CMB -; CMD 13 Feats Ability Focus (grasping bites), Improved Initiative Skills Climb +5, Perception +5, Stealth +13 (+21 on stone); Racial Modifiers +8 Stealth in stony environments Languages Terran (cannot speak) Ecology Environment underground or urban Organization solitary or mine (2-5) Treasure none Special Abilities Grasping Bites (Ex) A creature that takes damage from a cobbleswarm must succeed a DC 14 Reflex save or fall prone and take 1d6 points of damage. The save DC is Strength based. Shifting Stones (Ex) A cobbleswarm’s area is treated as difficult terrain.

[dailycharacteroption]

Edgewatch Detective (Pathfinder Second Edition Archetype)

(art by Windmaker on DeviantArt)

When Pathfinder announced the Agents of Edgewatch AP, folks living in the US were understandably concerned given recent events in the world.

Thankfully, I can say that the adventure has the party focused on ending corruption and insidious manipulative forces, playing as officers of the law that are truly interested in serving the people. At least, that is the assumption.

Whether you can look past the thematic roots of the Adventure, it did give us a simple archetype to add various peace officer-themed abilities to the character’s arsenal, making it useful for most if not all characters in the party in that AP and potentially beyond in other games with a similar theme or characters.

If you are looking to play a detective character regardless of class, this one may just appeal to you.

 For their basic dedication, these detectives learn the basics of either understanding the local culture or underhanded methods, all the better to catch thieves. What’s more, they learn how to track their quarry.

While they cannot magically sense alignment on their own, they do develop a knack for reading others, getting a judge of their character.

They also can learn a minor sense of magic, helping them detect magical contraband, the presence of illusions or enchantments, and more. They can even focus it to gain more information, but doing so strains them.

Sometimes, one needs to apply pressure to get information, and these detectives know how to do just that, only the strong-willed being able to resist their scrutiny.

A simple archetype, but one that provides some useful abilities to characters in a law enforcement position. You might even offer it as a free archetype if the campaign revolves around it. Beyond that, the archetype isn’t so intrusive that it will affect your build, and pretty much every class can take it with no problem, though those with magical or supernatural powers might find some of the abilities superfluous or paling in comparison to those they can get on their own.

 As one might imagine, this archetype is meant to be used with the assumption that the character has some civil authority attached to it. Exactly what the character chooses to do with it is up to them. They might be corrupt, or they might adhere to a strict moral code. Whether the organization they are a part of also reflects their ways is another story.

  One might expect an android aphorite detective to be very by the books in their approach, and in most cases, this is true of investigator Truly. However, recently something has changed about their demeanor, making them increasingly more and more erratic. Could it be some sort of glitch, or trauma from a recent case?

 The party notices they are being tailed as they go about their business in a new city. If they manage to catch the person in the act, they claim to be an officer of the law, investigating them as potential buyers for a local drug ring. Whether they planned on planting evidence on them or were legitimately seeking information has yet to be seen.

 Corruption stains the offices of the law, and the party’s team are the only ones willing to stand up to the establishment. They have to be careful though, exposing individual rackets and conspiracies within one at a time, such as a group of prosecutors that use flickerwisps to warp the perception of key witnesses to make them useless to the defense in trials.

[enddaysengine]

Zrukbat (Paths Beyond)

While Fey love to hang out in the material world, any time they crop up, the planar links are easy. The First World is "closer" to the Material in my games and much easier to access than other planes, so low level Fey like the Zrukbat are easy bait for the first steps into planar adventures. This is great because zrukbats have a lot going for them.

The zrukbat's signature ability is their transformation, but they aren't perfect like doppelgängers or mimics. Their disguise is always "off" somehow and they DO NOT like to hear people point it out. This makes them a great antagonist for a haunted house where the villain hides in plain sight. It also means that people go out of they way to use euphemisms to describe zrukbats, least they end up angering them. This has the classic fair folk vibe of faeries and I absolutely love it. 

Reading between the lines, zrukbats also appear to more urban than most fey. I’ve drawing this conclusion from the fact they are detailed in Agents of Edgewatch, an adventure path set in the massive city of Absalom, but also from the way they are described. I am making some leaps in logic though, so there is nothing wrong with a more rural or wilderness-based zrukbat - I just like the idea of fey who show up in unexpected places. 

Twingate has long been home to  zrukbat colony and the town wisely only speaks of them in euphemisms to avoid offending the fey spirits. What the mortals haven't realized is the zrukbats are only offended when adults spot them. They are delighted when children see through their disguises and positively ecstatic when teenagers do so. Superstition being what it is though, when kids start to go missing and signs point at a First World culprit, the zrukbats get blamed and need help to clear their names.

If you want to avoid ending up trapped in the First World while in Alkenstar, don't watch out for fairy circles - be wary of chimney circles instead. Some clusters of smoke stacks act as gateways into the world of they fey, each guarded by a disguised zrukbat. The sharp-eyed and spot the warning signs in advanced, but few people realize the danger they are in until they go to patch the roof and find themselves in the Lantern King's court or the Melancholy Prince's tower.

One night, all the mimics in Merab disappear. While the populace is relieved to be free of the shapechanging menaces, the mimics have been abducted by a colony of zrukbats hoping to improve their shapechanging in exchange for fey magic. If someone put an end to this arrangement, soon the mimic will be back as newly minded fey sorcerers.

[swordshapedleaves]

Bleh. I joined a paid pathfinder 2e game on roll20 and the group is really fun and engaged and we're having a great time running through the beginner box adventure. The problem is our next.

At first we were looking on the Paizo website and we looked spoiled for choice. We talked it over and all agreed on Outlaws of Alkenstar, a high magic steampunk wild west adventure. We even started sketching out our characters and linking up backstories.

And then we realized that Outlaws of Alkenstar isn't on roll20. If fact, only 4 1-20 adventure paths are available there. Agents of Edgewatch (you play as cops), Extinction Curse (traveling circus), Strength of Thousands (magic school), and Kingmaker (has a whole second kingdom game built in).

The circus one is off the table because one of the other players is about to run it and will likely be spoiled quite a bit. Which leaves cops, magic school, and the colonialism sim.

I have absolutely no desire to play any of these. I'm certainly not gonna pay to do so.

So not only do I have to scrap my darling baby fleshwarp druid bandit I built for the wild west game, I'm pretty sure I'm gonna have to straight up quit this game entirely.

This sucks and I'm sad about it.

[sapphirecrook]

Screw it. I'm tired, and someone's gotta say it .

PF2e has no reason to gate non-lethal damage behind a -2 and whatnot. Nonlethal was, in the olden days, a risk to capture monsters alive to interrogate them. You might miss, you might eat shit, but live baddies were troves of info on where to find loot, dangers and theri mates, or hell, you cna leverage 'well we didn't kill anyone' if you wanted.

In return, your odds of taking antoher round of damage was the cost.

But in PF2e, especially the newer, flashier, more morally friendly one, making nonlethal a hassle is fucking weird. 5e has its own flaws, but, like, come on. Let players just not be violent murders in their game about being cops and/or attending a magic school.

(fun fact Agents of Edgewatch bends over backwards to solve said problem its just pathetic)

[xiiparts]

Sometimes a detective can be two plants in a trenchcoat

Crafting a leshy summoner for an upcoming Pathfinder 2e game (agents of edgewatch), and the idea of the plant eidolon lifting up his hat and underneath is its tiny plant master is great

Current tentative name for them is Pitcher (the leshy) and Piano (the eidolon)

[cocallnight]

Renja: "Don't trust a man with three first names."

[monstersdownthepath]

A pair of new deities

Well, sort of new. One of them is entirely original, but the first one is actually based on a comedic aside found in Agents of Edgewatch: Assault on Hunting Lodge Seven, where he's listed among a few of the notable names to try and miserably fail to take on the Test of the Starstone. In both cases, however, these deities are involved with the Starstone, a bit of lore I've not really touched before due to my preference for cosmic horror.

In reality, both of these could be full articles on their own, but I feel like they're not 'big' enough to get two individual pages. Maybe one day I'll change my mind. For now, though, here's a look at Veelich, the God of Failure, and Wittiby, the God of Familiars.

VEELICH, THE UNWANTED Chaotic Neutral God of Failure, Outcasts, and Falling Forever In Bottomless Pits

Domains: Chaos, Darkness, Luck, Protection, Void Subdomains: Caves*, Shadow, Curse, Imagination, Solitude, Isolation* Favored Weapon: Club Symbol: A hole or trench with a goblin hand reaching out of it. Sacred Animal: None Sacred Color: Green and yellow *Followers of Veelich can modify either the Darkness or Void Domains with the Caves Subdomain, and the Darkness Domain with the Isolation Subdomain.

Veelich the Unwanted was once known as the unluckiest goblin in all of Absalom, if not the Inner Sea, or perhaps even the world. Not a day went by that he didn't stub his toe, slam his fingers against something, spill his drinks and food, bump into the wrong person, or open his mouth and accidentally insult the very wrong person. To many, it felt as though he couldn't have possibly been doing it on accident; no one alive could be so cursed! Certainly, he was doing this for attention! But Veelich repeatedly insisted, sometimes tearfully, sometimes full of fury, that he wasn't doing anything on purpose, and near as anyone could tell, he was being genuine. Things just happened to him, constantly, and perhaps his only solace (or perhaps his true curse) is that he hadn't been killed for it yet.

That all changed when he tried to take the Test of the Starstone, so people thought. Like every aspirant, Veelich had to first make it inside the cathedral, and to do that, he had to first bypass the bottomless pit which surrounded it. Like so very, very many aspirants before him, the first challenge proved to be insurmountable, and to his credit, he did go all out on his attempt. He had purchased a powerful potion of Jump to heroically leap into the air, a sturdy parachute to glide the rest of the way, and a sturdy security line attached to a powerful, magic stake in the ground in case his luck went sour (as it always did), and even a Ring of Sustenance to both avoid the risk of food poisoning AND assure that his goblin appetite didn't force him to do anything stupid once he finally got into the cathedral.

What he did not know was that his Jump potion was on a discount due to being largely expired, its effects not nearly as dramatic as they should have been, his parachute wasn't secured properly, and a citizen passing by as he set up had accidentally dripped some savory sauce on his safety line, attracting the attention of a voracious rat. Even if none of those incidents had occurred, the sheer number of good luck charms he had brought with him in the hopes of stabilizing his cursed luck would have weighed him down anyway, but fate did not have to work especially hard to send him screaming into the darkness, Ring of Sustenance assuring he wouldn't even die quickly, never to be seen or heard again... For about five or so years.

It was, perhaps, more surprising for Veelich than it was for the first of his unintentional Clerics, Oracles, Antipaladins, and the like to find out that he had achieved a measure of divine apotheosis as he fell endlessly in that pit; he had gotten so used to talking to figments of his imagination as he fell that it took his devoted several months to convince him that they were real, and that he had actually succeeded in his goal of becoming a god... But not in the way he had wanted. In a cruel cosmic jest, the cruelest yet, his attempts at becoming the God of Overcoming Adversity had cemented him as the God of Failure, a figure of mockery and a target of endless jokes, all of which he gets to hear every time someone mentioned him by name. He doesn't even get a proper divine realm, instead having been transported, at some point, to a dark pocket of the Maelstrom that perfectly imitates the pit he spent his final few years as a mortal falling through. His divine portfolio doesn't lend itself to any particularly major miraculous acts; he's mostly a sponge and scapegoat for misfortune and curses, which he then passes onto his followers so that they may then pass them onto their foes (provided they don't perish miserably from the influx of cursed power).

It's not all bad, though. In a way, his bad luck never actually killed him, and though his power isn't especially impressive when compared to that of a proper Ascended, it DOES give him hope that one day, he will be able to find out who or what worked to make him so miserable in his mortal life.

As a proper god, Veelich can grant Boons to any creature taking the Deific Obedience feat, but he does not possess a dedicated Prestige Class such as Feysworn or Diabolist. Boons are typically gained slowly, achieved at levels 12, 16, and 20, but by entering the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel Prestige Classes as early as possible, they can be obtained at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. While normally a full god would grant three sets of Boons, Veelich isn't powerful or especially creative enough to come up with more than one. Perhaps, in time, he will.

Obedience: Either find or create a hole deep enough to hide your entire head inside, then do so. Spend at least half an hour making casual (though one-sided) conversation about what's been going on in your life so Veelich gets some respite from the deluge of frantic prayers, then you may devote the remaining time to redirecting any misfortune or accidents you have suffered or believe you will suffer to him. Benefit: Gain a +4 sacred or profane bonus to saving throws against curses, and to Climb and Athletics checks.

Boon 1: Cruel Irony (Sp): Gain Jump 3/day, Create Pit 2/day, or Curse of Befouled Luck 1/day.

Boon 2: Curse Sponge (Sp): Common faithful believe Veelich will soak up all their bad luck and misfortune, but you know that prayer isn't enough. Sometimes you have to roll up your sleeves and do it yourself. Up to three times per day, you may cast Accept Affliction as a spell-like ability, except you may use it on any creature within 20ft rather than as a touch spell. If you've absorbed at least three separate afflictions from another being with this ability (whether it be all in a single casting, or one affliction per casting) within the same 24 hour period, Veelich redirects a portion of your suffering; once within the next 24 hours, you can cast Bestow Curse as a spell-like ability.

Boon 3: Screaming Into the Darkness (Sp): Once per day, you may give a foe a taste of what the God of Failure had to deal with. This acts as using the Maze spell as a spell-like ability, except instead of sending a victim into an extradimensional labyrinth, it sends them falling into a bottomless pit inside of which flight--magical or mundane--is impossible. As such, the victim does not make Intelligence checks to escape, but must instead succeed Climb checks (DC 15 + 1/2 your Hit Dice + your Charisma modifier): the first to catch themselves and stop from falling, then 2 additional successful Climb checks for each round they failed to stop themselves from falling (thus a creature that fell for 3 rounds would need to make 6 successful Climb checks to fully emerge from the pit). A creature that fails to escape the pit reappears at the location they disappeared from falling at terminal velocity, taking 20d6 bludgeoning damage the moment they hit a solid surface.

--------

WITTIBY, THE SAGE OF SMALL MAGIC True Neutral God of Familiars, Cantrips, and Arcane Study

Domains: Animal, Community, Knowledge, Magic, Strength Subdomains: Animal*, Cooperation, Education, Arcane, Resolve Favored Weapon: Quarterstaff Symbol: An animal-patterned spellbook with a pearl clasp Sacred Animal: Any familiar Sacred Color: Lime green *Followers of Wittiby may select any of the Subdomains under the Animal Domain.

Disparagingly called the Undeserving God by many, the tale of Wittiby is a strange one, a story tinged with hubris, tragedy, and lost friends. They were once the proud assistance of an archmage, a familiar created from a beloved pet and instilled with a grasp of the mystic and the arcane. Who their archmage was, and what shape they had before their ascension, are both memories that were lost to them during the trauma experienced within the Starstone Cathedral.

No one is ever prepared for the Test of the Starstone, no matter how great their power. The archmage was no different, confidently striding across the bottomless pit with a powerful Wind Walk spell and deftly avoiding the pockets of dead magic sent up to stop them before throwing open the cathedral's doors as though they were the doors of the mage's own tower. All the while, Wittiby was on their shoulder, cheering them on as the doors closed behind them, sealing their fates.

What, exactly, happened within the cathedral is something they will not say, though they obviously remember it with perfect clarity. All they reveal is that their beloved archmage, whose name was taken from them, survived every trial the Starstone Cathedral placed in their path... every trial but the last one, in the Starstone's own chamber, which took their life. Though, by all accounts, the archmage appears to have been a haughty, self-aggrandizing blowhard, their final act was one of pure kindness, sealing their beloved familiar--pet, associate, friend--in a bubble of force to protect them from the terrible backlash of arcane severance to try and teleport them out of the Cathedral, wishing only for Wittiby to escape the cathedral and the rest of their life free, but fate had other plans in store.

Someone touched the Starstone that day, after all. It just wasn't the one who opened the door.

When asked what possessed them to do such a thing, Wittiby claims that they planned to use their divine powers to turn their archmage into their Herald, restoring them to life. It was not to be, though, and for such a selfless wish, the familiar's cataclysmic ascension event tore all records of who the archmage was from reality so thoroughly that no one who was there the very day they strolled into town could even recall the mage's face or name. Going even further, Wittiby's form became protean and chaotic, shifting between dozens of animals in the span of minutes, to rob them of the shape their master gave them. All they have left is their master's spellbook, bereft of details of their life but cover-to-cover full of immense arcane knowledge.

Whether this apparent cosmic cruelty is some form of punishment from the Starstone itself for trying to bypass its rules, a price paid by all Ascended that they simply do not speak of or cannot remember (Wittiby's arcane bond to their master may be the sole reason they recall anything about them), the fate of any being to make it to the center of the cathedral but who failed the final test or, as many sneer, the price paid for Wittiby all but literally riding their way to the Starstone without doing any real work, is the subject of conjecture... even by Wittiby theirself, who isn't yet sure if they even deserve their position.

Still getting used to their place as a new god, Wittiby's dour mood has yet to fully lift, but they find joy where they can in their new duties as God of Small Magics. Every time an aspirant caster learns a new cantrip, casts their first spell, and forges (or deepens) a bond with their familiar, the world gets a little bit brighter for the Shapeless Sage. Their time as a god is a mere handful of years, their faithful a scant handful in number, knowledge of their very existence all but unheard of beyond Absalom, so time will yet tell what sort of god they will grow to be as the passing years heal their wounds and scars over their memories. For the moment they are content performing small blessings to protect mages and their bonded allies from danger when they can, and putting hopeful casters on the path to discovering and mastering their first spells.

As a proper god, Wittiby can grant Boons to any creature taking the Deific Obedience feat, but they do not possess a dedicated Prestige Class such as Feysworn or Diabolist. Boons are typically gained slowly, achieved at levels 12, 16, and 20, but by entering the Evangelist, Exalted, or Sentinel Prestige Classes as early as possible, they can be obtained at levels 8, 11, and 14 instead. While normally a full god would grant three sets of Boons, Wittiby is too new to divinity to offer more than one.

Obedience: Practice magic with your familiar or animal companion for at least one hour. If you are not a caster or do not have a familiar/animal companion, spend at least one hour either researching magical theory or caring for an animal which trusts you. Benefit: Whenever you, your familiar, or your animal companion performs the Aid Another action, your target gains an additional +2 sacred or profane bonus to their check.

Boon 1: The Essentials (Sp): Gain Magic Missile 3/day, Levitate 2/day, or Tiny Hut 1/day

Boon 2: Hedge Wizardry (Su/Sp): The blessing of the God of Small Magic gives you mastery over the smallest magic there is: cantrips. Each time you complete your Obedience, select three cantrips from an Arcane caster class (Magus, Sorcerer, Summoner, Witch, or Wizard). You may cast these cantrips at will as spell-like abilities for the next 24 hours. In addition, once per round as a swift action, you may cast any level 0 spell you know (be it a cantrip, knack, orison, etc) with a casting time of 1 standard action or less, including the ones gained from this Boon.

Boon 3: Constant Companion (Sp): The pain of losing one's treasured companion can be crippling, and Wittiby seeks to alleviate that pain as quickly as they possibly can. You may cast True Resurrection once per day as a spell-like ability, but only to return a creature's bonded companion to life. This includes familiars, bonded mounts (like that of a Paladin or Cavalier), animal companions and, if need be, eidolons. This does NOT include hirelings or cohorts gained via Leadership. You may use this ability to resurrect bonded companions other than your own. Using this ability as an excuse to repeatedly send bonded companions into danger against their will is seen as an abuse of Wittiby's gift and may provoke their wrath.

[shopontheborderlands]

Homeworld: Revelations Corebook £39.99 BRAND NEW, RESTOCK Gamemaster Screen £24.99 BRAND NEW, RESTOCK Dice Set £17.99 BRAND NEW, RESTOCK

Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne hardback rulebook £49.99 BRAND NEW, RESTOCK Paladin Adventures £31.99 BRAND NEW, RESTOCK

Rivers of London Rivers of London hardback rulebook £46.99 BRAND NEW, RESTOCK

Durance Durance softback rulebook £19 RESTOCK

Magazines The Beholder 1 £200 The Beholder 2 £175 The Beholder 3 £150 The Beholder 4 £140 The Beholder 5 £120 The Beholder 6 £110 The Beholder 7 £100 The Beholder 8 £90 The Beholder 9 £90 The Beholder 10 £90 The Beholder 11 £90 The Beholder 12 £90 The Beholder 13 £90 The Beholder 14 £90 The Beholder 15 £70 The Beholder 16 £90 The Beholder 17 £90 The Beholder 18 £90 The Beholder 19 £90 The Beholder 20 £90 The Beholder 21 £90 The Beholder 22 £90 The Beholder 24 £90 The Beholder 25 £90

Dark Sword Miniatures Visions in Fantasy (all BRAND NEW unpainted metal miniatures) Halflings in Disguise (open cloak and closed cloak versions included) £20.99 Stout Warrior with Sword £11.99 Female Assassin £11.99 Female Paladin £11.99 Male Barbarian with Battleaxe £11.99 Male Druid with Sword & Staff £11.99 Female Halfling Ranger with Bow £11.99 Female Warrior with Two-Handed Sword £11.99 Female Warrior with Longsword £11.99 Swashbuckler with Rapier & Tankard £11.99

The following Sale SuperMegaDeals are still available: Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition Rules Expansion Gift Set Limited Edition Alternate Cover Set was £174.99 now £113.74 Pathfinder: Age of Ashes was £125.94 now £94.46 Pathfinder: Agents of Edgewatch was £161.93 now £121.45 Pathfinder: Extinction Curse was £133.97 now £100.48 1879 was £99.97, now £64.98 Descent: Legends of the Dark was £174.99 now £99.99 Wizkids Adventurers Miniatures (1) was £44.91 now £33.68 Wizkids Adventurers Miniatures (3) was £44.91 now £33.68 Exotic Race Adventurers Miniatures was £79.84 now £39.92 Goblins Miniatures was £52.77 now £34.26 Wizkids Wilderness Monsters Miniatures was £48.91 now £36.68

News from the Borderlands

The Beholder was without doubt one of the best early RPG fanzines. British, first published in the late 70s and continuing pretty much monthly for 28 issues. Mostly focused on AD&D, but with the occasional article for the other key RPGs of that era like Traveller. And we've got hold of a pretty decent (if not quite complete) collection. Very desirable for vintage fanzine collectors!

Also this week, restocks of Traveller, Robert E. Howard's Conan (our last new restock for this RPG as the licence has now ended), Shield Maidens, The Witcher, Stealing Stories For The Devil, Mork Borg, Kult, Dune, Blade Runner, Homeworld: Revelations, Paladin: Warriors of Charlemagne and Rivers of London.

AD&D 1st Edition Queen of the Spiders (GDQ1-7) £350 RESTOCK

[superautism64]

I'm trying to get out of my art block. I sometimes end up drawing wren to help get out of one lol

lil doodle of local Investigator bothering his party members with snarky comments /lh

[mukuharakazui]

my agents of edgewatch character drawn as tbh creature in ms paint