Our group really got into the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Rise of the Runelords. The game is a lot like a RPG adventure. It's a co-operative, referee-less game, where each player controls a character and participates in a adventure storyline. Like traditional rpgs, your character advances in experience and gains new gear as the adventures continue. To this date, it's probably the most played board game that I own.
The card game actually got us to try the regular rpg game. I found Paizo's hardcover adventure path "Rise of the Runelords" on sale for 50% off at a used bookstore and picked it up, mainly because it was the backdrop for the card game storyline. The cards aren't too descriptive story-wise, and I was thinking I could read the book and fill in the blanks. Jim was very interested in trying Pathfinder, and on hearing that I had bought it agreed to game-master the adventure path for us. I sent the adventure book his way to read up on. We picked up a couple of the Pathfinder core rule books, painted some miniatures, and made some characters.
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| Gilly Featherearth of Sandpoint - Reaper Miniatures #03234: |
Emily: Gilly Featherearth - halfling Rogue
Gilly Featherearth is a young halfling girl who has lived in Sandpoint as long as she
can remember. Her mother taught her to sew, and recently she began to
apprentice for a local seamstress. As a halfling in a town full of
humans, she learned to sneak about town without being easily
noticed. A bright girl, fond of reading of far-off places, Gilly dreamed
of adventure and a life beyond this coastal town. She stumbled across a
group of adventurers at the Swallowtail Festival when goblin raiders
attacked the town, and thus began her new life of adventure.
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| Tuirhirdock of the North: Gripping Beast Miniatures HVA04 |
David: Tuihirdock: human barabarian
Tuihirdock is from a land far to the north of Varisia. As the locals can't pronounce the name of his country, and generally look dumbfounded when he tells them, he has found it's easier to say he's from "the north." He recently found himself waking up from a multi-day drinking bender in a Sandpoint alley, penniless, with ...most of his possessions, and not entirely sure how he traveled the 500 miles to get there. Good-natured and not one to worry about much, he joined in the Swallowtail festival celebrations, including the drinking, but this time in a much more responsible manner.
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| Rolf of Nybor: Games Workshop plastic Empire miniature |
Grant: Rolf of Nybor: human fighter and ex-army
Rölf was raised on a farm in the village of
Nybor. With his great strength and impressive size, Rölf
easily found work as a bodyguard for the merchants traveling
to and from Nybor. He found these adventures much more
interesting (and profitable) than life on a farm. He was
recently hired to travel with some vendors to Sandpoint for
the Swallow Tail Festival and the opening of their new
cathedral. Rölf is rarely away from his sword and shield and is
always up for a good adventure! One odd physical feature of
Rölf is the strange bald spot on the back of his head...it
doesn't seem quite natural.
Todd: Chance Arcane: human sorcerer and entertainer ----*
Reaper Miniatures #03599*
Chance Arcane is a sorcerer of the Arcane, possessing a
natural talent for magic and entertainment. He never had a need to study the
craft but absorbed knowledge instinctively. People enjoy being around him, though he can be a bit forthright at times. He enjoys serving those in need and has a distaste for materialistic people. He enjoys the laughter of
children and the wonderment in their eyes as he performs simple magic tricks for
them. Feeling the call of destiny and seeking love, he set out to sea to travel to areas
unknown. That fateful day at the Swallowtail Festival, he knew he was
meant to be there; not having a bias of the people, religion or politics,
but discerning the environment with open eyes.
To see how the group's adventure began, click this for
session 1 of Rise of the Runelords: Burnt Offerings! *Spoiler Warning* for those interested in playing the path.
