Name

In Pursuit of Shory Relics

Premise

The party begins as part of an expedition seeking Shory relics, an ancient people known for their flying cities. The Shory had fantastic magic with uses far beyond flying castles making the expedition and its discoveries ripe for betrayal and exploitation. The game will be a mix of intrigue between the different groups interested in the Shory and a scavenger hunt through old ruins, museums, ancient collection, etc.

Locations

This game will involve high travel and multiple continents. Will determine an Inner Sea Region or Tian Xia start in session 0 based on players' regional preference.

Sandbox-ness

Not very sandbox. There will be multiple leads to pursue at any given time, but the campaign will be about recovering artifacts, perhaps up to old flying castles and cities, as well as visiting the few remaining Shory artifacts still operating.

Roleplay

We can discuss the RP/combat mix in session 0 but this campaign may have more combat than RP. My current thoughts are that there will be a lot of ruins exploration. However, we could take it more RP and focus more on artifacts in the collections of various nations and other powerful collectors.

Leveling pace

3-5 sessions per level. If players are experienced, a little faster to level 3.

Class Restrictions

Most classes should be fine but, in this campaign, skill heavy classes will give players more to do in and out of combat.

Ancestry Restrictions

Most should work except for ones with mobility restrictions like centaur and merfolk. Large ancestries are likely to have more trouble than usual as there will be a lot of time spent in ruins, dungeons, and steep terrain.

Despite the ultimate goal of finding a flying castle, it isn't necessary to pick an ancestry or heritage that can fly. It likely won't hurt but by the time it probably matters there are many ways to move in the air from mounts to magic to ancestry-based wings.

Uncommon feats

Usually okay unless they come from an organization like the Pathfinder Society or Firebrands, although in this campaign, Pathfinder Society might be a good fit. Always ask on uncommon feats but most are okay if not from an organization.

Backstory

Note that this is your characters back story before the game starts. It is not the PF2E background which is part of building your character for the game (see next few lines). It does not need to be very long. If you do want a long backstory that is fine but summarize the key points at the beginning, so it is easy for me to reference. If you make me scan five pages looking for hooks 20 sessions into the campaign, I will likely miss them.

You can use AI for your backstory but guide the AI. That is, maybe use it to generate some general ideas, pick one or two to refine, ask it to make further updates until you have a backstory that makes sense for you. Don't just tell it to generate a backstory from this page and use it as-is.

Even if you don't use AI, if you have a long backstory, you might want to have AI summarize it for you.

You are expected to have a backstory that gives you a reason for being involved in the pursuit of Shory artifacts although you don't have to be personally interested in them: maybe you are a scout or guard or otherwise a friend of someone who is. You do not need to have hooks in your backstory. If you do have hooks, I will try to work them in but there is no guarantee that we will get to any of your hooks, though.

Uncommon backgrounds

Most are okay but ask

Rare feats

Probably not okay but you can ask

Rare background

Probably not okay but you can ask. Rare backgrounds can make the PC the center of the campaign or provide an edge compared to other players. We can see if they work with the group as a whole, especially if most want a rare background but they require care

Core Content

Allowed, except see class and ancestry notes

Lost Omens Content

Allowed, except talk to me about organizations and regional requirements. Most regional ones are okay but realize you might not be able to get back to that region easily which might hamper access to some of the higher-level things from that region.

Adventure Path content

Most of it is okay but talk to me since it is all uncommon or rare. Keep in mind I will need to code up some of these or buy modules I don't own to enable this in the VTT so try not to go crazy with those.