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 +~~NOTOC~~
 ====== Pantheon Rising Player's Guide ====== ====== Pantheon Rising Player's Guide ======
 +//**A Tale of Smoke, Gears, and the Spark of Ascension**//
  
-===== A Tale of Smoke, Gears, and the Spark of Ascension =====+== HOW TO USE THIS PLAYER’S GUIDE == 
 +Welcome to Alkenstar! You’re about to step into a story where smoke‑choked streets and clockwork wonders hide more than just outlaw gangs and corrupt lawbringers. The alleys, rooftops, and rivers of Alkenstar hum with industry — and something stranger no engineer will admit to. 
  
-==== HOW TO USE THIS PLAYER’S GUIDE ==== +In the **Pantheon Rising** Adventure Path, you’ll create a 1st‑level character branded as an outlaw — rightly or wrongly — and cast your lot with a crew of renegades determined to turn the tables on the powers that ruined you. You’ll need to defeat clockwork creatures, collect fantastic firearms, and navigate industrial dungeons, magical wilds, and myriad social spheres. And every so often, along the way, you might glimpse a technology or fragment of knowledge that feels *older* and *vaster* than anything in the City of Smog’s workshops.  
-Welcome to Alkenstar! Here the alleys hide more than lawmen and rogues — they conceal the first sparks of a machine‑born destiny that could change Golarion forever. + 
-  +Whether your future holds a tidy fortune, a bullet‑scarred grave, or the keys to something far greater than a gunslinger’s reputation will be up to you.
-In this campaign for Pathfinder Second Edition, you’ll create a 1st-level character and take on the role  +
-of an outlaw in a steam-powered metropolis. To get revenge on the villains who ruined you, you’ll need to defeat clockwork creatures, collect fantastic firearms, and navigate industrial dungeons, magical wilds, and myriad social spheres. If this sounds exciting, you’ve found the right Adventure Path!+
  
 To play in this campaign, all you need is the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and a character sheet. With the permission of your Game Master (GM), you can also use other Pathfinder Second Edition books and accessories to further customize your character. While not required to enjoy Pantheon Rising, Guns & Gears is an especially useful supplement to have on hand, as it contains a number of character options and rules elements specifically designed for characters in Alkenstar, the industrial metropolis at the start of this Adventure Path.  To play in this campaign, all you need is the Pathfinder Core Rulebook and a character sheet. With the permission of your Game Master (GM), you can also use other Pathfinder Second Edition books and accessories to further customize your character. While not required to enjoy Pantheon Rising, Guns & Gears is an especially useful supplement to have on hand, as it contains a number of character options and rules elements specifically designed for characters in Alkenstar, the industrial metropolis at the start of this Adventure Path. 
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   * [[pg_alkenstar|Alkenstar, City of Smog]]: An overview of the industrial metropolis in which your story begins.    * [[pg_alkenstar|Alkenstar, City of Smog]]: An overview of the industrial metropolis in which your story begins. 
   * [[pg_character|Your Character]]: Important background details and inspiring lore to consider before creating your character.    * [[pg_character|Your Character]]: Important background details and inspiring lore to consider before creating your character. 
-  * [[pg_suggestions|Character Suggestions]]: Additional guidance, practical advice, and specific tips for creating a character tailored specifically for Pantheon Rising. +  * [[pg_suggestions|Character Suggestions]]: Additional guidance, practical advice, and specific tips for creating a character tailored specifically for Pantheon Rising, including a [[character_options|Suggested Character Options Table]]. 
- +  * [[pg_backgrounds|New Backgrounds]]: New backgrounds introduced for this AP.
- +
-==== CHARACTER SUGGESTIONS ==== +
-Though you’re free to create any kind of character  +
-you like for the Pantheon Rising Adventure  +
-Path, the following suggestions are designed to help  +
-you make a character well suited for this campaign.  +
-These suggestions are summarized on the [[character_options|Suggested Character Options Table]], which lists character options from strongly  +
-recommended to not recommended. +
- +
-=== Ancestries === +
-Alkenstar is home to a wide variety of ancestries and  +
-ethnicities, though the majority of its inhabitants  +
-are humans, particularly ethnic Garundi closely  +
-descended from Nexian and Gebbite immigrants.  +
-Since the city’s founding over a century ago, plenty of  +
-other diverse peoples have found their footing here,  +
-including Mwangi from west of the Barrier Peaks or  +
-south of Geb, Keleshites from as near as Katapesh  +
-or Qadira or as far as Kelesh, and Vudrani from  +
-Jalmeray or elsewhere across the Obari Ocean.  +
- +
-Dwarves are the city’s second-most populous  +
-ancestry, many hailing from the nearby Sky Citadel of  +
-Dongun Hold. It was Dongun dwarves who supplied  +
-the first firearms to Ancil Alkenstar’s burgeoning  +
-community of technologists and magic-weary  +
-refugees. Today, Dongun dwarves continue to be regarded as among the best gunsmiths and explosives  +
-engineers in the world.  +
- +
-Jaric halflings and Vourinoi elves are far from  +
-unknown in Alkenstar—Ambrost Mugland and  +
-Anjelique Loveless are only two of the most famous  +
-examples, respectively. Roughly as common as these  +
-are kholo and geniekin, the latter of which are  +
-perhaps more common than usual in Alkenstar due,  +
-in part, to the mysterious effects of mana storms on  +
-mortal bloodlines.  +
- +
-Finally, a notable number of Gebbite dhampirs  +
-and Nexian fleshwarps—comprising a combination  +
-of temporary visitors, traveling adventurers, and  +
-full-blown expatriates—also call the City of Smog  +
-home. Perhaps more than any other ancestries,  +
-these individuals are uniquely suited to Alkenstar’s  +
-industrial environment; hazardous pollutants and smog are of less concern to undead, and fleshwarps  +
-too often boast anatomies that lessen the severity of  +
-environmental dangers.  +
- +
-For more details on these ancestries and others  +
-that call Alkenstar home, see the Pathfinder Lost  +
-Omens Ancestry Guide.  +
- +
-=== Classes === +
-Alkenstar is the Inner Sea’s preeminent hub of  +
-technological and industrial innovation. In the City  +
-of Smog, the quickest way to gain power, prestige,  +
-or profit is to invent something that other people  +
-want; this holds as true for adventurers as it does  +
-for aristocrats and common folk. Because scientific  +
-experimentation and progress are keystones of daily  +
-life in Alkenstar, alchemists and inventors (Pathfinder  +
-Guns & Gears ) do extremely well as a general rule.  +
-Whether by mixing rare reagents collected from the  +
-Mana Wastes or by tinkering with the literal tons of  +
-scrap that fill Alkenstar’s junkyards, there are  +
-countless opportunities for old-time residents and  +
-newcomers alike to practice the skills necessary to  +
-become accomplished in either of these fields.  +
- +
-The same can be said for the gunslinger class  +
-(Guns & Gears), which is probably more common  +
-in Alkenstar than in any other corner of the Inner  +
-Sea region. Alkenstar’s proximity to Dongun Hold  +
-—the birthplace of black powder—means that  +
-firearms aren’t just easily accessible, but practically  +
-commonplace. Mercenaries, monster slayers, bounty  +
-hunters, and criminals all might call themselves  +
-gunslingers, though only a few ever exhibit the true  +
-grit necessary to make it to the big leagues. The most  +
-talented shootists and desperados command a high  +
-price as guns-for-hire or swiftly rise through the ranks  +
-of organizations such as the shieldmarshals, making  +
-the gunslinger class a natural fit for this campaign.  +
- +
-For the full rules on gunslingers and inventors, see  +
-Pathfinder Guns & Gears.  +
- +
-Beyond these three thematically suitable classes—  +
-alchemists, gunslingers, and inventors—characters of  +
-any class well-suited for urban adventuring can hope  +
-to succeed in the Pantheon Rising Adventure  +
-Path. Investigators and rogues can uncover countless  +
-mysteries and hidden treasures on the streets of  +
-the City of Smog, and swashbucklers and bards  +
-can likewise find opportunities for escapades and  +
-entertainment at every turn.  +
- +
-For all of Alkenstar’s emphasis on technological  +
-novelties and progress, it’s sometimes hard to beat a well-placed punch or a masterfully executed sword  +
-swing. The fearsome threat of monsters encroaching  +
-from the Mana Wastes makes adventurous martial  +
-experts of all stripes—such as fighters, monks, and  +
-barbarians—always in high demand.  +
- +
-On the spiritual side of things, clerics, champions,  +
-and other pious adventurers might strongly consider  +
-Brigh, the Whisper in Bronze and patron goddess of  +
-clockwork inventors, as their deity. The Temple of  +
-Brigh in Alkenstar is the largest organized church  +
-dedicated to the Bronze Lady in the Inner Sea region.  +
-Ever-orderly Abadar is also a popular deity with  +
-Alkenstar’s most cosmopolitan believers.At the other  +
-extreme, comfort-eschewing wasteland wanderers  +
-vastly prefer the age-old wisdom of the divine hunter,  +
-Erastil. Finally, many Dongun dwarves pay stalwart  +
-homage to Torag, Father of Dwarvenkind, and honor  +
-him with creative spins on ancient traditions.  +
- +
-Because of the surrounding region’s unique  +
-climate—magic-warping mana storms are relatively  +
-common outside the city’s walls—druids, wizards,  +
-summoners, and sorcerers don’t flock to Alkenstar  +
-as a rule, but they aren’t necessarily unknown either.  +
-The few arcane spellcasters who intentionally travel  +
-to Alkenstar often do so in the hopes of attending  +
-Blythir College, the city’s only official academy of  +
-magic. Sorcerers and druids are more likely to dwell  +
-on the city’s outskirts, where they can better tap into  +
-the mysterious powers of so-called wellspring magic  +
-(Pathfinder Secrets of Magic 248).  +
- +
-Many spellcasters living in the City of Smog are  +
-exiles from Geb or Nex, where they likely first gained  +
-their penchant for ancient necromantic secrets or  +
-universal arcane truths, respectively. Witches, magi,  +
-and oracles similarly travel to the Mana Wastes for  +
-their own mysterious reasons, and their unorthodox  +
-relationship with esoterica makes them perhaps a bit  +
-more common in the weird and wild Mana Wastes. +
- +
-=== Languages ===  +
-Owing to its cosmopolitan cultural makeup, the  +
-Grand Duchy of Alkenstar’s official language is  +
-Common (Taldane), though the high population  +
-of dwarves (especially dwarves from Dongun  +
-Hold) makes Dwarven nearly as ubiquitous. The  +
-most successful merchants and travelers also take  +
-it upon themselves to learn Kelish, a language  +
-commonly spoken in nearby nations like Geb,  +
-Nex, and Katapesh.  +
- +
-In the wastelands beyond Alkenstar’s walls, roving bandits, violent mutated giants, and horrific monsters  +
-tend to speak Kholo, Jotun, Aklo, or a pidgin of all  +
-three. Those who deal with evildoers could do far  +
-worse than to practice one of these tongues as well. +
- +
-=== Skills and Feats === +
-Alkenstar is a city of inventors and makers; thus,  +
-virtually everyone has at least a bit of training in the  +
-Crafting skill, which is useful not just for making  +
-and repairing things, but also identifying the many  +
-different kinds of clockwork creatures that roam the  +
-city. By the same token, anyone who expects to be  +
-fighting or evading clockworks and their masters  +
-would do well to study Thievery as a means of  +
-disabling devices.  +
- +
-Even for those with supernatural means of  +
-avoiding arrest, prowess in Athletics or Acrobatics  +
-can often spell the difference between capture and  +
-escape. Likewise, silver-tongued outlaws can benefit  +
-greatly from expertise in social skills like Deception,  +
-Diplomacy, Intimidation, or Society. Although  +
-Performance can be useful for creating diversions,  +
-a knack for Religion might be even more practical  +
-in a settlement whose predominant church—the  +
-Temple of Brigh—functions like an essential cog  +
-in daily goings-on. Of course, when all else fails,  +
-there’s always pure and simple Stealth, an invaluable  +
-addition to any outlaw’s skill repertoire.  +
- +
- +
-Although Nature and Survival are of minimal  +
-use in Alkenstar proper, the outskirts of the city  +
-are rife with animals and environmental dangers,  +
-making naturalists and survivalists useful in certain  +
-situations. While Medicine and Occultism are always  +
-useful skills to have on hand, neither will open any  +
-special doors in this campaign.  +
- +
-Among the subcategories of the Lore skill,  +
-Alkenstar Lore, Brigh Lore, and Engineering Lore  +
-are highly relevant throughout this Adventure Path.  +
- +
-Suitable feats include any that complement your  +
-character concept and/or play into the above skills.  +
-As an outlaw, your character might particularly  +
-benefit from feats that could help you survive  +
-on the outskirts of proper society or without the  +
-assistance of the law. Likewise, because Alkenstar’s  +
-architecture is so tightly packed together, feats that  +
-increase mobility in close quarters will typically  +
-be more useful than those which require a Large  +
-animal companion or mount to enjoy. The [[character_options|Suggested Character Options Table]] includes lists of specific feats to consider for your character. +
- +
-=== Backgrounds === +
-Though you can choose any common background for your character (including the ones starting on page  +
-60 of the Core Rulebook; the criminal background is particularly appropriate), the following new  +
-backgrounds are designed specifically for the Pantheon Rising Adventure Path. You can use  +
-these backgrounds to inspire personality traits and details that tie your character to Alkenstar. +
  
-Additionally, each of the following backgrounds includes a reason for your outlaw status and an indication of which faction in Alkenstar is to blame. It is up to you to decide how that affects your character and whether you want revenge or not. 
  
-[[banished_brighite|Banished Brighite]]\\ 
-[[framed_ferrous|Framed in Ferrous Quarter]]\\ 
-[[hungout_hustler|Hung-out Hustler]]\\ 
-[[inexplicably_expelled|Inexplicably Expelled]]\\ 
-[[rift_radical|Rift-Rousted Radical]]\\ 
-[[snubbed_stoolie|Snubbed-Out Stoolie]]\\ 
-[[wanted_witness|Wanted Witness]] 
  
  
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