The Realm of Aquilae

It seems a typical fantasy roleplaying world. Orcs, elves, gnomes, and dwarves, with a smattering of more interesting, newer races.

But prick beneath the surface—literally—and much is revealed.

Measuring roughly the size of Eurasia in total size, Aquilae is in fact a two-sided “lozenge” floating through space. On its “light” side is a normal fantasy realm. Its “darkside” has long been suppressed, its chaotic and often evil denizens born to the dark and abhorrent of the light side.

In between lies a complex network of Fissures, an underground network of tunnels that has its own measures of civilization.

And buried in the deep, deep dark of the light-side’s waters is an entire aqueous undersea kingdom.

FlexTale Encounter Generator

Game Master's Resource

This is a separate tool for the GM to instantly create dynamic and versatile side-quests on the fly, for when the party is adventuring across the countryside.

For those familiar with the Borderland Provinces products from Frog God Games, the intent here is similar to the Journey Generator in that line... but supporting the full range of dynamic capabilities that the FlexTale concept makes possible. 

The current version published in 2018 is a General-Purpose iteration, intended primarily as a required supplement to using the Dark Obelisk 2 adventure.  It will continue to grow and evolve toward its intended purpose,.

Most notably, in parallel with the eventual release of the Western Realm Gazetteer, the FTEG will gain more than a dozen Terrain Context books, each one covering the tools of the FTEG in the context of a specific terrain, such as Forests, Urban, and Desert.

Artifacts & Artifice

Campaign Resource BookS

Two expansive volumes, each one covering several dozen magical artifacts of immense power and versatility.

Intended as a valuable resource for all RPG players and game/dungeon masters, AA is far, far more than a simple list of magic items.  AA strives to make each item unique, with extensive etymology, backstory, context, and hooks.

Specifically, each and every artifact receives the following detail:

• Full profiles and construction requirements for 4 magic items corresponding to a range of Variable Difficulties.

• 4 NPCs, each fully stat-blocked and scaling to Variable Difficulties.

• History, description, appearance, and other "fluff" for flavor.

• Over a half-dozen hooks for integrating the weapon into your campaign.

• Handfuls of Rumors & Lore with full FlexTable rules for dynamically integrating the rumors into your campaign.

• One or more Quests ready to run in any campaign setting, incorporating the magic item.

• Handfuls of Quest Seeds to give GMs with more prep time inspiration.

Character & Villainous Compendiums

GM & Player Character Resource

Villainous Compendium:

Dozens of villains, henchmen, lairs, and entire adventures ready to use in any Pathfinder or 5E campaign setting, supporting any challenge level.

Character Compendiums:

450+ ready-to-play NPCs and villains for Pathfinder RPG, featuring dozens of Archetypes, henchmen, rumors, and more.

Druid Enclave

City Sourcebook

In Dark Obelisk 2, the Druid Elders are the ones who commission the PCs to explore the mining city of Mondaria and investigate why they have lost contact with it.

This companion book explores the Druid Enclave village in detail, mapping and describing each building and the mysterious Enclave chambers beneath.

A separate, hardcover book with dozens of maps, this 200+ page tome is an optional add-on to the geography described in DO2 and its other companion volumes, useful for GMs whether they're running Dark Obelisk or simply looking for a well-fleshed-out and detailed druidic city.

Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm

Bestiary

The largest and most ambitious bestiary ever conceived, this comprises eight massive hardcover books and PDFs, collecting more than 1,300 monsters from the Dark Obelisk adventure path and beyond.

Every single creature contains quadded statblocks, meaning they may be used to support a wide variety of difficulty level and challenge. An essential, amazing resource for any adventuring campaign, the Bestiary of the Realm is an enormous value and reference for any GM.

Specifically, this project is comprised of the following components:

• Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm Expanded: A six-volume set of 1,200 monsters, with nearly 5,000 statblocks.
• Monsters of Aquilae: A seventh hardcover which includes a set of several dozen brand-new monsters from the campaign setting of Aquilae.
• Incarnae of Aquilae: An eight book book detailing several dozen monsters of a new type: Incarna.  Whereas Golems and Elementals tend to be physical qualities given a mobile, semi-sentient form, Incarna are coalesced physical manifestations of abstract concepts and phenomena--psychological qualities, feelings, thoughts, and so on.  Lust, revenge, regret, rage, greed... these are the tip of the iceberg.  Includes Incantatnions of Incarnae, a chapter describing rules on how to create an Incarna.  

Western Realm Gazetteer

Campaign Setting Sourcebook

A separate hardcover book, expanding upon the campaign setting of Aquilae, the Realm in which the Dark Obelisk Adventure Path takes place.

Dozens of random encounters, dozens of monsters (including several brand-new ones), items, spells, quests, villages, and of course richly-detailed NPCs.  In addition, the WRG will go into more depth with the numerous Factions of the Realm, expanding the descriptions originally found in Dark Obelisk 1 and adding several more too.

Perfect as a companion to the Dark Obelisk adventure path; usable on its own to start your adventures in the campaign setting of Aquilae; or helpful merely as a treasure trove of ideas, inspirations, and "drop-ins"; this book will be an asset to any GM.

Prior Lives

NPC Backstory Adventures

A hardcover, ~300-page collection of smaller backstory adventures revisiting the previous experiences of the most interesting NPCs from Dark Obelisk 1 and 2.

The most intriguing may be Elena Lomazonne, the merchant princess, and her cunning and bloody past and rise to power.

Kickstarter coming soon!

Echoes of Time Forgotten

Standalone Adventure Module

A standalone companion module which may be pursued prior to, after, or concurrently with the events of Dark Obelisk 2.

The PCs happen upon a ruined city that allows them to glimpse what the city and its inhabitants were like before its fall. The PCs must jump to the past to unearth clues about the present.

A 200+ page hardcover adventure and setting book with tie-ins to mythology of Dark Obelisk 2.

The Highest Form of Flattery

Standalone Adventure Module

A hardcover, ~256-page adventure arc which explores the mysterious act of Tribute so integral to life in the Realm of Aquilae.

A colleague of Gorin Bakelight's (from Dark Obelisk 1) sets forth on a quest to uncover greed and corruption at the highest levels... only to discover a far greater intrigue than he had anticipated.

Dark Harbor

Horror Novella & Standalone Adventure Module

A few years ago, I'd written and published a horror novella called Dark Harbor.

As a book, I thought it was at best fairly decent, but it really worked as the starting point for a mythology and campaign setting.

Rather than write one of the 5+ sequels I had envisioned, I will create a new campaign setting/adventure scenario which takes place in the context of the fiction book.

This will be a dark, gothic horror, Ravenloft-esque, Castlevania-like sort of adventure, likely measuring in the 200-page realm.

Library Vitae

Standalone Adventure Module

A massive adventure set in the Western Realm of Aquilae, this module leads the PCs down into an abandoned library dungeon with tie-ins to the Dark Obelisk 2 mythology and content.

A separate 256-page PDF and hardcover book.

Grim Tokens

Standalone Adventure Module

A small but prosperous town is plagued by mysterious disappearances. When these missing citizens turn out to be victims of a serial killer of particularly vile nature, the PCs become embroiled in a macabre investigation that thrills to grisly conclusion.

This ~256-page hardcover adventure and campaign setting supplement explores a brand-new village in the Western Realm.

Husks

Ruined City Mini-Adventures

Forces of the Obelisk have razed settlements, camps, and even small villages to smoking cinders. Upon arriving at the scene, the PCs can't immediately tell why evil and chaos have seen fit to destroy these areas... but although madness has no purpose, or reason, it may have a goal. (Any Star Trek fans out there? Yes? You mean there's overlap between roleplaying games and Star Trek? Wow. :)

This ~256-page, hardcover supplement consists of a set of location-independent, event-style mini-adventures. They're insertable anywhere into the Realm, and anytime in the context of the Dark Obelisk Adventure Path.

Aquilae: Pantheon & Tribute

Campaign Setting Supplement

This book explores the various gods, religions, sects, and strife to be found across the Realm of Aquilae.

Each of several dozen deities is profiled in full, with history, description, sigil/iconography, items, spells and equipment, prestige classes, character archetypes, and more.  Each Faction also contains several NPCs, representing leadership, average members, ranks and order--and of course these NPCs are listed in Quadded Statblocks to support a wide range of difficulties for any adventuring group.

Finally, each Faction has Quests and Settings, richly-detailed maps and encounters that may be inserted into any adventure that takes place in the Campaign Setting of Aquilae.

A massive, hardcover tome, this is expected to weigh in at 500 pages or more.

Northern Mountain Adventure (title TBD)

Standalone Adventure Module

This ~256-page hardcover mega-adventure may be pursued prior to, concurrently with, or after the events of Dark Obelisk 2 itself.

The PCs venture deep into the largely unexplored and mysterious Northern Mountains, where they uncover horrible dangers; remnants of dark deeds; and most invaluably, lore about the Obelisks and their origins.

The Sin Furnace of Arghastar

Deep within an otherwise unassuming gnomish village lies a dark and fiery pit, within which the bodies and effects of evil citizens and beasts are destroyed forever, lest they rise again. An underground black-market economy thrives, though, in the grim business of intercepting that which would otherwise be annihilated.

A standalone 200-300+ page hardcover adventure and city setting set in the Western Realm that can be pursued independent of the events of Dark Obelisk. A separate Premium Atlas will also be published for this setting.

Publication date TBD.

Fire & Gold

Introduction to Adventure Path 2

A hardcover, ~256-page mega-adventure which takes the PCs into territory unexplored thus far in Dark Obelisk writings--the Eastern Realm.

A standalone adventure, from a story perspective, Fire & Gold serves as a prologue to the next planned Adventure Path (which takes place after the Dark Obelisk Adventure Path): the Infinium Cloister.

Mistdelve City

This village's namesake is a thin layer of semiboyant fog, atop which float magically-suspended platforms on which settlements and buildings have been constructed. Introduces a form of 3D movement and combat, too. Limited visibility and three-dimensional movement make for quite an enchanting--and perilous--environment, lush with interesting characters, new weapons, equipment, spells, and monsters!

Dozens of quests, NPCs, and a huge array of intricately-designed maps that interrelate in clearly-defined ways. This standalone city setting is a 200-300+ page hardcover, for which a Premium Atlas will certainly be produced. A separate Premium Atlas will also be published for this setting... and perhaps moreso than every other one, will be a huge asset!

Publication date TBD.