The Second Epoch: Sketch of a Homebrew Campaign for Pathfinder 1e

Let’s say I wanted to start a Pathfinder 1st-edition homebrew game that supported lots of different player species all working together, an easy source of threats for them to face, and some quick and easily understood lore I could build off of as the campaign goes on and levels up.

It might look a lot like this.

“The Second Epoch”

The First Epoch ended 253 years ago, when the Twelve Mythic Champions defeated the great threat of that age, the Elder Madness and its agents, the aberrations. While each champion had powers that made them nearly gods and artifacts beyond the comprehension of any now living, their final victory came with the creation of the Torc of All Things, which could grant limitless and unintended-consequence-free wishes on command. To ensure no one of them could command that kind of power again, the Mythic Champions broke the torc into 12 parts, and each took one and went to their own corner of the world, swearing to never pass into or interfere within the region of another champion.

The only two champion Pcs need to worry about to start are Tianna the Peacemaker, and Khernin the Diabolist, whose two realms lay side-by-side, Tianna’s to the East, and Khernin’s to the West.

Tianna set out to build a kingdom of peace, acceptance, mutual respect, and understanding. She invited refugees from around the world, displaced by the War against the Elder Madness, to come live together in harmony under her guidance. Members of scores of cultures (each with a dozen or more native species) answered her call, and came together to form a single kingdom of Tiannavel. While acclimation was difficult, the mythic Peacemaker was up to the task, and though Tianna died a century ago, Tiannavel continued to grow and thrive as a land of art and philosophy — by no means perfect or without dangers, but increasingly a land with plenty and growing safety. The disparate peoples and societies within its borders came to interact without constant war, and their differences came to be seen as a pride in diversity, rather than cause for hatred. Tiannavel is ruled now by the Serene Council under the symbol of the Peacock Hall — representing dozens of colors and shapes taking pride in their combined beauty.

(Art by Bruno)

Khernin set out to conquer every inch of his realm to control directly, establishing local Praetors to rule under his control. He sought ever-more power, claiming to wish to be ready if another threat such a the Elder Madness arose. He raised up Monstrosities — summoned demons, created undead, bred magical beasts, and gave great leeway to any underling showing a sign of discovering new forms of power. His empire of Khernobolg was feared by most rational beings, but Khernin kept to the compact of the Champions — no force or agent under his command was allowed to set a single toe outside his realm’s borders.

(Art by Bruno)

Three years ago, Khernin died. Khernobolg was thrown into chaos as his Praetors and Monstrosities fought to take control of it and Khernin’s Basalt Throne. But in the past year, things from Khernobolg have begun to cross the border into Tiannavel. The most powerful threats can be handled by the great heroes of the peacock hall, but they are few in number and many of Khernin’s old lieutenants are resistant to scrying. for the Great Heroes to be in the right place at the right time, Tiannavel’s borders must be patrolled, and minor threats investigated by adventurers competent enough to survive minor threats, and wise enough to recognize problems above their pay grade.

Also known as “player characters.”

The campaign begins in the town of Ulcazar, which was built late in the first Epoch to oversee the Three Crossings — a point where the Basalt Mountains have multiple passes a few days to the northwest, the Midnight River has a major ford two days due west, and the Dragontooth Coast has a single harbor, in the small port town of Bandarvey three days to the southwest (or one by river). These form the southern border between Tiannavel and Khernobolg, and has become one of the hot spots in the growing incursions from the western Kingdom.

Ulcazar is ruled by the Solstice Table, a group of eight sages and seers appointed by the Serene Council (who also control Bandarvey and everything with a week’s travel of Ulcazar). Their powers wax and wane with the seasons, and the further from a solstice it is, the weaker they are. The Solstice Table has a small Solstice Guard, to protect the town itself, and the Lunar Scouts who patrol surrounding territory. But most importantly, each member of the Table is patron to a number of less powerful “adventurers” who can be sent to investigate reports of mysteries, strange occurrences, portents, and potential breaches of the border. If such threats are minor enough, PCs can deal with them. If not, they should gather what data they can, and bring it back to the Solstice Table.

As the campaign begins, the 4th-level characters are gathered by one or more patrons and asked to go into the Midnight Swamp, at the base of the Basalt Mountains north of the Midnight river Pass. Local lye-makers from the hamlet of Seffield who gather materials at the edge of the swamp have reported strange green lights dancing deeper in the swamp. They could be fey, wil-o-wisps, undead… or something worse.

Cancer Support

I have cancer, and am on chemo (and likely will be for months to come). If you want to help me cover cancer treatment costs, right now, one great way to offer your support is to purchase the Fight Owen’s Cancer megabundle, which offers $1000 worth of material, 355 pdfs from 15 companies, for just $40!

Alternatively, you could pick up The Traveler’s Guide to the Darklands: For Pathfinder 2E, which a vast number of amazingly talented people put together as a charity product to aid me. And it’s got excepts from Alphonse Lord Tabbington!

Or, if you prefer, I do accept donations to my Ko-Fi, which doesn’t take a cut before passing the money on to me. (Also, there are cat pics there!)

And, of course, a big part of my income comes from people supporting my Patreon, so joining that is a big help!