Player's Guide

Player’s

Guide

Coming Together 3

Character Tips 3

Campaign Traits 6

Lastwall at a Glance 7

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Ultimate Magic UM

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Player’s Guide

Tyrant’s Grasp

Player’s Guide

The Whispering Tyrant stirs in his underground prison and ﬂexes

his arcane might through his Whispering Way minions, eager to

threaten all of Golarion once again. With deadly new magic at

his command—capable of destruction on a scale the world has

never seen before—his freedom seems all but inevitable, and

swi enough to evade the notice of even Lastwall’s watchful

eyes! Avistan’s only hope may lie in the most unlikely heroes: the

Whispering Way’s newest victims!

COMING TOGETHER

The ﬁrst adventure of the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path

assumes all the PCs begin in the small town of Roslar’s Coer,

in the southwestern corner of Lastwall. Named for Ervin Roslar,

a hero of the Shining Crusade, the town has survived over 800

years despite sharing a frontier with the orcs of Belkzen, even

trading peacefully with several tribes who seasonally wander

nearby. Lastwall considers the town, which helps establish the

local borders and grows much of the ﬂax used in Vigil, important

enough to maintain a small garrison of knights there. While its

existence has been challenging, Roslar’s Coer persisted largely

without issue for centuries until the more violent Twisted Nail

tribe pushed the less aggressive orc tribes out of the region and

began launching raids against outlying farms. These attacks

eventually escalated until the Twisted Nails assaulted Roslar’s

Coer itself in 4707 , burning its historic buildings, wiping out

over a quarter of the population, and scattering the remaining

residents. About half the survivors returned the next season to

rebuild, only to discover a territorial creature called a red reaver

had moved into the Sarenite monastery a mile outside of town,

forcing the church to relocate into the newly rebuilt town itself.

Lastwall deployed additional knights to patrol the border

regions as Roslar’s Coer rebuilt. These warriors turned back

several new raids by the Twisted Nail, who eventually turned their

frustrations inward toward Belkzen. None of the knights’ eorts

managed to dislodge the red reaver from its new lair, however.

It continued to plunder nearby farms and assault travelers, and

locals quickly learned to simply avoid the grounds and orchards

once managed by the church and otherwise went on with their

lives. Agents of the prestigious Pathﬁnder Society arrived last year

to investigate the temple, and aer a daring battle, ﬁnally felled

the beast! The church of Sarenrae has made only brief surveys

of the damage caused by the monster in its 10-year stay, and

they still operate from town. This sudden burst of excitement

nonetheless inspired many of the town’s youth to spin fantasies

about becoming adventurers and Pathﬁnders themselves.

In addition to the Sarenite temple, Roslar’s Coer enjoys minor

fame for Roslar’s Tomb, a sizable crypt in the town cemetery that

houses the earthly remains of several heroes from the Shining

Crusade (although, ironically, not Roslar himself, aer rumors of

a scandal arose upon his death). Faithful of both Iomedae and

Gorum occasionally visit on pilgrimage to pay their respects

to these fallen heroes of the past, and the town is all too happy

to provide accommodations in exchange for newcomers’ coin.

Thanks to its location along the Tourondel River, the town also

sees some trac in the form of crusaders, messengers, pilgrims,

and traders from both Lastwall and Nirmathas.

Player characters might be stubborn residents of Roslar’s Coer,

members of the militia dispatched by Lastwall to guard the border,

part of the displaced church of Sarenrae, pilgrims visiting the crypt,

Pathﬁnders surveying the temple aer their superiors departed,

traders, or ocials from Vigil. Ideally at least one character is a

local—either a lifelong resident or someone who settled in the area

as part of the post–Twisted Nail reconstruction. Those PCs who

do not hail directly from Roslar’s Coer or Lastwall should at least

have a strong interest in the legacy of the Whispering Tyrant and

the Whispering Way and hope to minimize the damage these vile

forces can inﬂict on the world.

This guide includes a short gazetteer of Lastwall to help players

know what to expect from the self-styled bastion against the dark

forces of the world. Additional information on Lastwall and the

Shining Crusade can be found in Pathﬁnder Campaign Setting: Inner

Sea World Guide and Pathﬁnder Campaign Setting: Cities of Golarion.

CHARACTER TIPS

The overall concept of Tyrant’s Grasp—a resurgence of the

Whispering Way and their new weapon of mass destruction—

is one that likely appeals to a vast variety of characters, but how

do you pick just one concept, and what will best ﬁt with the

campaign’s challenges and mood? Despite the large scope of the

storyline, most of the challenges are personal and immediate—

the Whispering Way and other minions of Tar-Baphon threaten

the PCs directly and personally, and in uncovering and stopping

their plot, the PCs will delve into ancient ruins, devastated

landscapes, and secret strongholds with nothing to protect them

beyond courage and a sturdy shield. The PCs will need to rely

on themselves and their fellow adventurers rather than armies

or the social order. The following suggestions do not cover

every potential character concept appropriate for this campaign;

many more possibilities exist, limited only by your imagination

Theme: Survival Horror

The overall theme of Tyrant’s Grasp is survival horror. The player

characters will often ﬁnd themselves in desperate circumstances

with limited resources, particularly during the ﬁrst few adventures.

Terrible tragedies are destined to occur as the events of Tyrant’s

Grasp unfold; often, your objective isn’t to prevent these disasters,

but to survive them and to display heroism and resourcefulness

in their wake. Circumstances will compel the player characters

to leave Roslar’s Coffer much sooner than you might expect, so

characters prepared to travel across Lastwall and beyond are the

best ﬁt for this Adventure Path.

and familiarity with the various options presented over the past

10 years of Pathﬁnder Roleplaying Game products. For more

discussions about characters in the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure

Path, visit the forums at paizo.com and share your questions and

experiences with others who are playing through this campaign.

Alignment

Almost everyone, whether good, evil, or purely self-motivated,

stands to lose considerable freedom and safety under the rule

of Tar-Baphon and legions of the dead, and so alignment isn’t

necessarily limited by morality or ethos for Tyrant’s Grasp so

long as characters can agree that the Whispering Tyrant and the

Whispering Way must be stopped. As Lastwall is a nation ruled by

paladins, lawful good and its immediate neighbors lawful neutral

and neutral good are the most common alignments, with citizens

expected to work toward the common good for their education,

community and nation when they are able, and beneﬁting from

a strong support infrastructure that delivers expertise, protection,

and resources where and when they are needed. Even Lastwall’s

villains tend to adopt a code of honor, leaning more toward lawful

evil than any chaotic outlook. Chaotic characters aren’t especially

disdained, but they have a dicult time ﬁnding a place in the well-

ordered societies of the border nation. Those who do exist dri

toward border communities like Roslar’s Coer or lumber camps

in the Fangwood Forest, and many eventually migrate further

south to Nirmathas. As always, talk to your Game Master before

creating an evil character, as they are not appropriate for all groups.

Archetypes And clAss OptiOns

Most of the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path involves battling

unrepentant evil and surviving in the face of overwhelming

destruction. Many adventures involve dicult scenarios where

awful things have already transpired, and the PCs must do what

good they can in the aermath—comforting survivors and healing

victims. All character classes are suitable for this Adventure Path,

but those who rely on a certain degree of stable infrastructure,

especially urban-focused classes and archetypes, may have a harder

time ﬁnding useful applications for their skills. This Adventure

Path also requires considerable travel, and so characters with some

ability to navigate eectively, get by on the road, or have some

ability to travel faster will ﬁnd practical application for their skills.

Given their prevalence in Lastwall, paladins are an obvious choice,

as are clerics and warpriests, but players of such characters should

do so with an open mind, as many important growth moments

in the Adventure Path require working alongside the lesser of

two evils for the betterment of the world. It’s worth pointing out

that even the paladin code allows lawful good characters to work

alongside evil companions for the greater good, so long as they can

curb the dark actions of their allies.

Other classes well suited for the Tyrant’s Grasp include

ﬁghters, rangers, rogues, and wizards. Druids—residents of the

nearby Fangwood Forest—are likewise a local feature, though

druid players may ﬁnd the desolate landscapes visited over the

course of this campaign too limiting. Because of the prevalence

of undead opponents, bards (as well as enchanter and illusionist

specialist wizards) may ﬁnd fewer targets for their oensive magic

and songs, but their ability to make their companions more

resistant to fear will be appreciated nonetheless. Gunslingers and

other classes that require very speciﬁc equipment might struggle

to ﬁnd places to shop, particularly in the ﬁrst few adventures. A

few monasteries of Iomedae exist within the nation, encouraging

enlightenment through martial skill and physical perfection,

though they focus on Avistani ﬁghting styles rather than those

of Tian-Xia. Among the base classes, cavaliers and inquisitors

are most represented in Lastwall, but even summoners and

witches are le in peace so long as their gis aren’t turned

toward destruction or control. Brawlers, hunters, investigators,

and slayers are also found among the nation’s heroes, as well as

spiritualists and mediums who handle the omnipresent restless

spirits still lingering aer the original Shining Crusade. Classes

of a chaotic bent—barbarians and skalds especially—are not

unheard of, but are not as heavily represented among the

notably honor-bound culture of Lastwall.

Some potentially useful archetypes are listed below.

• Battle scout ranger

• Champion of the faith warpriest

ACG

• Crossbowman ﬁghter

APG

• Crusader cleric

• Daring champion cavalier

ACG

• Deliverer slayer

ACG

• Divine commander warpriest

ACG

• Divine defender paladin

APG

• Empyreal knight paladin

• Exemplar brawler

ACG

• Exorcist inquisitor

• Grave warden slayer

ACG

• Hedge witch

• Knight of Arnisant cavalier (Pathﬁnder Player Companion: Armor

Master’s Handbook)

• Martial artist monk

• Monk of the healing hands

APG

• Phalanx soldier ﬁghter

APG

• Possessed oracle

• Reanimated medium

• Scout rogue

APG

• Shield champion brawler

ACG

• Silver balladeer bard

• Skirmisher ranger

APG

• Skirnir magus

• Spirit warden shaman

ACG

• Spiritualist investigator

ACG

• Standard bearer cavalier

• Trapper ranger

• Undead scourge paladin

APG

• Witch hunter inquisitor

In addition to these options, Pathﬁnder RPG Occult Adventures

also introduces the Order of the Shroud for cavaliers, dedicated

to putting down undead threats.

BlOOdlines, mysteries, And pAtrOns

While most sorcerer and bloodrager bloodlines are acceptable for

the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path, those derived from the ﬁendish

planes are sure to earn more than a few suspicious glances. The

paladins of Lastwall understand intellectually that a child is not

responsible for the sins of his parents—and such characters have

nothing to fear as far as their lives are concerned, provided they

obey the law—but overtly ﬁendish heritage or magic still draws

second glances and increased scrutiny. The following suggestions

are especially appropriate for this campaign: accursed

, arcane,

celestial, destined, undead, verdant

APG

. The oracle mysteries

and shaman spirits with the strongest thematic ties to this

Adventure Path include battle, bones, heavens, and life. Suitable

witch patrons for the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path include

ancestors

, death

, endurance, healing

, light

, portents

spirits

, strength, vengeance

, and wisdom.

These choices are only suggestions, and players should not

feel obligated to select from only these options. Most bloodlines,

mysteries, spirits, and patrons can ﬁnd their place in the war

against the Whispering Way.

FAmiliAr And AnimAl cOmpAniOns

Because of its unusual nature, the ﬁrst adventure separates

the player characters from any followers, animal companions,

mounts, or familiars they may have. Losing a class feature for

the duration of an adventure may be challenging, but it is only

temporary, and PCs will be able to regain their companions at

the beginning of the second adventure. If players can accept

this temporary limitation, the following list of familiars are

local to Lastwall and make ideal choices for familiars: bat, cat,

fox

, goat

, hawk, hedgehog

, house centipede

, owl, pig

rabbit (Pathﬁnder Player Companion: Animal Archive), raccoon

rat, raven, skunk

, sloth

, squirrel (Animal Archive), toad, and

weasel. Characters looking for improved familiars will ﬁnd the

following most appropriate to the themes and challenges of

tyrant’s Grasp: silvanshee agathion

, cassisian angel

, harbinger

archon

, carbuncle

, arbiter inevitable

, pseudodragon, and

nosoi psychopomp

The following animals can be found throughout Lastwall

and would be good choices for companions or mounts, and

are readily available replacements should a character’s existing

animal companion perish: aurochs, axe beak

, badger, bear,

bird (eagle, falcon, or hawk), boar, small cat (lynx or mountain

lion), digmaul

, dire rat, dog, horse, ram

, giant raven

, stag

thylacine

, giant vulture

, giant weasel

, and wolf .

FAvOred enemies And FAvOred terrAins

Easily the most obvious and numerous opponent players will

face in the course of the Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path will be

undead, which make up the majority of the Whispering Tyrant’s

forces. The PCs will also face many living opponents in service to

Tar-Baphon, including humans and elves. Other common threats

will include aberrations, plants, and the new mortic humanoid

subtype. The campaign will cover a variety of landscapes, with

underground dungeons—where the dead and their secrets lie

buried—being the most common. Other common landscapes

will include urban and forest, as well as some time spent in the

rolling hills and rugged mountains of Lastwall and Ustalav.

Origins

With the campaign’s beginning set in a border town steadily

rebuilding aer an orc attack a decade ago, most player characters

likely hail from Lastwall in general, if not Roslar’s Coer

speciﬁcally. They may be clergy, engineers, farmers, healers,

masons, town watch, or weavers, with the local industry focusing

primarily on ﬂax farming, sheep herding, reconstruction, and

weaving cloth from the local ﬂax and wool, as well as selling

linseed oil and lanolin. Even though the border with Belkzen has

been quiet the past few seasons, Vigil maintains a small defensive

force in Roslar’s Coer made up of healers, knights, scouts,

and soldiers, as well as a few academic observers who report on

the reconstruction eorts. Roslar’s Coer attracts trade from

Nirmathas and Ustalav, and even the occasional Varisian caravan

and Razmiri refugee. The reconstruction eort attracted many

souls eager for work, as well as a few opportunistic sorts who saw

the local authorities handing out compensation and support to

displaced locals and decided to take advantage of this generosity,

though most of these have long since moved on now that the

charity has dwindled to a trickle.

lAnguAges

With the bulk of the Shining Crusade’s forces originally provided

by Taldor, the Taldan common tongue is the language of the

area. A large number of Kraggodan dwarves assisted in both the

war and reconstruction, and Dwarven remains a fairly common

tongue even among humans. Similarly, Lastwall’s proximity to

Ustalav means that many among the peasantry speak at least a

little Varisian—especially to mutter curses and protections. Hallit

and Orc are still found on many of the old ruins that predate

Tar-Baphon’s rule, while Necril was the language of choice under

the Whispering Tyrant’s iron ﬁst and remains the common

tongue of the Whispering Way. The church of Iomedae also

commonly commits important messages or prayers in Celestial.

prestige clAsses

Characters interested in pursuing a prestige class have many

options. Any that emphasize their faith and dedication—

especially to the gods Iomedae or Gorum—are prime choices.

The following suggestions are the most thematic for the Tyrant’s

Grasp Adventure Path.

• Battle herald

APG

• Evangelist (Pathﬁnder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea Gods)

• Exalted (Inner Sea Gods)

• Horizon walker

APG

• Knight of Ozem (Pathﬁnder Campaign Setting: Paths of Prestige)

• Prophet of Kalistrade (Paths of Prestige)

• Sentinel (Inner Sea Gods)

• Stalwart defender

APG

rAces

Humans are the overwhelming majority of Lastwall’s population,

but the Shining Crusade brought defenders from across the Inner

Sea region, and almost every ethnicity on Avistan is represented in

the local populace. Though the majority of Lastwall’s population

is at least part Taldan, most citizens carry a blend of Taldan,

Chelaxian, Varisian, Kellid, and Garundi ancestry, and Keleshite

and Tian heritage have also become more common as trade has

increased following Lastwall’s independence from Taldor.

Dwarves and halﬂings are common sights, especially in

the military. Gnome and elven visitors—primarily from the

Fangwood Forest—are not unheard of, but by far the most

common non-humans in Lastwall are half-orcs. Most of the

nation’s half-orcs hail from the generations of tense but peaceful

contact between human border towns and nomadic orc tribes,

or even self-sustaining villages of half-orcs that have dwelled

along the Mindspin Mountains since the Age of Darkness and

that have occasionally adopted human or orc members into

the local population. Despite these diverse origins, the negative

perception of orcs among humans sees that most half-orcs bear

at least some stigma.

Though rare, aasimars and dhampirs both call Lastwall

home, and both are treated with a certain level of mistrust—

dhampirs for their obvious ties to undeath, and aasimars for

their otherworldly origins. Changelings, duskwalkers, and

skinwalkers—many immigrants from Ustalav—can also be found

in small numbers, but are uncommon enough that they generally

don’t draw attention as anything more than unusual travelers.

religiOn

Faith is a cornerstone of Lastwall’s culture. Owing to the nation’s

roots as a religious crusade against overwhelming evil, nearly

every citizen pays homage, whether casual or devout, to one or

more gods on a regular basis. During the 74 years of the Shining

Crusade—and for many years into the recovery era—survival

depended on the ability to invoke the light of the gods or ﬁnd

courage and perseverance through faith. Although Lastwall is not

technically a theocracy, every watcher-lord has maintained strong

ties to one church or another.

Iomedae, the crusader and disciple of both Arazni and

Aroden, is the most prominent god of Lastwall, followed

closely by the war god Gorum, who is popular with both the

crusaders of Lastwall and their orc rivals in Belkzen. Most

soldiers worship both. Iomedae is the usual favorite, and the

church of Iomedae is all but a branch of the government. Other

gods commonly seen in Lastwall include the Taldan pantheon—

Abadar, Cayden Cailean, Norgorber, and Shelyn—imported by

the earliest crusaders. Sarenites are less common, but were still

a strong foundation in the Shining Crusade, especially among

healers. Desna, largely important among Varisian settlers, is also

a common faith among the civilian citizenry. Many dwarves pay

homage to Torag and the rest of the dwarven pantheon.

Many small cults exist to various empyreal lords as well,

especially the avenging angel Ragathiel—whom many of the

most violent paladins follow—and Andoletta, who is embraced

both by communities hoping to invoke her protection and by

veterans who look to her for healing and peace.

skills And FeAts

A Tyrant’s Grasp party will beneﬁt most from a great diversity

of skills. A diversity of Knowledge skills will prove valuable to

solving puzzles and identifying threats, with Knowledge (history)

and Knowledge (religion) being the most useful, and Knowledge

(arcana), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (geography),

and Knowledge (planes) all having their own applications. Many

of the physical challenges in the adventure will provide use for

physical skills like Acrobatics, Climb, and Ride. Perception will

serve most adventurers well, and classic adventuring standbys

like Disable Device, Spellcra, Stealth, and Survival will all have

moments to shine.

Combat with a wide variety of foes is a staple of the Tyrant’s

Grasp Adventure Path, and PCs will beneﬁt from dedicating

themselves to one or more combat feat trees. With undead

as a common feature, feats like Power Attack and Cleave that

allow a warrior to carve quickly through resilient opponents

will be handy, as will feats to bolster one’s Fortitude and Will

saving throws. The Ectoplasmic Spell

APG

metamagic feat allows

spellcasters to more eectively engage incorporeal undead, and

feats that augment a cleric or paladin’s ability to channel energy

will likewise prove useful.

trAits

In addition to the campaign traits listed below, several traits from

the Advanced Player’s Guide are common and appropriate among

the faith-minded citizens of Lastwall: Armor Expert, Birthmark,

Child of the Temple, Courageous, Divine Warrior, Indomitable

Faith, Militia Veteran, Reactionary, Resilient, Sacred Conduit,

Undead Slayer, and Veteran of Battle.

CAMPAIGN TRAITS

The Tyrant’s Grasp Adventure Path takes players across Lastwall

and into Ustalav, as well as to far more distant ports of call. The

campaign begins in the border town of Roslar’s Coer, and player

characters should be natives of the community or its surrounding

environs. Regardless of their backgrounds, every character should

have a vested interest in stopping the rise of undeath and evil that

threatens to conquer all of Avistan.

Each player character should select one of the following campaign

traits as one of her two traits available at character creation.

The Artisan: Precision is important in getting exactly what you

want, and you give careful consideration in building everything

from homes and vases to roads and empires. Your own attention

to detail has proven vital in rebuilding Roslar’s Coer from the

orc occupation a decade ago, whether you are an accountant,

architect, engineer, or herbalist. Your attention to detail provides

you a +1 trait bonus on Appraise and Heal checks, and one of

these skills becomes a class skill for you. Once per day, you can

spend a full round casting a spell you can cast that has a normal

casting time of 1 standard action to increase your eective caster

level for that spell by 1. This ability has no aect on spells with a

casting time other than 1 standard action.

The Lawbringer: The frontier is a land of risk and disorder,

and while people are welcome to brave those elements

themselves, they all too oen bring pain down upon

folk who never wanted such a risk. You might serve

on the town guard or as part of a detachment

of soldiers supported by Vigil, or you could be

simply a concerned farmer who endures when

others cannot, but your purpose is to stand as a

bulwark against the cruel whims of fate for anyone

who needs it. You gain a +2 trait bonus on saving

throws against fear eects. If you have the aura of

courage class feature, the bonus provided by your

aura increases by 1. Your courage is inspiring; the

ﬁrst time each day you are knocked unconscious or

killed, all allies within 30 feet of you immediately

gain a number of temporary hit points equal

to your level plus your Charisma modiﬁer, as

they rally to your defense. These temporary

hit points last for 1 minute.

The Optimist: People don’t need to take

your word that things are getting better; they

only need to look around and see the proof

before their eyes. The town’s recovery from the

orc occupation more than a decade ago is all but

complete, and the monster in the Sarenite temple

outside of town has ﬁnally been bested. Your irrepressible

sense of optimism seems to ﬂy in the face of the hard life that

most residents of Roslar’s Coer face, but you’re convinced

that your positive attitude lis up your community. You gain a

+1 trait bonus on saving throws against mind-aecting eects.

Further, your optimism can be infectious. As a swi action

a number of times per day equal to your Charisma modiﬁer

(minimum 1), you can grant this bonus to an ally within 10 feet.

This bonus lasts for 1 minute.

The Outsider: You don’t have a place, but the frontier seems

comfortable enough for now. Maybe you’re too informal for city

life, too selﬁsh for Lastwall’s general culture of camaraderie,

or too scarred by things you’ve seen to entirely trust another

person. You are accustomed to moving without drawing much

attention to yourself, gaining a +1 trait bonus on Stealth and

Survival checks, and one of these skills is always a class skill for

you. Accustomed to working alone, you gain only half the beneﬁt

(+1) from aid another actions, but you’re accustomed to doing the

job right the ﬁrst time and so increase the bonus you provide by

1 when aiding another character.

The Pessimist: You expect the worst and have rarely been

disappointed. Your dour outlook may hail from the original

destruction of Roslar’s Coer at the hands of the Twisted Nail

tribe, the exile of the faithful from the nearby Sarenite temple,

or some more personal misfortune, but it has set you apart

among the largely forward-thinking population of Lastwall.

Your faith that the worst possible outcome will occur grants you

a +1 trait bonus on Will saving throws. Your frustrating pessimism

can spur friends to succeed just to spite you; once per day as a free

action, you can force an ally within 30 feet to reroll a saving throw

she just failed, using the better of the two results.

The Reclaimer: You lost something precious in the

destruction of Roslar’s Coer 12 years ago—a home,

a legacy, perhaps even family—but returned because

a soul shouldn’t run from pain, but heal from it.

Rebuilding your life and preventing that same

hurt from dragging down others drives you to

serve and protect, perhaps as a politician, charity

worker, healer, or soldier, but that same loss ﬁlls you

with an uncharitable anger that is oen dicult to

reconcile. Your wary eyes grant you a +1 trait bonus

on Perception checks. You gain a +1 trait bonus

on attack and damage rolls against any

opponent that dealt hit point damage to

one of your allies in the previous round.

The Snoop: You know a little bit

about most everything and everyone

in Roslar’s Coer. It may be your

profession, as you could be an

archivist, crier, or librarian—or you

simply make a hobby of gossip. Either way,

you have a gi for recall and reading others.

You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (history)

and Knowledge (local) checks, and these both become class

skills for you. Once each day you can reroll a single Blu or Sense

Motive check against a creature you have known for at least 24

hours, using the better result.

The Word: In a nation overcrowded with faith, you oen worry

that your message is drowned out, but nonetheless important. The

souls in Roslar’s Coer needed comfort and charity once upon a

time, but have bounced back so fully—in part thanks to your hard

work—that you worry you’ve made yourself unnecessary. You

are accustomed to long hours, granting you a +1 trait bonus on

Fortitude saving throws. Your faith is invigorating, and once per

day you can lay on hands as a paladin of half your character level

(minimum 1). If you gain the lay on hands ability from a class, you

instead gain one additional use of lay on hands each day.

LASTWALL AT A GLANCE

Lastwall is a land of rolling grasslands, primeval forests, and

ancient battle scars. Once a landscape of orc holds and Kellid

city-states dotted with Taldan supply forts, the Whispering

Tyrant began to steadily consume the territory aer 3200 . Orc

and Kellid populations were pressed or enslaved into service,

with those who fell—either in battle of ill-fated rebellions—

animated to serve mindlessly until their bones crumbled to

dust. Tar-Baphon’s forces razed entire cities and monuments,

leaving only buried foundations that now litter the landscape as

dungeons and makeshi crypts. By the time Taldor mobilized

against the Whispering Tyrant 5 centuries later, generations of

Lake

Encarthan

Lake

Encarthan

VigilVigil

VellumisVellumis

Castle

Firrine

Castle

Firrine

Castle Everstand

Three Pines Ford

Roslar’s Coffer

Hallein Town

Dortrot RanchDortrot Ranch

Hammer Rock

Vaishau RuinVaishau Ruin

Northern

Fangwood

Northern

Fangwood

Ghostlight

Marsh

Ghostlight

Marsh

Lastwall

100

Miles

gloom and toil had rendered the landscape fallow and hopeless.

War le new wounds upon the land. Strongholds and cities built

to honor the Whispering Tyrant were torn down to the ﬂagstones

and used as the building blocks for new fortiﬁcations against

the wizard-king. Mass battles le landscapes impregnated with

shattered bone and bent steel, with many stretches of land still

fetid and unable to support crops. Terrible magic and spirits still

haunt many ancient battleﬁelds, even a millennium later.

Despite the horror it has seen, those portions of Lastwall held

by mortal hands are beautiful and bountiful. Proximity to Lake

Encarthan provides ample rainfall and cool summers, albeit

harsh and snowy winters. Growing seasons are long enough to

support a variety of crops. The Northern Fangwood Forest and

foothills of the Hungry Mountains eectively divide Lastwall

in half. Eastern Lastwall is far more urban and reclaimed,

with vast farms and ranches supporting cattle and the nation’s

famous horses, as well as the trade city of Vellumis—an ancient

Ustalavic port and the largest city in the nation. Western

Lastwall is less tamed and more hostile—an irony, given that

the nation’s capital of Vigil lies in this untamed half—with

frequent incursions from Belkzen orcs, occasional resurgences

of necromantic energy, and large tracts of land and forest le

largely unexplored and untouched by modern hands. Roslar’s

Coer—western Lastwall’s southernmost town—exists largely

by the grace of the Tourondel River, and little in the way of

modern construction exists between it and the fortresses over

100 miles north except a well-guarded stone road and a few

hunting lodges. Despite this isolation, the people of Roslar’s

Coer squarely consider themselves residents of Lastwall and

do what they can to contribute to the nation.

With a strong-hearted and faithful military tradition, the

people of Lastwall tend to be community-focused, forthright,

and hard working. Their survival depends on trusting each

person in the community to do their job to the best of her

ability, and every citizen knows his community could fall

to the next orc raid or harsh winter if he doesn’t give every

task his best eort. As a people squeezed between two hostile

presences, they are deeply devout, with most residents

attending temple services multiple times a week, but as with all

things, practicality comes ﬁrst, and worship must wait if there

is work to be done. Most citizens spend the spring planting,

summers drilling with weapons and armor, and the autumn

harvesting before the ﬁrst hard freeze. The long, cold winters

are a time of respite—orcs rarely campaign in the snow, and

freezing temperatures harden the ground and prevent the

restless dead from wandering—allowing more attention to

hobbies, family, and friends. Feasts and marriages are common

in the winter months, though most are generally small, local

aairs, as roads during the Lastwall winter can be punishing

even for seasoned travelers.

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Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams, based on material by E.

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Games, Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games; Author: Scott

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