Overview

Ysidra is the world’s greatest city, a sprawling metropolis of districts, populated with a teeming diversity of races and religions. Boasting a population measuring into the millions, this metropolis is a mighty nation unto itself, considered the heart of civilization from time immemorial.

The Harrower Queen is a millenia old lich who tops an organized crime hierarchy that has held the Ysidra in an ancient grip of fear and corruption. She rules through manipulating and and steering layers of cults, organized crime families, and corrupt politicians. She is a diviner par excellence. She casts harrow-readings, she deciphers the entrails of her victims in her secret abattoirs, and she reads celestial signs. Long ago her grip over fate was ironclad; she read all men’s secrets and dictated the outcomes she wished. But society progresses, and for centuries her influence has been slowing decaying.

The world is changing. With rail lines bringing in crops and materials, with steamships crisscrossing the oceans in an abundance of commerce, and with a booming and increasingly educated populace, the city is steadily slipping from her grasp. New humanitarian philosophies, concepts of democracy and just rule, and burgeoning demands for freedom from bigotry of race, religion and class: these threaten her ancient grip of terror and coercion.

Can your squad of vigilantes and freedom-fighters contribute to a final tipping point? 

Your leader is the aristocratic Llwenda Grant, to polite society an aristocratic patron of arts and academia. She is pale of skin, tall, green eyed, with long tumbling curls of black hair. But she is secretly known as Medusa, running a secret organization of commandos and agents united in purpose to bring about the downfall of the Harrower Queen.  Medusa is a terrifying leader whose agents work in the lawless twilight, by means both fair and foul.

As you proceed, you must work with five factions: the government (with its sprawling political, military and bureaucratic wings), the three great religions, and the communist party. Each in its own way is visionary and idealistic. But their ideals are incompatible. Should one dominate and become a new tyranny, the bright young flame of freedom may be snuffed out.

(This image shown is Ysidra's northernmost Harbor District, the main expanse of the city is behind the viewer.)

Trigger warning: this is a story about heroes trying to make a difference in an work where the evil powers use historical evils (slavery, demagoguery, and bigotry over race, class and religion.) As freedom-fighters, you may face some dark things. I will try to be discreet and polite about ugly topics, but if you wish to avoid these themes then please choose another adventure.

Character Creation and Rules

Basic rules: Paizo + Psionics + Occult as found here: https://www.d20pfsrd.com/. Not restricted to PFS legal. No 3rd party content (except psionics and homebrew provided on these pages). No variant rules, except as specifically called out. When in doubt, show me the URL.

Some exploits that have level-disproportionate effects will be banned, if needed.

Characters start at 5th level, 20 point buy. Hit points = Max+3-3*level.

Starting wealth: 10,500gp. 1000gp toward consumables for each consumable creation feat you have (Scribe Scroll, Craft Potion, etc.). 2000gp toward items of the category covered by each Craft feat you have (including Gunsmithing toward guns). Bonus funds not used for the specified purpose are lost. Otherwise no pre-game crafting, no pre-game purchasing with any discounts. No pre-game mundane item crafting. No crafting of custom magic items before the game starts: I'll only make case-by-case decisions on specialty crafting later. No spell trigger items with caster level greater than character level. If a trait modifies starting wealth it applies only to the base wealth, not to any bonus wealth. Characters who start with more than 500gp forfeit half the surplus.

PC races are exclusively: Catfolk, Dwarf, Gnoll, Goblin, Halfling, Half-orc, Hobgoblin, Human, Monkey Goblin, Orc, Vanara. Race is irrelevant to alignment; these are people not monsters. If mixed blood, you can take cosmetic fluff from your secondary race, and count as of that race too for all prerequisites including favored class bonus.  There will be game specific racial traits to reflect how each of these humanoids fits in Ysidra. See here for more about the Harrowed City races.

Classes:

• Check out the Harrowed Gunslinger, with over 100 deeds and feats and options that let other classes interoperate with it, it is an essential part of this game world. (Note that most gunslinger archetypes are allowed, but some are obsolete or banned. See that page.)

• All available classes and what religions/supernatural affinities they have is on the second post here.

• Banned classes: paladin, antipaladin, summoner, dread and mesmerist.

• Banned archetypes: any that add Sneak Attack to a non-rogue class are banned. Druidic Herbalism is banned.

• Unchained classes are in use.

• Nature classes (Ranger, Druid, Hunter)  are allowed but may not fit. The Urban environment is divided into 3 terrains (Low, Medium, and High class). 

• Highcaster nerf. If a class allows spells above 6th level, then 1/3 of your class levels (rounding down) must be in classes that do not stack with that class's spellcasting ability. This rule also applies to psionic classes that reach 9th level powers, namely: Psion, Tactician, Vitalist, Wilder.

• The Harrower prestige class prerequisite is only 2nd not 3rd level spells.

• Rogues: once a good class, but outclassed as the game evolved around them, here is our "rogue rescue package."

• “Trapfinding” is banned for all but Rogue, Investigator and Cryptic. Magic traps are routinely cloaked against Detect Magic & similar magic effects. Master trap makers have learned how to make their traps trace magic to its source. Find Traps & similar magic can be counter-measured, making the old fashion what of detection and disarming vital.

• A rogue can change the ability used for 2 skills.

• Non rogue archetypes with sneak attack are banned, making rogues more unique. Gear that voids sneak attacks is rare/expensive.

Alignment: respect and work with your team, don't be a psycho.

Religion is homebrew and critically affects spellcaster classes. Each religion has exclusive access to one style of magic: Arcane, Occult, Psionic and Divine. You can only use magic of one style. Pay attention because a broad swath of abilities are exclusive to each of the first three.

• Aetherism / The Celestial Sovereigns. The Arcane faith:  exclusive access to all forms of planar magic (including monster summoning). Divine classes (clerics, etc) of this religion cast Arcane magic. 

• Spiritalism / The Harrowed Faith. The Occult faith: exclusive access to all forms of necromancy/communing with the dead, and to druidism. Exclusive access to druidism and shamanism. (The Harrower Queen is worshiped by some in this faith, but the majority would oppose and detest her.)

• Triapsyism / The Psychic Unity. The Psionic faith: exclusive access to all forms of reading and changing minds. Clerics and such do exist in this tradition but they use psionic rules for casting.

• The Narrow Way / The Path of Light. The Divine faith: Cannot use magic to directly harm (but OK to use vs undead, constructs, evil outsiders), cannot use dark, chaos or evil magic. +1 CL using channeling, healing, light, law, good magic. Banned from using piercing or slashing weapons (so no firearms).

• Agnostic. None of the above. You can use items, gear and abilities of all styles freely, but you can’t level up in any spellcasting class.

See here for more details on the religions.

Skills:

• Used: Background skills; Skill Unlocks, Occult Unlocks

• Knowledge (local) has a different sub skill for Low, Medium, and High class districts. Knowledge (local: High) replaces and subsumes Knowledge (nobility).

  • Q: Are these professional skills or background skills?

  • A: f you grew up in a district or made it your long-standing home base, you may treat that district's Knowledge (local) skill as a background skill [any one of the three]. Otherwise, all three are adventuring skills and cannot be purchased with background skill points.

• Social skill will be against increased DCs and may have limited affect against relatively higher level targets, to compensate for Pathfinder allow incredibly large stacking bonuses to skills.

Feats:

• Banned: Leadership, Flanking Foil, Tumor Familiar, Sacred Geometry. Also, try to avoid exploits lest they unbalance yourself relative to a team.

• At creation, take either the Elephant in the Room Feat Tax Fix, or a bonus Feat + a bonus Trait.

Traits:

• Choose three, one being a Harrowed City Campaign Trait. No campaign traits from other campaigns. No drawbacks.

• If a trait is listed as purple on this page, it costs a feat or two traits instead. If not listed, ask.

Other miscellaneous changes:

• Multiclassing: Fractional base bonuses are used

• Large, or obviously magical, companions are banned. Doesn't fit the covert ops theme.

• Used gear sells for 25%, not 50%.

• Retraining is allowed; no trainer needed; but cost is 3x listed.

Major changes around Gunslingers and classes sharing resource pools.

• Interoperable Grit, Panache, Luck, Ki, Inspiration. These powers are all interchangeable in a common pool. You may benefit from multiple ability score boosts to this pool but only if the ability scores providing the resource are different. It is intentional that these generally lower tier classes upset the apple cart somewhat dislodge what are traditionally the higher tier classes.

Firearms rules:  Guns are everywhere and firearms are a critical part of the environment. Read the firearm rules here, and consider the Harrowed Gunslinger which replaces the Paizo Gunslinger, and has 100+ deeds to choose from. Also be aware of Campaign Feats, which make firearms accessible to all classes.

FAQs: Q: Do I have to read the whole OOC starter thread? It's long! A: No, all decisions that came out of discussion are in the rules, in their right places. Other FAQs are here.