Delve deep into the land of Osirion following an intrepid group of adventurers called The Desert Guardians as they discover hidden treasures in the Tomb of Akhentepi in this Pathfinder Adventure perpetuated by GM coastiemike and his team of table top role players as they explore Mike Brock’s Mummy’s Mask Campaign.
First off, feel free to tell us about the person behind the GM screen. Where are you from? What do you do aside from gaming? Alter Egos? Life partners? Family? Where can we interact with you on the internet?
I have been playing some iteration of RPGs since 1976 with my first ever GMing experience in 1982 when I ran one player through a short Star Frontiers campaign. I really delved into GMing D&D/AD&D in 1985 while in high school.
I have also been lucky enough to work in the gaming industry when I oversaw the organized play program for Paizo from 2011-2015 with some help from a ton of amazing volunteers from around the world, many who I am still lucky enough to call friends.
I am originally in Georgia though work has moved us various times to Seattle, New Orleans, Reno, NV, and back to Georgia. I also spent time in Indianapolis, San Francisco, Connecticut and Miami when I was in the Coast Guard.
Aside from table top gaming, I paint 28mm minis for my campaign, as well as at the request of my players to match their PCs. I have a pretty extensive Reaper Master Paints collection and have a dedicated paint workspace. I also enjoy hunting, backpacking, and traveling.
My wife and I have been together for 22 years and have two awesome children and three amazing grandchildren.
I don’t have a big on-line presence but I am occasionally on facebook.
How would you describe your Campaign in a nutshell. Tell us a bit about the adventure group known as The Desert Guardians and their adventures in the Osirian city of Wati.
We follow the Mummy’s Mask adventure path pretty closely but we tie it in to a previous campaign I ran 15 years ago -the Legacy of Fire Adventure Path. One of my players in that campaign is also playing in this Mummy’s Mask campaign. Her PC and another PC (Kamal) from the Legacy of Fire were married after the AP ended and had a child – Zalina Roveshki. Zalina is now a new adventurer in the Mummy’s Mask AP and learning her way with the Desert Guardians adventuring company.
The other members of the Desert Guardians include:
– Zylia Glavien, an elven ranger with extensive experience in desert environs. She recently lost her animal companion, Wally the Weasal. Wally had an interesting back story as well and found his way through a portal from Sigil. Wally had been a familiar to Dominick the wizard, also from the Legacy of Fire campaign.– Corin Lancingdor is a halfling paladin of Iomadae. However, he is originally from Faerun and was part of the Knights of Silver. In a mishap while battling drow under Silverymoon, a wild magic surge sent him through a portal to Golarion and now Corin is trying to find a way back home to Silverymoon and his elderly mother, Malinda, who owns a bakery in Silverymoon – Lancingdor Bakery.
– Zomo, born in Wati and reared in the Grand Mausoleum, is a devout follower of Pharsma and has taken the undead awakening as a personal affront to be dealt with. He was also destined to follow Pharsma as the birthmark on his head resembles her holy symbol very closely.
– Sidero, a monk from far off Jalmeray, plans on strengthening his mind, body, and soul in order to prove the strength of his monastery and his worth as a monk. He determined the best place to earn respect would be at the Necropolis in Wati, a place of untold peril, mystery, and treasure. After joining the Desert Guardians, Sidero has spent a lot of time searching for his niche within the group in terms of combat.
– Thorik, a dwarven fighter, never really fit into Dwarven life. He craved adventure, to see new things and places; to explore new dungeons and ruins, and loot them; to meet new and interesting people/creatures, and kill them. So at the first opportunity, he joined a caravan out of his hometown. As soon as that job was over, he set out on his own.
– Azalea, and elven rogue, is the newest member of the Desert Guardians, joining them after they had finished exploring the Necropolis and meeting the Guardians at the auction to start Book 2 of the AP. She has recently suffered the loss of her beloved animal companion, Azizi, a capuchin monkey, that she had saved from a traveling circus.
How long has your campaign been running and what made you choose Pathfinder as your gaming system? Are you using Pathfinder Version 1 or Version 2?
We started this campaign in February of 2024. We are using Pathfinder 1st Edition. When Paizo had it’s Dragon and Dungeon Magazine publishing ended, they created Pathfinder. I had renewed my subscription to both magazines for three years and was offered to change it to the adventure path subscription. I absolutely loved D&D 3.5 and the progression to Pathfinder 1e was a no brainer. We have stuck with it every since and have not considered switching to second edition as everyone seems to be having fun with PF1.
Please tell us something about your average gaming sessions. How often do you play? Online or Tabletop? What is your gaming group like?
We are currently on a bi-weekly schedule, playing every other Wed night from 7-11 pm in our basement game room. This is on alternate weeks of the Rise of the Runelords adventure path I am running for seven other players. We play in person, around the table and it is an absolute blast.
Our players for Mummy’s Mask range in age from 18 to early 60s. We have a few players who have been playing for 30-40 years, a few players with 5-10 years, and three players that this is their first tabletop experience. This Mummy’s Mask AP is composed of four men and three ladies, a complete different experience from the Rise of the Runelords game with five women and two men.
All of my players take a keen interest in the game, providing character backgrounds that I like to weave into the storyline, and make their choices have real consequences in game.
Where have you drawn your inspiration from in creating the campaign? Is it an existing Adventure Path? If so, how have you added or amended it? What other sources have been useful to you in setting up an Ancient Egyptian campaign?
It is an existing adventure path. I have amended it by tying Legacy of Fire events into it from when we ran that AP 15 years ago. Also, Mummy’s Mask is the jumpstart for an even longer campaign that will take the party into Planescape and mythic levels. I watched a good bit of History Channel and National Geographic documentaries, as well as documentaries on several ancient cultures on YouTube for inspiration and making the campaign world come to life.
Most of the campaign seems to be centred around adventures in the Necropolis – in particular, the Tomb of Akentepi. Give us an idea of some of the treasures and horrors encountered by your adventuring group, The Desert Guardians, in this hallowed place.
Book 1 of the AP centered around exploring the Necropolis. The Tomb of Akentepi was one of three assignments the party received in the lottery to explore. They lost one companion, a nagaji bard by the name of Serantis (and played by the same player who is running Corin now), to a Graven Guardian while exploring the Sanctum of the Erudite Eye found inside the Necropolis. After exploring the Necropolis in book 1, they then moved into book 2 and the auction of items found by their group, as well as another 15-20 other adventuring groups. During that auction, all hell broke loose with an undead uprising. The party has finally tracked down the source of the undead uprising and now have entered book 3 of the AP in the Grand Library of Tephu where they are researching the artifact that caused the undead uprising and its origins.
You have an extensive range of Adventure Logs, and it seems like you have good input from some of the players in your campaign. How much do your team get involved in this and other aspects of the Campaign?
I award players who keep a journal a 10% bonus to XPs for the game sessions they write an in character journal entry. Some of the players love writing their entries; others don’t enjoy journal keeping. I never force someone to write a character journal as it can be a lot of work btu like to reward players who take the time to do so. My GM entries are more from a narrator stance. Reading in-character journals of what they experienced helps me remember key events I may have forgotten, while also helping formulate ideas to better craft a character’s background and experiences to the overarching storyline of the AP.
You can find both Zalina’s and Sidero’s character journals in the Wiki on our website.
Without divulging any major plots, what is your plan for the future of your central characters?
While in the Tomb of Akentepi, the Desert Guardians discovered a magical tapestry that serves as a direct portal to the River Styx as best as they can figure out. They aren’t quite brave enough (or powerful enough) to enter just yet and have kept it a secret from all but themselves. They also haven’t divulged this info to Corin, knowing he may attempt to enter the portal to get back home back to Faerun. Also within the past month, Zalina learned her younger sister had been kidnapped, and her parents (from Legacy of Fire AP) sent her a letter advising Zalina they were traveling to Sigil as that was the last known location they could find any information on their missing younger daughter. Signs are pointing to, once the Desert Guardians put to bed the threat the Mummy’s Mask has presented, they may work their way towards Sigil, especially if Zalina hasn’t received any kind of update in months. By this time, we should be around 17th-18th level and looking towards a mythic level, Planescape campaign.
What would you say are the most useful tools available on Obsidian Portal, both in terms of Campaign Design and in terms of active playing?
The calendar is extremely helpful as it gives a full year of game days so everyone can make sure to keep their game nights free. It is rare that we don’t have all seven players at a game as all players are invested. The Wiki is also very helpful. Not only does it allow me to record experience points and treasure by game session to keep a running log, but it also allows us to keep a bestiary of creatures they have encountered in their adventures so they can harken back to the previous encounter for any future encounters. The same applies to traps faced and overcome, though this is a more useful tool of the Rise of the Runelords group. I can also use the Wiki to put general info on cities the Guardians explore so it is easy reference for players at the table.
Near the beginning of your campaign, there is mention of a rival adventure group, The Scorched Hand. How much interaction has there been between your players and this group? Did you plan this rival group from the beginning, and what benefits have there been to the campaign in keeping this rivalry alive? Would you recommend the “rival group” notion to general campaign design?
The Scorched Hand was a rival adventuring group that was one of the other groups in the lottery to explore the recently opened Necropolis (at the Pharoah’s decree). The party was assigned a location of special interest to the Scorched Hand. After the Guardians refused to relent to giving it up at the request of Velriana Hypaxes, leader of the Scorched Hand, it eventually came to a head when the Scorched Hand entered and took over the location and hired mercenaries to aid them in keeping it. After a fierce battle, all of the mercenaries and half of the Scorched Hand were defeated. The other two members of the Scorched Hand were released (though I suspect they may hold a grudge and the Guardians may see them again in the future).
The Scorched Hand was written into the AP from the beginning. The party letting two of their members go after the confrontation has allowed me to write the two NPCs into the adventure later in the AP and we shall see how they end up resurfacing. I would recommend it in some campaigns if it fits. In other games, it doesn’t make sense to add a rival group. It just depends on the background of the campaign and how the GM plans to interweave the two groups and their goals together.
Okay, as a last question, we always ask for the GM’s “pearls of wisdom”. What GM insights can you offer the community this month?
I always ask for backgrounds of characters, regardless of how detailed or how little is provided. It allows me to tie in character backgrounds into the storyline in interesting and weird ways. When a background nugget pops up during a game, it really grabs a player’s attention and keeps them invested in the campaign. As a recent example, through two full books and the start of a third, Sidero has had no contact with his homeland of Jalmeray or seen much in the way of goods being sold in marketplaces from his homeland. In our last game, he saw in the crowded bazaar in Tephu, a former competitor in the grandest of martial arts competitions held in Jalmeray. This left a quandary about whether to split the party so he could converse with the NPC or stay with the group. He ultimately decided splitting the party was a bad idea, especially in a new city. Now, Sidero will have the thought in the back of his mind, why was that NPC here so far from home and what might he learn from that NPC.
Investing character backgrounds is always hugely important. Not only does it pay dividends in making an interesting side story that runs parallel to the main story arch, it also gives investment into the campaign by the players and they will not want to miss a game in case their background makes an appearance.
Another pearl I like to keep in mind when running games is making sure I keep notes on loose ends that I can tie back into the storyline later in the campaign. It almost always catches the PCs off guard but I always see smiles on faces when they see their actions, or inactions, are still alive and well (or undead in some cases). They know their actions in game have consequences across the life of the campaign.
A third pearl, I never try to tell a player no when they come up with a good idea. Even if the DC will be tough to make, I let them at least try. If they succeed, it is my responsibility as a GM to make sure they didn’t waste their action on something I was going to say no to all along. Again, if it is a dumb decision, the party knows it will come back to haunt them in a future game. But I have awesome players who don’t take advantage of the situation.
A fourth pearl, I respect my player’s time. If they are going to be gracious enough to spend four hours every other week at my house investing themselves in my campaign, I am going to do everything possible to give them the best possible experience. I am going to put the work in to provide the best possible experience, including maps and minis, sound effect sand background music (we have Bose surround sound installed in the game room), and visual aids and player handouts. If the players are going to trust me to run a game, I am going to do everything in my power to make every experience memorable. I also like to thank my players with small gifts. They bring food and snacks and a good time to my house every other week. At Christmas, I gifted each a custom wooden dice box with a set of dice that fit the theme of their character. At our one year anniversary, I had artwork commissioned of their characters per their descriptions to hang on the wall of our tavern we play in. Always appreciate your players and let them know that you value their time and investment.
Finally, we welcome all players regardless of experience level. In our tavern, we have a leather-bound guest book. After a player plays one game in our tavern, they can sign the guest book in character. This gives a running reminder over the years of the different players we have been blessed to play with. This also sets it up so if a player has a friend or family member in town for the week, we always have an extra seat at the table for the guest to play that week’s game with us. It helps us grow the hobby and make friends who we will hopefully game with again sometime. Always welcome guest players when you can. It will enrich your gaming experience.
Thank you to the community for making this campaign of the month possible! That’s all for now, join us on our next adventure November 2nd, and don’t forget to nominate your favorite campaigns for our next Campaign of the Month!
