Forum

Hello!

Please use this thread to report any typos and other errors you find in the BETA PDF of the upcoming Alderland expansion, no later than October 1. Please note that the page references (page xx) are not yet done, so there is no need to report on those. Thank you for your support!

Is Foundry VTT Support planned for this module?

I immediately noticed that in the Alderland PDF there are multiple instances of word spacing issues, multiple words strung together with no spacing. I appears to be an issue in the Journey to Alderland section.

Page 9 - On a Mission - word experienced is broken up.

Page 21

in the section of Nature and Industry for the Menderin Province

"There is good farming on the plains stretching from Vilersport to the Iron Lock"

I think this should be 'There is good farming on the plains stretching from Vilersport to the Iron Wall' - referring to the mountain range on the western edge of the province.

Not really an error, but I think this would be a very helpful addition to the book:

For general guidance for GMs I suggest adding a table (one page or a spread of two pages) just at the beginning of the section "PROVINCES AND CITIES" with a row for each region/city. Otherwise I can already see it being hard refreshing one's memory, especially if there's a few weeks or months between two game sessions. Here's a suggestion for each row:

1. What makes the region/city special (summary in a few sentences or bullet points);
2. What's currently going on there (summary/bullet points);
3. On what side are they in the civil war (if any);
4. What adventure sites are located there (if any).

P.S. If you want a draft made for the reference table, which you can then alter, I can gladly send you one. :)

Hello,

I received the beta pdf of Alderland yesterday, and noticed some things wrong so far, to help:
Page 8 starting in the second paragraph under "The Journey To Alderland", the text runs together without proper spacing, and this is also the case on page 9 for "War Profiteers".
I will detail more as I continue to read this fantastic expansion! Thank you very much!!

Sent here by moderator.

Text-that-it-too-close-kind-of-without-spaces:
Here are the worst offenders I found:
Page 8: "loosecoalitionsdominatedbyhumans", all the way up to "Alderland because of loyalties forged in previous campaigns", page 9 could also be more spacious between words.
Page 54: Thecampaignconsistsoffourmainstorylinesthatwill
Page 55: substancerequiredtoraisetheTestudionaroundBrodelmarg.
Page 57: Fortheritualtobeperformed
Page 59: MortillabelievesitwouldbebeneficialiftheElderElves

Bad spelling:
Page 9: "ON A MISSION: If the characters have experien ced" <-- experienced written with a space
Page 47 + Page 48: "by placing and expanding a morsell" + the beads is a morsell that" <-- it is spelled morsel throughout the book. Also there could be a "see page (XX)" added here. I guess that you as the GM knows what a morsel is by here though.. but still.

Could have a better explanation:
Page 11: "Neither the coal dwarves that can be encountered at adventure site Albenfels (page xx) nor
the pale dwelvers of Greyzenspitz (page xx) count as dwarves"
So they count as dwelvers and not as dwarves. But as some may see dwelvers as related to dwarves, the sentence could be clearer? You also haven't read about the "coal dwarves" yet, so you just get perplexed by the sentence as it is written.

It is a bit strange when you write "can be placed" when things have a given name on the map:
"The adventure site Albenfels (page xx) can be placed in Roondaber"
Since it obviously resides with that name in Roondaber.

Sorrowpines vs Coldpines
The text in this book reads: The forests south of Goldenweld are completely dominated by sorrowpines, a type of pine tree that stays colder than its surroundings to attract condensation
"The adventure site Albenfels (page xx) can be found in Roondaber" or so would make more sense.
But in the Bloodlands you have:
"You reach a small wood whose chilly temperature is as welcome as it is inexplicable, with the possibility of finding water. The trees are a darker shade of green than those one usually sees in the Bloodmarch, and the type of tree is unfamiliar. Moving closer, you notice the temperature dropping"
+
The trees are also commonly known as “coldpines”.
-----
While you use unreliable narration, and the same things can have different names in different regions, and it could even be two different species... is it really necessary? Wouldn't it be better if the PC could feel somewhat familiar and you use the same name for things? Although sorrowpines is a more evocative name, perhaps a sentence that they are called the other name in the other region and that would also just be fine.

ZZ should be replaced:
Page 63: "For every ZZ rolled"

Rule mismatch:
Page 69: "To even make an attempt, the attacker must fail a WITS roll. If the person succeeds in inflicting damage, they temporarily lose all their WITS and become Broken."
+
"every attack against her counts as a Coup De Grace (page 108 of the Player’s Handbook)."
----
So obviously every attack does not count as a Coup De Grace as those rules are completely different mechanics then the rules described above, they also use Empathy and not Wits? Keep one of the two. Or make a better version. Also if you have the "cold blooded" talent, you lessen the penalties from Coup De Grace, so does that apply here?

Rule strangeness?
Page 71: "Anyone wearing Rubenweld is also flooded with the same melancholy the Shardmaiden felt when she shattered her ruby. The wearer loses one point of WITS at the start of each turn"
But if you gain melancholy... shouldn't the damage then be to EMPATHY?

Better connections?
"With the evil eye installed, Viridia and Scrome merge into a murderous giantess called the Graeme."
The evil version of the same Giant was previously called Scrame: "Scrome and Scrame are actually the same giant" from Raven's Purge.
I get that the Giant is a bit different now as Graeme could be the name of Scrame when its good eye has been plucked out.. but this should then be written, as now you only confuse the Gamemasters reading this.
- Side note... it is maybe a bit strange the Graeme now turns into a female Giant, but it maybe always did. Because Scrame was always describes as a he thought Raven's Purge.

Bad balance: Viridia --> The Graeme
It is kind of a plot hole that Viridia wants to turn into The Graeme, because the "The Graeme" could probably be bested by inexperienced PCs straight out of the intruduction, while Viridia holds god-like powers in her natural form, and will be very tough to beat, even by end-game experienced players. You actually game her SOO many overpowered abilities, that I don't even think a band of experienced late game characters could beat her, unless they are lucky (the invulnerable part should really be removed - how did they even defeat her to begin with? or she should be SUPER NERFED and the magical thing should be her only weakness... although how did the Giant then initially defeat her? That is actually really strange, she is also so overpowered that even without the invulnerability, she would easily beat 10 giants at the same time). Also note that there are almost NO magical items in the entire campaign, so you'd have like one character that could deal her damage, and then she would attack multiple times (extra initative cards), you cannot parry, she has many dice, a D12, deals 3 damage on attacks, and you cannot parry or dodge, and then she just heals for all damage she inflicts. Like sure, you could kill her with a morsel by sacrificing your own life I guess or so, but that would just not add anything to the story.

Unexplained nerf from previous campaign
Page 78: THE HEDONESS MORTILLA has death magic rank 5 in the Bloodmarch (I guess because she is reaching godhood), but that has been nerfed to rank 3 in the Alderland campaign. But she is otherwise described as more powerful? So if she wants to cast a level 3 death magic spell now, she might have to chance cast it?

Missing explanation?
Page 95: "Karpella can intuitively cast blood magic"
This could instead of page references write something useful that explains what "intuitively cast" means. I guess without expending Willpower and maybe without the need/risk of chance casting?
You should also write what Power Level she casts these at? Like her maximum possible Power Level without the need for chance cast? Or can she chance cast them at higher levels? Or does she always cast them at PL 1?

Missing staff
Page 123: Thyrma has a magical amber staff (page xx).
I know that there is a page pointer here, but I just kind find the stats for this staff anywhere? You might need to explain it here instead?

Strange encounter
Page 128: A bridge too far
First you need to read this a couple of times to understand it. Start the sentence by explaining also the situation and the man, that she doesn't at all know him, she is just someone she performs rites on.
- "the girl turns", perhaps "the small girl turns". You switch between having the woman and the girl as the focus, and that could maybe confuse?
- The rest is fine. That the girl is dead is also fine... but adding Merigalls daughter here is a bit strange:
"One of them is Marozia’s deceased daughter, Malva. See the encounter A Bridge Too Far (page xx). The demon can teleport itself and its companions between these offspring at will."
+
"Merigall also wants to find out who killed its child, Malva"
+
"The culprit is Zygofer, later Zytera (see Raven’s Purge),"
+
"The demon Merigall is Malva’s father and is furiously searching for whoever is responsible for the girl’s death."
----
This plot makes NO sence. So Merigall can teleport to his children at will, as also does so through the Raven's Purge campaign. Zygofer killed the daughter, so that was 800 years ago + two campaings ago. That Merigall is furious now makes so sence? The girl would be long dead otherwise? Or even if not, he is like the worst father that did not think of his child for so many 100s of years. Can he still teleport to her? This also makes Marozia almost 1000 years old. This is not explained that just because you know death magic you can live forever? Why was Zygofer then so desperate to prolong his life, if it is easy? And he should have had more resources, and have been even better at death magic? But I guess Mortilla took a liking of Marozia like around a 1000 years ago? That could be explained. Because the text just contains info like "Marozia is an expelled Egressor who now serves Mortilla".. and you kind of don't think this happend SOOO long ago, you need to help the GM more here.

Maybe an inconsistency:
Page 141: "Rust worshipers from Alderland may have mocked the Ravenlanders’ goddess Heme"
Like sure, it could happen.. but would there be enough Ravenlanders that would care? If they still worship Heme, I would guess they would just defect to the Rust/Heme churches in Alderland at this point.

Strange connection:
"Albenfels and be hired for the job, which in turn could lead to the event The Terracotta Army. See the encounter A Bridge Too Far on page xx."
Why would I see the encounter "A Bridge Too Far" here? I don't follow the connection at all? Explain better if there is any connection.

Somewhat missing rules:
Page 207: "Like the White King, these undead rulers are death knights, but the redpainted king bursts into flames when angered and the black-painted king spreads disease with his attacks."
You have rules for so many things, but these could actually be encountered? I guess the GM would have an easy time improvising though. Like picking their own virulence for some of the black king's attacks, and making the target just burn on some of the the red king's attacks. (They are otherwise statted as Death Knights and that is fine).

Slight inconsistency:
"All dead on the mountain rise to aid him." <-- If you first read this, you think that all dead rise when he awakens.
+
"it is the Pale King, a Death Knight. He can also raise a few ordinary undead skeletons." <-- But it seams like only a few rise. Again not stated how this works. I would personally probably give him a small attaché, and give him an extra initiative that would add another skeleton every round and that would probably be fine. Most GMs should be able to handwave a fix, so not that important.

-------------------------------------

Elder elves forming flesh - not happing in Raven's Purge
It is super inconsistent that Elder Elfs can create their own flesh in this campaign, because they couldn't previously. This should be explained, like that they are supercharged while the Red Wanderer is in the sky or something.
The inconsistencies is all over the place as previously this was known:
- "to reclaim Viridia’s ruby heart and grant her a new body in the Stillmist" <-- Need Stillmist
- "The siblings carried Viridia’s green stone back to the Stillmist where they once again dressed it in flesh" <-- Need Stillmist
- "The elven woman Klotinda had fallen in love with Iridne’s gentle voice and helped her re-assume flesh" <-- Need help
- "He faked his own death and had his ruby set into the royal scepter, Nekhaka, which thereafter was passed down in the Algarian dynasty" <-- Why would he stay near the undead when the scepter was lost, if he could resume flesh form? The same is true for other misplaced artifacts. So this sentance makes no sence: "Algared has broken the scepter Nekhaka and taken flesh around his ruby once more" <-- I mean, he was not even in it? He most likely was tossed into the Protonexus in Stanengist to close it? So not in the scepter?
- "VIRIDIA begins the game as an emerald embedded in the forehead of the mobile fortress and adventure site Isenwerk." <-- Why not start forming flesh there, if now all elder elves suddenly can that?
(My own take will be: They still cannot "resurrect" themselves outside of the stillmist, except for Algared, as he was tossed in the Protonexus to close the demonic portal, he ended up in the demonic world of Mog and formed a new demonic body (or rather bodies) from that semi-living Mog. This is also why the Shardmaiden can cleanse his forms. When he returned from the demonic dimension, the magic he used for that shattered the Stanengist crown and spread the gems into different places in Alderland. Nebulos gem managed to send a though to someone, a person or maybe an animal that picked him up to place him in the Stillmist - he probably directed them to Shálvila - so they might even need help to reform in Stillmist, just that the Ichor of Shálvila makes it better... perhaps some small part speck of ichor is what resurrects regular elves in the Stillmist in the Ravenlands too. I will probably make Vaerefor van Reiben an elf that was sent to the demonic plane, and infected with Mog, by Nebulos too.. as an experiment to see how it affected elves)

Bad late in introductions:
"Non-elven creatures cannot breathe within it and will suffocate as if underwater if the Stillmist closes around them"
since Stillmists seems to exist all over the map in Ravenland (well, you could hand wave it and say ONLY the top region was actual Stillmist), but still. PCs could have travelled there, this could break their campaign emersion. (I actually never thought the mist regions other than the top one was the Stillmist, so that is ok, and my player's luckily never ventured there).

Tinker’s Touch - and the economy and everyday lives
"as it turns everything red into silvery tin"
Tin should be more valuable than copper, so this really would break the economy. Like the PCs would instantly find an infinity money glitch here.
I guess that in just a week, it would become common knowledge, and others also would do it, and tin prices would go down to the same level as stone.. but all the pewter and bronze would really remake the economy. Like armies with bronze swords would even become viable if iron was scarce. Everyone would have pewter plates and cutlery, etc.
There should maybe have been a note about this somewhere in the campaign.

Failers
All the half-eleves in Alderland is supposedly called frailers. This was completely omitted in this new book? And they are just half-elves? Are the original frailers all dead? Some explanation should be introduced!

Valondian, Human-Dwarf hybrids
Human + Dwarf offspring in the Ravenlands produce Ogres, but in Alderland they for some reason almost always form Valondians. GMG page 20. Why is there no lore whatsoever on these?

Personal comment on the gods
The hedoness mortilla: Just going to say that aspiring to godhod is much more fun to play with than simply. There were a god and needs to regain it. I will play it so as she never was a god, as that makes things more interesting, and keeps the mystery around the gods. Like now you could kind of befriend her (although super hard) and have her tell you all truths about the gods.. it ruins the separation a bit. like she would probably then know the absolute truths between Raven-Rust-Heme-Wyrm-Eating Wyrm-etc. Like the way godly words could be misinterpreted as seen with the Shardmaiden and the Rust church is great! I think most people wants the gods to feel mysterious and a bit out of sync with reality. As they previously were in the GMG + Raven's Purge.

Kind of missing plot point: Algarod the Deathknight
Since the players where given the opportunity to spare Algarod in Raven's Purge. He could have survived and be a minor key player in driving the war towards the Algarians capitol. As undead (messed up time sence, still thinks it is the year when he died), he propably still thinks he is the rightful king, and marches towards what he believes is his home. Since Zygofer/Zytera was killed - he has no reasons to stay. And since there are battles everywhere, he could have a lot of undead to resurrect.

The ending is a bit too open - they player's can almost not accomplish anything
- Raven's Purge, clear ending - stop Zygofer, the Protonexus and open up a way to the Bloodmarch (you could also ally with him - but the end battle either way makes sense)
- The Bitter reach - Stop the Winter elves (or ally with them). Be king makers, by making the least bad choices (Alderlanders or Orcs are probably better alternatives than the Winter Elves or the Misgrown).
- The Bloodmarch - stop the Seven from enslaving the world, bad guys could still exists though, like the Red Elves are hard to counter. But that is fine. Players also untangle the lore.
But this:
- I guess stopping the World clock could count as one good thing?
- Should the players help the Elf goddess to form? Maybe/maybe not? The elves are a bit strange and one part is even green and.. at least another have been doing kind of evil things... is the result going to be fine? And one part (Algared) will even be missing from the final form. And after forming.. nothing happens? She just doesn't do anything.
- The Rust guys are bad - but you cannot defeat them. You can maybe try to leave them slightly weakened.
- The Algerians are bad - they will always be defeated, but in the final moment you cannot kill their leaders.
- You also cannot open the way to Davura or Treuwen... but there are boats constantly going there.. so it is still just the land way that for some inexplicably reason should stay locked?
- There is maybe a chance for a new religion and a new king.. but the King plot is doomed to fail, as you cannot really influence the two installed regents? The religion.. well with the help of the new armies then maybe it could have a chance.
- The death-goddess plot also stops without reaching any conclusion.

On page 20 it says: "See the encounter Ironborn on page xx for a complication involving the Duke"
The encounter actually called "Irony", page 124

It would be good if they explained a little more about Virelda Bloodbeak and the Raven Sisters here. While they are relevant to the Raven Purge campaign, it would be good if they explained more about them and what happens to them here in Alderland