AAW GAMES LLCJonathan G. Nelson

“Saatman’s Throne” is a Pathfinder compatible adventure for 4-6 PCs of level 16.This product makes use of the 3.5 OGL, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary. These rules can be found

online as part of the 3.5 SRD and Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Reference Document at http://www.d20srd.org/ and http://paizo.com//prd/ respectively.This adventure is compliant with the Open Game License (OGL) and is suitable for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or the 3.5 edition of the world’s oldest fantasy roleplaying game.

The OGL can be found on page 29 of this product.Product Identity: The following items are hereby identified as Product Identity, as defined in the Open Game License version 1.0a, Section 1(e), and are not Open Content: All trademarks,

registered trademarks, proper names (characters, deities, etc.), dialogue, plots, storylines, locations, characters, artwork, and trade dress. (Elements that have previously been designated as Open Game Content or are in the public domain are not included in this declaration.)

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Saatman’s ThroneSaatman’s Empire Adventure Path: A Pathfinder Compatible Adventure for 4-6 PCs of Level 16

CreditsAuthor: Michael McCarthy

Creative Director: Jonathan G. NelsonArt Director: Alex Tallon

Cover Artist: Ramon LuchaPublisher: Jonathan G. NelsonCartographer: Todd Gamble

Interior Artists: Bruno Balixa, Jacob Blackmon, Simon Buckroyd, Matt Bulahao, Rick Hershey, Forrest Imel, Mates Laurentiu,

Ramon Lucha, Malcolm McClinton, Eric Quigley, Louis Porter Jr., Phill Simpson, Tim Tyler, Luis Valente and Public Domain

Layout: Alex Tallon

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Adventure Background...................................................................1Adventure Summary........................................................................2Adventure Hooks...............................................................................2Chapter 1 - Infighting......................................................................2Arriving in Gustavin..........................................................................4Denouncing Saatman......................................................................4The Four Families – Reputation and Notoriety.......................4House Rasputin..................................................................................4House Mikhailov................................................................................5House Oblast......................................................................................5House Ivanov......................................................................................6A. Gustavin...........................................................................................6A1. Inn: Dragon’s Scales....................................................................6A2. Market: The Hoard......................................................................7A3. Tavern: Anaveka Ale House...................................................7A4. Landmark: The Lunar House................................................7A5. Landmark: The Sun Baths......................................................7A6. Rasputin Manor..........................................................................7A7. Mikhailov Manor........................................................................7A8. Ivanov Manor..............................................................................7A9. Oblast Manor...............................................................................7A10. Approach to the Throne (CR 16)..........................................7Chapter 2 - The Ruined Throne.....................................................8A11. The Outer Throne....................................................................8A11a. The Plaza...................................................................................8A11b. The Surface Throne...............................................................8A11c. The Secret Stair.....................................................................9A11d. The Upper Gardens..............................................................9A11e. The Lower Gardens (CR 16)..............................................9A11f. The Gallows..............................................................................9A11g. The Seat of Heresy................................................................11B. The Halls of the Mighty..............................................................11The Walls of the Mighty................................................................11Reputation within the Throne.....................................................11Travelling with the Patriarchs.....................................................12Disguises.................................................................................12Magical Solutions............................................................................12Recruiting Cultists...........................................................................12Halls of the Mighty Patrols.............................................................13B1. Atrium (CR 16)............................................................................13B2. Wings (CR 18)............................................................................13B3. Collapsed Passage...................................................................14B4. Green Dragon Chamber (CR 17)...........................................14B5. Kitchen (CR 18)..........................................................................16B6. Hero Chamber (CR 16)............................................................16B7. Mundane Chamber.................................................................16B8. Quiet Wings (CR 14)...............................................................17B9. Brunty’s Chamber (CR 17)....................................................17

B10. Trap! (CR 16)...........................................................................19B11. Herthix’s Chambers (CR 15).............................................19B12. Coliseum...................................................................................21B12a. Coliseum Audience (CR 18).............................................21B12b. Coliseum Dressing Rooms (CR 17)...............................21B13. Pyallisk’s Atrium.....................................................................22B14. Serpens Chamber (CR 0, 19 or 20)...................................22B15. Son of Saatman (CR 4 or CR 16).......................................22B16. Door to the Seat of Power................................................23C. The Pool of Radiance..................................................................23Dangerous Chambers....................................................................23Pool of Radiance Patrols...............................................................24C1. Radiant Pool (CR 17)................................................................24C2. Mundane Chamber.................................................................25C3. Collapsed Area.........................................................................25C4. Catalogues (CR 17).................................................................26C5. Biographies................................................................................28C6. Geography..................................................................................28C7. Magical Studies (CR 17).........................................................28C8. Arcantrix (CR 18)......................................................................29C9. Biology (CR 16).........................................................................29C10. Sciences.....................................................................................29C11. Reprogramming Lab............................................................30C12. Incandium’s lab......................................................................30Chapter 3 - Seat of Power...............................................................30D. The Throne Halls.........................................................................30D1. Audience Hall............................................................................30D2. Throne Room (CR 19+).........................................................31D3. Harem (CR 18).........................................................................35D4. The Vaults.................................................................................35D4a. The Vault Protectors (CR 16).............................................36D4b. The Vault of Midas..............................................................36D4c. Treasure Vault........................................................................36D5. The war-room (CR 16).............................................................37D6. The prison..................................................................................38Concluding the Adventure..........................................................38Continuing the Adventure...........................................................38To Claim a Throne............................................................................39Bones of the Past.............................................................................39A Wish Too Far....................................................................................39XP Rewards........................................................................................39New Monster: Serpens...................................................................39New Spell: Genocide.....................................................................40New God: Eureum..........................................................................41Appendix: Dragon Gods and Kings...........................................42Combat Appendix...........................................................................43Player Map.........................................................................................50

Contents

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Adventure BackgroundNearly two thousand years ago, in the land which now holds the

Klavek Kingdom, a different power ruled the land. The Saatman Empire was a land unlike any seen before or since; it was a place where dragons ruled as gods, each in their own kingdom, keeping lesser races as cattle. And above all of these god kings stood and watched the Saatman.

As much a title as it was a name, Saatman is a line of blue dragons dating back at least three millennia. Yet even modern scholars have difficulty tracking their exact age and passing as each used the same, single name during their rule.

Yet, as any historian can tell you, even the most enduring legacies eventually ends. The humans so long crushed by the rule of the dragons rose up and overthrew their masters, slaying Saatman and countless other dragons in a bloody rebellion.

It was the first of many bloody uprisings that would eventually lay the groundwork for the Klavek empire, but not the last. In the generations that followed Saatman’s fall, his most loyal servants strove to avenge him. Walking among humans as though they were one with them, they taught the tenets of the Empire to the people, and created the cult now known as the Serpens Sanguis - who still saw the dragons as kind and benevolent gods.

Over the generations, the Serpens Sanguis tried dozens, if not thousands of times to return the dragons to their ‘rightful’ ruling place. With each failed attempt, they fragmented. Some cells died off, others began to fixate on different powers or messages, but one group remained true to the cult’s original tenets, placing a rightful Saatman on the throne once more.

Today, this group controls the city of Gustavin, built up around the last and largest of the former empire’s ruins - the Saatman Throne. From here, the cult’s current leader, Matthew Rasputin, cast a single wish whose effects would echo across the countryside: he resurrected the last Saatman.

In the years since, the reborn Saatman has flown from one corner of the former empire to the other, convincing, bribing and blackmailing dragons of all colors to his cause, seeking a reborn Saatman

Empire. And slowly, his army grew.

In the past months, his surgically planned strikes have been thwarted time and again: a white dragon’s storm petered out before it struck the capital (A16, Midwinter’s Chill), a black dragon failed to disrupt trade along Klavek’s eastern shores (A18, Storm’s Wake), and even one of his most powerful allies, a red-dragon sorcerer, fell victim to his own pride (A19, Incandium’s Eruption).

His so-called great plans are in tatters, but he still commands an army of dragons unlike any the world has seen since the days of the empire, and if he can do nothing to restore himself to power, the least he can do is end this human plague infesting the land.

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Adventure SummaryThe party arrives in Gustavin, a city built atop the ruins of the

Saatman Throne - only to find the city long since under the dragon’s sway. Yet, even with their god among them, there is dissent; many do not want to be part of the genocide their ‘god’ demands.

Once the party has staked their allegiances and their enemies, they descend into the throne. Inside, they navigate a maze filled with dragons before travelling by magic deeper still underground.

Now, surrounded by ancient treasures and magic lost for millennia, they face Saatman and his most stoic defenders with an army at their back. The only question is, where does that army’s loyalty lie?

Adventure HooksAfter several recent dragon attacks have rocked the kingdom;

Midwinter (A16), Storm (A18) and Incandium (A19), the party finally has a name; Saatman. The search has led to the heart of the kingdom, where the seemingly innocent Gustavin sits atop a famous and ‘abandoned’ ruin.

Dragons have been spotted across the Klavek Kingdom with alarming frequency - and more than once they have been seen high in the sky above Rybalka, circling for hours. A captured kobold messenger claims they are receiving orders from The Saatman Throne, a millennia-old ruin at the heart of the kingdom.

The village of Gustavin has grown up around the ancient ruin of one of the Saatman Empire’s oldest surviving structures. Yet when the PCs stop here in their travels, they find that the empire thought long dead still lives strong, in secret, and will soon be attempting to reclaim its former holdings!

In its travels, the party meets a travelling wizard of an odd cult, the Serpens Sanguis. He invites the party to visit them in Gustavin, and speak with one of their leaders, Mikhas, for their potential initiation into the group.

Chapter 1 - Infighting

hough it was hidden from maps for over a thousand years, the Saatman Throne was never truly lost. Watched over and stewarded across millennia by the Serpens Sanguis, its members now count the entire town that has grown up atop the landmark as their own, and hide from the world the complex beneath.

Yet, in a group as fractured as the Serpens Sanguis, there is no true unity within the town. It is divided into four major houses, each with their own insular motives and goals; House Mikhailov, House Ivanov, House Oblast, and finally the largest, House Rasputin.

The past several years have seen the four houses as united as they have ever been, with their god-emperor walking amongst them once more, but as his plans have grown more and more desperate, violent dissent has grown.

The Patriarchs of all three lesser houses now have doubts that this newly returned Saatman is as divine as he was before he fell - doubts that will soon lead to rebellion.

ustavin LE Small Town

Corruption 3; Crime -3; Economy 0; Law 4; Lore 0; Society -2

Qualities Insular, Racially Intolerant (non Serpens Sanguis)

Danger 0

Demographics

Government Overlord (Saatman and Matthew Rasputin )

Population 1,311 (96% human, 3% half-dragon, 1% other)

Notable NPCs

House Father Mikhas Mikhailov (Male human aristocrat 14)

House Father Oleg Ivanov (Male human wizard 11 aristocrat 4)

House Father Tambov Oblast (Male human wizard 6 expert 10)

Marketplace

Base Limit 1,000gp; Purchase Limit 5,000gp; Spellcasting 11th;

Minor Items 3d4; Medium Items 1d6

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Arriving in GustavinRead the following to get started:

Gustavin is unusual even from first glance; two circular halves of the city joined together by the central, front gate and flanked on all sides by tall stone walls. It seems peaceful enough, with merchants peddling their wares inside the city gates, but you get the feeling someone, or everyone, is watching every move you make.

Although the city is generally in high spirits, the community is highly insular and small enough that outsiders such as the party are immediately singled out nearly anywhere they go. People will stop conversations as the party walks by, and shopkeepers will turn down signs demarking sales if the party enters their store. Such behavior is the normal treatment of outsiders in Gustavin, and will continue until the party makes an alliance with one or more of the houses, or announces its intent to slay Saatman aloud.

Skill Check Saatman’s resurrection is an open secret within Gustavin, though getting anyone to mention it requires a DC 20 Intimidate, Bluff or Diplomacy check.

Info Parties suspicious about the city’s constant surveillance can find a secret alternate route into the city, through the crumbling wall in A11e.

Denouncing SaatmanPCs who declare openly that they are here to slay a dragon will be

met coldly – after all, the city worships dragons as gods, especially Saatman himself. Any open condemnation of or threat towards dragons of any sort will increase notoriety by 1, and if the party’s notoriety is already 3 or higher, they may be met with violence in the streets as the very populace turns on them.

Several hours after the first such declaration, however, a messenger will invite the party to meet with Mikhas Mikhailov in his home, to discuss their claims.

The Four Families – Reputation and Notoriety

Control of Gustavin is divided between four houses, each controlled by a single family and in turn by that family’s patriarch. Should the party be willing to deal with the potential dangers of accepting the feuding families into their ranks, they can earn some powerful allies.

Each house has its own motivations and goals - some of them less noble than others - and three of them can be persuaded to align their goals with the party, at least temporarily. To make such an alliance, each family offers a number of tasks the party can undertake, for which they will be rewarded with a bonus to reputation with members of that house. Parties can also garner reputation through bribes, gaining one point of reputation for each 500gp of value of bribe or gift given to that house.

This reward is tracked by a reputation score, tracked separately for all three houses. It is added as a flat bonus to all Bluff, Diplomacy and Intimidate checks made against any member of that house, though it is offset by a fourth score, notoriety.

Notoriety represents how dangerous the Serpens Sanguis sees the party, and applies as a penalty on all Bluff, and Diplomacy checks - but as a bonus to Intimidate - made within Gustavin or the Throne. It is impossible to decrease notoriety, and once it is five points above the reputation score for a particular house, members of that house will attack on sight.

House RasputinWith more than 500 members, House Rasputin is the largest

house within Gustavin, and fiercely loyal to both their patriarch Matthew Rasputin and his long-term goal of restoring the Saatman Empire by any means necessary. He is the first, after generations of failed schemes, to have a plan come even close to fruition.

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