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Cerulean Seas Adventure Under the Waves
ALP-CS01:
Role Playing Game Supplement New Undersea Campaign Guide for use with the Pathfinder® Roleplaying Game
Written by Emily Kubisz, J. Matthew Kubisz, Matthew Cicci, & Sam G. Hing
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Cerulean Seas © 2010 Alluria Publishing. All rights reserved.
Compatibility with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game requires the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game from Paizo Publishing, LLC. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG for more information on the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. Paizo Publishing, LLC does not guarantee compatibility, and does not endorse this product.
Pathfinder is a registered trademark of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility Logo are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC, and are used under the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Compatibility License. See http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/compatibility for more information on the compatibility license.
OPEN GAME LICENSE v 1.0a. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. SYSTEM REFERENCE DOCUMENT. Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams,
based on material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. PATHFINDER RPG CORE RULEBOOK, PATHFINDER RPG BESTIARY, PATHFINDER RPG BESTIARY 2, & PATHFINDER ADVANCED PLAYER’S
GUIDE. Copyright 2009-2010 Paizo Publishing, LLC; Lead Designer: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
THE BOOK OF EXPERIMENTAL MIGHT. Copyright 2008, Monte J. Cook. All rights reserved. THE DEEP. Copyright 2003, Mystic Eye Games, LLC; Authors: Becky Glenn, Stefon Mears, Susannah Redelfs, and Robin Wise. TOME OF HORRORS. Copyright 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Authors: Scott Greene, with Clark Peterson, Erica Balsley, Kevin
Baase, Casey Christofferson, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Patrick Lawinger, and Bill Webb; Based on original content from TSR.
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 are not included in this declaration.)
Open Content: Except for material designated as Product Identity (see above), the game mechanics of this Alluria Publishing game product are Open Game Content, as defined in the Open Gaming License version 1.0a Section 1(d). No portion of this work other than the material designated as Open Game Content may be reproduced in any form without written permission.
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Authors
Sam G. Hing
Matthew Cicci
Emily Ember Kubisz
Cover Artist
Dean Spencer
Interior Artists
Dean Spencer
Eugene Jaworski
Vasilis Zikos
Benjamin R. Barnes
Editors Stephanie D. Schubert Paul Klein
Rules Consultant Matthew Jacobs
Peter Killian
Layout & Design Tim Adams Rogue Agent Solutions
Special Thanks to: Ofelia J. Kubisz Jim Clunie
EN World Team Draconis
Credits
Lead Designer: J. Matthew Kubisz
Design Consultant: Tim Adams
Authors: Emily Ember Kubisz, J. Matthew Kubisz, Matthew A. Cicci, & Sam G. Hing
Cover Artist: Dean Spencer
Interior Artists: Tim Adams, Andrew K. Barlow, Kevin Bedan, Black Cardinal Comics,
Sandeson N. Gonzaga, Mary Graham, Natalia Ponce Gutiérrez, Jim Healy, J. Matthew Kubisz,
David LaRocca, Emile Noordeloos, Agnieszka Osiwała, Randall Powell, Raul Gonzalez Serrano, Dean Spencer,
Colby Stevenson, Peter Szmer, Lotta Tjernström, Daryl Toh Liem Zhan & Vasilis Zikos
Editor-in-Chief: J. Matthew Kubisz
Editing and Development: Peter Killian, A. L. Maturin, & Stephanie Dawn Schubert-Kubisz
Editorial Assistance: Paul Klein
Art Director: Emily E. Kubisz
Alluria Publishing CEO: J. Matthew Kubisz
Vice President of Operations: Stephanie Dawn Schubert-Kubisz
Legal Consultant: Jack Benson
Official Playtesters: Sherri G. Bickerton, Steven Carabello, Heather Carvell, Larry Colwell,
Dan Forest, Bill Giffen, Dave Johnson, Nicole Mailman, Shawn Malott, Brett McConnel,
Stephanie Dawn Schubert-Kubisz, Ron Spreckels, Wendy Spreckels, Team Draconis,
Jason Ungart & Jasen Ward
Special Thanks: Jim Clunie, Team Draconis, Matthew Jacobs, & Ofelia Jean Kubisz
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Chapter 1: Undersea Basics 4 Preface ........................................................... 5
Introduction .................................................. 6
Common Terms ............................................ 7
Using this book ............................................. 7
Environmental Basics.................................... 8
Aquatic Combat ............................................ 24
Chapter 2: Undersea Races 26 Anthromorphs............................................... 27
Karkanaks ................................................ 28
Mogogols ................................................. 29
Pisceans ................................................... 30
Sebek-kas ................................................. 31
Feykith ........................................................... 32
Elves, Sea ................................................. 33
Naiads, viridian....................................... 34
Nixies, deepwater ................................... 35
Selkies, lochgelly ..................................... 36
Merfolk .......................................................... 37
Cindarians ............................................... 38
Kai-lios ..................................................... 39
Nommos .................................................. 40
Seafolk ..................................................... 41
Merfolk half-races ......................................... 42
Vital Statistics ................................................ 45
Chapter 3: Undersea Classes 46 Adapting Existing Classes ............................ 47
New Classes ................................................. 56
Kahuna .................................................... 56
Mariner .................................................... 63
Siren ......................................................... 66
Prestige classes .............................................. 72
Chapter 4: Aquatic Skills & Feats 80 Skills............................................................... 81
Feats ............................................................... 86
Chapter 5: Money & Equipment 94 Aquatic Currency .......................................... 95
New Aquatic Materials ................................. 96
Weapons ........................................................ 97
Armor of the Sea ........................................... 103
Ships .............................................................. 105
Aquatic Goods............................................... 108
Chapter 6: Magic of the Sea 114 Notable Exceptions to Spell Rules ................ 115
Aquatic Material Components ..................... 116
Aquatic Equivalents of Existing Spells ........ 117
Undersea Spell Lists ...................................... 118
New Undersea Spells ................................... 127
Aquatic Magic Items ................................... 154
Chapter 7: The Cerulean Seas 158 The Cerulean Seas Campaign Setting .......... 159
Racial Histories ............................................. 159
Other Races of the Sea................................... 164
Aquatic Languages ....................................... 167
Religion in the Cerulean Seas ....................... 168
Cities of the Cerulean Seas ........................... 178
Current Events .............................................. 183
Chapter 8: Mastering the Sea 184 Gamemastering Under the Sea ..................... 185
Converting Existing Material ....................... 185
Using the Battle-mat ..................................... 187
Running a Three-Dimensional Game .......... 191
Unfamiliar Waters ......................................... 192
Far Away Realms .................................... 192
Inner Planes ............................................ 193
Extraplanar Seas ...................................... 193
Chapter 9: Cerulean Seas Bestiary 194 Introduction to Sea Monsters ....................... 195
Creature Glyphs ............................................ 195
New Sea Monsters ........................................ 196
Simple Templates .......................................... 267
Uncharacteristic Aquatics ............................. 267
Appendix 1: List of Aquatic Monsters ......... 268
Appendix 2: Pronunciation Guide ............... 270
Appendix 3: Index of Tables ......................... 270
Appendix 4: Art Index .................................. 271
Open Game License ...................................... 273
Character Sheet ............................................. 274
Cardstock Minis ............................................ 276
Tracker Tree Template .................................. 280
Depth Cubes .................................................. 282
Map ................................................................ 283 Index .............................................................. 284
Contents
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Chapter 1:
Undersea Basics
Dead men tell no tales
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The Legend of the Drylanders Ages ago, when dry land was bountiful, the drylanders flourished. There were many races that never needed to feel the waves’ caress, nor longed to. There were drylander elves that lived in forests of dry wood which were almost as large as the kelp forests of today. In large cities there were humans, who looked much like seafolk, except with elf-like legs and feet instead of fins. Even deep
in the dry earth there was life; dwarves and gnomes lived there, who were said to look like stout, hairy nixies. For the most part, the drylanders were a peaceful lot; preferring to avoid war whenever they could.
While evil did exist on dry land, as it does in the sea, there was no shortage of heroes to keep the peace. Much like us, they had warriors, though their weapon of choice was neither trident, nor spear, but instead a long and broad sword — much too unwieldy for the water. There were wizards, too, who, instead of scalding steam, could wield great billowing flares of bright-hot fire. They even had kahunas that were called druids that held dominion over the nature that was once plentiful above the waves.
During our bloodiest times, when the sahuagin filled the seas and war was rampant, the drylanders had formed a vast empire. It was ruled by a wise council in a spectacular city that floated in the sky like a raft on the waves. This Cloud City could move wherever it was needed, and its armies kept evil at bay. After five centuries, the world of land had known only peace, and the world of sea had known only war. Each nearly forgot the other had existed. Sunken into a struggle against extinction, the denizens of the oceans became myths to the land-folk, who rarely encountered them or lived to tell the tale if they did.
It would seem that this rift would last forever, if it were not for one catastrophic event that would change everything. The great Cloud City, its council, and its armies of good, suddenly and inexplicably fell from the sky. The flying metropolis that maintained peace in all countries on dry land for half a millennium, fell from its lofty perch in the heavens, and sank into the depths of the sea. It landed in the Bay of Cerule, a region of sea that was surrounded by dry land on three sides.
Along with the Cloud City sank the faith of the land-folk, who placed blame on the heavens themselves, vowing to destroy all ties to the divine. In their haste to shut out the sky, they closed the Portals of Oblivion, which manifested as permanent whirlpools in each of the seven seas. What they did not know, is that the portals maintained the balance of land and ocean, and without them in place, the land was soon swallowed by a thirsty sea. The great flood began and the age of land had ended. Most of the land was swallowed in one tide cycle.
All the while, the great Bloody War saw an end in the ever increasing Bay of Cerule. The heart of the cloud city had sunk into the depths of the crumbling merfolk empire of the nommo, the most ancient race of the sea. Miraculously, the heart was still vital and rebuilt itself, aided by the magic which created it. Instead of calling the sky its home, it resided in the depths of the sea, and became a powerful ally to the good creatures under the waves.
As the water rose, the land was drowned. The ocean folk sought shallower depths, and the Bay of Cerule became the Cerulean Seas. This was the epicenter for a turn in the war which brought upon the Sahuagin what they wished to bring upon all others - utter annihilation. Within a hundred years, the sea-devils were brought to the brink of extinction.
Centuries have passed since a sea dweller has seen a drylander or sahuagin settlement. They have long passed into the realm of myth and legend, and are known commonly only by their ruins and treasures. The fate of the world is now ruled by the sea, and the battle of good versus evil still rages on under the ocean’ s waves. The world goes on, much the same as always.
Great wizards still cast their spells, tridents have replaced swords, and kahunas still maintain the balance of nature. In the center of where it all began, heroes will still rise up to save the day, and fight for the splendor of the Cerulean Seas.
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Introduction
The design of this tome began nearly a decade
ago during the prime of 3rd edition Dungeons and
Dragons. The complexity of undersea adventuring
proved to be daunting. Years of play-testing and
rules revisions spanned through 3.5 and all the
way to the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game. We are
finally very satisfied with the final product and
hope you will be too.
In the Cerulean Seas Campaign setting, the
world’s surface is covered with ninety-nine percent
ocean due to a great flood that took place centuries
ago. While most of the world is a vast, fathomless,
unexplored, and unlivable sea, the game takes place
in a shallower region known as the Cerulean Seas.
Adventurers take on the role of undersea fantasy
races; including merfolk and sea elves.
Cerulean Seas adds a new dimension to fantasy
roleplaying; one that not only explores the mysteries
of an alien – yet familiar world, but allows for
challenges rarely seen in typical campaign settings.
For example, nearly all combat under the waves
takes place on a three-dimensional battlefield. Even
a first level warrior has the luxury of swimming up
or down, where this was only possible before with
high-level aerial combat aided by powerful flying
mounts or advanced magic. This provides challenges
for both players and Gamemasters to think in
different ways and come up with new solutions.
This setting purposefully departs from the
realms of dry land. The land-folk, or drylanders,
have gone extinct, mostly due to a catastrophic
flood, but also likely due to extensive genocide
and other circumstances. Non-aquatic land does
exist, as many races still depend on it for
reproductive purposes, but the proportion of land
to sea is much less than in other campaign worlds.
As expected, the shift from a land-based to a
water-based world requires many alterations to
the rules, entirely new rules, and makes some
rules unnecessary. This book addresses these
concerns.
Although the setting is quite different, the game
is essentially the same. This book utilizes the
core of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, which is
required to run a game in this setting. Cerulean Seas
offers the opportunity of playing in a world that is
vastly different without having to learn an entirely
new set of rules. This book provides all the
additional rules for undersea heroes; including
twelve new races, three new classes, class revisions,
new prestige classes, and mechanics for pressure,
buoyancy, drag and other sea-based challenges.
Despite being a comprehensive guide to
undersea roleplaying, this book is not intended to
stand alone. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
core books are both necessary and complementary.
This book does not reiterate rules that do not
change because of the setting. The majority of the
mechanics of combat, for example, still run in
basically the same way, and are therefore not
covered by this tome. Likewise, aquatic monsters
that appear in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game
bestiaries are not contained here.
While the Cerulean Seas Campaign setting is a
comprehensive guide to a specific new undersea
realm, it can also be used as a guidebook for both
other undersea campaign settings and any aquatic
adventuring. This book details one region of an
entire flooded world where pockets of civilization
cling to isolated island chains and reefs. This
setting is intended to be incomplete; ripe with
unsolved mysteries and the known world being a
shallow speck isolated by countless fathoms of
water, beyond which only the imagination of the
Gamemaster can fill. Plot and setting hooks
abound as well. From the mystery of the
drylanders’ genocide to the uncharted polar
homeland of the selkies, there is much for any
campaign designer to consider.
Even if the setting itself is not used at all, the
book serves as an excellent reference for undersea
adventure, including new races, rules, and monsters
that can spice up any game. If your campaign has an
ocean, there will certainly be something this book
can offer it. It is even possible for the catastrophic
flood to be a localized phenomenon in your existing
campaign world, where neither the flooded location
nor the rest of the world know each other exists.
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Using This Book
This book is divided into 9 chapters with
several helpful appendices. The first five chapters
contain the basic rules of undersea adventuring.
In chapter one, an introduction is followed by
guidelines for environmental basics including
rules for buoyancy, pressure, drag, and aquatic
terrain. Chapter two describes three new
humanoid subclasses (anthromorph, feykith, and
merfolk) and twelve new races (cindarian, sea elf,
kai-lio, karkanak, mogogol, naiad, nixie, nommo,
piscean, seafolk, sebek-ka, and selkie). Chapter three
examines how existing classes fit into an aquatic
world and presents three new classes: the kahuna,
mariner, and siren. New and existing skills, feats,
equipment and spells are fathomed in chapters four
through six. Chapter seven details the campaign
setting itself, including a world map, history, and
other setting specific information. The last
chapters are for the Gamemaster, and include
everything from 3D combat to a complete bestiary.
Common Terms
Words listed below are often referred to
throughout the Cerulean Seas campaign and are
defined here for clarification. More advanced
definitions can be found in other sections.
Anthromorph: A humanoid sea animal.
Mogogols, sebek-ka, pisceans, slurgs, and
karkanaks are anthromorphs.
The Bloody War: A war that ended over 400
years ago between sahuagin and the good
denizens of the sea. The sahuagin lost and were
hunted to near extinction.
Brill: An extremely rare and ancient glowing
stone that is actually a magically transformed elf.
Brill come in blue, green, and red. Only the blue
ones can be successfully transformed back into an
elf (a sea elf with memories of times long before
the Bloody War). Green brillstones turn into
surface elves and red into surface drow. It is
considered evil to release an elf from a green or
red stone, as they have no place to go.
Buoyancy Units (bu.): These reflect an item’s
buoyancy, and are described later in this chapter.
Cerulean Current: An Antarctic water current
that bisects the Cerulean Seas and changes
direction annually.
Cerulean Seas: The known world that is
divided into 9 sections (or seas) by location.
Depth Tolerance: The maximum depth a
creature can safely traverse. This is detailed in the
section on pressure later in this chapter.
Feykith: Any variety of water fey descendants,
including nixies, sea-elves, naiads, selkies, deep
drow, and nucklavee.
The Great Flood: A catastrophe that raised the
ocean level several hundred feet, drowning most
of the land and those that inhabited it. This
happened 522 years ago.
Glimmerkeepers: An organized crime faction
run by the notorious Flickersnitch, a nixie rogue
whose exploits are legendary.
Kahuna: An undersea class that replaces the
druid’s niche in the Cerulean Seas campaign
setting. Kahunas call on spirits of the sea to bless
their allies in battle.
Leviathan: Any sea creature of at least
Colossal size, usually solitary and aggressive.
Mariner: An undersea class that replaces the
ranger’s niche in the Cerulean Seas campaign
setting. While they are quite skilled in combat,
their focus on movement and speed is what sets
them apart.
Merfolk: A creature with a humanoid torso
and fish-like lower half. Cindarians, seafolk,
boggers, nommo, and kailio are all merfolk.
Merped: A creature with the upper body of a
quadruped and the lower body of a fish. Sea cats
and hippocampi are merpeds. Merpeds are often
used as mounts.
Planar: A humanoid with heritage from the
elemental plane of water, including genai and
tritons.
Remora Imp: A tiny imp-like creature that
bonds to any creature that can speak pelagic.
They are detailed in Chapter 9: An Undersea
Bestiary.
Siren: An undersea class that replaces the
bard’s niche in the Cerulean Seas campaign
setting. Sirens are masters of enchantment who
muddle their foes’ hearts and minds with a
simple song.
Trueform: An intelligent species of non-
humanoid form. Carchardians, delphins, ixarcs,
and squibbon are trueforms. While not standard
PC races, they do contribute to the overall
society of the campaign setting.
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Environmental Basics
Light Zones
The ocean can be divided from its surface to its
depth into three zones based on the amount of
light received. They are:
Sunlit Zone: This is the top layer, nearest the
surface. Here there is enough light penetrating the
water to support photosynthesis. More than
ninety percent of all marine life lives in the sunlit
zone. The sunlit zone goes down about 600 feet.
Most fish and other sentient races live in this
zone.
Twilight Zone: Only a small amount of light
can penetrate the water at this depth. As the water
becomes deeper, the pressure also increases.
Plants do not grow here. Only animals that have
adapted to low light survive. The nommo and the
Cerulean nixie call this zone home. This gloomy
part of the ocean begins at about 600 feet under
the water and extends to the darkest part, which
begins about 3000 feet down. Bioluminescent
creatures abound in this zone.
Midnight Zone: Ninety percent of the ocean is
in the midnight zone. It is oppressively dark, the
water pressure is extreme, and the temperature is
near freezing. Living creatures found here live
close to cracks in the planet's crust. These cracks
give off mineral-rich materials that nourish
bacteria, which form the bottom of the food chain
here, much like plankton does in the waters
above. Deep drow, the aquatic equivalent of the
surface dark elves, claim this realm as their own.
Table 1-0: SUNLIGHT AS A LIGHT SOURCE Depth Bright* Shadowy*
60 ft. or less 100 ft. 200 ft.
61-120 ft. 60 ft. 120 ft. 121-240 ft. 30 ft. 60 ft.
241-360 ft. 20 ft. 40 ft.
361-400 ft. 10 ft. 20 ft.
401-600 ft. — 10 ft.
601 ft. or more — —
*Creatures with low-light vision can see objects twice as far away as the given distance.
Topography
The ocean floor is not as flat and sandy as their
more-familiar beaches, nor quite so predictable. In
addition to the aquatic mountains, valleys,
deserts, and plains, there are features that are
foreign to those that live solely on land.
As the land descends beneath the sea, there are
drastic changes in the planet's geology. This
transitional area, known as the continental
margin, includes both the continental shelf and
the continental slope. As dry-land fades from
sight, the heavy and thick continental granite
gives way to a thinner layer of basalt.
The continental shelf normally contains water
that is only a couple of hundred feet deep. The
neritic zone is located here. The width of the
continental shelf varies greatly depending on
location. At the edge of the continental shelf, the
ocean floor begins a steep descent known as the
continental slope. This area is often pervaded by
fathomless submarine canyons.
The slope levels out at the ocean basin, which
also has some interesting features. Perhaps the
most unusual are the abyssal plains which are
large, flat areas on the ocean floor covered with a
thick layer of sediment and decomposing organic
ooze. Large, undersea volcanoes called seamounts
occasionally rise from these depths. Sometimes
the peaks of these giant underwater volcanoes
reach to the surface to form volcanic islands.
Ocean trenches are found along the edge of
ocean basins. These trenches contain the deepest
parts of the ocean, and therefore, the deepest
parts of the world. They can go down several
miles, and are known to harbor the most terrible
abominations that one could imagine.
Tides
Tides are the periodic rising and falling of
large bodies of water. The gravitational attraction
of the moon causes the oceans to bulge out in the
direction of the moon. Another bulge occurs on
the opposite side, since the planet is also being
pulled toward the moon (and away from the
water on the far side). Ocean levels fluctuate daily
as the sun, moon and planet interact. As the moon
travels around the planet and as they, together,
travel around the sun, the combined gravitational
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