MYSTERIES OF CANIX Players Guide

A 2 year adventure through worlds that are not what they seem.

WORLD INFORMATION

The land in which you live is known as Canix. There are only five towns in your region, though it is common knowledge that there are other settlements across the sea. The ridge of mountains that surrounds the land is known as the Simesa mountains. To differentiate parts of the mountain ranges, they are called by location: western Simesa, southern Simesa, eastern Simesa, and the Simesa Advance. That last name is given to the mountain range running up the middle of the map toward the ocean. Old wives tales suggest that giants live in the mountains, so very few people dare to trek through them. Dwarves and kobolds whisper of dragons in the eastern Simesa. The world at large is generally more akin to Sigil than Greyhawk or Forgotten Realms. Strangeness abounds, and language more closely resembles what you might hear in a Planescape campaign than anything else.

TOWNS
Using the map on the previous page, these are the numbered locations.

1.

Briarton, population 400

At the base of the mountains, this frontier town welcomes adventurers, if for no other reason than to tame the wilds.

2.

Falconworth, population 1000

Named for the famous elven falconer that has made it his home for over 100 years. The elf also cares for messenger birds that can fly to various locations. This farming community isn't very magically inclined, but the people are highly martial, and highly inventive. Gnomes are populous here, inventing better ways to mass produce food and clothing for export. Across the river, rangers and druids populate the forested region.

3.

Seameet, population 28,000

While most communities only trade with Seameet, the river city of Seameet trades with all of them, and benefits greatly from its location. Most of the local forests and the small mountainous area nearby have been fully explored, so it is a rather safe community as well. Unfortunately, that does present a rather boring prospect for any adventurer. Any excitement or danger would come from the ships that gather at the port, and the trades that happen throughout the city. Seameet has rather... unusual leadership. The town is run by flumph.

4.

Goldenleaf, population 4,000

They say that something funny must have contaminated the water here, because so many sorcerers seem to originate from this location. Magic just seems natural here. The weather is always wonderful. The forests are never sinister but always full of adventure. And the nearby mountains? Dragons.

5.

Leeside, population 18,000

Also known as the windy city. Leeside is a port city that does brisk trade with Seameet. At almost any given time, there are Seameet ships at the docks. If any city had an unseemly side, this would be where youd find it. Here is where classes like the smuggler, swashbuckler, and rogue flourish. And while the city might not lay claim to any piracy that happens on the high seas, it certainly is willing to provide a port to any captain that can afford it, no questions asked.

RACES
In Canix, many races are available to play. Kobolds & dwarves are allies, holed up in the mountain ranges where few dare to tread. Goblins & gnomes have formed a partnership of chaos, mischief, and invention. Githyanki & githzerai manage a delicate truce, often just barely enough to keep them from immediately killing each other on sight. Aasimar & tieflings are like two sides of a coin, the most noble and most disreputable. Orcs & gnolls have been warring against the other humanoid races for as long as memory, and every half-orc child is murdered at birth by the civilized races, as such a hybrid is assumed to always be a product of rape. In turn, the orcs burn with hatred toward any half-elf they can find, merely out of resentment that such a mixed breed is not only allowed to live, but to thrive. You may visit http://tinyurl.com/c7538r9 for a list of links to the Pathfinder rules for each playable race.

CLASSES
All the core & base classes in the main Pathfinder books are available to play, with the following exceptions: there are no gunslingers, nor any variants.

ALIGNMENT
In this game world, alignment is earned, not declared. In a nod to 4th edition D&D, most people are unaligned. If you cast Detect Evil in the middle of a corrupt church, you may actually find that many of those sitting in the pews do not radiate an aura of evil, despite who they worship. If these people have lived a relatively stable life without making any waves, their true alignment may not have registered. On the other hand, if someone does radiate evil, it is a clear sign that the person has actually committed acts of great harm. Because of this change, you are free to begin play without an alignment, and any class may be played with any alignment. Yes, this means paladins of chaos exist. However, it is extremely important to note that classes which represent a god (paladins, clerics, and so on) must accurately represent that god. Therefore, while some classes are completely set free of restriction and will face no loss of power regardless of which alignment they choose, those that represent gods will still face the expectations of their chosen deity.

CHARACTER CREATION
Follow the outline for character creation as shown in the main book, or at http://tinyurl.com/3mhn8tt, using the following parameters: 20 point buy (using the Pathfinder point buy system, different from the old 3.5 point buy system), with 6,000 gold to start for purchase of items. You may increase your character up to 4th level. Set your XP to 10,000 (using medium progression, if you are using a program that needs that info). You may select one trait (this is different from racial traits, which are built-in; these are backstory traits that are available online and in the APG, each trait equals roughly half a feat, and typically cannot be swapped out at a later date, as they are intrinsic to the characters history).

GEAR
This game has no limitation on how you spend your money. You may spend all of it on one item and come into the game with nothing but your free outfit and your single piece of equipment. However, please note that the lower levels of the game are intended to be about resource management that is, do you have enough food, enough arrows, etc. By 4th level, most characters are starting to move beyond that, though usually they do this via magic such as a ring of sustenance. If you do not take care of this issue, your character may still be dealing with resource management. I like that, so I am fine with that. If you do not like that, find some good deals in the Ultimate Equipment Guide, and spend wisely to address that issue.

SKILLS
Note that Use Rope and Search are back in the game. Use Rope will be approximated by any of the following skills: Survival, Profession (sailor), Profession (farmer), Profession (fisher), Profession (rancher). Search (really closer to ransack) is approximated by Knowledge (nature) for outdoor hazards and natural style traps such as pits and deadfalls, while indoor/manufactured traps and hidden doors can be discovered via any of the following skills: Knowledge (engineering), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Profession (engineer).

CHARACTER BACKGROUND
While you may already have ideas for the back story for your character, dont write it up yet. Every character will be involved in an origin story before play begins, and that origin story needs to be experienced before you make solid plans for your characters history. What you can do right away is to think about items 3 and 4, below, using the guide to the 5 towns as a basis for the characters location. Once youve played the origin story, you are ready to create a background story. Consider the following questions as you write it. Answering these questions with at least a sentence for each, but no more than a page or two for all answers in total, will net you an extra 500 XP as the game starts.

1. In your origin story, who lived or died that mattered to your PC? 2. Provide a backstory which uses as much or as little of the origin story as you wish. Note that it is possible to name relatives or friends who matter to you, and they will in fact provide some help in the game (at DM discretion), but they are also a liability as they can be harmed/blackmailed to get at your character. I will let you decide how deep your ties go, if any. 3. Provide an explanation of how your character got to be level 4. Note that by level 4, your character may have achieved some small status in the world for example, while you could say that the PC rose to level 4 as a guard, you may also say that he or she started as a guard and now holds a higher rank. For reference as a rough guide (give or take a level, here or there), noobs are level 1 or 2 in this world, competent people are level 3 or 4, leaders are level 5 to 7, and heroes/legends are level 8 to 10. So try to be fair as you fit yourself into the world. 4. Where did you grow up, and how did you come to be in Seameet, where the adventure begins?