Second Darkness series:

• Book 1: Shadow in the Sky
• Book 2: Children of the Void
• Book 3: The Armageddon Echo
• Book 4: Endless Night
• Book 5: A Memory of Darkness
• Book 6: Descent into Midnight
• Reconstructing Second Darkness

Like invading aliens, I’m back for the second installment of my deconstruction of the Second Darkness Adventure Path by Paizo Publishing. If you’re wondering what the heck I’m talking about, check out part one of the series, linked above. Essentially, I’m doing my GM prep to turn what is widely considered the worst AP ever published into something I’d be excited to run.

Once again, here are my evergreen caveats for this series:

First and foremost, these edits are there to make the game that I want to run. What I consider “essential,” you may not, and vice-versa. You would make (or have made) different decisions, which is both natural and part of the fun. Feel free to comment below if you see different opportunities.

Second, I’m going to be making heavy edits. If you’ve run or played in Second Darkness, I’m going to be deleting your favorite side quest, or NPC, or completely rewriting villain’s motivations and backstories. When I’m done, it’s likely not going to resemble the story you know.

Third, there will be rampant spoilers—in fact, once I dive in, these posts are essentially spoilers from start to finish. If you are a player in one of these APs or plan to be, these articles aren’t for you. (If you plan on GMing it or have done so, however… welcome!)

Finally, I don’t yet know what game system I’ll be using to run this Adventure Path, but it likely won’t be Pathfinder. Try not to get caught up in how dramatically I’m reducing the possible XP or treasure, or what I’m doing to CR of encounters. These articles are meant to be system agnostic, focused on story beats rather than mechanics.

Ready? Ready!

Second Darkness 2: Children of the Void

The second AP book is entitled Children of the Void and is written by Mike Mcartor, and I believe this volume was his only full AP book before leaving Paizo to work on Magic: the Gathering. Which is too bad, because this installment is easily my favorite of the six-book series. There’s an interesting meditation at the beginning of the module by James Jacobs about combining sci-fi elements with traditional fantasy, and then a history of the island Devil’s Elbow. The actual history is dense and complex, but the upshot is that it hasn’t been inhabited for many years and is considered haunted, with numerous ships running afoul in its surrounding waters.

Book 1 ended with the detonation of a falling star onto Devil’s Elbow, the testing of the drow’s superweapon meant to eventually wipe elves from the surface of Golarion. The PCs have a hint of the comet’s true nature but were swept up in the resulting natural disasters in Riddleport triggered by the meteor’s impact. I’ll level up the party between books and likely jump ahead days or even weeks to have players narrate a) how they helped the city recover, b) any training they did for their new level, and c) any personal plots they pursued in the chaos of Riddleport’s recovery.

Chapter 1: The Great Skymetal Rush

When Book 2 kicks off, the city’s port and commerce are beginning to come online after the tsunami caused by the falling star and rumors are running rampant. The Blot and any magical weirdness have ceased, so the locals rightly attribute them to the meteor. Now that it’s fallen, the pirates, thieves, and scoundrels of Riddleport know exactly what the comet means: skymetal, a rare substance from fallen stars that is immensely valuable. Already parties have braved the aftermath to explore Devil’s Elbow for skymetal, though none have yet returned.

In the module as written, the party owns the Gold Goblin gambling hall and must decide how to keep it operating through the chaos of Riddleport’s recovery and their exploration of Devil’s Elbow. They’re eventually contacted by Kwava, the Mwangi elf from their first wererat encounter, who wants to investigate the drow’s plans. In my campaign, however, Saul still runs the Gold Goblin and is an ally of the party, and Kwava doesn’t exist. As soon as they’re able, then, they’re likely motivated to see Devil’s Elbow for themselves and uncover clues to the drow’s existence. If they’re reluctant to do so, perhaps one of the earlier prospecting groups includes NPC friends of theirs—maybe even Saul himself!—and they’re concerned when the group never returns. Either way, Book 2 begins with the journey to Devil’s Elbow.

The module sets up five groups of prospectors that have preceded the party:

1. Goldhammer’s group, a troupe of dwarves under the direction of Overlord Cromarcky
2. Slyleg’s group, led by Riddleport’s most successful smuggler and black marketeer
3. Beldusk’s group, a small faction of Cyphermages (some of whom the party may have met in Book 1)
4. Zincher’s group, bringing back Clegg Zincher, one of the villains from Book 1 who hates the PCs
5. Treeg’s group, who are basically just nasty pirates.

I love this set-up!

The party, meanwhile, secures passage on a four-masted ship called the Flying Cloud, captained by a fellow named Josper Creesy. In the adventure as written, Creesy is sort of a nothingburger NPC without any real personality, and before they set sail a group of ruffians sent by Clegg Zincher board and try to burn the ship. I’ll work to make Creesy interesting (and likely intensely superstitious… see below), and likely drop the sabotage encounter, both because it doesn’t add anything to the story and because the party should make short work of low-level ruffians.

Chapter 2: Devil’s Elbow

Chapter 2 begins with a timeline of what’s happened on Devil’s Elbow prior to the party’s arrival. Much to my surprise, I’m totally fine with all of it:

• The drow Depora Azinrae from Book 1 left two drow to guard the testing site: an eccentric druid named Xakihn and a priestess of the demon lord Nocticula named Shindiira, along with a small coterie of guards.
• When the meteor struck, the drow stayed safe underground. What they didn’t anticipate is that the comet brought with it alien eggs, hatching predator beasts called akata.
• A week ago: Slyleg’s group was the first to arrive on the island and were slain by the drow. The two drow spellcasters animated the corpses to act as further guardians. (Okay, this last sentence is slightly different from what’s in the module but, to me, works better)
• Five days ago, Zincher’s group arrived, found Slyleg’s damaged ship abandoned, and searched for survivors, finding none. Clegg kept a group of men with him and sent the others to sail the damaged ship back to Riddleport for repairs. He planned to have two full ships of skymetal when he returned home.
• Four days ago, Clegg was charmed by Shindiira, who enlisted the group to guard the entrance to the drow caves. The drow were now aware of the akatas and intent upon bolstering their defenses until Depora can return (little do they know she died or was imprisoned by the PCs at the end of Book 1).
• Three days ago, Beldusk’s group arrived and set up camp in the lighthouse known as Witchlight.
• Two days ago, Goldhammer’s group arrived and met Beldusk’s group. The Cyphermages refused to allow the dwarves in Witchlight, so they settled in the pier area.
• Yesterday, the akata reached a critical mass, assaulting both Witchlight and the pier. Both groups suffered significant losses.
• Today, both the party and Treeg’s group arrive at Devil’s Elbow.

Treeg’s group are wildcards in the mix. One option is to make them attack the PCs mid-journey to get some ship-on-ship pirate action. Another is to have them land on a different part of the island from the party and weave them into some other part of the story later as an added complication. Both are fun, and not necessarily mutually exclusive. I think that I’ll have the pirates attack the Flying Cloud in the open seas, then if Treeg manages to escape, he can play chaos agent later somehow.

From the module: “The forested island is quiet as the ship approaches; no signs of life are immediately apparent. A low ridge forms a spine along the length of the island, its slopes covered with dense forest and its shores affording very few safe places to land. Two stone towers rise above the level of the surrounding trees along the top of the island’s ridge, one to the east and one at the island’s center. If the PCs approach by day, a thin plume of smoke rises from a point about midway between those two towers at the height of the island’s ridge. Yet the most dramatic sight as the ship nears its destination is the immense crater on the island’s northeastern slopes. The crater itself is hundreds of feet wide and surrounded by an even larger swath of burnt trees that have been knocked flat in a burst pattern around the impact site.”

Captain Creesy can share the superstitions around Devil’s Elbow if the party hasn’t heard them yet and inform them of the dangerous reefs. He only feels comfortable approaching via the pier and refuses to step ashore or let any of his men do so. This way, the PCs are on their own and won’t have the help of Creesy and his crew.

Once the party arrives, they meet a bedraggled Gravin Goldhammer and his surviving expedition. He’ll share what he knows, which is not much except that monsters roam the night, the Cyphermages are at Witchlight, and they haven’t been able to scrounge any skymetal. He wants no part of the island and is leaving. Yes, it’s an exposition dump, but should also serve to unnerve the players that there is far more here than they realize.

The rest of the adventure is a sandbox of exploring the island. Either Creesy or Goldhammer can provide a map. There are seven major encounter areas—three of which are beefy enough that they take up chapters 3-5—but the party can visit them in any order. The primary goal of the party will be to investigate whether drow are on the island and, if so, to understand their destructive plans. Yet undoubtedly smaller goals will exist as well, either personal ones the PCs brought with them or emergent goals as they interact with the various factions. You know… for supposedly the worst AP ever, I really like this book!

I’ll likely take a page out of other hexcrawl-friendly games like Tales of Argosa and Forbidden Lands to break each day on the island into three parts: Morning, Afternoon, and Night. For each daypart, PCs can decide what they’re doing and I’ll roll for wandering monsters (it was an uninhabited fantasy island before the meteor, after all) and whether the party finds a “lesser crater” where a meteor fragment struck. These lesser craters will have not only skymetal fragments but hatched akata eggs around them, which is very much an Alien vibe. I’ll also dramatically increase the chances of an akata attack during Night unless the party has found fortified shelter. Indeed, I think that I’ll make the akata nocturnal, playing up the darkness theme of the Adventure Path.

Other than the pier where the PCs landed ashore, let’s go over the three other tourist destinations on Devil’s Elbow: the western lighthouse, the meteor’s crater, and the eastern lighthouse.

• The western lighthouse was near collapse before the meteor struck and fell in the ensuing impact. It’s now a giant centipede-infested pile of rubble.
• Getting to the crater is difficult because of both a lack of trails and the fallen trees and rocks surrounding it. No wandering encounters happen during exploration of the site itself, which makes for an eerily-still experience. What’s unusual for the PCs is that most of the meteor’s fragments are gone, taken by some other faction(s). Searching can still find some of the pale green metal, though, which can be worked as iron but is both lighter and magically resistant (basically, if the PCs take enough of the material, they can eventually have cool custom weapons, shields, and armor!). There are also dozens of hatched akata eggs. For particularly lucky or skilled tracker PCs, they should be able to find evidence of a) now-ruined glyphs that were part of the ritual that summoned the metoer, and b) the drow’s careful comb through the site for skymetal. Their tracks lead toward the Zincher group’s camp, where they guard the entrance to the drow caves.
• The ruined eastern lighthouse survived the destruction of the meteor and is where the wraith of the island’s initial settler Yaris haunts the island. Yaris is dormant during the day, but at night roams the eastern third of the island and will look to kill anyone who trespasses upon his home. He’s been rebuked by the drow cleric Shindiira and thus avoids the Zincher group’s camp.
• One other exploration note: Goldhammer has told the party about the Cyphermages at Witchlight. Ominously, turkey vultures circle the area above Witchlight during the day, clearly visible from most of the island. To make matters more mysterious, random flashes of lights like fireworks flash occasionally, which are the wizards’ calls for help there. These two clues may entice the players to check it out.

Chapter 3: Witchlight

Witchlight was once the largest settlement on Devil’s Elbow, though it was never particularly large. What’s left is a collection of four mostly ruined buildings around a central watchtower, all atop the highest point on the island. The watchtower is the first and best built building of the lot, and the only one with a roof remaining. It is here that Beldusk’s group has made camp, though they were attacked by akata their first night and are currently battling a pack of “void zombies,” or the zombies of Slyleg’s group, who were animated by the cleric Shindiira.

In the module, void zombies are the result of people killed by akata. I like instead making the drow more sinister: they killed Slyleg’s group, used a drow ritual to animate them as guardians, and then sent them after the wizards of Beldusk’s group once the drow became aware of them. In this way, I can custom-make the zombies to be something fitting the demon lord Nocticula’s sensibilities. Doing so takes away from the threat of the akata (you really get the Alien influence from them), but one of the many criticisms of the AP is that the legendary drow don’t seem particularly scary.

Anyway, originally a dozen wizards have been reduced to five depleted and injured members, including Samaritha Beldusk, a half-elf Cyphermage. They are out of non-cantrip spells and have barricaded themselves in the watchtower as zombies pound on the walls and doors. Once night falls, akata swarm the site as well, drawn to the magic of the Cyphermages and ignoring the zombies. As a result, depending on which daypart the party reaches Witchlight, it can be either a fairly straightforward rescue or an all-out mess. There’s also the possibility of defeating the zombies and either talking to the wizards long enough or deciding to rest at Witchlight, allowing a second wave of combat.

In the module as written, the combat within the tower causes the failing structure to tumble off the cliff and into the sea far below. While a cool and cinematic idea, it makes the battle far more deadly and, more importantly, I don’t like the fait accompli of the tower definitely, absolutely falling after X rounds. Instead, I’ll track what sort of spells and actions the party is using during the battle, giving clear indicators that the watchtower is near collapse, maybe even using a countdown clock mechanic. Either way, this whole setup is a fun and interesting set piece.

Once rescued, Beldusk and her remaining wizards want to get off the island as soon as possible. They collected some samples of skymetal in their first day but see no point remaining on an island that will clearly kill them all. They haven’t seen evidence of drow, though perhaps Beldusk can posit that the zombies must have been raised by something or someone. They’ll ask for escort back to the pier and promise that the Order of Cyphers is in debt to them. Perhaps they can give the party some magical items as well in thanks.

Chapter 4: Zincher’s Camp

A big section of this chapter outlines Clegg Zincher’s journey to Devil’s Elbow and his brief stay on the island before being charmed by the drow cleric Shindiira. The module then gives a long write-up on Clegg, his bodyguard Akron Erix, and his pack of thugs (which has been reduced to ten at this point). All of it feels a bit unnecessary, since the basic story is that Clegg’s camp at Witchlight was invaded by drow and he succumbed to Shindiira’s charm spell. Now he camps near two decrepit, ruined buildings in the southeastern corner of the island, guarding the drow caves. He sends his men out to search the island for skymetal during the days, and they defend themselves from akata at night. His men fear Clegg and have followed him up until this point, but morale is low.

Clegg keeps a bonfire going at camp, and the plume of smoke is visible from any good vantage point on the island. His men have erected tents and a makeshift palisade. If the PCs approach during the day, they’ll encounter bickering and unfriendly men who likely know them by reputation from the Gold Goblin. If they approach at night, there will be akata attacking the camp.

In the module as written, Clegg has men close to turning into void zombies from their battles with akata and is an axebeak tamer with three of the creatures as guard animals. I guess that I’m okay with the axebeak thing, but since I’ve changed the origin of the zombies they won’t be there.

As written, the “audience with Clegg” is bizarre. Clegg is charmed by the drow priestess, but his desire is to have the PCs discover the drow and kill them, releasing him from his bond. He then becomes a quest-giver and sends the PCs out on three uninteresting missions that don’t further the plot other than the party hopefully stumbling upon the cave entrance. Isn’t Clegg meant to be a big villain, someone who tried to kill the PCs multiple times in Book 1? Since that’s not how I understand charm to work anyway, I’ll instead focus on Clegg acting oddly, and a magical PC likely noticing that he is enchanted somehow. When asked if he’s seen drow, he’ll bluff and bluster, and throw the PCs out of his camp, much to the consternation of the thugs who see the PCs as proper allies against the akata raids. Perhaps it’s his lieutenant Akron who secretly informs the PCs that the party has indeed fought the drow, and that since then Clegg has acted strangely, including leaving camp alone at sunset each night. Of course, if the party follows Clegg that evening or even just tracks his footsteps from prior evenings, they will lead to the drow caves.

What to do, then, about the villain-turned-generic-NPC Clegg Zincher? Despite Riddleport being a major part of the campaign until now, the party will quickly leave the city at the beginning of Book 3 and not return. In this way, I suppose that I can resolve Clegg’s enmity with the PCs however makes sense based on their visit(s) to his camp. Perhaps he feels indebted to them for their help with the drow and begrudgingly considers them allies. Perhaps he tries to backstab them at some point. Perhaps his men kill him and return to Riddleport. Or perhaps he simply flees with his men once the PCs kill Shindiira. I’ll strive to find a satisfying close to Clegg’s part in the campaign, though the lack of closure as written is a bummer.

Chapter 5: Architects of Ruin

The sea caves that the drow made their base of operations are a former siren’s lair. A sparse cliffside path leads down to a clever hidden entrance (in the module there is a secret and trapped door created by a dwarf the siren had enraptured, but that’s silly). What follows is, predictably, a small “dungeon” of caves where the drow have been hoarding the skymetal and preparing to leave for their home.

I knew as soon as I read the cave’s origin that there would be the ghost of the siren here, which is a trope Paizo loves to include in their AP dungeons. It doesn’t add anything but confusion to the caves for me, so I’m removing it. The remaining forces in the lair I’m fine keeping: Six drow warriors, Shindiira the drow cleric, a shadow demon once in Nocticula’s service but now forced to serve Shindiira, Xakihn the drow druid, his large gecko animal companion, and an orca in the water that the druid has charmed. I’ll also say that the art in the book of the drow is excellent and makes them both otherworldly and sinister.

Assuming the PCs find the caves, infiltrate them, and successfully defeat the drow, they’ll find a decent amount of magical loot, big chunks of skymetal, maps of Devil’s Elbow and Riddleport, maps of the ruined elven city Celwynvian and the route between it and Riddleport, and… wait for it… the villain’s journal! This journal treasure is another common trope, but in this case, it absolutely makes sense that Shindiira would be logging her journey, the test of the apocalyptic weapon that brought the meteor to the island, the properties of the skymetal, and the unexpected aliens. With this information, the party will know a) that the meteor was but a test of a drow weapon, and b) that these drow came from Celwynvian, which should point them in that direction for the next adventure.

Discovering the drow’s existence and their general location and plans effectively ends Book 2. There are several loose ends to wrap up—not the least of which is an alien-infested island and what to do with all of that skymetal!—but there should be plenty of downtime for the PCs to level up and plan their next move.

Finally, it’s worth noting that the backmatter of Children of the Void is fascinating, providing a lengthy appendix outlining the solar system in which Golarion resides, the planet Castrovel from which the elves originated, how to travel between worlds, and more. There’s also randomly a nearly 10-page deep dive on the god Cayden Calean, some fiction, and the usual module-specific bestiary. Really interesting stuff!

Deconstructed Children of the Void

What began as an expedition to discover properties of the mysterious Blot hovering above Riddleport became an epiphany that the mythical drow not only exist but are planning something hugely destructive against the surface elves they loathe. At the same time, the PCs are now significantly more powerful and sitting on a fortune’s worth of skymetal. It will be fascinating to see how the players balance their wealth and knowledge of the drow threat, and where they go from here.

I’m genuinely surprised with how much I enjoy Children of the Void given how reviled Second Darkness is as an Adventure Path. Yes, I’ve made changes to the module as written, but I’ve also retained not only the basic structure of the adventure but a vast majority of the details. More importantly, it sounds like a fun part of the campaign to run, with island exploration, factions of skymetal-seekers, weird alien threats, and evil drow spellcasters. It makes me wish Mike McArtor stuck around to write more adventures!

As always with my articles, please comment below or send me an email at jaycms@yahoo.com. I’m always eager to hear from GMs who have run this AP to know what they think of my edits and different choices they made.