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Everything Players need to know about the world in which they are about to step.

Players Startup Guide to:

Tribulations of the Masks

A Campaign Setting by:

Rex L. Hansen

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Table of Contents

WORLD OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................................................ II

THE CITY OF KELL .............................................................................................................................................. III

THE CITIZENS OF KELL ......................................................................................................................................... V

GUILD LIFE.................................................................................................................................................................. V

MASKS...................................................................................................................................................................... VI

THE GOVERNMENT OF KELL ............................................................................................................................ VIII

FIRST TIER POLITICS................................................................................................................................................... VIII

SECOND TIER POLITICS ............................................................................................................................................... VIII

THIRD TIER POLITICS..................................................................................................................................................... IX

ISSUES OF THE SYSTEM .................................................................................................................................................. IX

THE WORLD OF KELL ......................................................................................................................................... IX

CHARACTER CREATION ...................................................................................................................................... XI

CHARACTER BACKGROUNDS ............................................................................................................................ XII

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World Overview

It is thought, and generally accepted,

that before the current history records;there was a world event, known only

as The Rising. Although there is a lot

of speculation, nobody can be sure

what The Rising actually was. All that

is known is that the last bastion of

mortal civilization now resides in the

Valley of Kell. The old world,

commonly referred to the Outlands, is

views as dangerous, nebulous, and is

shrouded heavily in myth and legend.

In the beginning the city of Kell was

governed by a king, and the nobility

ruled with strong traditions. However,

eventually the worker class became

significantly higher in number than

the nobility and so began the Secret

Revolution. At the time guilds were

starting to form in the workers

society. Although they were but a

glimpse of what they would

eventually become, they were

significant to the workers lives. Since

the Secret Revolution was driven by

many prominent figures within the

guilds, revolutionaries took to

wearing masks to protect their

families and fellow guild members.

Through the extreme efforts of the

revolutionaries, the Secret Revolution

never became reached the point of

outright war, and the nobility and

their king fell silently. Once the

workers were free from the

oppression of the nobility, the

revolutionaries reviled their identities

and were honored. The masks they

wore, once a sign of deception,

became a symbol of the new order

and law within Kell. So it was that the

guilds of the city banded together and

signed into existence Guild Law.

Now, nearly a thousand years after the

Secret Revolution and countless years

after The Rising, the city of Kell has

become a much different place than

even the Guild founders could have

imagined.

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The City of Kell

The city of Kell, in its nature is a

difficult place to understand, and even

more difficult to explain. Its chaotic,

and ever changing. Its culture,

architecture, and people are so varied

that mere blocks from ones home

could seem like another part of the

world.

Topographically the main city, wheremost of the populous resides, is in the

main valley, known as the Lowlands.

The main valley is 7 miles long, and

only 1 mile at its widest point. The

valley walls of the Lowlands are on

average half a mile high. Because the

city could not grow out, as the

population increased, it had to grow

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up; so the citys buildings over the

many years became immense towers

and the streets became bridges.

Eventually the Lowlands became a

honeycombed maze of alleys, bridges,

and walkways. They even started

building into the valley walls. Some

areas in the city have completely

become void of daylight; these areas

are known as the Underdwells. Any

area that sees sunlight, even fleetingly

momentary sunlight, is consideredpart of the Skywalks.

The Midlands are east of the main

valley, in a plateau which is not as

deep into the valley floor as the

Lowlands. The Midlands are not

nearly as crowded, or changing, as the

Lowlands. This is where all thegovernment buildings, and Guild

Houses, reside.

Above the valley wall, to the north, is

known as the Highlands. In the

beginning the Highlands is where the

nobility lived, but it has sense become

vast farmlands and is the main food

source for the city. While there are

some who live in the Highlands it is

not generally seen as a positive place

to reside.

Above the valley wall, to the south, isknown as the Roughs, and nobody

lives there. Because of its very rough

terrain it is of little use other than

grazing lands for mountain livestock.

There are, however, a few mines in

the east, where the terrain becomes

too mountainous for livestock.

The entire valley, including the

Highlands and Roughs, is surrounded

by impassible mountains. The only

passage into the Outlands is blocked

by the Grandgate. The Grandgate is a

towering wall that is built from the

valley floor and towers over the

valley wall. Where there were once

passages to the top of the wall, and it

was once manned, nobody has braved

the traitorous climb in generations.

There is no longer a living memory of

what lies beyond that wall and the

massive adamantine gate that blocks

the only passage.

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The city is heavily crowded and

through impressive engineering there

is at least cold running water

throughout most of the city; however

all other resources such as food, coal,

and textiles are heavily regulated.

Families are even restricted to one

child.

The Citizens of Kell

The culture of the people is so widelyvaried that one can never be sure what

to expect from an area in the city.

There are countless dialects of

Common, Elven, and the Dwarven

languages. There are, however,

several common traditions that tie all

the citizens of Kell together.

Guild Life

A persons life is ruled by their Guild

and Faith. These things define every

aspect of their lives. They dictate how

one lives, and how they think. The

Guild is intrinsic to the family unit,

foundation, and future of every citizen

of Kell.

When a child reaches adolescents, and

is no longer considered a baby, theyare initiated into their Guild. From

that point on, throughout their entire

childhood, the Guild provides their

education and upbringing; the family

has little control over the childs life.

Thus the Guild dictates the entire

foundation of the kind of person the

child will become.

At the age when an adolescent

becomes an adult they go through the

Ceremony of Choosing. This is when

they choose their Faith. Each Guild is

made of inner factions, called Faiths.

During the three month long

ceremony the adolescent vies for

Faith membership. The Faith provides

the tests and determines at the end of

the three months if the youth will be

admitted into the Faith, and thus

becomes an adult. Those who fail

rarely survive to try again, but if they

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do survive they are allowed to attempt

again in a year.

While it is not illegal, it is unlikely,

and frowned upon that one shouldpursue a Faith in a Guild they were

not raised in. If this should happen,

they renounce their original Guild,

and are now seen as a member of the

Faiths Guild. Chances are that any

Faith would make the tasks for this

kind of applicant all but impossible,

and deliberately deadly.

Once a person is a member of a Faith,

the Faith dictates what they are likely

to do with the rest of their life. While

this could be anything from being a

laborer, merchant, or craftsmen, it is

always meant to aid the advancement

of the Guild as a whole.

Masks

Aside from Guild life, the only other

joining aspect of culture for the

citizenry of Kell is the use of Masks.

Every single person in the city wears

a Mask. Being seen barefaced by

someone who is not of the most

intimate closeness is the most taboo

of acts. Most people go their whole

lives with only a small number of

people seeing their faces.

There are several

kinds of Masks

that a person

wears throughout

their life. The first

Mask they wear is the Birth Mask.

These simple white masks are worn

almost from birth to the age of

adolescence. When a child enters the

age of adolescence, and chooses a

Guild, they gain their Learning

Masks.

The Learning Mask

is still somewhat

simple, but covers

more of the face.

Its the first Mask to

show any markings, and they adopt

the color scheme of the Guild they

chose. The Guild Mark is also on the

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mask, and some prominent families

may have a Family Mark as well.

The Trials Mask is worn during the

Ceremony of Choosing. These maskscover from the cheekbones, over the

forehead, and hair. They are always

bright copper in color and featureless.

Copper on Masks is seen as the color

of choosing, therefore no other Masks

use copper in their design. When the

Ceremony of Choosing is completed

the person gains their Life Mask.

Life Masks are not really a singular

type of Mask; its more a stage of

ones life. Once a person is at the Life

Mask stage, they are no longer limited

in the design of their Mask, and they

may possess as many Masks for as

many purposes as they choose.

Typically there are three major

characteristics of a persons Life

Masks; a persons mask displays their

Guild and Faith. These Masks are

symbolic in nature, and generally will

be designed in a manner that

showcases any honors, or

accomplishments from that persons

life. The final characteristic of a

persons Mask is its style. The amount

of skin that a mask covers is a

personal preference. Some may cover

just the face, but others can cover the

whole head; although only ceremonial

Masks are likely to

cover the mouth in

any way. Because

there are very few

animals to be

found in the city

rarely are they

depicted in the

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style of a Mask. Generally a person

uses one style of Mask throughout

their entire life; this will allow anyone

to know who they are even when

wearing a new or unfamiliar Mask

and that style is the common factor

within all the Masks they wear.

The Government of

Kell

Over the many years since the

original signing of Guild Law the

document has been added to,

rewritten, ratified, and amended so

many times that it would be difficult

to say what the exact original

document contained. The easiest way

to understand how the government

works is to break it down into three

different tiers of rule.

First Tier Politics

This level of government involves the

workings of each individual Guild.

While each Guild is likely different

from the next, they are all built in s

similar style dictated by Guild Law, if

that Guild wishes to have Charter

Membership in the City Council.

First, to be a Chartered Guild, a Guildmust have a Council of Faiths, with

no less than forty Faiths. The Council

of Faiths is made up of the Leaders of

each of Faith. This is the most stable

level of government in the city,

because while each Faith has different

approaches, they are all working to

the betterment of the Guild. Funding

for the guild is obtained by monthly

Guild dues from their members.

Second Tier Politics

Each Chartered Guild is allowed to

place an Advocate in the City

Council. The city Council is the majorgoverning force of all of Kell. Its

wrought with infighting, and

deception, as the Guilds vie for

political power.

Every year there is an Annual

Accounting. During this time is when

new Guilds may apply for Charter

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status. This is also when Council

standings are announced, and each

Advocate learns how much political

power is awarded to their Guild. The

other side of the Accounting is

Council dues. In order for a Guild to

maintain Charter status, they must pay

dues. Any Guild that cannot make the

payment is disbanded, and its

members must apply to new Guilds.

Third Tier Politics

The Top 9 Guilds in the City Council

make up the Inner Council. These

Advocates are the true power within

the city. They dictate who in the City

Council are assigned to what areas of

government. While the Annual

Accounting can change the Inner

Councils membership when Political

standing is announced, this is a rare

change. Matter of fact one of the only

three Guilds, that have survived since

the original Guild Law was signed, is

head of the Inner Council. The

Ringilders have spent most of history

in this seat of power.

Issues of the System

At every Annual Accounting, tasks

and responsibilities change hands.

The greatest of issues to rise from thispractice is the records of History.

Every year, when a new Guild takes

over the Archives, they are likely to

implement a new system of

cataloguing, but a year is never long

enough to implement such changes.

So when a new Guild takes over, they

attempt to implement their own

system. Vast quantities of information

have been lost to this practice over the

centuries. The greatest of scholars

may have wildly varying takes on

history. Even which edition of Guild

Law a particular Guild follows could

differ greatly from the next.

The World of Kell

Aside from the ceremonies tied to

Guild membership, and Masks, there

are not many holidays in Kellen

culture. The Annual Accounting is a

very big deal, but is not really seen as

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a holiday. Birthdays are not even

commonly celebrated. There are,

however, three holidays of note.

There is the Celebration ofEnactment, which celebrates the day

Guild Law was signed. This is a three

day festival where nobody is allowed

to work, or even exchange money.

The main aspect of this holiday is the

reading of the original preface of

Guild Law.

The other two holidays are Ulday and

Elday, which are the shortest and

longest days of the year. Elday, the

longest day of the year, takes place

the day after the Annual Accounting,

and beckons the New Year. Ulday is

seen as the milestone to the year.

Neither of these two holidays sees

much ceremony, but they are marked

by the prohibition of political

dealings.

The Kellen calendar has 342 days, 26

hours a day, 6 days a week, and 4weeks in a month. The Annual

Accounting, which takes a week, is

not considered part of the calendar;

therefore the calendar has 14 months,

plus the week of Accounting.

There are two moons; Isid [aye-zid]

and Demn [dem]. Isid, the larger ofthe two reflects a bluish light, and has

a 25 day cycle. Demn reflects a deep

red light, and has a very long,

changing, and unpredictable cycle. In

the known history of Kell, Demn has

never been seen full without Isid also

being visible in the sky. Even if Demn

is full and Isid only a sliver, Isids

light still washes out that of Demn.

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Character Creation

The following are changes made to the core rules, and additional information

regarding character creation for this campaign setting.

Books: This game is limited to only Pathfinder books1. Race: Players are restricted to Core races, Monster races will not be allowed. Half-Orc is

substituted with Half-Dwarf2.

Class: Druid and Gunslinger are prohibited3. Level: Well be starting at level one. Age: Your character age should be the normal starting appropriate for your class. Alignment: Evil alignment is prohibited, all others are welcome4. Ability scores: Stat generating will be at a 25 point buy system 5. Guild: All characters will be members of theMappers. Skills: All characters have these class skills and gain one 1st lvl bonus skill point

o ReadMappers Map [INT] Craft (Mask) [INT]o Interpret Mask [WIS or INT]6 Navigate City [WIS or INT]7

Traits: All characters may select two traits, but must be backed up by character story. Languages: Common, Dwarven, and Elven languages are automatic. But the Linguistics

skill may be needed to understand some Dialects.

Normal Starting Gold.

1 Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook, Advanced Players Guide, Ultimate Magic, and Ultimate Combat.2

Orcs are unknown to Kellens. Half-Dwarves are just as common as Half-elves.3 The druid restriction should be obvious. The gunslinger restriction is because gunpowder doesnt exist.4 YOUR ALIGNMENT DOES MATTER AND I WILL HOLD YOU TO IT.

5 Page 16 of the Core Rulebook.6

Choose which stat you want the skill to be at character creation, it cannot be changed afterward.

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Character

Backgrounds

The Mappers are of middle standing

in the City Council. Most Guilds,

after all these years, rarely do what

their name implies, but the Mappers

are an exception, and are 1 of 5

prominent map-making7

Guilds.

Because the city is ever changing, so

must be the maps. Map making is a

fierce competition, and each Guild

fights hard so that their maps are the

most accurate for the longest period

of time.

As Mappers are a fairly old Guild,

they have a rather large number of

Faiths8, so the methods that the Guild

implements to keep their maps up to

date may vary greatly. While some

Faiths feel the best option is to

employ an army of cartographers,

another Faith may feel it best to

7 Obviously they do not make maps of the Outlands,

as nobody leaves the city.8

At last Accounting there were 64 Faiths.

sabotage the maps of another Guild.

Some Faiths may even attempt to

subvert the changing nature of the city

in an attempt to prolong the accuracy

of the map. Either way all Faiths work

to improve, or prolong the, accuracy

of the Maps and to subvert the

accuracy of the competition.

All players are a member of this

Guild, but you may invent any Faith

that you feel fits your character. The

only stipulation is that you cannot be

a major player in Guild, or city

politics.

Character Masks: Please try to give

your characters Masks as descriptive

detail as you possible. If your Mask

has symbolic aspects, explain the

reasoning of them. Remember this is

an extremely important part of your

character. All masks should be

functional in design.