The Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path begins with the launch of the Fifth Mendevian Crusade soon after a devastating attack on the Worldwound border by the demon armies. From this explosive beginning, a new group of heroes rises—heroes who are destined for legendary achievements. But will these heroes’ righteous wrath be enough to stop the full fury of the Abyss?
Character Tips
How should you prepare for the dangers that await you in the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path? Just keep the following in mind when creating your character. These hints, suggestions, and character options are designed to help you create characters perfectly suited to jumping right into—and excelling over the course of—this mythic campaign.
Alignment: The theme of good versus evil is paramount throughout Wrath of the Righteous, more so than law versus chaos. Good-aligned characters make the most sense for this Adventure Path, be they lawful, neutral, or chaotic. Whether you play a lawful good hero or a character with more flexible morals, it’s important that your character be easily motivated to go to the Worldwound and fight demons. It‘s also a good idea, as in any campaign, to make your choice in a way that won’t be disruptive to the party. The disruption caused by bringing different alignments into the party will vary from group to group, so the best way to make sure that your choice works is to talk with your group about what you’re planning.
Bringing Friends: Friendly NPCs will be playing significant roles as allies throughout the Adventure Path, but that doesn’t mean you can’t bring your own friends. Small or Medium eidolons and animal companions will be more appropriate early in the campaign, and as early as the second adventure, larger companions and mounts will have numerous chances to shine. There are elements of travel, so you don’t need to leave your mount at home.
Classes: Wise generals use every tool available, and as such all disciplines are used in the fight against the demons of the Worldwound. You can find a place for a character of any class in Wrath of the Righteous, but some choices might seem especially appropriate. The champion is an obvious choice, but any good-aligned religious class is certainly appropriate.
Crusading Faiths: The faiths of Abadar, Iomedae, Sarenrae, Shelyn, and Torag are the most active among the crusaders of Mendev, although those of other good deities and empyreal lords (particularly Desna or the Empyreal Lord Pulura) have important roles to play as well. Faith in a deity is not required, but many of the allies and resources you’ll be encountering have ties to the good deities of Golarion.
Demons and Other Foes: Demons are the primary foes you’ll be facing in Wrath of the Righteous, but chaotic evil outsiders are far from the only enemies you’ll encounter. Humans, dwarves, and native outsiders are common as well, in the form of cultists and other opponents. Undead, aberrations, magical beasts, and vermin enemies will also be encountered relatively often.
Origins: People from all over the Inner Sea find their way north to Mendev, offering their swords to fight against the demons of the Worldwound. As such, your character can reasonably originate from anywhere in the Inner Sea. The Adventure Path begins in the crusader city of Kenabres, so make sure that your character has a reason to enlist in the fight and venture to Kenabres. The campaign begins on a holy day, so perhaps your character made a pilgrimage to Kenabres to celebrate the day prior to swearing herself or himself to the cause. A short primer on the city of Kenabres is included in this Player’s Guide.
Champions: This Adventure Path is an excellent choice for champion characters—not only are there a lot of foes champions shine against, but from a roleplaying standpoint, the crusade against the Worldwound is tailor-made for champions. Keep in mind, though, that there will be points during your adventure where things will look dark, and you will be presented with some difficult moral and ethical choices at times—in addition, make sure to read the notes on redemption further on in the guide.
Ancestries: Outnumbered and facing an assault from evil outsiders, the crusade today has no compunctions regarding race when it comes to outfitting its forces. Able-bodied men and women from all races are welcome so long as they are willing to fight the good fight. At one time tieflings were distrusted and shunned, but now some of the fiend-blooded fight alongside aasimars while defending Mendev or striking against the horrors of the Worldwound. Many tiefling crusaders claim that their blood makes them the best suited to fighting demons, and they also have defenses that help them shrug off some of the demons’ deadliest attacks.
In addition to defending the continent from demonic horror, a fair number of dwarves who have joined the crusades battle the Worldwound in hopes of reclaiming a lost Sky Citadel within its borders.
While nearly every human ethnicity in the Inner Sea region can be counted among those who fight against the Worldwound, some say the Kellids are the most passionate about healing the Abyssal wound. Their homeland of Sarkoris fell when the Worldwound opened, and many Kellids in Mendev’s army fight not only to ensure the safety of future generations, but also to redeem their ruined homeland.
Redemption: Not every evil NPC in Wrath of the Righteous is meant to be killed. Now and then, you’ll encounter NPCs who are working hard to be redeemed, or otherwise working against their evil natures. Wrath of the Righteous will give characters several opportunities to redeem and guide NPCs and organizations alike toward the path of righteousness. Redemption might also be a personal mission for your character. Perhaps your character decided to fight for the crusades as a way to purge a tainted past.
A Brief History of the Crusades
To date, four crusades have been launched against the demons of the Worldwound, and while all four have had varying degrees of success and failure, none have yet driven the armies of Deskari, Lord of the Locust Host, from Golarion. A brief history of the war follows.First Crusade (4622 AR – 4630 AR): Although a fair number of holy warriors came to Sarkoris’s aid in the first several years after the Worldwound opened, the church of Iomedae did not declare the First Crusade until 4622 AR, as the repercussions of Aroden’s death significantly delayed the church’s ability to respond to the growing crisis. By the time the First Crusade reached Mendev, the demons had long since seized control of central Sarkoris and had claimed significant portions of Mendev as well.
The First Crusade bolstered the defenders of Sarkoris and Mendev, boosting both their numbers and morale, and the sudden increase in the enemy’s strength caught the demonic horde unprepared, causing them to retreat back to the Northmounds. With Mendev and southern Sarkoris thus liberated, the crusaders remained in the region to help rebuild—an offer Mendev welcomed gratefully, but one that the disparate and proud clans of Sarkoris accepted more reluctantly. In any event, for the next few years the demons seemed content to focus their wrath upon Sarkoris’s Northmounds, battling primarily with the surviving Sarkorian clans desperately attempting to reclaim their family lands, while Mendev remained relatively unmolested.
Second Crusade (4638 AR – 4645 AR): When a second wave of demons erupted from the Worldwound in 4636 AR, the crusaders had settled into their new homes in Mendev. They again took up arms against the demons, expecting a short series of fights and boasting that this time they would drive the host back to the very edges of the Worldwound itself. But their expectations did not come to fruition. This time, the demons pouring from the Worldwound were not only more numerous—they were better prepared. Rather than the haphazard, chaotic, self-indulgent mob the crusaders previously encountered, the marauding demons were now legions driven by powerful commanders. Under their commanders’ direction, the demons orchestrated strike forces, teleported behind enemy lines, drove their enemies toward their advancing ranks, and then crushed their opponents between them. The armies of the marilith Aponavicius captured the crusader city of Drezen using such tactics, forcing the church of Iomedae to finally call for the Second Crusade.
Even with the influx of troops from the Second Crusade, however, it quickly became apparent the demons were going to win. Fortunately for Mendev, the demons aimed the bulk of their devastating attack westward and southward. The impending loss prompted the leaders of the Mendevian Crusaders to make a fateful decision — they pulled their support from Sarkoris, allowing the demon army to descend on what remained of that land, and instead concentrated their efforts on erecting wardstones along the West Sellen and Moutray rivers. The price of their actions proved steep, but, as the wardstones flared to life, the menhirs contained the demons within lost Sarkoris and saved tens of thousands from grisly deaths. Yet despite this success, the near- total loss of Sarkoris is generally regarded as the final capstone on a disastrous crusade.
Third Crusade (4665 AR – 4668 AR): Now contained within Sarkoris by a combination of the wardstones, increased pressure from the Mammoth Lords, and the distraction of an entire nation to plunder, the demons continued to press against the borders but seemed largely content to revel in their captured realm. Meanwhile, as the years passed, the Mendevian crusaders grew more and more corrupt—in part due to the subtle machinations of the cult of Baphomet, which had successfully infiltrated numerous companies and faiths throughout Mendev, but also because the resource-strained church of Iomedae had increasingly accepted less trustworthy members into its war effort. The church launched the Third Crusade primarily as an attempt to galvanize the crusaders, but as its focus increasingly turned toward self-destructive witch hunts and internal squabbling, the crusade collapsed under its own corrupt weight. Ultimately, the Third Crusade accomplished very little within the Worldwound—apart from delighting and entertaining Sarkoris’s demonic masters.
Fourth Crusade (4692 AR – 4707 AR): After decades of Abyssal rule, a dangerous new addition to the demon armies arrived in the form of Khorramzadeh the Storm King. Scholars of the war are divided as to whether or not the Storm King had been ruling from Iz all along, or if he was but the latest arrival in the region. Regardless, the Storm King’s first assault on the border resulted in no less catastrophic an event than the cracking of the Kenabres wardstone. The ferocity of this attack caught the crusaders off guard, but in the end the wardstone held. In response, the church of Iomedae called for the Fourth Crusade. This crusade proved to be the longest and most grueling of the crusades yet, lasting 15 years and ending more as a result of wartime exhaustion than anything else. The demons lost very little, and in the years since this crusade’s whimpering conclusion, morale along the Worldwound’s borders has reached an all-time low.