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Sins of the Mirror

Module template

Every book of Sins of the Mirror uses this spine so a table can pick Pride or Wrath first and still get a professional module. Fill the brackets. Leave scaling as roles and relative levels — never freeze a DC or HP in the manuscript.

# SotM-[N]: [Working title]
Book [N] of Sins of the Mirror — [Sin]
Pathfinder 2e · 4–6 sessions · 2-level module at current APL

Front matter

  • Sin / Seal:
  • Court (place):
  • Boss / central figure:
  • Inward Gaze (the question this book will not let them dodge):
  • Safety: lines specific to this sin (Lust, Wrath, Sloth especially)

Adventure background

One page. What the Court believes. What it is starving of. Why the party is admitted (they are always admitted — each Court wants them).

Synopsis

Two paragraphs. No spoilers buried in boxed text. State the three legal resolutions:

  • Reckoned — faced the Gaze, did not claim the Court’s gift. Seal breaks. +2 levels (milestone).
  • Claimed — took the gift. Seal breaks. +2 levels and a boon. Book 8 remembers.
  • Bloodied — treated it as a dungeon. Seal may still break. +1 level. The Master notices.

Unfinished is always legal: they leave, no seal, Book 8 stays closed.

Getting started

  • Read the roster: player count, APL, band (mortal / champion / mythic / master).
  • Hook from the previous Court’s echo, or from the Nameless Child / iron band if this is their first Court.
  • Milestone: level in the middle of Part 2; level when the seal breaks.

Part 1 — Arrival ([A1]–[A6])

Hospitality as trap. One low fight (optional). One standard social gauntlet. One breadcrumb to the under-place.

Each scene includes:

  1. Header — A1. Name
  2. Read-aloud — one short paragraph, second person, no mechanics
  3. GM text — what is true, what can go wrong
  4. Checks — listed as DC [standard|easy|hard] — skill, what success does
  5. Encounter (if any) — threat; creatures as Name (APL+X, role, count); tactics
  6. Treasure tag — minor / standard / major / none
  7. Inward Gaze — only where it belongs, never every scene

Part 2 — The Court’s wound ([B1]–[B5])

Meet the human face of the sin who is not the boss. A rescue that can be secret or public. The NPC who will become the next tyrant if the party only kills. Midpoint level-up. One severe set piece.

Part 3 — The looking ([C1]–[C4])

A bargain that would let them skip the Gaze. A champions fight that can be skipped if they did the political work. Climax:

  • Solo at APL+2 (elite/high stats)
  • Aura or rule that is the sin (Pride forbids Aid; Greed prices actions; etc.)
  • Inward Gaze that uses Session 0 contracts
  • Aftermath scene, short, that records echoes

Conclusion

  • When the seal actually breaks (conflict resolved, not boss dead)
  • Echo list (five lines, no more)
  • What other Courts will address them as if they took a title / coin / vow

Appendix: scaling slots

Write creatures like this, never with frozen numbers:

Champion of Completeness — APL+2, elite, count one, Fort bias
Muralist-guard — APL−2, minion, count players, Ref bias

Write checks like this:

Diplomacy to decline a title without insult — hard
Society to notice the feast is starved — standard

The companion fills AC, HP, attack, damage, DC, gold, and XP from the roster.

Appendix: NPCs (this book)

Four faces, half a page each. Want. Lever. What they do if the party never comes back.

What you never do

  • No literal magic mirror as the metaphor made flesh
  • No skipping the Gaze at the climax
  • No running Book 8 “as a preview”