Lucendar's Crimson Throne Campaign...Redux

Game Master Lucendar

It is said in the annals of history that the gods are fickle beings and as such, are sometimes controlled by their impulses and their insecurities. Some like to challenge the faith of their mortal worshipers; some like to teach and educate them; some like to punish them for their frailty; some like to weed out the weak among their flock; and others just mess with them for the fun of it out of sheer boredom. Whatever the reason for it, the gods of Golarion select one year out of every century and decide, for the most part, to not bless their most ardent worshipers (priests) with their magic and divine guidance. The gods call it the Year of the Faithful, where they can divine by their actions, whose faith is unshakeable despite their absence and who is the most worthy of their gifts.

Yes, the gods are fickle indeed!

Hello all, I am back from hiatus and have decided to pick up on a campaign I had proposed and particularly enjoyed a year ago but fell through after 500+ posts. To those familiar or unfamiliar with my DM-ing style, I hardly stick to the AP (Curse of Crimson Throne) as written and make major modifications to fit the plot (as evident by the global event mentioned above), playing style of the players, and just my particular tastes. What I look for in characters rp-wise: energetic, vibrant, creative and detailed personalities that allow for the development of the story; in combat, I love cinematic and dramatic battles as well as good tactics and teamwork.

I bring: creativity, enthusiasm, and good grasp of the rules to the game. You bring: committed characters (available to post at least 1x day, the more the better), colorful personalities, and good rping. As I always say, the players’ great rping inspires me to tell a good story.

Mechanically: 1st level, 15 point buy (want to make this as gritty as possible), max hp and gold at 1st level, 2 traits, all classes open, all core races allowed (any from ARG need prior approval from me). For those familiar with the CotCT Campaign Guide, those campaign traits will not apply, as there is no Gaedren Lamm hook (like I said in the 1st paragraph, I change things!), and I don’t particularly like the old man “beating and molesting” the adventurers when they were kids to inspire vengeance storyline. The players’ home should be in Korvosa (campaign doesn’t work if players don’t care about their home city) and the story begins during the Year of the Faithless, as they are traveling in a caravan back to Korvosa from a trip abroad when a harsh storm forces them to seek refuge in a coastal village about 3 days’ journey from home. News of King Eodred’s severe illness has reached your ears and there are rumors of panic in the city. Include in your concept where you went and why you left Korvosa, albeit temporarily.

I will be accepting 4-5 characters so post your concepts with your time zone (I am in EST, GMT -5), character's appearance, your posting frequency, concept, stat array, and background, which should include your motivations in this politically charged climate. If you choose a cleric, how do you feel about being a member of the 1% who still has their divine gifts? Is it a blessing or a curse for you? Are you open with your gifts or do you hide them? I do not need a complete character sheet with equipment and feats, etc. I will make a decision on the players selected by 3/10 by noon. I reserve the right to change the deadline if I feel I have enough concepts. Thank you in advance for your submission.

Any questions, let me know!

Hello - this looks like a lot of fun - I like the world-changing feel of the Year of the Faithless, when everyone's safety net is pulled out.

I have a question on mechanics: in your mention of playing a cleric, you suggest that he'd still have his divine gifts, and it sounds like the loss of divine abilities only affects them. Is that so? Do other divine casters lose their abilities, or only clerics?

And out of curiosity - you say the story begins during the Year of the Faithless, is it safe to assume the whole tale will take place under those conditions? I don't know CotCT, so I don't have a sense of its time arc.

By the way, I posted the other inquisitor of Desna in Lucent's campaign, sorry neither of us made it in. They'll wish they had Her along, I'm sure.

Hello, I am in EST, GMT –5,
Erina is a bright smiling girl with haphazard brown hair and warm brown eyes
I can post four to five times a day
Erina is a adventurous but timid girl. She often goes on adventures but never ones that last more then a few days. She had just finished one such adventure and now has joined the caravan home.

Erina grew up in Korvosa always preferring the surrounding woods to the bustling city. Her up bringing wasn't anything special. Normal home life, normal family. Well normal till Erina was about sixteen when her acquired her Tiger, Raja. Since that day they have been inseparable. Erina is big on helping. She knows the year of the Faithless is a horrid time. She wants to use her gifts to ease some of the suffering., though she is never open with her healing gifts.

Thanks for your post, K. The event also clears up all the talk on the message boards why the kingdom's priests cannot simply raise dead or resurrect the King when he dies.

The event affects oracles and clerics. Paladins, druids, rangers, and inquisitors all still have access to their spells and abilities.

Yes, the whole arc of the PbP could take place in a year, though it's not necessary for the last parts. I just like the flavor of what happens in a world when there are very few clerics around with no access to the higher level spells.

Hello, I am in EST, GMT –5,

Erina is a bright smiling girl with haphazard brown hair and warm brown eyes
I can post four to five times a day
Erina is a adventurous but timid girl. She often goes on adventures but never ones that last more then a few days. She had just finished one such adventure and now has joined the caravan home.
** spoiler omitted **

Erina grew up in Korvosa always preferring the surrounding woods to the bustling city. Her up bringing wasn't...

Nice submission, E.L. Some of the mechanics might be off (+2 hit with sickle and club, not +4) and you forgot to add Str modifier to damage, but we can fix all that later, if selected.

Nice submission, E.L. Some of the mechanics might be off (+2 hit with sickle and club, not +4) and you forgot to add Str modifier to damage, but we can fix all that later, if selected.

Sorry about that. Cut and pasted the weapons from another character. Plus my boss started hoovering around my desk. *LOL* Slow work day equals making characters.

Sounds fun, I like things a little off the beaten path. I'll be posting a barbarian (probably an archetype...) here in the next little while.

I'm curious what happened to the last RotRL that you ran, like why it died.

Mug, you mean CotCC, right? I've never run RotRL. There was some issue with player posting frequency and then the holidays came and I was absent for a couple of weeks and when I came back, the players had moved on. Thinking about it, I remembered I missed the setting so I'm trying Take 2 now. I won't be disappearing anytime soon (*knock on wood*).

Yeah, I meant CotCC. Thanks for the info, it's not important, but I was curious so thanks.

Oh and I've decided on a scarred Rager, who's tribe deals with the Year of the Faithless by selecting a young warrior from the tribe to sacrifice himself in glorious battle. The more scars the warrior receives before dying, the quicker the curse on the land will be done away. Outwardly resolute, inwardly conflicted, that sort of thing.

*keeps an eye out for lurking/hovering bosses*

I'm pondering an Urban Ranger, likely human, with sort of a different spin on the ranger story. I envision a street-wise fixer, who knows somebody who can get you that cure disease potion your sister needs for her kid, now that the gods have turned their backs on us again, but it's gonna cost you. Things didn't go quite as planned in a recent deal - and how could they, in the Year of Faithlessness? - and he had to leave town for a bit. But Korvosa is his world, and he sees it as the center of the world - sure, there are other places to live, but does anybody really want to live there over Korvosa? So he's on his way back, willing to take his chances that things have cooled off and he can get back to business.

I'm on the west coast (so PST, GMT -8), and can post several times a day. I love a good story and grand, cinematic combat sounds like a blast. I enjoy building relationships with other PCs over time, and see this ranger as well-connected in the city, but kind of lonely, since everyone's a "business associate," if ya know what I mean? So he'd be interested in building connections with others in the party.

Gotta get back to work, but I'm having fun with this idea, so I'll get something cooking and post in the next couple of days.

Central Time, GMT -6; I sit in front of a computer 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, so posting a few times a day should be pretty easy for me to do. I run a D&D game on Monday evenings, so on those nights I may be a bit scarce.

Saxon Cynald is a young man of 22. He has shoulder length hair a shade of brown so dark it borders upon black and a tan complexion. He has few, if any, remarkable features, and a face, that while not unpleasant by any means, is easily missed in a crowd and quickly forgotten.

Saxon Cynald is a bit of a recluse and a bookworm. He spends most of his days locked in study to unlock arcane secrets and most of his nights escaping to fictitious fantasy worlds between the pages of a book, taking the odd job here or there to buy more tomes, magical or mundane. Knowing that he has few practical skills aside from a keen grasp of the basics of magic and that he will have to aspire to something someday lest he fester away into insignificance, he has embraced his favor of the school of abjuration and dreams of one day being chosen by a lord to be a court wizard, perhaps that which protects a noble king. Saxon strives ever toward that goal.

Recently the young wizard received word from distant family in Cheliax that his young cousin had shown an aptitude for magic. He readily took a trip to the distant land to collect his kin to see if he could push his abilities further while fostering another's by engaging in mutual study and challenging one another. Unfortunately, it turned out that his cousin had the gift of sorcerer's blood and had little patience or skill in book magic, so Saxon, disappointed, departed for home, leaving his family member behind.

Crunch

I'm available to post multiple times a day and usually have no problem keeping up with the group. More often than not I'm chomping at the bit for more frequent posts, but obviously not everyone has that kind of availability.

I'm Mountain Time, GMT -7.

About Ballumnor White
The clan Elders foresaw this day coming, and Murdul had hoped so badly that he would be selected as the Scarred One who would save the tribe. To be free to seek the glory of battle, wherever his heart led him, his only task to seek out and preserve the scars obtained during his battles. The culmination of the role as the Scarred One was less appealing to Myrdul, and it was easy to bury that unpleasant reality beneath the excitment of being chosen and the well-wishes of friends and family. "Lucky Myr, what a glorious task!" and they'd clap him on his muscled shoulders. Behind his false-cheerful eyes, his heart and mind rebel against the knowledge that he must be dead before the year is out, to end the curse so the clan may endure, survive and thrive.

Things had gone well enough at first, a wolf had blessed him with a terrible scar on his upper thigh. Then the two sneaking men in the woods, the barbarian suspected they had looked on Myrdul as easy prey, rather than genuine interest in Myrdul's request for honorable combat. The long snaking scar on his back, and the puffy divit in his chest are his momentos of that encounter. There were others, and his travels eventually led him to Korvosa, which Myrdul felt a surprising fondness for. He told himself that he stayed day after day, week after week, because of the excess of combat opportunities. He still preserved each scar, but his heart was not in the task, and the he had to constantly strive to dismiss the feeling that he should continue his wandering, and see his quest to it's completion. The guilt sometimes became so strong he need equally strong drink, followed by a rousing brawl, before he could sleep through the night.

In an odd way, Korvosa had become his refuge, a sanctuary to avoid the destiny laid upon him by his clan, and he was grateful for the citiies unwitting service. Finding work never seemed to be a problem for the strapping young barbarian, his intimidating presence alone often enough to end trouble before it started. He would hire himself out as a guard, and sometimes even a caravan guard in order to obtain the funds for day to day living.

I am enjoying the concepts I am reading so far, very creative!

K: look forward to reading your urban ranger concept, looks like it fits this city-setting perfectly

Ringtail: Very cool mage build with improved initiative and toughness (fast and durable!); it would be cool if you could incorporate into your background how/why/where he trained in those feats

Mug: Like the scars and history, some questions about the background: Where is his clan located? Are they Shoan-ti? Any relations with them? Why did/does the clan need saving? What's the problem? How is Ballumnor going to solve it? You mention destiny, what has been foretold? Would he ever go back?

His clan will be Ulfen, seen roaming the Velashu Uplands. The clan occasionally deals with Shaon-ti, but intermixing blood is frowned upon. The clan needs saving, just like Golarion needs saving, the Year of the Faithless is upon them! Clan shamans have seen the coming of the year of the faithless and by bad luck and superstition, the shamans have decided the way to appease the gods and bring their favor back to the land (and the clan) is by choosing a Scarred One who must fulfill the mission I explained earlier. Basically to gather as many scars as possible, the mutilation of the body believed to please the Gods, each new scar bringing additional favor. The 'destiny' placed on him was the title of Scarred One, as when the Year of the Faithless struck, the clan shamans designated Ballumnor for the honor. The misgivings Ballumnor is experiencing is due to the shamans demand that at the years end, he must die in combat. This is seen as the ultimate sacrifice and will thus (in the clans eyes) appease the Gods and end the curse on the land. Dying before the year is up is also acceptable, but the important thing is he must die honorably, before the year is over, and the more scars gathered along the way, the better. He's not supposed to go back to the clan ever, they expect him to die, and the sign of his death will be the end of the curse.

Did that clear things up any?

I'll make some slight updates to his background to incorporate the things mentioned and have it up a little later today.

hmm, interesting, would there be issues with playing an oracle? edit: or witch?

I edited Saxon's fluff to better reflect his traits and feats. I also editted his skill selection, dropping Knowledge (nature & religion) in favor of Knowledge (engineering & history). The updated character and background are both visible in Saxon's profile.

Thanks for the clarification Mug.
Ringtail, Saxon looks good.
Iejir: Either is fine, all classes are viable

Hello, Lucendar, it's definitely been a while. I played in your Survival PbP some time ago. Got killed almost right off the bat, but the rest of it was a fun read. Just dotting this for the time being, but I am definitely interested in playing a human conjurer. Perhaps tiefling if I'm feeling a little more adventurous, with your approval. With the conjuration-focused Acadamae in Korvosa, I should be able to pull it off well enough.

I am in the EST timezone as well; I'll see if I can put an idea together once I get off work.

I'm also intrigued, I'll have to come up with something. Looks like a lot of people are actually going the caster route--I see one urban ranger and one barbarian? Not sure what I'll do yet, but I'll see if I've got anything.

Here is Gyllan Dow, my urban ranger. The build is nearly complete (need to sort out feats, skills and equipment), and the story is done unless you need or want things changed. I had a fun time writing him up, let me know if you have questions or feedback – and there’s a question for you at the end. As for other info you asked for: I can post several times a day, and am on west coast time (GMT-8) .

Mahorfeus: Hey, good to see you again. A tiefling conjurer would work. I look forward to reading it.

Loup Blanc: Welcome!

Khelreddin: Very cool concept.

Glad you liked the idea, I'm pretty excited about it. I've played a lot of rangers, and this guy seems very different and fresh. Have another question, only spoilered to reduce the wall-o-text effect.

That is a highly interesting setup you've created there. Just dotting for interest for now, but I wouldn't be surprised at all if I put up a concept within a few hours.

Dotting for interest.

Viscount and Merck, I welcome all applications and you have plenty of time before deadline.

Question for all applicants: Do you have family/friends in Korvosa? Please weave that answer into your backgrounds, if possible. Thanks.

Color me intrigued -- this sounds like a really cool idea.

I have a question regarding the Year of Faithlessness. Is this a scheduled event that the churches knew about in advance, or did they just wake up one morning unable to contact their deities? (Or something in between where they had, say, a week's notice.)

The reason I ask is I'm going to put together a Priest who is not one of the lucky 1% and so will be something other than a Cleric, and I have two different concepts depending on how prepared they were for the event.

Very intriguing question, pH. I would say the different clergies would receive visions in dreams a month before the start of the year alerting them to the fact that the gods were about to "abandon" them. Then, the city officials/followers/worshipers would be alerted and then the public at large.

This sounds really cool, Lucendar. I'd love to try to get into one of your games. It looks like the submissions so far are:

Khelreddin - Gyllan Dow - Human Ranger (Urban Ranger)
E.L. Warren - Erina Wisewood - Human Druid
Ringtail - Saxon Cynald - Human Wizard (Abjurer)
Mug - Ballumnor White - Human Barbarian (Scarred Rager)

I'm thinking of applying with a Varisian oracle (or witch, or bard...) drawn to Korvosa by cryptic prophetic dreams. I'll get the concept up in the next couple of days.

Thanks!

Does anyone(s) want to setup an existing friendship between our characters? It can be close or distant as we like. Maybe professional affiliations or frequent the same bar at night? Or we were hired to guard the same caravan at one point. Etc... any interest there?

Oh this is the destiny-shy and far from home Ballumnor here. He's away from his family and tribe and would be quite quite lonely and looking for a friend.

@Mug - Gyllan and Ballumnor could definitely have met, as lots of new arrivals in the city end up coming to him for things they need. Perhaps Ballumnor needed a cheap place to live, and was having a hard time finding a place because the landlords all thought he was Shoanti? Or, as a man unused to cities, he just couldn't sort out how to find a home in the bustling hive of Korvosa, and Gyl spotted him one day and offered to help him out?

In exchange for the help, Ballumnor might provide occasional guard duty for Gyllan, when he's got to collect a large-ish payment or make a delivery of something valuable. And since Gyllan also wants to be able to defend himself, they might have taken to sparring on quiet days? I'm open to any connection, though I'd think it would be as acquaintances, perhaps a bit more, since Ballumnor is pretty new to town and Gyllan has been away for the several weeks.

@All - I accidentally called it the "Year of Faithlessness" in Gyllan's background, and it's been repeated at least once - I don't know if I started us off on getting it wrong or it's just that two of us made the same mistake - but the original "Year of the Faithless" sounds a lot better and punchier, so I'll work on using the right name.

@Khelreddin - I think the relationship starting as looking for a place to live and paying Gyllan with guard duty would be a good, simple exchange that Ballumnor would understand in the chaotic new world of city life. He'd probably have guided Ballumnor away from some of the pitfalls which happen to country bumpkins. Such as following a shady individual into a dark alley, or to watch your back if you do so. Where he can go to find honest/good people to deal with, that sort of thing. I'm thinking Ballumnor would feel quite appreciative and indebted to Gyllan for such services, his nature being naturally friendly and open, too young and inexperienced to know in whom he should place his trust, so he trusts most everyone.

I'll work the relationship into Ballumnors backstory at a very high level using this basic premise, keeping them as acquaintances but one who Ballumnor trusts and respects greatly.

@GM - feel free to add any input on this that you'd like. I don't anticipate you having a problem, but obviously want to make sure things fit your vision.

Welcome Friar, glad the idea intrigues you. I think the "event" solves many of the questions with the King's death and increases the urgency and threat of the plague in Book 2. Besides, it's cool to shake the world up a little. I look forward to reading your concept.

@Khelreddin - Cosmopolitan is fine with me, makes sense with your concept.

@Mug & Khelreddin - I would mind Erina knowing you guys. She grew up in the city but preferred the forest outside the city to hang out in when growing up. Any way I can work that in with either of you?

Very interesting indeed. I do, very much, like your take on everything.
However, (and not to sound rude or anything) wouldn't the clergy begin mass producing wands and scrolls and the like in preparation for the Year of the Faithless if they had visions about a month before hand? That would at least give them a bit of time to stock up. Not sure if you thought about that though, so if you did just ignore me. :p

I am definitely interested and I have been wanting to play a bard for a while, so I will probably be submitting one, but I may change it up. Just a quick question though, would I be able to play an Aasimar perhaps?

Also I am GMT-8 and can post pretty frequently during the weekdays daytime, but I have night classes so I usually will be dealing with those and the mountains of homework that comes with them so probably not too much night posting. Weekend posting will vary depending on errands and in person gaming things, however I will still be able to post at least twice on Saturday (morning and evening/night) and at least once Sunday (morning). I'll repost this with my actual submission as well to make it easier to keep track of. Just getting it out there so you have an idea of what times I can post.

Oh I agree with you that some of the more high profile churches stockpiled on clerical wands but they're not cheap to make (5500 for 3rd level spells and over 10K for 4th level) so they're in limited supply. Especially since donations and attendance at all churches are an all-time low during the Year of the Faithless for obvious reasons.

Your posting times are fine, Shoelace; look forward to reading the bard. Just post a creative background as to justify as to why he needs to be an aasimar, as compared to another race, and I'll allow it.

@Warren - If Erina knows Ballumnor it'd probably be through Gyllan, as he grew up in Korvosa as well. Ballmnor didn't show up until a 'short time' into the year (possibly a few months depending on how far into the Year of the Faithless the GM wants the group to start). Ballumnor could have run into Erina during a stint as a caravan guard or perhaps she'd be in one of the few taverns Ballumnor likes to visit?

FYI: It is the 10th of Calistril, second month of the calendar year when the game starts.

OK, here's my submission. Cinnamon Oskrev is a Changeling Sorceror (Rakshasa-blooded). She was once a Priestess of Sarenrae, but her faith was not up to the challenge of the Year of the Faithless. Although Changeling fits her concept better, I'd be completely willing to change her to Half-Elf if you'd like.

I'm in EST and can generally post at lunch and in the evening (I can check the boards other times but usually don't have time to post more than a line or two outside of those times.) My weekends are usually pretty free.

@pH - Very cool background! Nice, distinctive style in the writing, and I love the kids all named after herbs and spices.

@Warren - as with Ballumnor, we could have met doing business at some point, though it's harder for me to guess what Erina might have wanted to acquire that Gyllan helped with. Any ideas? Tiger kibble? Gyllan is not a nature type - he's happiest within the walls of the city - so any contact they've had would be on the streets rather than under the trees. I'm open to creating a relationship between them, but would need a bit more detail on Erina's background to come up with something.

@pH - Very cool background! Nice, distinctive style in the writing, and I love the kids all named after herbs and spices.

+1, pH! That was awesome!

Thanks so much. And names are always the hardest part, so I was really happy when I thought of using different spices. The parents must have really liked to eat.

Looking at the other characters submitted so far, it would have made sense for Gyllan and 'Sister Cinnamon' to have known each other, since they were kind of doing the same things for different reasons. Most other characters not so much, although she would probably have a passing familiarity with anyone who spent time in the slums -- faces, if not names.

pH, one question about the background, which I don't know if it was explained and if it was, I missed it: how does a changeling have rakshasa blood?

ps. And Sister Cinnamon has a pretty nice ring to it.

If we're starting in the second month of the calender year, then I'd say Ballumnor has been in Korvosa for a month and a halfish. If you ask Ballumnor he'd probably say "A moon and a little of a moon." :)

pH, one question about the background, which I don't know if it was explained and if it was, I missed it: how does a changeling have rakshasa blood?

Cinnamon doesn't know. In fact, I don't think she would even know that she is 'Rakshasa-blooded' -- at this point she thinks these powers are all just part of being a Changeling.

So I'd leave it all up to you as a GMs hook, as I would for anything that has to do with her biological father. (I think the only thing really set in stone about him is that he wasn't from a small race.) But if you want some ideas here are some possibilities.

Her father could be descended from a Rakshasa, either recently or long ago. Or one of her ancestors on either side could have been subject to powerful magic from a Rakshasa -- maybe made a pact with one, or been a favored servant, or enslaved and later escaped, or killed one and was cursed by it. Anything you want to come up with is fine.

(For that matter I left her interaction with her biological mother vague on purpose. Cinnamon met the hag, and wasn't welcomed into her coven, but other than that, feel free to come up with anything you want, or to ignore it completely.)

Yeah, I like to give the GM lots of room to mess with my characters...

I'll be working on this character as my submission

Zahriel, cousin of the ambassador of the Mierani elves in Korvosa, Perishial Kalissreavil.

He'll be a elven curved blade wielding fighter of the lore-warden archetype.

some rolls for age/ ht/wt

Age:110+: 6d6 ⇒ (1, 5, 4, 5, 4, 1) = 20 = 130

Ht/Wt: 2d8 ⇒ (2, 6) = 8 = 6'2/ 150 lbs

crunch mostly done for the character on profile.

@pH: Interesting..verrrry interesting!
@Zahriel: I like the hook to one of the existing NPCs in town. Some questions: Where is he coming from? Why did he leave? Why is he returning to Korvosa? How does he feel about the Year of the Faithless? Complete the appearance and personality tabs, so I can get a complete picture of the character.

I think that during his leave of absence, he'll have made the journey back to his home in the forest for the first time in twenty years.

I'll flesh out this and the other concepts over the next day or so.

thanks for the feedback!