Siobharek's page

Amazing! My group's about to go to the masquerade, and having that ready for Book 4 is very useful. Thank you!

This is an amazing change. Every time I've gone over the classes with a female gamer, I've cringed when we got to the sorcerer. This is very good.

This Sunday, Irovetti threw everything he had at the capital of Cambia. Westport (formerly known as Fort Drelev) was attacked by the Pitax Horde, the Catspaw Marauders, the First Flight of Wyverns and a 500-mand mercenary army from Mivon who wanted to take down a Swordlord upstart whose very presence as a ruler was an affront. With them, they had three siege engines to bring down the wall, the watchtower, the garrisson and the castle.

The final phase of the battle saw the Westport Defenders and Happ's Riders rip the Mivon Mercenaries and the Pitax Horde to shreds, but at the cost of both regiments. Happs Bydon himself was killed.

But a small adventuring party (who has been mentioned in Kingdom Events) made a stand by a wall and there, the group's Pathfinder Bard inspired courage with his horn. The result was a song that somehow found voice throughout the breached city.

I had prepared it beforehand, and half an hour before my players arrived, the lyrics came to me. A note: Cambia is Lawful Good in alignment. The main deity is Abadar, but Erastil also has a strong following. The author of the lyrics worships Calistria, apparently, and Cambia has many beehives, which help the country's BP.

This is the tune. There's a bit of an introduction, but lyrics should begin at 0:43. The two lines B-piece lyrics start at 2:13.

And here are the lyrics:

In forest by lake and through hills I will roam
To find and defend that which I call my home
A beacon of order! A promise of wealth!
Oh Cambia, give my family health

From flower to flower the blessed bee goes
And brings golden riches that keep us from woe
The stag’s in the meadow and the key’s in the lock.
Oh Cambia in you we place our stock.

[instrumental]

So help me get into my armour and let me gather my arms,
For I will die and fight and suffer to keep my loved ones from harm!

[instrumental]

And stand man and woman, yea stand up as one!
For through our community wars will be won.
We fight and if needed we give our lives here.
Oh Cambia, your name lives through the years!

Good and important words, Liz. Thank you.

We're done with RRR, and as I got Ultimate Campaign, we did the necessary conversions. The conversions were easy enough, and now it finally makes sense to make mines, sawmills, quarries and farms!

However, VV requires - or advises - that the PCs' kingdom is around 50-60 hexes large, and as the Kingdom of Cambia was only 11 hexes, they players felt pretty overwhelmed. So we changed to "Kingdom in the Background", but it was definitely sub-optimal, as they felt they were quitters.

How have others fared? You can't really expand your kingdom without building settlements to ensure that Economy and Stability remain at a level where you can make Control checks and expect to succeed. But building settlements takes TIME. Deciding what buildings to make, rolling for magic items, it's a bit of a pain.

My players loved kingdom building, but having to do 40+ hexes before the story could progress, was murder - or Medieval Monopoly as one player called it.

I want to play up the angle that Nyrissa is using a lot of resources to de-stabilize the region, so I've come up with the following - also to bring the history of the Stag Lord's Keep into play:

Background: A Mysterious Visit
When the PCs return to Oleg's the militia tells them of a group of strange women who rested and resupplied there. They paid with Numerian coinage and a few even had strangely glowing crystals on their armour and weapons. One of them also carried a glowing bundle that Happs Brydon (or any other trusted NPC) recognized as being arrows. When asked about it, however, the leader - who looked human but came across as being somewhat odd - replied with a mutter that "such beauty was not for all to hear about".

A member of the militia followed them for a while, as they thought the group's asking for directions for Tuskwater was a bit unsettling - especially as they seemed to venerate the area with an almost religious fervour.

Finding them
It's up to the DM to decide how easy or hard it should be to find the group and indeed if the chase or the eventual combat is the main part of the excitement. Abandoned camp sites, murdered and mutilated hunters and trappers, ordinary tracks - these are all part of this encounter.

The Group
The group is a small collection of Gyronna-worshippers. Their leader, who only calles herself The Eye, is a forlorn elf who in her bitterness has devoted her witching energies to furthering Gyronna's status in this area. Accompanying The Eye is Magrith, a warrior who's filled with visions of evil men casting aside women. Unfortunately, these visions have led her on a crusade against all men, and she's an accomplished murderer. The last two women in the group are disfigured and bitter ex-prostitutes from the River Kingdoms. The gang hired two guards in Numeria, whom they have charmed and coerced into being loyal followers.

The group met Nyrissa who used illusions to appear as a manifestation of Gyronna. She has given the group a package of six +1 bane arrows keyed to the race of the most civilizing member of the group. The group will give these arrows to the Stag Lord, which will make taking him down somewhat more challenging.

GUARD CR 1/2
XP 200
Male human warrior 2
CN Medium humanoid
Init +0; Senses Perception +2
DEFENSES
AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +2 shield)
hp 13 (2d10+2)
Fort +4, Ref +0, Will -1
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee longsword +5 (1d8+2/19–20)
Ranged longbow +2 (1d8/×3)
STATISTICS
Str 15, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8
Base Atk +2; CMB +4; CMD 14
Feats Skill Focus (perception), Weapon Focus (longsword)
Skills Intimidate +4, Perception +2, Ride +5
Languages Common, Kellid
Gear studded leather armour, light steel shield, longsword, longbow with 20 arrows, 2d6 sp, 1d8 gp

Cultist (Rogue 1/Cleric 1) (2) CR 1
XP 400
Human rogue 1/cleric of Gyronna 1
CE Medium humanoid
Init +3; Senses Perception +6
DEFENSES
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 14 (2d8+2)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +4
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk dagger +3 (1d4+1/19–20)
Special Attacks channel negative energy – may be used through weapon (2/day, 1d6, DC 9), destructive smite (5/day, +1 dmg), sneak attack +1d6, touch of chaos (5/day, for the next round, target must reroll any d20 rolls and choose the worst result)
Spells Prepared (CL 1st)
1st—command (DC 13), shield of faith, true strike(D)
0—light, mending, virtue
D domain spell (Chaos, Destruction)
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 17, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 8
Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 14
Feats Channel Smite, Guided Hand
Skills Acrobatics +7, Climb +5, Disguise +3, Intimidate +4, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5, Perception +6, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7
Languages Common
SQ spontaneous casting (inflict spells), trapfinding +1
Gear leather armor, masterwork dagger, 20 gp

Champion of Gyronna (Inquisitor3) CR 2
XP 600
Human Inquisitor (Gyronna) 3
NE Medium humanoid
Init +5; Senses Perception +8
DEFENSES
AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +2 Dex) – DR 1/- until 10 hp have been absorbed
hp 23 (3d8+6)
Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +6
OFFENSE
Speed 20 ft.
Melee 2 mwk dagger +4/+4 (1d4+1/19–20)
Special Attacks Judgment 1/day (used on damage, unless she’s hit a lot, in which case it moves to AC), solo tactics, touch of evil (6/day, for the next round, target is sickened)
Spells Known (CL 3rd – Concentration +5)
1st — (4) cure light wounds, expeditious retreat, magic weapon, returning weapon
0 — (usable at will) acid splash, bleed, brand, daze, detect magic, detect poison
D domain spell (Chaos, Destruction)
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 16, Cha 10
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 16
Feats Double Slice, Outflank (+4 to attack rolls when flanking), Two-Weapon Finding, Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +6, Intimidate +5, Linguistics +0, Perception +8, Sense Motive +9, Spellcraft +5, Stealth +5, Survival +10
Languages Common, Kellid
SQ monster lore, stern gaze, cunning initiative, track, solo tactics
Gear 2 masterwork daggers, masterwork agile breastplate, composite longbow (+1), Numerian force field protector (as least iron ward diamond, Magic Item Compendium 26)

Eye of Gyronna CR 3
XP 800
Female elven witch 4
CE Medium humanoid
Init +2; Senses Perception +6
DEFENSES
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+3 Dex)
hp 20 (4d6+4)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +5
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee short sword +1 (1d6-1/19–20)
Ranged longbow +5 (1d8-1 plus 1 electricity/×3) – +1 atk/dmg within 30 ft.
Special Attacks Hexes: Cackle (prolong evil eye effects one round as a MEA), Evil Eye (–2 to one of the following (witch’s choice) AC, ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, or skill checks; Dur.: 7 rds, Will DC 16 to reduce duration to 1 rd), Slumber (Sleep for 7 rds, Will DC 16 neg.), Ward (+2 deflection bonus to AC and +2 resistance bonus to saves until subject is hit or misses a save)
Spells Readied (Patron: Insanity, CL 4th – Concentration +8)
2nd – burning gaze, hold person, pox pustules (APG)
1st – cure light wounds, delusional pride (UM), mage armor, ray of enfeeblement
0 – bleed, dancing lights, detect magic, resistance
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 13
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 13
Feats Extra Hex, Point-Blank Shot
Skills Heal +5, Intimidate +8, Knowledge (arcana) +9, Knowledge (history) +9, Knowledge (nature) +9, Perception +6, Spellcraft +11
Languages Common, Elvish, Kellid, Sylvan, Taldan
Gear Masterwork longbow with a Numerian shock emitter (as [/i]least crystal of lightning assault, MIC 64), 20 arrows, short sword, +1 cloak of resistance, necklace of fireballs with one 3d6 fireball (Ref DC 14 half), silver rings (20, 15 & 35 gp), 30 gp in various coins

Familiar: Greensting Scorpion
CE Tiny vermin
Init +3; Senses Perception +6
DEFENSES
AC 20, touch 15, flat-footed 17 (+5 natural armor, +3 Dex, +2 size)
hp 10 (4 HD)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +4
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee sting +7 (1d2–4 plus poison)
Space 2½ ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks poison
STATISTICS
Str 3, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 2
Base Atk +2; CMB +3; CMD 9 (19 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Climb +7, Perception +4, Stealth +15; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Perception, +4 Stealth
SQ Alertness, Empathic Link, Improved Evasion, Share Spells, Store Spells, Deliver Touch Spells
Poison (Ex): Sting — injury; save Fort DC 12; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect sickened for 1 round; cure 1 save.

Staglord; sounds interesting and could open up all sorts of possibilities and side plots (too many to mention really). If you don't want to bother, just send him north, there's a quick trial and he's executed. I would say the publicity of the trial attracts people to the area, give the group a few extra Build Points to start their kingdom.

Actually, taking him to Restov would be a great way to give them the charter at a ceremony following the execution.