Last night we did the Brother of Seven’s Sawmill. My problem with the fight and Ironbriar’s role in the whole thing is that is has this really cool part, a Magistrate using his position to protect his wicked cult.
My problem with it as written was that the party would never feel how twisted his misuse of his authority can be. In the unlikely possibility that the party deciphers his logbook, they might get his whole story- someone from Magnimar might recognize him while fighting him, or they might find out who he is if they engage in any meaningful dialogue.
So I put a twist on it. When party had cultists yelling “Protect Ironbriar”, felt to them like a little part of their world fell down. Here is why:
One of my player’s (the monk) background story elements involved a wandering brother who has had some slightly shady dealings and whose current location was unknown to the player.
In my gaming room (my basement) I have kept a corkboard that represents the posting board of the Rusty Dragon Inn. The postings have grown or changed since they began adventureing: Same menu, new odd jobs, something about a group of rangers called the black arrows welcoming new recruits, etc. One thing that was always been there since shortly after the goblin attack, has been a wanted poster from “a magistrate’s office of Magnimar” for the capture of the PC monk’s brother in regards to an murder.
Between Burnt offerings and the Skinsaw murders, a new posting was added proclaiming that the justice Ironbriar was looking for anyone with information about the recent murders in Magnimar.
After Foxglove manor, when the party went to Magnimar, they made a bee-line for the Ironbriar’s office. They were given the same treatment as when they tried to get to any murder scene… Offical matter… we have it taken care of… etc… in Ironbriar’s case it was “you need an appointment.” “ you need to talk to his clerk to get an appointment” “you need an appointment to see his clerk” “No, you cannot go inside to see his clerk, you need an appointment” “Do you have an appointment?” …etc.
So, my wife (playing the Bard) wrote a letter to Ironbriar. She told him about the party, that they had some information for him about murders in the Sandpoint area, and that they were staying at the copper dwarf inn & tavern. ( A tavern run by a Dwarf with a copper mechanical arm, They loved it’s dwarven tourist-trap feel!)
The next night, a party member woke up to a faceless stalker in his room (disguised as the inn’s owner) trying to plant the real dwarfs copper arm in the room. Combat ensued. PCs won and figured out that someone was trying to frame them for these murders, as the inn’s owner (now missing an arm) had been sacrificed on the floor below and a few guests slain.
Of course, when my players got to the sawmill, they had waited till a Oathday… at midnight… So everyone was mid ritual upstairs. The fight was fantastic, and as soon as the cultists dropped some lines about protecting Ironbriar (obvious references to the “important looking cultist with the scariest mask”) I could see my players register his whole role in it.
IronBriar usually knew about anyone that looked into the murders, because they came to him. He’s killed anyone that looked too far into the murders. He knew exactly where the player’s were staying and tried to eliminate them. He is even trying to frame the monk’s missing brother.
Ironbriar even got in some mightily good villain dialogue mid fight. It was great! And the party really really, really hated him for what he had been doing.
In the end, they found another wanted poster of the PC’s brother in Ironbriar’s room. It had in big letters written across the front “Traitor”. After a discussion with the captive Ironbriar, the party thinks that the brother was somehow involved with the cult, but ran away and has since left the city. .
cyrusduane
