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In a History of Ashes their is mention that if the PC's fail to earn enough respect points from the Shoanti,
I ask because my PC's have thus far called the game of Sredna stupid to Krojun face. The did not come to Krojun's aid when they heard him fighting the Havero. Not very quickly at least - he lost two braves and the rest were injured by the time the PC's arrived. At that point they detailed their plans to divest themselves of their tshamek status which had negative affects on Krojun's morale. Finally only one survived the the Trial of the Totem.
This means that the max respect points they can earn is 5 and that means... 5 or fewer Respect Points: Although the Shoanti are thankful the PCs were on hand to help defend Flameford, they cannot help but recall that the assault would never have happened if the PCs had never come to their camp. The plans to wage war on Korvosa continue unabated, with repercussions as detailed in “Crown of Fangs.”
So it's war baby! I was kind of excited to see what you had planned if it came to this, but as mentioned earlier I see no invasion plans/resolution... Any incite would be appreciated.
This is probably best detailed in the back ground once your player characters retrieve the sword from beneath the huge haunted castle.
As they race against the clock, they have to carve their way through the minions about Castle Korvosa. In the meanwhile, the spectacular war brought on by the Shoanti would probably be as sudden as they could make it. Weather controlling magic could mask their approach until maybe a day's march (or less) away from the city, before the combined might of the tribes hit the city like a proverbial avalanche.
That avalanche however has to cross a very large moat and bypass the defended walls of the city. The Arkonas clan (depending upon which version you use) are likely to organize three things: an active defense of "thier" district of the city; a guerilla resistance of that same district - while Old Korvosa is already pretty isolated, that section of the city is also probably the most poorly defended; and lastly their own escape plan. Depending on how it played out in your campaign, Old Korvosa may still remain isolated from the rest of the city, proving to be both boon and curse for that avenue of approach.
Thus the exotic Shoanti are going to besiege the city, probing and so on and so forth. LotR-style oliphaunts or worse, massed adept, druidic and clerical magic, veritable hordes of summoned animals, lightning storms, tornadoes, hurricanes and tidal waves will confront the wizard school's countering efforts and arcane fire power, the tightly-knit defenses of the Grey Guard combined with the Hell Knights themselves and the remnants of the mooks amongst the Crimson Guard and the hippogriff-riding rangers. This will obligate removal of the chick on the dragon, as she will be VERY involved in organizing the defense of the city, from the player character's access points. The other NPCs that provide them access information will do so before splitting to aid in the city's defense according to thier abilities and inclinations, leaving the Grey Maidens and Red Mantis assassins within the Castle "as written" as a skeleton guard, plus of course the named baddies within as well as part of that skeleton guard.
In any case, win or lose, the Shoanti tribes will be decimated by the 'war' on Korvosa, as will the city itself. How this plays out is largely at your discretion - although I expect that the city will fall, it will exact a bloody price from the Shoanti during its fall.
Creative Director
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This was, unfortunately, a plot element that had to be cut from "Crown of Fangs." The original outline of the adventure included an element of it and had the invasion of Castle Korvosa limited to one floor of the castle. Instead, the author went for detailing the ENTIRE castle... which, while quite cool, left little room for detailing a barbarian assault on Korvosa.
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This was, unfortunately, a plot element that had to be cut from "Crown of Fangs." The original outline of the adventure included an element of it and had the invasion of Castle Korvosa limited to one floor of the castle. Instead, the author went for detailing the ENTIRE castle... which, while quite cool, left little room for detailing a barbarian assault on Korvosa.
Bad Tito! No biscotti! ;-)
I don't see the Shoanti as powerful as Turin. Personally, I'd make them more marauding bandits. Korvosa is too hurt to take the fight to the Shoanti, but not so weak that the Shoanti can actually do much to the city.
So the Shoatni have destroyed the out-lying farms and have wiped out Theif's camp. They've gained control of most of the roads into/out of town.
I'd set up a couple encounters were the PCs have to sneak past Shoanti patrols. Maybe even encounter Kogun and his men assaulting a farmer and let the PCs decide what side to take. Perhaps a diplomatic mission where the encounter Thousand Bones and get him to move some troops away from the city.
The Shoanti would probably take quite a while to gather an army, and it might actually be pretty big. But I doubt it would be a hammer that could just smash down the walls of Korvosa without taking a lot of losses in the process.
They'd rumble on down, beat down a bunch of the smaller communities and make travelling through that part of Varisia impossible. Then they might attack the city, which would probably be very tense, but even if Korvosa's military might is down, assaulting walls from across a river would be extremely difficult. And while the Sun Shamans might be quite powerful, so aren't the wizards of the Academae. It would be a massive blood bath.
And while the Order of the Nail doesn't support Ileosa, they certainly aren't going to just sit around and let Shaonti run around at will. They would mobilize and oppose them.
Very messy.
The Shoanti would probably take quite a while to gather an army, and it might actually be pretty big. But I doubt it would be a hammer that could just smash down the walls of Korvosa without taking a lot of losses in the process.
They'd rumble on down, beat down a bunch of the smaller communities and make travelling through that part of Varisia impossible. Then they might attack the city, which would probably be very tense, but even if Korvosa's military might is down, assaulting walls from across a river would be extremely difficult. And while the Sun Shamans might be quite powerful, so aren't the wizards of the Academae. It would be a massive blood bath.
And while the Order of the Nail doesn't support Ileosa, they certainly aren't going to just sit around and let Shaonti run around at will. They would mobilize and oppose them.
Very messy.
Yup, which was basically my point - play it up as high-end as you want, then cut it loose as the back drop in play while your characters are wading into the castle itself.
This sounds very epic - a perfect backdrop for the campaign's climax I think.
Anyways, tell me how it goes.
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This sounds very epic - a perfect backdrop for the campaign's climax I think.
Anyways, tell me how it goes.
Well so far I have the Shoanti working on masks created after some of the captured Mantis masks from when Cinnabar attacked Flameford. While the PC's are off at Scarwall the Shoanti will be crafting, “Shoanti totem masks” that will let them do similar things the mantis mask would do, but with cool new heads. Heads like the cinder wolf, bush tiger and ankeg, though the Shoanti will just really paint the Mantis masks they have black and attach some over sized ankeg mandibles. This will allow three elite teams have the ability to use darkvision to a range of 60 feet, the effects of see invisibility, and a +5 competence bonus on Spot checks. These three small strike teams can now attack under the cover of darkness much more easily, but what the Shoanti really need is a diversion. Say an elite group of PC's to start a resistance movement and strike the at crown directly – That should fit the build nicely. Without the PC's a strike on Korvosa would be a suicide mission, but now the city will be dealing with a fairly large coup attempt and after that gets into full swing the Shoanti will send in their totem mask waring forces to strike the southern entrance ways and move their forces in behind them.
- So PC's enter the city as scheduled in Crown of Fangs.
- The resistance is spurred into action and Korvosain forces are Marshalled against them.
- The PC's move on Castle Korvosa.
- Elite group of, totem mask waring Shoanti penetrate the the city ahead of the army at night and weaken the southern defenses.
- The Shoanti army attacks
- Things get really ugly and I could use some ideas.
I see the Shoanti striking after the resistance pulls an Iraq esc recapture of the city. The statue of Ileosa with a rope around her neck and a dozen Korvosians pulling it down. With Korvosa fighting an internal war, The Shoanti attack at night (pre Dawn hours) with three elite teams, Bush Tiger, Cinder Wolf, and Ankeg whose goals are to secure the gates and allow their army to marches on Korvosa.
I have been thinking of making peace with the Shoanti, but I so much like the war... =)
I'm still a good month or two from this point so I have time to work out the kinks. I have only brushed over the Crown of Fangs so when I get closer things may crystallize a bit more in my mind.
(anyone think of better totem mask animal heads?)
I believe war makes for a more interesting story :)
When my group reaches the Shoanti, the natives will have already unanimously decided on an attack on Korvosa. Nothing the PCs say or do can change that.
However, if the PCs can get the Shoanti to like them, then they can help broker an agreement to minimize the amount of damage the Shoanti will cause. Ultimately, they can become the leaders of a coalition force of Shoanti and the resistance fighters whom they are already familiar with.
Then, the PCs can have a great roleplaying opportunity where they can help the Shoanti generals plan the attack or give speeches to the troops. (They will also get to do the same thing with the resistance movement within Korvosa)
Essentially, the PCs will hold the very important role of becoming liasons to the two forces. Only through proper coordination will the PCs hope to prevail against the might of the Queen, the Gray Guard, and the Acadamae (who have already cast their lot in with the Queen).
Good times!
As the shoanti batter down the gates, become locked in combat with the beleaugured Grey Maidens and terrorize the citizens, the Acedemae throws open its gates and unleashes the army of devils that they've accumulated since Ileosa took over. So now it barbarian vs. devil in the streets, further terrorizing the citizens. And this gives the Grey Maidens a chance to regroup and counter-attack. And then comes the resistance, made up of Korvosan guards, Sable Company rangers, probably the jailed women warriors and the clergy of the various religions other than Asmodeus and Abadar. Fires break out in the shingles, spreading wildly through the city and killing hundreds of non-combatants. This carries on until someone breaks in this three-way battle, the fires make them stop or the Order of the Nail finally arrive en masse and start hacking into the shoanti.
Just a suggestion.