Campaign Crafting


Curse of the Crimson Throne


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I finally got my hands on this awesome adventure path. I read through adventures 1 to 3 on Saturday and had a meeting with my group yesterday for character creation, however I told them not to make their background stories just yet. I also read most of the 10 pages of discussion around here, as I found most topics helpful and insightful. As a result, I decided to make a big deal out of this campaign, starting from the very beginning. I have been bewitched by the idea of playing a "Prelude Session" before starting this up, as a means to have my players experience the wrong-doings of Lam firsthand.

The purpose of this thread is to ask the community for feedback and input as I "craft" the different adventures in this path, but, for starters I need help with the prelude I'm planning.

The party consists of a Human Fighter(Thunderstriker), a Tiefling Magus, a Dwarf Ranger, a Kitsune Ninja, a Bard (Race still undefined), and a character that will be created next week, when the player finishes his military service.

PRELUDE
After spending a few hours lurking around the board, I was inspired by many of the community's ideas. There was one Idea in particular that I really liked though - having the characters as members of an orphanage that sells most of the kids to Lam/belongs to Lam. I'm definitely using the orphanage idea, specially since I've been itching to make a "Monster's Kinderheim 511" kind of feeling in a Pathfinder Rpg.

For the Prelude, I'll have my group play young commoners of their selected race and kick off the session a few years prior Curse of the Crimson Throne while they are still in the orphanage/Lam's Lambs. Based on MrVergee's idea, I'll prepare four additional NPCs to join the crew as well, a boy who will betray them and be part of Lam's gang when the adventure path begins, a girl who will join the Gray Maidens (Probably Sabina Merrin ~), a boy who will be killed after a failed attempt to escape, and one of the PC's sister (Who will be sold as a slave probably to the Rakshasas). The PCs will "gain" their specific traits based on what happens in this prelude, as well.

I do have a few issues though,
1) I can't decide if PCs should start in the Orphanage, then be sold to Lam and become Lambs, then escape. Or, have them start as Lambs, then interned in the Orphanage, only to discover it belongs to Lam anyways, then escape after another orphan awakens Sorcerous powers, and burns the place down. Or have them always on the Orphanage, and make them work for Lam from there (Who uses the Orphanage as a facade).
2) I need to somehow make them love the city, so this adventure path works right?, or at least give them more reason to do so. I was thinking, adding the Gold Goblin from Second Darkness somewhere around here, maybe even play some of the events there, but have the place belong to Lam, and have the PCs own the casino at some point during the first adventure. OR, keep looking for a module that may help me make them want to save this place. Dunno, Maybe I'm worrying too much about this, but I do tend to over-worry about possible holes.
3) The age thing, some of the races have different ages than human, so would a, say 35years old Dwarf be in an orphanage?.

Once I clear up a few things, I'll post again with a clearer view of what to do, but any input would be welcome ^^.


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Hi Gio

I'm very pleased to see that you've picked up on some of my ideas. I'll give you my take on your questions:

1) I'd have Lamm buy the children from the orphanage. You might even make it into one of the orphanages that King Eodred II sponsored, naming it Domina's Embrace, in memory of his beloved mother, Queen Domina. Although Eodred doesn't realize it, his good deed has been corrupted by the vain and money-grubbing woman who runs the place. This can give the PCs an additional sidequest later in the AP, to eradicate the corruption in the orphanages (possible even running an orphanage themselves, or at least placing the right people in charge). This quest can also be used to introduce the PCs to the 'Hanging Judge', Zenobia Zenderholm, who devotes some of her precious time to the city's orphans.
An alternative would be to have Lamm run the orphanage himself, using it as a facade for his little gang of pickpockets, but I like the first option better.

2) I definitely liked the Gold Goblin from Second Darkness, and since it fits perfectly in an urban setting, placing it in Korvosa is actually a nice idea. I'm not sure if having the casino belong to Lamm is the best option, though. Maybe Lamm has built up a substantial debt at the casino, and now the owner turns to Lamm's killers to pay the bill. If the PCs play their cards right (pun not intended) they might end up owning the casino, tying them more firmly to the city.
3) The age thing is your biggest worry if you want to play a prelude involving children.
A human and a kitsune reach adulthood at about 18.
A tiefling reaches adulthood at about 75.
A dwarf reaches adulthood at about 50.

If you place the prelude some five years prior to the actual AP (giving you the chance to integrate Ileosa's arrival and the royal wedding into the scenario), the human and kitsune would be about 13, the dwarf could be around 40 and the tiefling 70. The dwarf is an adolescent on the verge of adulthood, but Lamm uses his little sister to enforce his will on the young dwarf. The tiefling could be a young adult, who was recently accepted in the ranks of Lamm's men, but who is constantly picked upon by his 'peers' and who doesn't like the way Lamm treats his Lambs. He could be instrumental in getting the PCs out.

I hope these suggestions inspire you. Best of luck with your campaign.


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Hi MrVergee!

Thanks for your response, as always really inspiring advice!.

This is how I decided to plan the Prelude (before reading your answer)

Prelude - Rough Sketch #1
The prelude begins 15years before Edge of Anarchy with the PCs looking at a large wooden building as it burns down slowly (The orphanage) when Lamm approaches the kids with promise of regular meals and a roof, in return for "a little" work.

The prelude jumps 4 years into the future, at this point I'll have the 12 Oprhans experience Lamm's cruelty firsthand. Once they've gone through all the encounters and/or events I'll prepare for this part of the prelude, and they all "gain" their traits, I'll have them play a small "Escape Adventure" to get away from Lamm. After the escape, they'll part ways, but with help of the few surviving NPCs I'm hoping to achieve something like "We'll come back and make him pay someday", sorta thing.
Probable change after your suggestion
I'll probably have them working on the Gold Goblin-like casino, to pay Lamm's debt, while he simply keeps betting on the opening party of the casino.

A few Facts
-The burning orphanage is "Kinderheim 511" (Yes, Monster ripoff, don't care), this Orphanage actually belongs to the Red Mantis, and is used to recruit the most promising kids. They'll receive harsh "training" almost torture.
-Their memories of this place are gone, and they'll gain small pieces of what happened here through the adventure path, either when they see a certain place or person for the first time, or trigger some other criteria I might have set for any specific piece of flashback.
-The place was actually burnt down by an Orphan, a blue-eyed blond kid, who awakened his sorcerer bloodline at an extremely young age (caused by the whole torture/training/experiment things going on). He smiled as he burned the place down (I'll make him some kind of BBEG, as a side-story or campaign closure thing, depending on when they gather all the required flashback pieces). (Yes, again, Monster ripoff).
Additional thing I want to include after your suggestion
-I really liked the whole named after the King's mother orphanage thing, so I brainstormed on it a little, 'cause I really didn't want to let go of the first scene (Orphanage burning down). This is what I came up with; They were indeed in Domina's Embrace, as you said a money-grubbing woman runs the place and sells kids, however,she does more than that. Red Mantis' Kinderheim 511 actually gathers kids from all of the corrupted orphanages in town, paying them handsomely for promising prospects, whatever is leftover they usually sell to Lamm or some other place/criminal. This is also so I can use the quest with Zenobia as you suggested.

Starring
-PCs
-Sabina; Sabina will be one of the orphans, in Fact, she'll be sold to a guard pretty early in the prelude.
-Kayltanya; Just like Sabina, Kyltanya will be one of the 12 orphans, she will be sold as well, however, PCs will not get to know where (To the Red Mantis of course). She will be a very good kid through the prelude, which will add to the twist when they face her as an enemy, I'll even add a "I was reluctant to..." as an additional excuse for not going on the offense before the queen comes back, I just can't wait when I reveal her.
-Tirinia Sabor; Tirinia will also be one of the 12, she will be painting most of the time, and will try her best to help the other kids, as a result she is the most abused of the gang. I hope this will increase drama in the whole chase chapter, plus add a heavier reason for the PCs to find her, and make things even more complicated when deciding what to do.
-Traitor; This will be a custom made NPC, the one who will still be a Lamb when the adventure path kicks off.
-Dead Boy; Another custom NPC who will be killed by Lamm when he fails to escape on his own.
-Sibling; I don't really know what I'm gonna do with this NPC yet, I simply know I want a PC's sibling lost with little to no clue as to where he/she might be.
-Tayce Soldado; She will appear from time to time offering intense housework for Lamm, who pays her too little coin in exchange. My intention here, is to have her provide comfort for the PCs on a time-to-time basis, my reasons for this are twofold; 1. This will alleviate their experience in Korvosa, and maybe have the PCs feel something besides hate and vengeance for the city, 2. They'll have a more personal reason to help her in adventure 2.
-Grau Soldado; He will come with his mum, and play with the other orphans. Mainly with the Magus and the fighter, using trash as swords and shields. Grau will talk of Blackjack, how he admires him, how he wants to become like him (which will add a bit of irony to his later destiny). Again, my reasoning here is to make Grau's scene in Adventure 1 have a less random impact, and be less likely to just ignore (Most of the Party is CN, and one of them is not really leaning towards good from what I hear).
-Vanckaskerkin; He will make a very short apparition or maybe not even that, possible his name will be heard at some point during the prelude. The intention is to make him an associate, so they PCs have more reason to act against him. (Specially, since I plan to leave Lamm escape, and they'll probably be searching him).

Misc
I'll modify the timeline a little bit so this works out; The Prelude begins in 4698, then jumps into 4702 (I'll make it so the Queen gets into town at this year), and finally when I kick off the Adventure Path, It'll be 4712, since I would really like a 10year gap for their background stories.

Thoughts for the future acts
-I want to expand on a few things for chapter one, Mostly so they get accustomed to town, possible even learn a few things about its story, and a few tidbits of rumors/information on the Shoanti and the like. I'm at a loss when deciding where to place them though, I'd like to have them occur right after the fishery, prior the riots, but I feel it takes out a bit of the adventure's path momentum if done so. (Though a few rumors about the Imps, and the existence of Otyugh could be nice prior the riot). Would it be better to have some of these rumors/history slip by the Prelude, not so much that is overwhelming, just enough so it lingers somewhere around their heads?, and Perhaps have a more calm "discovery" of Korvosa after the riot?
-I really liked Lady Andaisin, in fact she might be my favorite BBEG in the whole adventure path, I just wish she had a bit more of foreshadowing, some kind of build up prior to her encounter, as to make it even more epic. But nothing comes to mind, not right now.
-I'm done reading book3, and I really can't say I quite enjoyed the whole Rakshasha part of the adventure, I'm planning on replacing it. Just, I still haven't thought of anything to replace it with, and how to set it up.

Currently
I'll be reading everything about Korvosa, so I get the feeling right and have my players experience an alive Korvosa.


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Gio wrote:

Thoughts for the future acts

-I want to expand on a few things for chapter one, Mostly so they get accustomed to town, possible even learn a few things about its story, and a few tidbits of rumors/information on the Shoanti and the like. I'm at a loss when deciding where to place them though, I'd like to have them occur right after the fishery, prior the riots, but I feel it takes out a bit of the adventure's path momentum if done so. (Though a few rumors about the Imps, and the existence of Otyugh could be nice prior the riot). Would it be better to have some of these rumors/history slip by the Prelude, not so much that is overwhelming, just enough so it lingers somewhere around their heads?, and Perhaps have a more calm "discovery" of Korvosa after the riot?
-I'm done reading book3, and I really can't say I quite enjoyed the whole Rakshasha part of the adventure, I'm planning on replacing it. Just, I still haven't thought of anything to replace it with, and how to set it up.

Hi Gio

If you want to expand the first chapter, you'll find a lot of interesting ideas in this thread. It's a bit of a read, but definitely worth your time:
Go to Moonbeam's Curse of the Crimson Throne.

I agree with you on the Rakshasa deal.

How I'll handle it:
In my campaign the Arkonas will be tieflings, to give them that extra 'super' human edge, but without turning them into something that seems too far-fetched for me. They will also be given a much bigger role in my AP. They will actually be the movers and shakers behind the riots in the streets by sending out agents who stir up trouble and discontent.
Glorio's goal is to destabilize Ileosa's early rule so he can step in and claim the throne. Glorio will also try to enlist the PCs' help in his plans and he will reappear later in the AP to continue his resistance against the queen, with of without the help of the PCs. I'll even add an seventh chapter to the AP in which Glorio will try to be elected king. One of the PCs will turn out to be Eodred's bastard son and will oppose him in a contest of political intrigue.
One small note: Glorio might get killed in the third installment of the AP. Even if he does, he can still reappear later on. He has a massive fortune and the aid of the Cerulean Society behind him, who will just have him resurrected.


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Hi MrVergee, thanks again!.

I prepared the prelude, and we are just waiting to start in about 7 days from now. I started reading Moonbeam's Curse of the Crimson Throne, and its quite inspiring as well, I especially liked how he shifted the sequence of some events of the riot.

I wanted to make a big deal of the Harrowing, unfortunately I don't have the deck, and If I order it now, I don't think I'll get it before we play. So I'm trying to find a way to print cards or something.

I like your idea of making the Arkonas Tieflings, especially since the Party's Magus is a Tiefling, and I can tie him easily to them, but I don't know, this whole part seems like it needs to be redone or something. I might search through my modules (for both 3.5 and Pathfinder) and find something that could fit there.


Make the Orphan whose powers wake up either Rolth or Laorti!

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