|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I finished my run of book 1 last night, and a good time was had by all. My group didn't have a problem with Nox. The party has a tengu with 3 natural attacks and a TWF slayer, so action economy was not in her favor. Also, she rolled above a 4 twice the entire fight.
Some highlights from the adventure:
After the tooth fairy incident, the tengu alchemist/druid got his tengu tailor friend (an NPC we added---I've been letting my players make up their lives) to make scarves with images of mouths with no teeth to symbolize the tieflings' oppression. So for the unsanctioned excruciation, I had them doghouse the tailor, and I had the Chelish Citizen thugs wear scarves with mouths full of teeth. I also have an animal speaker bard who loves dogs, so the dogs ended up siding with the PCs at that point.
They wanted nothing to do with Blosodriette. I made an NPC to go along with the party when I only have 3 players, and I made him a Sarini so the party would have the option. But nope. They love Vendalfek, though. Immediately hit upon the idea of giving him coffee.
I actually thought they might recruit the Scrivenite, because they put him to sleep. I figured he'd be okay with being tied up and thus unable to defend. But they decided to coup de grace him instead.
One of my players was really insensitive to Rexus about his parents' death. This was immediately followed by a Low Morale rebellion event. This will tie into my plans (as suggested in the book 2 forward) to have Rexus want to storm the opera house. If the players don't take pains to calm him, he'll try to one-man it, and I think Barzillai will assassinate him after the PCs receive their "rewards" at the end of the book.
My players didn't take anywhere near 7 weeks to get to rebellion level 5 and finish the missions. We started rebellion rules on 18 Arodus and are now at 15 Rova. But I'll let them have some weeks after book 2 if they need them.
Finally got my players organised after much to-ing and fro-ing and am excited to get going. Bloodrager, oracle, inquisitor and psychic should lead to some unorthodox solutions I am hoping.
Unfortunately, I've only got 3 players ATM. We are searching for a 4th. It may be a few weeks before we get going. More book 1 info as some of you finish it doesn't hurt my feelings, however. :)
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I'm currently preparing to start a Hell's Rebels campaign and between myself and one of my players, we've noticed what appears to be an odd discrepancy with the timeline as it relates to the Silver Ravens' status at the beginning of the Adventure Path.
As far as I have been able to quickly piece together through the six volumes of the Adventure Path, I would describe the Silver Ravens as having been officially disbanded in 4640 AR. The members Ba and Brakisi struggled on after House Thrune had succeeded in seizing control of Kintargo but they both died in 4644 AR with Brakisi bringing shame to the name of the Silver Ravens. With the final members killed or missing, Thrune was able to successfully redact any remaining traces of the group. A Song of Silver, page 5 even goes so far as to state "As the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path began, the Silver Ravens were all but forgotten".
However, the descriptions in the Player's Guide seem to be very much in conflict with the assumptions I'm drawing from the adventures themselves. For example, the "Meeting a Contact" campaign trait on page 9 reads, "When House Thrune established martial law a week ago, though, the Silver Ravens went dark. Rumors that their leaders have all been captured or killed circulate, and no sign of the rank-and-file members can be found." More text on page 16 reads, "Nothing has been heard from them or their leaders for weeks." So, the Player's Guide seems to make it sound like the Silver Ravens have been active until very recently rather than 75 years ago.
Can someone shed some light on how I should approach the timeline leading up to the beginning of the AP? I'd like to clarify some of this with my players in advance of our campaign starting if possible.
Thank you!
Creative Director
|
| 4 people marked this as a favorite. |
I'm currently preparing to start a Hell's Rebels campaign and between myself and one of my players, we've noticed what appears to be an odd discrepancy with the timeline as it relates to the Silver Ravens' status at the beginning of the Adventure Path.
As far as I have been able to quickly piece together through the six volumes of the Adventure Path, I would describe the Silver Ravens as having been officially disbanded in 4640 AR. The members Ba and Brakisi struggled on after House Thrune had succeeded in seizing control of Kintargo but they both died in 4644 AR with Brakisi bringing shame to the name of the Silver Ravens. With the final members killed or missing, Thrune was able to successfully redact any remaining traces of the group. A Song of Silver, page 5 even goes so far as to state "As the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path began, the Silver Ravens were all but forgotten".
However, the descriptions in the Player's Guide seem to be very much in conflict with the assumptions I'm drawing from the adventures themselves. For example, the "Meeting a Contact" campaign trait on page 9 reads, "When House Thrune established martial law a week ago, though, the Silver Ravens went dark. Rumors that their leaders have all been captured or killed circulate, and no sign of the rank-and-file members can be found." More text on page 16 reads, "Nothing has been heard from them or their leaders for weeks." So, the Player's Guide seems to make it sound like the Silver Ravens have been active until very recently rather than 75 years ago.
Can someone shed some light on how I should approach the timeline leading up to the beginning of the AP? I'd like to clarify some of this with my players in advance of our campaign starting if possible.
Thank you!
There are a few unfortunate errors there in the Player's Guide then. The "Meeting A Contact" trait and the text on page 16 should have been altered to indicate that the Silver Ravens have indeed been gone for a long time, but that there were rumblings that someone somewhere was trying to revive them.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
Here's an interesting tidbit for any interested GMs. I was curious about the opera entitled "Huntress of Heroes" that Shensen was going to perform before her disappearance and the opera house was shutdown. It's also very relevant to the "Diva in Training" campaign trait in the Player's Guide.
I wasn't finding any flavor text for it in any of the Hell's Rebels books but I managed to find a synopsis about the likely story used as the basis of the opera. If you were also curious, check out the the story of Aolar, Lady of the Hunt on pages 30 and 31 of Book of the Damned, Volume 2: Lords of Chaos.
Here's an interesting tidbit for any interested GMs. I was curious about the opera entitled "Huntress of Heroes" that Shensen was going to perform before her disappearance and the opera house was shutdown. It's also very relevant to the "Diva in Training" campaign trait in the Player's Guide.
I wasn't finding any flavor text for it in any of the Hell's Rebels books but I managed to find a synopsis about the likely story used as the basis of the opera. If you were also curious, check out the the story of Aolar, Lady of the Hunt on pages 30 and 31 of Book of the Damned, Volume 2: Lords of Chaos.
Well if that is the case then I definitely know which character to assign for my PC with that campaign trait. Calistria is cast!
|
Creative Director
|
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Here's an interesting tidbit for any interested GMs. I was curious about the opera entitled "Huntress of Heroes" that Shensen was going to perform before her disappearance and the opera house was shutdown. It's also very relevant to the "Diva in Training" campaign trait in the Player's Guide.
I wasn't finding any flavor text for it in any of the Hell's Rebels books but I managed to find a synopsis about the likely story used as the basis of the opera. If you were also curious, check out the the story of Aolar, Lady of the Hunt on pages 30 and 31 of Book of the Damned, Volume 2: Lords of Chaos.
Ha! Was waiting for someone to track that info down. :-P
The story of Aolar as seen in the Book of the Damned is indeed the exact story that plays out in the opera, "Huntress of Heroes."
My campaign is now in the 4th session and my players keep bugging me to where the Stormwater Shrine water leads to. I told them so far Laria used the Wasp Nest for underground smuggling of slaves, but they want to find out themselves where the water would be heading. I'm not to familiar with sewage systems or underground waterflows, so I'd like to hear some ideas to where it would be most logical that the flow would lead (even though it says the water is stagnant, as I said I know literally nothing about this stuff).
My campaign is now in the 4th session and my players keep bugging me to where the Stormwater Shrine water leads to. I told them so far Laria used the Wasp Nest for underground smuggling of slaves, but they want to find out themselves where the water would be heading. I'm not to familiar with sewage systems or underground waterflows, so I'd like to hear some ideas to where it would be most logical that the flow would lead (even though it says the water is stagnant, as I said I know literally nothing about this stuff).
It seems obvious to me that it would dump out into the Yolubilis River if it has to go somewhere.
A question of sorts.
If you have a player who is a Milani worshipper, how much are they supposed to know?
The identity of the Rose of Kintargo seems to be more of a secret reveal (as well as a minor event in the first scenario), but is it intended that a PC Milani supporter resident in the city is 'in the know' about Haace and his activities?
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
Well I wasn't expecting the Shelynite Inquisitor to pop over to Shadowsquare with a cake for the Kuthite High Priestess. Inquisitor had heard that the Nidalese embassy had cleared out, and thought that Aluceda might need a bit of company in case she was feeling abandoned.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A question of sorts.
If you have a player who is a Milani worshipper, how much are they supposed to know?
The identity of the Rose of Kintargo seems to be more of a secret reveal (as well as a minor event in the first scenario), but is it intended that a PC Milani supporter resident in the city is 'in the know' about Haace and his activities?
My game includes a warpriest of Milani. His story is that he is from Pezzack and fled to Kintargo. His biggest worry with the revolution is that it doesn't go down the same road as Pezzack did.
I am playing it as he is a recent immigrant to Kintargo. He suspects that there is a cell of Milanites but he hasn't been able to break into it yet. Hetamon is a tiefling and a priest of a forbidden religion and is suspicious of any humans from out of town looking for him as it could easily be a trap. Through the game, the player will prove himself to Hetamon and eventually get the reveal that he has a brother in the faith.
I'd definitely talk with the player about what to expect so that he can play along with the plot.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
A question of sorts.
If you have a player who is a Milani worshipper, how much are they supposed to know?
The identity of the Rose of Kintargo seems to be more of a secret reveal (as well as a minor event in the first scenario), but is it intended that a PC Milani supporter resident in the city is 'in the know' about Haace and his activities?
I think I have read somewhere that Milani worshippers are organised in small cells and that one cell doesn't know what the other is doing, so that they can't talk or reveal to much when they are caught. They probably get their information and missions from Haace, but not in face to face conversations.
|
Contributor
|
| 12 people marked this as a favorite. |
Any chance we could get a brief summary for those missing that book?Here's an interesting tidbit for any interested GMs. I was curious about the opera entitled "Huntress of Heroes" that Shensen was going to perform before her disappearance and the opera house was shutdown. It's also very relevant to the "Diva in Training" campaign trait in the Player's Guide.
I wasn't finding any flavor text for it in any of the Hell's Rebels books but I managed to find a synopsis about the likely story used as the basis of the opera. If you were also curious, check out the the story of Aolar, Lady of the Hunt on pages 30 and 31 of Book of the Damned, Volume 2: Lords of Chaos.
Ha! Was waiting for someone to track that info down. :-P
The story of Aolar as seen in the Book of the Damned is indeed the exact story that plays out in the opera, "Huntress of Heroes."
Sure! Give me a minute...
Aolar, called the Lady of the Hunt in the Book of the Damned, was fond of traveling to Material worlds and hunting heroes. She would
leave her body in an Abyssal fortress and send her mind out to possess the bodies of freshly-dead heroes. She would anchor the soul to the flesh, so that the hero had to watch as she used the risen body to hunt down the hero's loved ones.
These acts swiftly made her many enemies, but when she chose to inhabit the body of a well-loved Desnan priestess, she went too far. Enraged at the damage done, Desna broke several divine laws to directly infiltrate the Abyss, not only destroying Aolar, but obliterating her fortress and freeing the souls of those she had stolen. Desna’s invasion nearly resulted in a tremendous war, with the outraged demon lords almost united against the gods—only a fortunate series of treacheries among the gathering demonic horde caused the Coalition of Chaos to collapse.
(Some believe that the treacheries were actually caused by a disguised Calistria, and that had not the elven goddess triggered this collapse, the repercussions of Desna’s acts would have been disastrous. It was certainly only with the support of Calistria, Sarenrae, and Shelyn that Desna survived.)
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
As a fan of Calistria, that is awesome.
Just looking over the city's stats and one thing keeps irritating me...
Isn't Kintargo awfully small for it to be a relevant city in Cheliax and especially one with a continent wide reputation ?
I mean app 12000 inhabitants ? That seems very very low...
Verona in the Renaissance had a population of 54000, Florence of 80000; Milan 140000, Venice 130000... with similar sized cities in the direct regiona neighbourhood like Pisa, Padua, Genoa, Luca nearby. The whole of Northern italy had about 4 million inhabitants. Even less central European Port cities like Brugge, Hamburg, Antwerpen or Lubeck had population in excess of 30k+ people.
In Golarion itself... even diminished Westcrown has 10x the population of Kintargo. Korvosa, Magnimar and Riddleport have more inhabitants. The remote pirate city of Port Peril has 40k inhabitants versus Kintargos 12k. Which makes 11900 inhabitants really look like a typo.
Milano's "Scala" and Venice's "LaFenice" opera houses which seem comparable in reputation to the Kintargo Opera could exist only in cities with 10x the population of Kintargo. Cities with very rich and affluent populations.
So I wonder if one should not multiply the population of Kintargo by a factor of 5x to 10x to make the city more realistic (and a bit more anonymous for the PCs to hide in the masses for the earlier chapters of the AP ?). Just adjust the "Supporters gained" rolls by the same multiplier and you are well set.Of course that would multiply the goldpiece purchase limit on the campaign, but that basically is a minor quibble, IMHO.
I can see that the story is a bit trapped by the population estimate in the Inner Sea World guide (II) from some years ago, but do we know whether that is a typo ?
TL'DR :
Kintargo seems very small for its reputation and fame as written. Typo ?
|
Creative Director
|
Not a typo at all. Kintargo is intended to be a small city; one of the reasons it's small is that it takes a certain amount of bravery to live in what is essentially a chaotic good city within the borders of a lawful evil nation.
Feel free to adjust the numbers if you wish, but keep in mind that if you make the city too large it becomes too powerful and important and thus less logical that Thrune ignores what's going on there, even BEFORE the events of Hell's Rebels start.
By keeping it as Cheliax's smallest city, it remains status as a "backwater" and thus a more logical place for a rebellion like what's detailed in Hell's Rebels to take place.
Not a typo at all. Kintargo is intended to be a small city; one of the reasons it's small is that it takes a certain amount of bravery to live in what is essentially a chaotic good city within the borders of a lawful evil nation.
Feel free to adjust the numbers if you wish, but keep in mind that if you make the city too large it becomes too powerful and important and thus less logical that Thrune ignores what's going on there, even BEFORE the events of Hell's Rebels start.
By keeping it as Cheliax's smallest city, it remains status as a "backwater" and thus a more logical place for a rebellion like what's detailed in Hell's Rebels to take place.
Which means 12000 Kintargans (and the rest of Ravounel) taking on the might of Cheliax. Guess I would have a harder time explaining that to my players than boosting the city to 30k inhabitants.
But thanks for the confirmation
I've long noticed a tendency of Paizo to underpopulate their cities. I'm not alone in noticing this - one of my friends pointed it out to me in my Runelords game as well (concerning Magnimar). ^^;;
|
Creative Director
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I've long noticed a tendency of Paizo to underpopulate their cities. I'm not alone in noticing this - one of my friends pointed it out to me in my Runelords game as well (concerning Magnimar). ^^;;
That's kind of a legacy of the game growing out of 3rd edition—city populations have a LONG tradition in this genre of RPGs of being "underpopulated' and so to a certain extent the populations are a remnant/shadow of the fact that we originally built the game using the 3.5 rules.
But it's also important to remember that in a world like Golarion where magic is a part of day to day life, as is the presence of a LOT more dangerous predators/monsters/factors that simply have no real-world analogs, comparing population numbers between a fantasy setting and real-world historical information is not necessarily the most logical comparison.
If the numbers of anything we do in our products don't sit well at your table, by all means adjust them.
But we've arrived at the numbers we use through conscious choice, and strive to stick with them so that we provide a stable "baseline" for everything we do. Changing our design philosophies in the middle only confuses things.
|
Creative Director
|
Not a typo at all. Kintargo is intended to be a small city; one of the reasons it's small is that it takes a certain amount of bravery to live in what is essentially a chaotic good city within the borders of a lawful evil nation.
Feel free to adjust the numbers if you wish, but keep in mind that if you make the city too large it becomes too powerful and important and thus less logical that Thrune ignores what's going on there, even BEFORE the events of Hell's Rebels start.
By keeping it as Cheliax's smallest city, it remains status as a "backwater" and thus a more logical place for a rebellion like what's detailed in Hell's Rebels to take place.
Which means 12000 Kintargans (and the rest of Ravounel) taking on the might of Cheliax. Guess I would have a harder time explaining that to my players than boosting the city to 30k inhabitants.
But thanks for the confirmation
Exactly how 12,000 Kintargans can take on the might of Cheliax is in fact a MAJOR plot point of the entire Hell's Rebels Adventure Path, and is particularly important (and drives the entire plot of) the 5th adventure in the campaign and the first section of the last adventure.
|
It's also worth noting that the rebellion spends the first three books gathering momentum, until it crashes against the Thrune loyalists in Book 4. During all of this, Cheliax is having to devote its resources to the Glorious Reclamation sweeping through the mainland. It doesn't have time to deal with something that should be handled by a relation to the Queen on site. Only after Barzillai is defeated does Kintargo become an issue that Abbie must deal with - hence the first part of Book 5, as James points out.
Developer
|
My campaign is now in the 4th session and my players keep bugging me to where the Stormwater Shrine water leads to. I told them so far Laria used the Wasp Nest for underground smuggling of slaves, but they want to find out themselves where the water would be heading. I'm not to familiar with sewage systems or underground waterflows, so I'd like to hear some ideas to where it would be most logical that the flow would lead (even though it says the water is stagnant, as I said I know literally nothing about this stuff).
The water doesn't really lead anywhere. It's part of the city's drain tunnels that run in a rough grid under most of Kintargo. It's like asking "Where does the front door lead?" It leads out into the streets.The big difference is that the sewers are more cramped, darker, and have a lot more small tunnels or dead ends than the streets above. There are a few other large areas where the water collects, or big pools where solid bits are intended to settle out of the water for gong farmers to collect later, but it's mostly just five-foot-wide tunnels crisscrossing under the city and eventually dumping out into the river
The PCs can use these to move around Kintargo unseen. We have a wandering monster table in the bestiary specifically for the sewers just in case. But keep in wide that wading through filth (and especially fighting in it) may expose players to diseases like filth fever. It will also ruin any nice clothing.
|
Exactly how 12,000 Kintargans can take on the might of Cheliax is in fact a MAJOR plot point of the entire Hell's Rebels Adventure Path, and is particularly important (and drives the entire plot of) the 5th adventure in the campaign and the first section of the last adventure.
If The Kintargo Contract demonstrates anything, it's that Ravounel as a power can't take on the rest of Cheliax as a power.
1. If the regime is overthrown (in which case independence is not just pointless but counterproductive);
2. If the regime is too distracted to intervene (the circumstance for the first 4 books of the AP); or
3. If maintaining Hell's support remains more important to the regime than regaining Ravounel.
The AP forecloses the first option absolutely. It cannot be about revolutionizing Cheliax, or even spreading a revolution from Ravounel. The second option cannot last for very long. So the AP forces the third option, and even then, Cheliax maintains very strong forms of influence and suzerainty over Ravounel.
Ultimately, the larger story of Hell's Rebels and Hell's Vengeance is about the ultimate triumph of the counter-revolution, however that happens. There really is no point pretending otherwise.
|
|
Oh, and just for everyone's edification, given the populations of Ravounel's statted settlements and its land area, the Ultimate Campaign kingdom-building and -management rules give the Archduchy a population of about 160 thousand. Ravounel is heavily urbanized (18% of its people live in its two settlements with more than five thousand residents), its population is just very small.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
IMO, having a much larger city than Kintargo would also preclude (or minimalize) the importance of a bunch of 1st level know-nothings to suddenly be leading a rebellion. The small setting makes it much more likely that Gorak the Dirt Farmer took up arms and made a difference. Two cents and all that...
| 5 people marked this as a favorite. |
Anyone put together some cool random encounters besides the usual suspects while the party is travelling around, before, during and after curfew in Kintargo........?
I have just had 3 ad hock ones so far
1. In the daytime Party runs across a family that the Thrune Guards and those pesky Chelly Cit group Thugs are and watching while making said family picks grain up off the street from their family wagon.
Thugs alone at first stopped and tried to extort some grain (then chucked it on the street as a tactic when denied), then the regular Thrune guards showed up to check out what was causing the street blockage. Thugs then had to play nice and cover up what they were doing to the farm family.
Family was witness to a snatch and grab earlier on two of Laria's servent children from the Longroad Coffee house. Different group of Thugs getting a head start on the Unsactioned Excruciation episode.
2. Red Jill New would be recruits ambush the party while in the heart of RJ territory during curfew at night coming from a mission. The full fledged RJ band is watching from nearby on who "passed" and who "failed" this test to join them as well as checking out this new Silver Raven group that just popped up for threat potential LOL
3. During curfew in the middle of the night while party was sneaking around to the "haunted barn (Livery) they see in the distance Thrunes own personal guard surrounding and heheading some poor soul they found/picked up/just met/caught.
An arms, mint tea and fine cloths Bell Tower connected smuggler bound for Laria's coffee house eventually, but did'nt make it needless to say.
What have you all put in your campaign so far and in what module?
Thanks
This is my second running of the first mod as the first group had life issues come up and could not continue.
Tom
So an accuser devil is on the random encounter table. From the creature's description, I doubt it would just fly at the PCs and attack. They seem more circumspect than that. How do you think one of these creatures would interact with the PCs?
I was thinking something along the lines of follow them and spy on them, but to what end? Certainly it would report back to the Church of Asmodeus, but how would the PCs ever find it out of stop it? It can fly, teleport and turn invisible.
I put 2 of those in the burnt out ruins of the Rexus Noble house, attracted to the dead servent childrens souls that were still hanging around in ghost like form I put in there.
Granted I have a 7 PC party but was'nt to much for them to handle even at level 2, though I did not go full force on them.
They were all silvered up by this time for the most part, Acussers just scoped the party out and when one of the ghost children was going to warn them about the Devils around chasing them, they ambushed/attacked the party.
Tom
So an accuser devil is on the random encounter table. From the creature's description, I doubt it would just fly at the PCs and attack. They seem more circumspect than that. How do you think one of these creatures would interact with the PCs?
I was thinking something along the lines of follow them and spy on them, but to what end? Certainly it would report back to the Church of Asmodeus, but how would the PCs ever find it out of stop it? It can fly, teleport and turn invisible.
Maybe each time you get the Accuser as a result on the encounter table, it gathers intelligence on the party and leads to a different encounter or the thrunies being better prepared for the next one?
So my PCs recently finished plowing through the dungeon of the fantasmagorium and as one of my PCs is the exiled brother of Rexus, the brutal death and the vile rebirth of their parents shook them to their core and they want to give their parents a Irorian funeral.
So... What does an Irorian funeral look like and is it feasible in Kintargo?
|
Creative Director
|
I have two map questions:
1) I may just be missing it but... what map is there for the encounter with the Tooth Fairies? And if there isn't an official one, does anyone have any suggestions for what to use?
2) Can someone explain the map for the Red Jills? The description from the module doesn't seem to quite match up to the map provided.
Thanks for any direction - and thanks to Paizo for a fun AP!
1) There's no map for the tooth fairy encounter—we just didn't have room to squeeze that in. You can use any city block or building map for them, though; this has the added advantage of letting you stage the fight anywhere, depending on the PCs' actions and timing of when they run afoul of the critters.
2) The map of the Red Jills lair didn't quite come out right and slipped through, alas... but basically, the idea is that the southern building has a rope bridge leading from the ground floor up to the roof of the second building, which has a belltower attached to it. Sorry about the confusion.
Would doing something mischievous like summoning a swarm while invisible be something an accuser devil would do, or is it just too Lawful to do mischief?
For Irori funerals, look at Hindu and Buddhist burial customs (there are many different types) and pick one that looks interesting to you.
Encounters do not need to be combat.
For instance, I rolled for an encounter in Reign of Winter for Yetis. Rather than inflict them on low-level PCs, I had them find Yeti footprints.
You could always do something similar with the Accuser Devil.
I apologize if this is answered somewhere else, but I can't seem to find it. Was Rexus' name always Rexus, or did he take the name Rexus when he transitioned? I'm having one of my players be a long-term childhood friend turned love interest.
I apologize if this is answered somewhere else, but I can't seem to find it. Was Rexus' name always Rexus, or did he take the name Rexus when he transitioned? I'm having one of my players be a long-term childhood friend turned love interest.
It's not specified in the books as far as I remember.
|
RPG Superstar Season 9 Top 32
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I apologize if this is answered somewhere else, but I can't seem to find it. Was Rexus' name always Rexus, or did he take the name Rexus when he transitioned? I'm having one of my players be a long-term childhood friend turned love interest.It's not specified in the books as far as I remember.
This is correct. Also, a good way to get Rexus to stop being friends with this PC is to bring up his old name.
This is correct. Also, a good way to get Rexus to stop being friends with this PC is to bring up his old name.I apologize if this is answered somewhere else, but I can't seem to find it. Was Rexus' name always Rexus, or did he take the name Rexus when he transitioned? I'm having one of my players be a long-term childhood friend turned love interest.It's not specified in the books as far as I remember.
I wasn't very creative, so in my game he was Lexus, before he changed to Rexus.
Bad! Bad Gratz!
There, I hope you've learned your lesson good sir.
"Lexus"? That doesn't even sound like a female name (and it brings to mind a car, to boot). How about Lexa or Alexa instead?
On a similar note, when I get around to this particular AP, Rexus' mother will undergo a name-change too, from Porcia to Portia. The original name in the AP (Porcia) has some unfortunate connotations for those with knowledge of the Romance languages and/or Latin, while Portia is the name of the heroine in Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.
"Lexus"? That doesn't even sound like a female name (and it brings to mind a car, to boot). How about Lexa or Alexa instead?
Lexus is in the top 1000 female US baby names for the 2000-2004 data available from the Social Security. It peaked at #671 in 2000.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If it happens to come up in the game I'll be running, I was leaning toward either Regina or Reina for the name he was given at birth, both being linguistically related to the Latin "rex".
Although, as others have mentioned, it's generally considered bad form bordering on malicious to insist on using a trans person's pre-transition name, especially someone who considers themselves a friend. Perhaps fair information for the player to know so the character can have a full picture of Rexus' life since they've known each other a long time, but I'd caution them against using it. Rexus is Rexus, not Regina/Reina/Lexus/whatever he was called before.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Here's an interesting tidbit for any interested GMs. I was curious about the opera entitled "Huntress of Heroes" that Shensen was going to perform before her disappearance and the opera house was shutdown. It's also very relevant to the "Diva in Training" campaign trait in the Player's Guide.
I wasn't finding any flavor text for it in any of the Hell's Rebels books but I managed to find a synopsis about the likely story used as the basis of the opera. If you were also curious, check out the the story of Aolar, Lady of the Hunt on pages 30 and 31 of Book of the Damned, Volume 2: Lords of Chaos.
Ha! Was waiting for someone to track that info down. :-P
The story of Aolar as seen in the Book of the Damned is indeed the exact story that plays out in the opera, "Huntress of Heroes."
I changed the play "Huntress of Heroes" to "The Curse of the Scarlet Princess", which is basically the story of Ileosa Arabasti with some different names.
I am afraid I don't see any mention of Rexus being averse to his birth name. To the contrary, I infer that he would be very open about his time as a girl and his younger identity.
I see no signs that Rexus' time as a female was troublesome or traumatic. He is described as exuberant and secure. His transition reads as being slightly rough, but no more so than the Viking child who chooses not to pillage or any other such "not as society expects" outsiders.
In fact, Rexus' tutor is described as being very open in his/her transexuality. I imagine Rexus would be similarly as open (I'm debating naming the tutor, should it ever come up, Ziggy Stardust in male persona:).
I've chosen to make his birth name Alexa, as I feel it is just similar enough to his current name while being distinct.