Clebsch GM Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path (Inactive)

Game Master Clebsch73

Theories:
Terendelev is going to get commanded by an evil being and wreck everything. We will all be labelled as witches and set on fire.

Iomedae is going to die right in front of us, half our party losing their goddess/magic.

Cobblepaw is actually a CR25 Demon that slipped through the cracks of the Wardstone's defenses. Rabbit is actually its familiar.

Picoperi is secretly an evil jester god (the Ultimate Joke), Franti is actually a bad guy and turns into the Joker.

Kenabres is actually a giant transmutation oval set up by our military government. Lord Hulrun is actually a homunculus.

At Least two of these must be right.

We are not playing full metal alchemist. So I'm ruling that one out :p

A properly played Kineticist could be fit the bill rather nicely...

Cobblepaw is actually a CR25 Demon that slipped through the cracks of the Wardstone's defenses. Rabbit is actually its familiar.

While I firmly deny any such allegations, I do have to confess there is precedence for my serving as a plant for a GM villain before. I was playing Rauno in the melee starting here.

Oh Gods I tabletopped Age of Worms start to finish. Strangest character I ever played.

I know what happens, and I almost squealed with joy when I saw Karas's first post. It ties everything together so bloody well.

As I'm sure I've said before, I absolutely cannot express how perfect it is to have someone with a silver dragon bloodline and a connection to Terendelev. I am LOVING this.

On the issue of "sparing evil witches" - Anarya is very much on the side of mercy, forgiveness, and redemption. In fact, the overzealous nature of some of Iomedae's teachings is why she's never formally become a priestess. She still worships the goddess, but in her own way, and following her own path.

I saw the connection and I had to do it. I'm glad this concept is bringing good times :)

Man, I feel I missed every hint here as it only "clicked" when I read Anarya's post. It was all logical, I just overlooked all the glaring connecting dots. Maybe I'm too in character and making a fool of myself.

Oh, I think I see it now :D

Sorry it took some time for that post. I've been busy today, and I needed to take extra time to develop the backstory that went into that post. I tried to keep it ambiguous and open-ended to not step on canon. She is irrational enough to blame Hulrun regardless of how much responsibility he actually had in her parents' deaths. She has cast him as the villain.

Those with at least a rank in Knowledge (religion) will know the following general information regarding the roll of the Iomedae faithful in the 3rd Crusade witch hunts. After the 2nd crusade, which resulted mainly in the retreat from the attempt to liberate Sarkoris and the construction of the wardstone defensive barrier, refugees from Sarkoris flooded into Mendev, many into Kenabres. Most of their divine casters were shaman and most of their arcane casters were witches. Many years in retrospect, most, including Hulrun, now recognize that the inquisition was largely an attempt to find a scapegoat for the defeats the crusades had suffered and the sagging morale and increasing corruption in the ranks of crusaders. The shamans and witches were suspect because they had been in the presence of the demons, they practiced a different religion, and even their arcane casters relied on odd secular entities they claimed were the source of their spells.

Again, in retrospect, most now recognize that the real source of problems after the 2nd crusade was the tendency for the crusader leadership, desperate for more recruits, to admit crusaders whose motives were less religious and more mercenary and greedy. But the wounds that were inflicted on the locals did much to undermine whatever effectiveness the crusaders hoped for in this time.

Many whose ancestry goes back to Sarkoris still resent the way the crusades abandoned their country and then persecuted their countrymen. They view the demons as an occupying army and recognize the crusaders hold their only hope of liberation, but their support for the crusade is moderated by their contempt for the crusaders.

Others, like Avelina, who lost relatives in the fights of past decades, continue to nurse resentment for the 3rd Crusade's shortcomings and for the leadership responsible for them.

Iomedae is a complex religion and much like any such religion, there is a spectrum of attitudes that range from staunchly conservative to highly liberal. The more conservative tend to hold no remorse for what their zealous predecessors may have done so long as they believe their intent was founded in a sincere belief that they were doing the will of the Inheritor. The more liberal do feel remorse which drives them to try to avoid such harsh punishments and inquisitions in favor of attempting to win any tempted toward corruption to be inspired by their forgiving and merciful attitude. Each side tends to blame the other for problems in the present.

Bottom line, not all Iomedae followers are seeking to persecute Sakorian witches and shaman. But some still harbor prejudice and perpetrate injustice if only by their condescending attitudes toward the Kellid people in their midst.

For a comic parallel, I would point to the Monty Python Life of Brian movie where the various anti-Roman factions ended up in a fist-fight. Brian, the new recruit, implores them, "We should be struggling together!" To which those fighting paused and said, "We are!"

At the mythic level, this is really about a similar struggle we all face, balancing our caution about those who are different than ourselves and may pose a threat with the need to cooperate to reap the benefits such cooperation has over isolation and conflict.

It might yet require that the heroes of this AP not only deal harsh blows to the plans of the demons but also heal some of these wounds from past in-fighting on the side of goodness and law.

While researching the above post, I came across this interesting article, which sheds some light on the Kellid people of Sarkoris and their religious and arcane practices.

What were the literary influences behind Sarkoris?

It reveals that the attitude toward witches in Ustalav had some parallels to the 2nd crusade persecution of Kellid spell casters. At one point, Ustalav closed its borders to refugees and even fought a war to drive them back, called the Demonskin War. One could find lots of reasons in the strange religious and arcane traditions of the Kellids for the false prejudice that links the Kellids with the demonic plague known as the Worldwound. Crusaders who worship Iomedae and other Inner Sea deities would likely see the Kellids much as Europeans viewed the natives of North and South America, Africa, and Australia in our own history.

Some of the characters submitted had connections to Sarkoris and the Kellids, and I considered including one to have a representative from this line of tradition, but couldn't have everything, alas.

Edit: there is a minor spoiler near the end of this article that relates to the cause of the rift that became the Worldwound. I suspect that will be revealed later in the WOTR AP, so maybe don't read to the very end of the article. Interestingly, the Kellids tended to persecute wizards and this may have played some role in the creation of the Worldwound. 'Nuff said.

I've played through the first part of the first book in several false starts to the campaign, so I know a little. I too loved Karas's intro. Actually, I've loved all of the introductions. I feel like I have a strong vibe on each and every character.

Oh, and here's an image for Cobblepaw's eventual reveal as the villain of the AP, now that Franti has guessed the ending. :)

For theme music, this is the first thing that comes to mind, but this is a better representation.

Love the bonus info, GM!

I enjoy reading about the real life crusades, so it's rather interesting to look at parallels.

Just like the real ones, the first crusade was largely successful, but it just started heading downhill from there. One thing that is especially ironic that the reliance on mercenaries rather than religiously-motivated soldiers was a problem, as the real-life crusades had the opposite problem: many would drive off--even attack--the regional allies and local mercenaries out of religious and racial prejudice, leaving the crusaders undermanned with little knowledge of the region and with tactics and equipment unsuited for desert warfare.

The plight of the native Sarkorians relying upon the foreigners to liberate their lands draws somewhat of a parallel with the rapidly decaying Byzantine Empire requesting the help of the crusaders to take back the former Roman lands from the rising power of the Seljuk Turks.

That said, the Mendevian Crusades are mostly their own beast. I appreciate that choice because making it too on-the-nose would lead to the unfortunate implications of casting the Muslims as demons in the metaphor.

In case you need it Ellena, Karas is distinctly not evil. :)

Lol, good to know!

I've always been a huge fan of the Sarkoris lore, but some of that was new to me. It would be a ton of fun to make a Sarkorian God-Caller summoner for a WotR game - would give a whole new angle to the Lord Hulrun debate.

I believe that Occult Origins (which is coming out in about a week) is supposed to have more stuff about God-Callers, too.

These first encounters are going to be great, half of you are going to need to hold my hand to get me through it ;) Or tell a joke to raise my spirits.

@Ellena, in the future Franti will likely try to seek your guidance to learn to control himself in battle or when against the odds. He can't laugh and cry every time he battles demons despite the scare tactic it may be.

This game has a vastly different emotional feel from the last time I played this.

This is gonna be one hell of a game.

I completely agree :)

Just a note. I'm going to be in and out until Sunday afternoon. I have a ton of things going on so if I am slow posting, feel free to bot Ellena as necessary. I should be able to get one post a day up, but that might be it until next week starts.

Ellena: Noted. Thanks. There are going to be some events that will happen no matter what the PCs do, so most of the PC posts for this week will be similar to this first one, reactions to events the PCs cannot affect. If all others have posted and you have not, I will have Ellena do something consistent with her character.

Okay, GM and Storyteller posts are up. As you can probably tell, I'm using the storyteller alias to carry forward descriptions of events that in some cases exceed what the characters may be able to observe, but in this case there is not much that the PCs can do and I want you to get the full sense of what was happening.

When I post to the gameplay thread under the GM alias, I may use present tense since I'm giving you the sense of what the situation is at the current point in the role play. It's easier to phrase things in present tense in this type of post. These should be OOC tagged.

I like the narrative feel that PCs posting in past tense is giving the posts. Please keep it up and thank you.

Again, please post whatever reactions your character has leading up to the situation described by my last GM post. None of the PCs will really be able to do much in the fight to their west except shoot ranged weapons, but if you have magic you can cast that might help them or the other bystanders, feel free, provided you can make the concentration check.

The halo that appears around Aranya's head has the following game effects: the rules are a little vague about whether the effect is equivalent to a light spell, so I'm going to rule that the effect only creates dim light that extends out 10 feet from her. Hence it is not as bright as a torch and during daylight, it might barely be detectable, but in dimmer light it stands out as a faint glow centered at the back of her head. Under the dimming light of the storm, it is quite noticeable. I'm going add, however, that if an evil outsider gets within 20 feet of Anarya, the halo will brighten to equivalent of a light spell. She is a little more than 20 feet from the demons fighting nearby, but now and then the light will flare as a demon flies by.

Just a heads up I will be out of communication Friday afternoon through Sunday morning for a monthly LARP that i can't check my phone during.

It's been a busy end to the week - I've spent the evening preparing for a career fair tomorrow. I'll get a post up when able, but it might be a day or so.

No rush. Have a good end of the week and a good weekend.

I'll post something by the end of the weekend if enough people have posted before then to justify moving on. This section is mostly a chance to demonstrate aspects of your characters by showing how they react to the demon attack and the consequences and to bring the characters together physically.

Past tense is growing on me: I had a hell of a time not typing in it for a post for my campaign.

I made a longish post for another game and I was rereading it and discovered, too late to edit it, that midway I reverted to past tense for two paragraphs and then back to present tense.

I also have been finding it hard not to use past tense elsewhere, heh.

I probably won't be able to post again until Monday. Have a great weekend everybody!

GM posts are up. Please post your character's actions when you can. For now, limit each post to what you could normally do in one turn of melee, although you are not in melee. It will probably take some time to figure out where everyone is and what your status is. I'll make posts as you do to fill in what you discover and I'll update the map as I need to.

Once you have adequate light and immediate issues are dealt with, thing will open up and people can role play as you get a chance to post. I'll be posting the actions of the three NPCs using separate aliases as they begin to interact with you.

The map should allow you to move your icons about. Just be careful not to click and drag on the map area. That will move the map but not the other things pasted over it. Let me know if there are any problems with the map and icons.

You don't see any one else but you begin to hear sounds nearby.

I somehow doubt that... :P

So, on the note of the halo - I've always just assumed it worked like the light spell. Giving up the incredibly powerful darkvision for the halo was a flavor choice (It's clearly weaker than darkvision), and I was kinda counting on it providing enough illumination for her so she wouldn't need the light spell or other forms of light. If it's a ten-foot radius of dim light, it's next to useless (especially since almost any spellcaster can double both its radius and its brightness with a cantrip).

On the other hand, it would be really cool for the halo to grow in power as she leveled up. I wrote many of her powers to all stem from the halo - it's pretty central to the theme of her healing magic, so I really like the idea of it being different from a bolt-standard light cantrip. The idea of it flaring up in brightness in the presence of demons sounds really neat, and it would be interesting to have that expand into some more abilities as she grows.

What do you think? A resting point somewhere more useful than "a slightly brighter candle" and "a boring cantrip" would be better, I feel.

How about this: you can control the amount of light it emits, anything from nothing at all to gentle candlelight to torchlight/light spell?

I'll encourage you to consider that it may from time to time flare up or down to match your level of spiritual inspiration, so that at your discretion, you may make a will roll to keep it from coming on when feeling inspired or to make it come on when feeling discouraged. Just a flavor thing.

I mostly worry that normal people seeing it might be more intimidated than inspired if it is too bright.

How about this: you can control the amount of light it emits, anything from nothing at all to gentle candlelight to torchlight/light spell?

I'll encourage you to consider that it may from time to time flare up or down to match your level of spiritual inspiration, so that at your discretion, you may make a will roll to keep it from coming on when feeling inspired or to make it come on when feeling discouraged. Just a flavor thing.

I mostly worry that normal people seeing it might be more intimidated than inspired if it is too bright.

Perfect. I've always considered it as responding to her emotions and to her magic.

Can we assume that if it's "turned off" that it won't suddenly turn on without intent?

I'm back sorry. I'll catch up and have a post soon. Exhausted from the LARP lol.

Realized I used -1 for my strength instead of +0. Changes nothing, but worth noting my mistake.

I've been busy all day, but I'll get a post up when I can this evening. :)

Edited my initiative to +2. I forgot to add my Arcane Temper trait bonus.

It will be a few hours before I can post and it may not happen until the morning, as I'm getting a sore throat and may not feel up to anything without a night's rest. It doesn't look like the first attempt at lifting the rock is going to succeed, even if another person aids, but you can make another attempt.

Not to continue the joke of the party not being able to move this boulder, but Avelina kicking the nearest rock would most likely be kicking the boulder that is trapping the poor girl ;)

Hey GM, Do we have our 1 hero point? If so I may use it on the third try lol.

Well... I just realized a glaring hole I didn't see during creation. I only have claws during a bloodrage. I may need to pick up another weapon or fashion a club here soon as a backup. lol

Got a Cold-Iron dagger you can have. Sharpest blade in Kenabres (as it has never been used).

I'm going to have to invest in the extra rage feat lol

Actually, If allowed, Would Clebsh allow me to swap Weapon Focus for Extra rage? Since we have not hit a combat yet?

You could replace Strange Physiology with the Maw or Claw ability which would give you claws. I'd assumed you had already taken that.

Anarya can't bring herself to withhold healing magic if people seem to be in trouble, heh. She's going to be out of spells really fast if this keeps up. From now on, no more injuries, ok? :P

And now, I am going to bed.

Strange physiology was actually a random roll to replace the darkness.

Since Maw and Claw also replaces the darkness, and you were so built around having claws, I'm sure Clebsch will consider letting you switch 'em out.

The extra rage would likely fix most of my issues. That or rule it to act like the sorceror's draconic claws which can be grown as a free action at any time.

I would prefer the latter of course.

@Karas Sorry if Avelina is being insensitive. That low wisdom makes her not very good at reading the scene.

Can we assume that if it's "turned off" that it won't suddenly turn on without intent?

If that's how you want to play it. It's your call.

If the light is on and you find yourself near demons, the light will flicker a little brighter (no game effect) and after that, you can adjust it back down if you want. If it's off and you come near demons, though, you won't get any internal notification.