Kingmaker. The shadows behind the throne.

Game Master DBH

My only regret is that I didn't get the chance to use up the last few charges on that wand and then have Waffles throw the useless wand at him in frustration.

There will be other fights!

Hehehe, that makes me think of the movie Twister and how the main guy warned the nickname Extreme after chucking a beer bottle into a tornado.

Sorry, running late tonight. No update.

I believe that adding another player would be a good idea.

What do you think?

If you agree what type do you thing will be of the most benefit for the party?

Colwyn covers Rogue.
Zelera covers Divine.
Niadroub covers Arcane.
Marten covers martial.

I think a ranged fighter type would be a good addition.

I had a look at Serafina to see if she was interested in returning to the game, but her player hasn't been active since 2018. :(

Speaking of coverage and party roles...

During the recent level up, I took some ranks in Use Magic Device because I was thinking about keeping a wand as a back-up weapon for times when my bow is ineffective, as occurred when fighting the water elemental and Vordakai.

Thoughts?

Always a good idea to have some form of backup. Though your new bow looks like it will up your damage output. :)

OK, wow. Adding 18 hexes + a town would push our control DC up mightily. We really need to grind out a bunch more Stability before we can integrate Varnhold and its surrounding territory.

I have no objection to adding some more DPS. Marten's designed to hold a front line but his actual damage output is low (barring smiting).

After reviewing the maps, it looks like claiming Hex 25 on the Greenbelt map as well as the hex immediate to the east would connect our current holdings with Varnhold. That means we have, at minimum, 2 kingdom turns until we can add those 18 hexes and town. That will give us some time to build up our Stability.

...

Does anyone want my Headband of Alluring Charisma +2 or my old +1 Composite Longbow (+2 Str)?

If they would not be useful or upgrades to anyone, I was going to sell/trade them for some other items, like a backup wand.

Tessara could actually benefit from the headband, but upgrades for recruits are always lower priority than upgrades to PCs.

I'm is updated for everything except spells. I might not have a chance to plug those in until this weekend.

Okay, level 10 means two 5th level spells:

In addition, while many of Vordakai’s spellbooks have crumbled, enough fragments remain here to please any wizard. All of the spells Vordakai has

prepared are present, along with up to six additional spells of each level up through 9th of your choice—feel free to tailor this cache of spells as befits your campaign’s needs.

Niadroub. Let me know what spells you would like. :)

I get decision paralysis from having to pick two new spells each level. Asking me to pick SIX spells from across ALL levels was torturous. But I persevered.

Remnants of Vordekai's Spellbook
(5th) Overland Flight
(5th) Summon Monster 5
(6th) Disintegrate
(6th) True Seeing
(7th) Scrying, Greater
(8th) Create Demiplane

OK, wow. Adding 18 hexes + a town would push our control DC up mightily. We really need to grind out a bunch more Stability before we can integrate Varnhold and its surrounding territory.

I have no objection to adding some more DPS. Marten's designed to hold a front line but his actual damage output is low (barring smiting).

I'm about three days away from going on a two week family vacation, so I don't have the bandwidth for any kingdom building discussion. Sorry. I trust you guys implicitly.

Implicitly!

You shall live to regret this! :D

Okay, no kingdom talk except for this cheese:

Perhaps an even greater treasure can be found in the northern room that serves as Vordakai’s laboratory. The preserved knowledge of ancient Casmaron is contained in dozens of stone tablets weighing nearly 1,000 pounds in all—but the tablets are worth 10,000gp to a scholar of this ancient land.

When the PCs create Varnhold’s city grid, they can place the following buildings for free: a brewery, an exotic craftsman, a garrison, a granary, an inn, a smith, a tannery, a temple, 3 tradesmen, and 8 houses. All four of Varnhold’s borders are land borders, despite the fact that the Kiravoy River flows through town.

Okay, here's the cheesy part: If we prop open the secret door to S21, and let all the poisonous air vent out, could we task Varnhold citizens to remove the stone tablets and set them up in Varnhold as a permanent display and earn a half-priced library or something?

Or you could put them in the Portable hole you found and transport them wherever you like?

Even better than a Library would be a museum for these tablets.

MUSEUM 30 BP, 2 LOTS

Kingdom Economy +1, Loyalty +1; Fame +1, Settlement Lore +2, Society +1;

increase Lore bonus by 2 for questions relating to Knowledge (history); apply Lore bonus on Appraise checks regarding art objects

A place to display art and artifacts both modern and historical. The GM may allow the kingdom leaders to display a valuable item (such as a magic item or bejeweled statue) in the museum, increasing Fame during this display by 1 for every 10,000 gp of the item’s price (maximum +5 Fame), and by an additional 1 if the item is significant to the kingdom’s history.

Also do you have an Academy yet? A Library is an upgrade to the Academy.

Venting the air in W20 would also attract Historians to your lands. There is a lot for them to study in the tomb.

You do have several months and Winter will soon arrive so you can decide what you're building and where without having to rush.

Anyone have any suggestions for new players? Or should I find someone and make an offer?

Of the new magic items, the ones I would be most interested in are the Headband of Mental Prowess, Gloves of Swimming and Climbing, and/or the Cloak of Resistance +3. Is anyone else interested in any of those?

Sounds good to me. We also have another pair of those gloves from earlier in the campaign if anyone wants to join Colwyn in the triathalon. Also don't forget that we found another Handy Haversack in this adventure for anyone that needs to get items, scrolls, wands, etc. in a hurry.

NK is nabbing these:
Ring of protection +2 (Of which we still have TWO remaining!)
Dust of Dryness (grabbing one, but if nobody wants the other two, NK will take those also)
Scroll of Break Enchantment

Waffles is going to claim the Occulus of Abaddon. (I'm kidding.)

I have a request for Zelera: We have a scroll of Breath of Life in the party loot list, and you're the only one who can cast it without using UMD. The thing about this spell is that you have to cast it within one round of someone dying for it to work, so could you go ahead and claim it so that we know it's available should we need it in battle?

I'm in a few games with Mark Thomas 66, who's always been reliable.

~~~~~~~~~~

I'm always happy to take leftover magic items for my recruits, to improve their lifespans, but as I noted before, recruits are lower priority than other PCs. Are there any things on the item list that are absolutely unwanted?

In this vein, Marten could use a +2 ring of protection and hand his +1 one down to one of his recruits.

~~~~~~~~~~

So, are we going to take a few months of kingdom building now?

In addition, while many of Vordakai’s spellbooks have crumbled, enough fragments remain here to please any wizard. All of the spells Vordakai has

prepared are present, along with up to six additional spells of each level up through 9th of your choice—feel free to tailor this cache of spells as befits your campaign’s needs.

Wait, does this mean there are six spells, or six spells of each level?

Or you could put them in the Portable hole you found and transport them wherever you like?

I didn't read up on how much a portable hole can hold! Also, this will let the citizens of Varnhold feel a sense of accomplishment.

But thanks for the reminder: I've added the portable hole to the loot list.

The GM may allow the kingdom leaders to display a valuable item (such as a magic item or bejeweled statue) in the museum, increasing Fame during this display by 1 for every 10,000 gp of the item’s price (maximum +5 Fame), and by an additional 1 if the item is significant to the kingdom’s history.

Yes, a museum sounds and the accompanying Fame bonus sounds perfect! If everyone else agrees, that is.

Venting the air in W20 would also attract Historians to your lands. There is a lot for them to study in the tomb.

Yes, that's the room I mean. The W and S are right next to each other and I'm typing fast because it's late and I'm trying to catch up!

You do have several months and Winter will soon arrive so you can decide what you're building and where without having to rush.

How do people feel about turning Vordekai's lair into a shrine to the Four Horsemen, eh? Eh?

Anyone have any suggestions for new players? Or should I find someone and make an offer?

It's on my list of things to post about tonight! Hold your horses!

Wait, does this mean there are six spells, or six spells of each level?

I can't imagine that I'm getting 54 free spells! My brain would melt!

Marten Lebeda wrote:

Wait, does this mean there are six spells, or six spells of each level?

I can't imagine that I'm getting 54 free spells! My brain would melt!

... thereby revealing Waffles as the true brains of the operation all along!

I believe that adding another player would be a good idea.

What do you think?

If you agree what type do you thing will be of the most benefit for the party?

Colwyn covers Rogue.
Zelera covers Divine.
Niadroub covers Arcane.
Marten covers martial.

I think a ranged fighter type would be a good addition.

So, I'm indifferent. Aside from the Water Elemental, I feel like we're not really having any trouble with the combats. I recognize that Vordekai could have given us trouble... but he didn't?

If you're looking ahead and thinking that we need more damage, than I'll accept your recommendation. But the fewer the players are involved in a PbP, the faster they tend to go (assuming all players are engaged).

But like I said, I'm not against it, I'm just indifferent. If others want a 5th player, go for it. Ha ha, and apologies to the new guy if this post makes things awkward!

Not a problem at all. We are getting to the level where martial DPS really just doesn't matter as much as having the right spells. I'm not opposed to adding a 5th, especially if our GM wants one, but I don't think we should put the game on hold for a new recruit!

(Speaking of which, we can always move forward as long as we have a majority consensus, so as long as at least 3 people agree on a course of action, we go.)

Alright, as far as the loot goes I will definitely grab the Scrolls of Breath of life and Raise Dead (I am the only one able to cast both of them without a check so that is easy) and have them marked off the list.

I also would like one of the Rings of Prot +2 if they aren't all claimed now (not marked off). Other than that most of what I need is to upgrade existing gear.

-----

As far as a fifth player I am good with that. I think a fifth person that could cover both ranged and melee as needed would be good, a switch hitter ranger or some form of kineticist could handle both roles very well and provide some additional spell casting, or at least the equivalent there-of.

I support holding on to the tablets to display in a future museum.

However, I did want to point out that a Library, rather than being an upgrade for an Academy, can be upgraded into an Academy. Essentially, the 6 BP Library can act as a sort of "down payment" on the 52 BP Academy.

...

I also support recruiting a 5th player. I think either a tank or a caster would be useful.
If needed, I could reach out to one of the proven reliable players in one of the too many games that I GM. I'm a little reluctant to do that right away for fear of being awkward.

...

At the risk of being greedy (albeit perhaps being in character for Colwyn), I will grab the Haversack since even without keeping wands as backup weapons, I already carry a lot of gear and gadgets.

...

Since our kingdom is currently size 11, we can construct up to 2 buildings and claim up to 2 hexes per turn. Thus, we could theoretically connect to Varnhold in a single turn.

For our next kingdom turn, I suggest skipping any hex claims for now. Instead, I propose building an Exotic Artisan shop in Thornholme (costing 10 BP, giving +1 Economy and +1 Stability, and providing a minor magic item slot) and building a Granary in Levetown (costing 12 BP, giving +1 Loyalty and +1 Stability, as well as storing excess Production from farms for future turns).

I think we should also raise our Promotion Edict level from Token to Standard, giving us an extra +1 Stability at a cost of +1 Consumption.

In the future, I'm inclined to upgrade the Shrine in Thornholme into a full Temple. I'm also tempted to build a Mansion both because it gives +1 Stability but also because it means we can stop living above the Inn.

Marten is a tank! That's why his damage output is so low!

Anyway, sounds like it's ok for me to take the other remaining +2 ring of protection, so Zelera gets one and Marten gets one?

Marten is a tank! That's why his damage output is so low!

Anyway, sounds like it's ok for me to take the other remaining +2 ring of protection, so Zelera gets one and Marten gets one?

I meant another tank to take some of the load off Marten.

Also, you guys can take the rings.

No time to update tonight.

As far as another player I'm happy to ask Mark Thomas 66 if he wants to join in. He's running Ariadne in my COTCT campaign and is a good player.

Hey gang, I'll be traveling for the next couple of weeks for a family vacation. I expect to be able to post for the most part, but there will be a couple of times that I'm off the grid. GM, feel free to bot me if my absence is holding things up.

Hey gang, I'll be traveling for the next couple of weeks for a family vacation. I expect to be able to post for the most part, but there will be a couple of times that I'm off the grid. GM, feel free to bot me if my absence is holding things up.

Have fun.

Mark Thomas 66 has indicated he's interested in joining the game. But will take a couple of days to make a character.

So keep managing your growing Kingdom for now. :)

Kingdom Turn 13:
.....
Upkeep Phase:

*Stability Check:
Stability Check DC 33: 1d20 + 39 ⇒ (5) + 39 = 44
Unrest already at 0, so +1 BP.

*Pay Consumption:
Consumption is below 0, so nothing to pay.

*Filling magic item slots:

.....

Edict Phase:

For now, I think we should hold off on claiming any hexes. Also, I don't think we really have any hex improvements to build right now.

If there are no objections, I am going to raise the Promotion Edict level to Standard and the Taxation Edict level to Normal.

Building a Granary in Levetown for 12 BP.

Building Exotic Artisan Shop for 10 BP.
For flavor, should this be a jeweler, tinker, glassblower, or what?

If we're going to expand and take Varnhold, we should prioritize more Stability, and it looks like next time around Leveton could use a Mill and a Smithy, both of which are cheap Stability improvements.

What's our road situation? Neither of the maps that I could find in the campaign listing had any roads. It may be useful to build roads between Thornholme and Leveton. Roads are pricey up front but they eventually pay themselves off once you have enough of them, and they also become important later for moving armies around your nation quickly.

Exotic Artisan could be a pastry-maker or candy store :)

There are two links in my stat line: one for Thornholme's district map, and one for the kingdom map. If you click on the Republic of the Kamelands link, it will take you to a map that details our claimed hexes and terrain improvements.

We currently have roads running across the north-south axis of the kingdom.

Also, I love the suggestions for the exotic artisan. I'm putting it down as a Confectionery Shop. With GM_DBH's approval, I think I'd like to develop the NPC who runs the place.

Income Phase:

Going to empty some stuff from our Loot Sheet to add some BP to our treasury

Collect Taxes:
Economy Check: 1d20 + 37 ⇒ (11) + 37 = 48
48/3 = 16 BP.
16 (tax revenue) + 7 (bonus income) + 2 (deposits) + 7 (current treasury) = 32 BP ending treasury
...

Before I roll for the Event Phase, any other comments or suggestions for the kingdom turn?

I smell an impending subplot based on Chocolat.

A confectionary shop sounds brilliant! Develop away.

Mmmm, Chocolate!

So are we doing a scene back in town? Or are we back to the next crisis?

If there are people you want to interact with, or things you want to do back in your town then go for it.

Scene incoming! Enjoy, everyone!

First, let me just finish the Kingdom Turn by resolving the Event Phase.

Event Phase

Event Occurs on 1-75: 1d100 ⇒ 62 = Yes
Type of Event: 1d100 ⇒ 92 = Dangerous Settlement Event
Specific Event: 1d100 ⇒ 40 = Feud

Feud: Nobles (or other influential rival groups) are bickering. Attempt a Loyalty check. If you succeed, you end the event but Unrest increases by 1. If you fail, Corruption increases by 1, Unrest increases by 1d6, and the event is continuous.

Loyalty Check DC 33: 1d20 + 24 ⇒ (17) + 24 = 41 = Success
Unrest increases by 1

Oh, sorry, already posted!

No update, I've been at the Doctors and need a rest after a checkup.

Tomorrow is Matariki here in New Zealand, a public holiday so it is likely there will be no update again.

Enjoy your break. :)

No update sorry.

Awaiting our new recruit.

You can keep planning your kingdom, or tell me if you're looking for someone or something in your town.

I'm happy to continue the scene of Siofra mercilessly needling Marten if someone wants to string that out. (*cough* Zelera *cough*)

I wouldn't mind completing another kingdom turn.

Also, Colwyn might finally have the courage to propose marriage to Melianse, giving her the Consort leadership role.

Something something strange women lying in ponds