Of Kings and Commoners - Kingmaker AP

Game Master RPGGGM

Re introductions - I figure that officially, you nobles are supposed to have a herald or footman or something doing that.

Also yeah speed :p

Speaking of things that are going slowly ... :p

This!

(Sorry about the zuckerbergian face - in my defence most of my minis have helms and/or masks!)

She looks about ready to step out of the cover of a power metal album :D I'm going to imagine this is Illthir in her heroic daydreams :p

Awesome!

I meant to say that earlier, but I am still being killed a work six+ days a week. ;)

I like the touches of silver and gold against the brown and the fact you even started freehanding on her little, Post Malone facial tattoos. And you washed her hair ironically making it darker and closer to the color in the picture. ;)

Most of my minis are Warhammer 40k orks, so she certainly looks more human than they do. Now of course Hero Forge has the option of colorizing them before they are sent out, but I think I trust you guys with picking your characters' hair, skin and clothing colors.

Thanks :)

I tried to make more blue things, but man it's hard. Should get a really fine tipped pen or something for that I think.

Even if I start out with a different vision of my characters I find that as time passes they start to look more and more like their portrait. But yes heavy on the washes really helps anything painted look good :D

Got enough Eldar that I *should* be able to paint elves, but ... fancy full face helms :p

Guessing time!

While I think actual assassins may be unlikely, at least until everyone is gathered so we can have a proper dramatic murder mystery, I do have some ideas.

1) Igor skulking around because it is creepy and thus in character :p

2) Our characters are a bit paranoid/unused to be around other people since we've been in the forest a while.

3) Someone is listening in and looking to see if any juicy secrets slip out...

Agh.
After my 'vacation' with ill kids at home, lots of work was waiting for me, including a project deadline moved forward during my absence because changes will be halted during christmas season. It's weighing heavy on my mind. Sorry I was slow to post.

@Guessing Time: I think you are right with 3. Someone listening in on us.
In a more civil setting, I would think a peeping tom is likely, too, but I think here there may be too much at stake. I mean, that's not peasant girls he's spying on, those are important figures themselves, that may well ruin whoever it is if he's caught.

Sorry. Work's been killing me these last two days. I should be back later tonight or tomorrow.

Aight. Take care :)

Came back from vacation into a wasp's nest of things that need to be done. I'll need a few more days. I will post as soon as I am able.

Ouch! Sounds like you may need another vacation :p

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Illthir will share anything she knows about the people at the meeting as soon as she can do so privately. Nothing terribly juicy right now it seems. Maybe someone else will roll better ... :D

A quick few notes about time in relation to Durgan's question on the Gameplay page.

In game it is the late spring of 4710 AR. (I swear on the second Tuesday of next week that I will have a calendar up soon!)

The Third Mendevian Crusade ran from 4665 AR – 4668 AR.

The Fourth Mendevian Crusade ran from 4692 AR – 4707 AR.

The above linked info is stuff that Durgan can (in broad strokes at least) impart to anyone who wants to sit through his war stories. ;)

The Fifth Crusade has not even been thought of yet, though it is the focus of the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path.

I am using the official dates just so I don't have to do any more work than is necessary were I to change anything from easy-to-find reference material.

Durgan can if he likes have personally met Ser Daye during their course of service together near the Worldwound, perhaps even for long periods of time, up to the point of being acquaintances, but not actual social friends. In other words, much of Durgan's knowledge stems from reports, scuttlebutt, and second-hand accounts rather than first-hand knowledge.

Durgan met Edrin Lodovka about 20 years ago, when Edrin was 15 or so (and Durgan was 86, so already an adult by dwarven standards). That would have been 4690 AR.

The Fourth Crusade started in 4692, when Edrin was 17. Edrin's parents and Durgan rightfully insisted on making sure the youth's training was complete before he went to join the Crusade, around 4695.

Durgan and Edrin fought side-by-side for several years. They had other allies, such as the Gorumite priest Kronug the Merciless (who provided Durgan with his starting scroll of Deadly Juggernaut). Durgan and Edric fought in the Crusade until 4702, returning home after a major battle brought them both some moderate amount of acclaim as well as a need for a spiritual break from the horrors of the Worldwound. Edrin, then 27, got married and settled down in Lodovka lands. Durgan took a year to settle his affairs in Winterbreak and then began his Stolen Lands ministry in 4703 (seven years ago).

Durgan would very much support the Order of Heralds in their efforts to avoid the bigoted and wasteful errors of the Third Crusade. He knows of and respects Ser Daye's work. Having some faith in an individual's good nature where others see only suspicion and evil would in fact be necessary for that Order, and could explain why Ser Daye seems to others to be naive and viewing the world through rose-tinted glasses. But Durgan sees the value in this perspective. Perhaps Ser Daye exonerated a Tiefling Crusader from accusations of treason, and the Tiefling later proved instrumental in winning that major battle in 4702, saving Durgan's life and many others. Sometimes you need to have faith and hope in people.

Edrin Lodovka himself (a cavalier) is now 35, and could be an ally, a cohort, or an officer of some sort in the future.

STUPID BUSY AT WORK (and we found out today the cancelled half of our days off this weekend)!

I'll try and be awake to post something soon!

Urk... Sorry that work is like that. Hope it works out :)

Ha, you are playing in my cards perfectly.
I've been ill myself this week. Just a severe cold, nothing serious.
But simultaneously, we had a FUBAR incident regarding part of our logistics process. To put that into context: Pre-Christmas business is already fully ramped up, and warehouses work from 0600 until 2200 - and instead of automatic registration of all outgoing packages, the postal service messed up on their service routine forcing manual registration of all relevant data. Even better that this special part of the process is 100% mine (not my fault though, our side works perfectly, they shut down something without advance notice for security reasons) - no one else in the company knows remotely as much about it. So I've been spending a lot of time in the last few days on adapting a workaround and trying to get a new permanent solution in place. -_-

Raston Sellime, how do you remember that? Ok so where did we face him.. it was a while ago.. I think.. hints on what page it was so I can research and give a good response..

You can follow this character's posts to get to the time that the party passed through Mivon.

In short though-
The Stag Lord was tiring of his blood-thirsty rule of Greenbelt (or at least had been convinced of this) and was looking for a way to retire.

Lord Mayor Selline's son, Hotspur had his sights set upon a kingdom of his own. He was never going to succeed his father as Mivon's succession comes about through dueling and politics--although no one admits that second part and his father and the other top competitors are all better at at least one of those things than he himself. Instead he planned to take a bit of the Stolen Land for himself by bribing the Stag Lord to leave his bandit kingdom to him.

There was a problem with this though he did not foresee. Mivon is a River Kingdom that was conquered by Rostland (the southern half of Brevoy) ex-patriots (many of them Aldori Swordlords) who fled the coming of Choral the Conqueror a century ago. They conquered the small bandit town where Mivon stands and set up their own kingdom with the Stolen land as a buffer. Consequently there's bad blood between Mivon and their kin in what was Rostland, and having a splinter kingdom of theirs show up on the Southern Brevic boarder would almost certainly lead to a war the Lord Mayor of Mivon did not want (he's already involved in an ongoing cold war with another River Kingdom--Pitax). So when word got back to the Lord Mayor of what his son was up to he locked down the city and had his army attempt to round up Hotspur and anyone with any involvement in the plan. This included the characters tangentially.

Ultimately the Mayor's forces cornered his son, and his son's army of dwarven mercenaries (Scarlet's brother's band) in Castle Vsevolod (the daughter of the castle's absent lord, Lady Luljeta, was friendly with Hotspur) and spirited him out of the castle and back to his father.

Like I said: "in short".

If I remember rightly, only Durgan ever actually met the Lord Mayor of Mivon (his picture is in the link above, below his name).

Behind the scenes fun fact: The "real bad guy" however is a character called Kelethiros who serves as Lord Mayor Selline's chief spy. Via a number of clever (magical!?) disguises he managed to follow the party to Castle Vsevolod, and then led the Mivon army there. He personally apprehended Hotspur, and even shoved Alia off a battlement and into the moat. Durgan might be the only person to have seen him without a disguise on... or did he?

Even further behind the scenes fun fact: There was an orchestra master who set many of these events into motion from further behind the scenes.

Meta fun fact: I really miss GM-ing Vampire: the Masquerade. ;)

Raston Sellime, how do you remember that?

I have practice remembering character motivations and schemes from my time running a weekly World of Darkness campaign back in the 90's-00's. We played troupe-style with some characters playing PCs who were actively antagonistic to their own other PCs. Vampires, Werewolves, Mages, Changelings, Mummies, Ghouls, Neonates, Elders, Masters, and Apprentices etc... It was a lot of fun. ;)

So I try to remember what everyone is doing everywhere in the game world. Case in point... Zokon and friends upcoming meeting with all of these people who all have their own interests and opinions on things. ;)

Wow! The toughest time I ever had GMing was when the party went on trial and I had to role-play both the judge and the jury and the six witnesses, each of whom had a different point of view to what happened.

<.>

So we should check that none spiked our drinks with blood as well :p?

Sorry. My one day off in the last two weeks, Sunday, was really, really, really busy (catching up on everything else, like buying food, holiday stuff, etc....). I'll have something up later tonight.

Please just take a deep breath, no need to stress over us! The holidays are enough for that I think :)

Plus site appears to be having problems took me an hour to log in.

Aye, Site has problems, my booster shot earlier this week knocked me straight out, and pre-holiday stress both in work and personal life is in high gear.
Sorry my posting currently is so sporadic.

Happy holiday wishes to you all :)

Happy Holidays and a wonderous and safe New Year to you all.

Happy and Merry, as appropriate.

Indeed happy holidays.

Now let the fighting begin. ;)

Happy new posts year :D

Happy belated holidays and new year. Returned home from family visits recently and will try and catch up/post later today.

Juicy new npcs! We'll need one of those pinboards and thread soon :p

This weekend! (If I'm not working this weekend.)

Hmm... copied here for ease of responding

Thoughts on who to allow?

And here we come to the more 'gamy' bits of the campaign. There are several people collected around the table who have money that they are willing to part with in exchange for a bit of land--2 12 mile (~19.3 km) diameter hexes worth, in exchange for an upfront investment, and future taxes to the charter holders of said land (Charter holders include: the party, Hannis Drelev and company, Lord Maegar Varn, and the as yet unmet explorers of the far western Stolen Land).

The current set of investors include: Sandralane of Rahadoum, the wizard Alak Dool, Longtooth of Varisia, the veteran Ser Earnest Day, the Ulfen Rutgar Dag, Max the First of his Name, the far-traveling Allisa Patrcian, and now The Stroons. Each of these people is looking to set up roots in a frontier region for reasons of their own. If the party wants "renters" in their land this would be them, note that your charter neighbors also might want them as well, and can offer incentives, as can you (first choice of hexes, access to resources, offers of matrimony, lowered tax burdens, etc...).

The Other Investors... Other people also have an interest in property. You will note that the heads of four big northern churches are in attendance (Abadar, Earstil, Gorum, and Pharasma), in addition to Ser Daye (paladin of Iomedae) and Sandralane (cleric of Sarenrae) who each have their own ideas about religion. Each of these people would very much like the various charter holders to make their church the official state religion of the place they settle in with a big temple and so on. The four church heads in particular can offer you incentives (both monetary and otherwise). Note: Even though you haven't told anyone of it yet (even Shepherd Jhod Kavken), the party did discover an ancient Erastilian temple complex and purged it of evil.

Likewise the two trade representatives Mistbreather, and Kozen can offer economic opportunities in exchange for your charter's support.

Finally there are some political concerns. Samuel Renault has made it clear that he wants to stay independent from your rule. Since he has family among the great houses up north and the command of most or all of the farmers in your lands this could be a problem. The Mayor of Restov and Ser Richard Iannuchi are independent-minded Rostlanders (Rostland being the bountiful southern half of Brevoy before it was made Brevoy a century ago), while Lord Solvis Orlovsky seems to be in favor of a unified Brevoy under the King-Regent of the Dragonscale Throne.

I feel that the Stroons will cause issues if we pick them. They may also align themselves with someone else and cause trouble for us - but a bit later :p

Tempted to suggest we get Dool interested just to have lightning rod/territorial wizard interested in keeping them away :d

Sandralane seems like the nicest of the enclave people. Which is nice. And at least we've swapped a few words with her.

I think we certainly want a few of them - otherwise the other nations will have more money. But we don't want too many either, that might be a challenge to our rulership...

Not sure how to deal with religion. Might be better if we have a handful with presence instead of being pawn to one? Could also mean religious unrest/powerplays though.

Neither trader has really been very forthcoming with exactly *what* they trade. But people moving cash are always handy unless they represent the aspis consortium or team rocket or something :p

Definitely need to work something out with Samuel. While we could certainly rely on immigrants or trade for our food, annoying the entrenched locals seems like a crappy start.

Just some scattered thoughts to help get the ball rolling :)

Currently you have mapped (and therefore can offer) the 12-mile-diameter hexes highlighted in yellow here.

Also two further people to consider, the neighboring charter holders--Maegar Varn to your east (the area around the Tors of Levenies and Dunsward) and Hannis Delev to your west (the area of the Hooktongue Slough and the East Sellen River). They may have their eyes on making alliances with some of the investors as well, but at the same time you might need to trade with them for resources down the road and therefore would want to keep them friendly.

Hey sorry all, I've been sick with Covid past few days, and will be dealing with that. I'll try to post if possible, but feel free to bot me. Just notifying my games.

I blame post peak season fatigue and exhaustion. Which also has kept me from games.

I'll get a lengthier post up once I have a big block of time to read through things. Maybe tomorrow.

I have been reading through the prior interactions with Renault, and the party made a lot of promises that they wouldn't take away his freedom (since the first charter did not involve rulership).

But you cannot have a government if some of your citizens can just refuse to recognize your authority, particularly if they have that exemption by virtue of being wealthy and well-connected.

If his land is within our territory, then either he is a vassal lord with his own fiefdom, or he is simply another citizen. But we do need to assert authority in some way rather than just caving.

Edit: I suppose we could grant Renault a carve-out on a border region, based on Zokon's prior promise. This would then not set a precedent for everyone else who wants to ignore our rule. We could make clear that we offer no military protection to Renault, no help against monsters, and higher rates for use of bridges or canals that we build as well as higher rates for clerical healing (that is, our citizens receive the benefit of lower rates).

Serena would like to honor the promise that we gave to Renault, and Durgan's plan sounds like a good one in that respect. She would also like to give some space to Sandralane, for reasons that should be obvious. Finally, she would not mind ceding some space to Alissa, purely for personal reasons.

The Stroons - yes, they may cause issues, but let's hear them out first before deciding. I don't imagine Imeckus is that great a liar - seems like he would not need to be - so if he tells us that he thinks we are the most profitable option for his investment, then that may actually be the case. I'd rather have him on our side than not, and if profit gets him there, that's good enough for me. But I would want all the Sense Motive checks on anything he says. I am 'undecided' here.

Alak Dool - uncertain. Definitely want to learn more about him and what he wants. He could be worse than the Stroons for all we know.

Sandralane - no opinion. Fine by me if Serena wants her in.

Longtooth - leaning no.

Ser Ernest Day - I like him and would like to offer him a space.

Rutgar Dag - leaning no.

Max - leaning yes.

Alissa - leaning yes.

Religion - obviously Durgan wants a prominent place for Abadar and will work to ensure that Abadar's cathedral is ultimately the best and has the most worshippers. But this is friendly competition with Erastil, Pharasma, Iomedae, and even Gorum - he knows that many in the land will tend Chaotic. He knows there are geopolitical concerns regarding Sarenrae, specifically the Cult of the Dawnflower sect, though he trusts Serena to keep such problems at bay.

Other Investors - Not really liking Kozen's vagueness. Maybe we can find a way to get more information.

Over the next few days you will be expected to speak with people to hammer out things like patronage, real estate, titles, treaties, etc.... So now might be a good time to discuss who's dealing with whom and what you might be willing to offer. Some of these people will be coming to you as well (though I don't think you should expect the Stroons to initiate contact after your last encounter with them).

Still fighitng the rona, however I do want to point out Fergus would have discussed Loongtooths shady business with the others when the chance arrives. Don't do biz with em is Fergus's recommendation.

Fight that Rona! And get well soon.

The Stroons - opposed. I am not convinced they don't plot my sudden but inevitable demise to free Zokon up and get her to be queen. If they are granted a domain, they will probably handle it exemplary, to show her skill in stateswomanship - but I believe they have ulterior motives.

Alak Dool - A local newtifier to keep certain kinds of opposition in check could be useful. But I agree that we should learn more, AND define to what extent he will have autonomy...or rather, what he gets to do with that.

Sandralane - it makes sense for her to join us, I'm not certain she has other followers of her faith to speak for her other than Serena.

Longtooth - I would hear him out, see what he's up to. What he's looking for.

Ser Ernest Day - Same as with Sandralane, he has a natural ally in our fledgling kingdom, so would make sense.

Rutgar Dag - no idea about this guy.

Max & Alissa - Cautious yes. Same as with longtooth, the question would be what they hope to accomplish or build for themselves here.

Renault - We will definitely need to talk things over with him. Maybe he wants to 'sponsor' a domain as well. Considering that those who would join him in doing so are ones that were in theses lands before us, I am certain we could arrange something

Merchants - Not Alia's area of expertise. She has no idea about either of them. Trade is good. But those people getting rich enough from trade to invest and have others do the trading for them are usually the ones ripping you off in a deal.

Others - Just for the sake of completeness...and in case someone forgot or did not know yet: There was a Drow fortress beneath the Tunnels were we chased that Kobold Shaman. In other words, we do have pre-existing powers in our lands, already. Alia would veto any contact attempts with the Drow, and would rather want them dealt with. But I think they may not be the only ones...there was Kobolds, there were Mites - chances are we run into others and should also decide how to deal with that in the future.

While Noah doesn't seem to show up, the druids/green faith/animals may be another faction we have to consider.

The Stroons - opposed. I believe they have ulterior motives.

Alak Dool - Wizard good, capable good, sus as hell bad, need more info on him to take him off the burn at stake if he hangs around list.

Sandralane - Well well, Serena and Myself are followers of Sarenrae, so Zokon is naturally predisposed towards her.

Longtooth - I don't know enough, we'd need tot alk and find out what he wants.

Ser Ernest Day - I have to say I don't know much about him, but as a Paladin of Iomedae he has a certain favour towards him.

Rutgar Dag - Loud ruffian, does not hold too much sway with Zokon, he is more the quiet get stuff done, without the boasting type (Illthir being an exception).

Max & Alissa - Zokon can't help but like Max and Allisa, they seem to be cut from similar cloth.

Renault -Hmm.. Zokon is leaning towards displike but he is smart enough to not let himself deal with Renault, he will more heavilty rely on Durgans opinion here.

Merchants - Trade is good. We are in the wildernes any merchants willing to take the risk, should reap their rewards and thus encourage others. Not allowing the rich to get to rich is probably wise as well, spreading it around is better than centralising.

Religion - Zokon prefers a balance, The major gods of civilisation will provide a balance to all. He would not want Sarenrae or Abadar to prevail over any as the religions provide for the flavours of life.

Others - Kobolds, there were Mites - we need to contact and talk with them if we can, If I remember we were kinda friendly with the kobolds and not the mites. A deal here would set an example to other humanoid races, and maybe resolve future conflicts before they happen. Hope being a powerful motivator.

I don't think either of Stroon or Dool are flat out evil evil, just asshats. Out of the pair, Stroon is more hostile towards us. But yeah, also not glowing praise for their character :p

The merchants all seem quite shady. If the wizards are archetypally high strung and self important then these are probably greedy and selfish. Maybe. To my knowledge neither has actually stated what they trade in? Perhaps that's something to ask IC though ...

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Given the vagueness above - and the pace of PBP discussion - maybe we should do this in a two stage approach?

1) Poke a handful of people each, try to prod what they're about.

Basically everyone asks 1d3 NPCs each or something and try to figure out what they want, what they offer and how likely they are to cause issues. And what sort of issues ... (I mean, perhaps some issues will be fun to deal with - for the ooc players at least - so doesn't have to mean we pick the safest options.)

Should give us some info to go off. Overlap just means more info. And if some NPCs don't get questions well then that's probably a sign about their popularity ... :p

2) Actually make a list and prioritize it; attempt recruitment off that.

Everyone makes a ranked list of say 1-5 and we compile it. Perhaps with both "I really like this one" and "this one gives me the creeps in a bad way" wildcards.

Then we just start at the top and try to recruit?

Thoughts?

That sounds good, Illthir.

I will think on my top targets and questions.

One point on the Stroons: as Illthir notes, if they don't take a position in our kingdom, they will take a position and establish a power base in one of the neighboring kingdoms. Who, despite Zokon's ale diplomacy, will likely become our rivals at some point. Rivals backed by Imeckus Stroon.

I totally understand making them a "No," as long as we all understand that doing so won't just make them disappear.

Kicking the can down the road might let us prepare better... maybe.

"One-and-a-half pages of NPC overviews done, Mathterth."

Sandralane - Well well, Serena and Myself are followers of Sarenrae, so Zokon is naturally predisposed towards her.

Not to dissuade anyone their choices, but coming to worship a southern sun goddess from a home set in the forbidding Gronzi Forest at the foot of the Icerime Peaks seems a bit odd to me. ;)

I've almost recovered from the Rona. Should only be be out of posting whack a few more days. However-

The Stroons - opposed. As others.

Alak Dool - Generic, paranoid wizard that both highly overestimates himself, and somehow manages to concoct schemes against his person no one else has even begun to think of.

Sandralane - Well well, Serena and Myself are followers of Sarenrae, so Zokon is naturally predisposed towards her.

Longtooth - As stated, likely to be far more trouble than he is worth. I understand we aren't going for a particularly "lawlful" barony, but if we work with him I doubt it would be so simple to remove ourselves of him.

Ser Ernest Day - While his influence would insist on certain... morals, you can likely trust him up front.

Rutgar Dag - No strong opinion really. A loud, boisterous man is often easy to control/keep happy/predict.

Max & Alissa - A toss up, I honestly don't see much long term potential, but perhaps thats a good thing? I may have missed something about them however.

Merchants - My vote (or, Fergus's vote) goes to his dwarven brethren. You know what you are getting with them, and you know how to work around them. They are likely more predictable.

Religion - Personally, Nethys should have a temple, outside of that, swinging one way to far on the good/evil, lawful/chaotic axis would impede any real scientific and magical study. I'd vote we do our best to keep as many people happy, with a clear leaning towards the good over the evil, and a small leaning of chaotic over lawful.

Some random clarifications:

Other Investors - Not really liking Kozen's vagueness. Maybe we can find a way to get more information.

The people present have all gone through at least a cursory vetting process to verify their bona fides with the Lord Mayor of Restov, high court officials, and in Kozen's case more than likely the Archbanker.

To be clear, Allisa and Max are separate investors. They merely arrived at about the same time and don't really seem to know one another beyond what everyone else knows.

The merchants all seem quite shady. If the wizards are archetypally high strung and self important then these are probably greedy and selfish. Maybe. To my knowledge neither has actually stated what they trade in? Perhaps that's something to ask IC though ...

In essence a lot. The dwarves of Glimmerhold offer access to the skill and engineering of a dwarven city-state, as well as a trove of rare earth minerals. Kozen's breadth contacts can offer access to nearly anything found in any of the major human cities to the south including magical items. At this point however shipping times would be a real issue.

The Stroons (with the exception of Jewel the dog) haven't really interacted with party at all since arriving.

Yes, I have gotten up 1-1/2 pages of the 2-ish pages of NPC information on the Tactical Map slide pile. Note that some NPCs are listed more than once because they have overlapping areas of interest. There's more to come on the second half of slide 2.