Darl Quethos

Barrion The Builder's page

13 posts. Alias of Olondir.




The maker of Lady Blackbird and Lasers and Feelings is back with a new RPG on kickstarter. Here

Blades in the Dark is a tabletop RPG about a crew of daring scoundrels building a criminal empire in a haunted city full of thieves. Since this is a John Harper game, you can expect an RPG that's very focused on narrative over crunch. A really really good write up and demo of play of this RPG can be found here!


Welcome to the discussion thread!


Stand by for first post!


This is a D&D 5th edition adventure that takes place in the city of Korvosa. It is a more investing version of the intro to Curse of the Crimson Throne AP that will take you from levels 1 to 3. It should take a couple months to run.

While I can't commit to a full-blown CotCT AP yet, I can commit to the first "episode" of one. Depending on it's success, I will look into continuing the game and AP with an Episode 2.

I'm looking for 4-5 interested Korvosans who were wronged by a drug-peddling crimelord and looking to take him and his entire operation down. Hard.

The Hook
You find a small card on your person placed somewhere you would notice. Perhaps in your spellbook, your pocket, near your holy symbol, or in the inside of your favorite tankard. The cardback undoubtedly points to it belonging to a Harrow deck. You turn the card over and see a note.

It reads, "I know what Gaedren has done to you. He has wronged me as well. Gaedren must face his fate and justice must be done. Come to my home at 3 Lancet Street at sunset. Others like you will be there."

Gaedren. You think to yourself and back to the harm he caused you. This harm could be a recent wound or a very old scar that never quite healed. Regardless, the allure of confronting your personal nemesis once and for all is too good to ignore.

Inspiration and Expectations

Your hero is about to begin his or her journey from a grudge holding NPC into a moonlighting vigilante!

This game takes a lot of style from vigilante antiheroes as well as TV crime dramas. The Dark Knight, The Green Arrow, The Punisher, Law and Order, and The Wire. You will be working in the grey area of crime fighting. It will spotlight a lot of social issues such as drugs, poverty, race, and class.

This episode has a lot of action in it with some elements of intrigue and mystery. Further episodes plan to chronicle your progression from vigilante into full-fledged city hero while tackling larger and larger mysteries before it's too late and your beloved city is no more... but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Your character is expected to have a life outside of adventuring. Be it barely making ends meet in the slums of Ridgefield, diligently studying at the University of Korvosa, blacksmithing in the Ironworks of Old Korvosa, a Korvosan Guardsmen fed up with the red tape, or running a small muffin boutique in the Heights.

When not moonlighting as a vigilante, downtime and rests allow for folks to spend their treasure carousing at bars, getting into whirlwind romances, crafting that perfect set of platemail, getting that promotion in the guard, getting your muffin shop's gingersnap muffins written up in the Korvosan Herald, or schmooze with the rich and powerful. We will paraphrase this downtime and use it for further adventure developments and incentives (wouldn't it be great to take down those punks harassing your customers?), continuations of personal lives, and provide a living snapshot of the city.

It will help document your rise from a basic nobody in the unwashed masses into the web of upper class intrigue with the movers and shakers.

Rules
I will be using the D&D 5th Edition with some variant options. Most notably:
Standard array, slight racial restrictions, slighty-modified backgrounds, and a heavy emphasis on downtime activities. (Short rests are 8 hours, long rests are 10 days.) The Korvosa Player Reference Document goes into explicit details (including how Gaedren may have wronged you). It is still a WIP but it is 95% done. I think I might include factions.

Requirements

I need folks interested and able to post at least once a day every day. I have no formal requirements for rule or pbp experience but I am looking for people who are super interested and want to commit to this style of game. Folks who probably already read DoomedHero's guide to PbP gaming.

I have been running 5e successfully in person for several months now, but will be testing these specific rule changes out with some friends this Monday. I will be ready to run this episode 1 as soon as I fix any glaring issues I find with downtime or healing or anything.

In the meantime consider character ideas. What's his or her's occupation? What do they value most? Where do they live in the city? Who are their friends and family and what would they say about you? What would your enemies say? Why or how did Gaedren or his cronies hurt you?

I'll be around to answer any questions you may have too.

Thank you very much for reading my post. I'm really excited about this.


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So I wanted to elaborate on the taking down of Gaedren Lamm in my rebooted CotCT campaign. This is an incomplete collection of my half-baked ideas and schemes for running the intro to this marvelous AP in a bigger way. I think this deserves its own thread.

This is pasted from my phone so. I apologize for the formatting.

The flow of this adventure will proceed roughly as follows:

1.) Zellara’s
2.) Shakedown of one of his dealers
3.) Rob Gaedren’s Stash in the Old Fishery
4.) Take down a dream spider shipment
5.) Fight Gaedren in his warehouse

Additionally here are some other non-linear events/things to splice into this adventure about the city.

a.) The Loss of the Muses ( See Adventure Background of CotCT AP-3)

b.) Opening of Mad Gods Key (Dungeon Magazine – 114) (Irontusk selling the key to a sick gang in old korvosa who sold the key to a disguised Lady Andaisin.)

c.) More beggares/folks looking for work

d.) For Whom the Bell Tolls (See my post here)

e.) Zenobia Zenderholm volunteering at an orphanage your players might be dropping off former Lambs to.

f.) Foundation Day Festival – The annual king’s announcement has been cancelled for his illness but the festivities, food, and drink still go on!

g.) Trips to Eels End – Drinking, Gambling, and more! Perhaps they run into a drugged out Salvatore Scream?

h.) Long lines at food banks

i.) Talk of the dwarves of the Ironworks wanting to Unionize

At War

Consider having The King of Spiders in Eel’s End and Lamm be in a drug war/rivals. With Devargo’s work in Old Korvosa with Lamm growing his business out on the mainland.

Mounting Tensions

The tensions of the city are tied to the health of their king. Talk amongst the townfolk whisper that of rebellion should the king’s health go south. “She’s not OUR queen, you know” is commonly muttered. Having small things like this around while the PCs are hunting down Lamb’s gang should be enough of a blinder to the point when the King dies.

Bringing in the Law

If your players tip law enforcement regarding any particularly structure, there’s a good chance that the players will meet the same bureaucratic slowness everyone else has. It’s up to you about how the Guard feels about vigilante justice too.

But consider having their efforts be partially rewarded. Consider having them approached by Grau Soldado and his friend Neffi who are two Watch Seargeants who cut through the crap and express concern with how slow the guard is on such matters. They arrange a meeting with their lieutenant Cressida Kroft who, like them, is a doer. She assures she’ll follow up on this.

What’s that Smell?

Consider giving Shiver a smell of something. For me and my game? I like the idea that Shiver has this dreamy quality. Like incense or potent vanilla. I’m considering having some burning when we play this game for that immersion.

The Story

The game begins as normal. The players all have a reason to hate Gaedren and got their notes to meet at 3 Lancet Street at sunset.

1.) Zellara’s Home (Curse of the Crimson Throne AP – 1)

Zellara wants the players to do the leg work.

“….Eran tracked them down and in return for this Gaedren murdered him. My only son. In cold blood. He has torn down my life and now I will stop at nothing to tear down his.

He has robbed me of my only child and now I will rob him of his one true love: himself. I cannot go to the Guard. They move so slow and this man has evaded the law for decades! What guarantee would I have that he would be duly punished?

I sought my harrow deck for advice and was rewarded. But the cards work in mysterious ways. They can’t always tell you what you wish to know, only what you need to know. It told me to find you and how to begin this man’s permanent unraveling.
The cards have blessed me with our first target in Ridgefield. But Gaedren is a weed and it is unclear to where his roots truly lie. His gang’s has sprouted from some old poor house called St. Casperian’s Salvation. I doubt Gaedren is there personally, but his henchmen must be. Find this place and uncover our next clue. Should things become unclear, bring me a focus of one of his henchmen and I may be able to divine our next target. “

2.) St. Casperian’s Salvation (From the end of Second Darkness AP – 1)

Run pretty much run as written. The only modification involves making this place a shiver den. Perhaps describe this place with a bit more broken needles and stuff. (see my advice about giving shiver a smell.)

Optionally, add a few of Gaedren’s Little Lambs as lookouts. (Think about the kids and what they do in HBOs the Wire.)

Really though, nothing really changes here except in the treasure, I’d include some doses of shiver, a few fishballs, and perhaps a note about fishery location in Westpier 17 for a reup.”

What the Splithog Pauper knows:

-Gaedren moves around a lot

-splithog reups in the Midland docks on the Westpier.

-Splithog gets his drugs from an alchemist named Yargin.

3.) The Old Fishery (Curse of the Crimson Throne AP – 1)

So this place will have the most changes to it. (Even then—not a lot.) The old fishery’s current purpose is the stash. This is where Yargin hides the Shiver and could be well guarded if the PCs weren’t careful. Thanks to the acrid smell of fish slurry, it masks the otherwise pungent odor of the Shiver.

I’d put more guards/thugs/whatever on duty here. As appropriate as you think. More so if the PCs weren’t careful if they know something is up. Lamm’s crew thinks the party is a drug robber (Think Omar from HBO’s The Wire), a new gang moving in on their turf, or sent by the King of Spiders (See “At War”)

Lastly, remove all instances of Gaedren himself and his room from this encounter. Instead have Yargin as the big cheese here and his room is now Gaedren’s old room. Also, Zellara’s head and harrow deck shall remain in a box with a note to Rolth that this might be useful for one his “experiments”

The treasure here should still be the same with one extra addition: A golden key and a piece of paper. On the paper is a name “Vancaskerkin” and the passage,
“Chimera looks to sunrise,

Cyclops looks to Sunset,

Medusa look to sunrise,

Umber Hulk looks to sunset,

Basilisk looks to Sunrise”

This is a key to a safety deposit box in the Bank of Abadar. Verik Vancaskerkin is a fellow sergeant on the Korvosan Guard. He watches the harbor. His interactions with his Vuldran lover have had him look the other way regarding a few inbound shipments before.

The Bank

The players will be granted access by providing identification and their key that they are of the Vancaskerkin. Run the portion of the Vanderboren Vaults in “There is No Honor” adventure of Dungeon Magazine-139. Inside the Vancaskerkin vault, though, is no gold or riches. There’s a single, sealed envelope sealed with Vuldran Wax. Inside the envelope is a message written to a lover about a “dreamy” shipment from Vuldra to arrive in a week on “The Blue Nixie.” The message is unsigned, but clearly written with a certain female elegance.

(What’s going on here is that Vimanda secured for Gaedren a bunch of Dream Spiders and they’re en route to Korvosa! Using Verik as a pawn, she’s using his family’s vault as a secure drop point. This sultry note is for Verik to know to let the Blue Nixie go unmolested. I leave the connection between Vimanda and Gaedren’s drug ring open to you guys to think of a why. It comes into play in part 5 though)

Time at the University Library

If your PCs ever need to research anything, at one point go ahead and drop this:

Two guards are stationed outside Jeggare Library. There was a robbery earlier this morning. Someone ran off with a magical book. The book was rumored to be magically shut and no one alive knew how to open it. This is a follow-up to the Mad Gods Key adventure. Add-in if you wanted.

These guards could be the Watch Seargeants described in Bringing in the Law.

4.) The Blue Nixie (“There is No Honor” Savage Tide Adventure Path – 1 part 2 – Dungeon Magazine – 139?)

Modifying this part, have Gaedren’s thugs in the process of collecting their dream spiders off the Blue Nixie when the PCs show up. Use the Rhagodessa stats, but describe as a dream spider queen. The fire below deck not only panics the dream spiders into attacking, but any sort of webbing it may have had that catches fire may cause sailors, thugs, guards, or PCs into a crazy, hallucinatory fight! I leave this to your discretion what happens. Soller Vark has the name of a warehouse written on a slip of paper on his person. This is the destination he’s to bring this dream spider queen.

5.) The Final Showdown – Gaedren’s Warehouse

Technically owned by House Arkona. This is the warehouse that will become the Hospice of Seven Days to the Grave! (The one that had to be sold by House Arkona.) So use those maps! Just modify them to fit the theme of a drug manufacturing plant.

There’s boxes and boxes of spices and various plants, textiles, furniture, and other miscellaneous foreign bric-a-bracs. F3 for example Stays the same. All the work is done in the basement. F7. And F8. Are official offices and meeting areas and everything looks like a regular office. Paperwork regarding shipments between Korvosa and Vuldra are shown.

Feel free to have spaces here full of dream spiders, tubes, webbings, run by zombies/skeletons animated by Rolth which go in there and extract the venom. Rolth, of course, has better things to do, like cause a pandemic.

Additionally, the secret basement of House Arkona is currently a Shiver manufacturing plant. The blood vats are full of various stages of shiver. (G13/Temple Center is not yet constructed at this time!) This is where I’ll have my party fight Gaedren.

In conclusion, Arkona denies knowing this foul man has taken over his warehouse and denies ownership. In fact, he issues a statement in the Korvosan Herald (whatever paper circulates in your game) about applauding the PCs for their efforts to rid this crime. He donates the Warehouse to the city so it can become an public space for like a soup kitchen, poor house, etc.


Hello.

So I solicited my friends for interest in a more serious-than-usual urban fantasy campaign centered on a single city. I mentioned it'd deal with racial issues, poverty, and politics revolving around this one city: Korvosa. I got four, "Hell Yeahs!".

Let me first warn you that there will be spoilers from many sources. Sources other than just the Curse of the Crimson Throne AP. (Several other APs, Dungeon Magazines, other campaign journals etc.)In fact, assume most of my ideas are not my own. For whatever I accomplish, it was on the shoulders of giants who I've gleefully stole from. My skills lie in hiding the duct tape and stitches that blend this assortment of clever adventures all together. So this is the only spoiler warning I'll be giving before proceeding.

Even prior to character creation, we ran a one-shot adventure my friends dubbed: Law and Order: Korvosa Unit. Some pregenerated detectives had a great time looking for a missing noble scion. (Reaper's "The Eldest Son" adventure). Using generous amounts of info from Guide to Korvosa, I fleshed out a city, introducing several reoccurring NPCs, racial and social tensions, art, and landmarks of the city. My players are pretty new to RPGs in general so I thought giving them a chance to play some Pathfinder and experience Korvosa would help fan the flames of character inspiration.

Following the conclusion of this adventure, we had our session 0. Expectations and character creation. This game would never work without this. I required two things from characters. The first is that they are children forced to work by a seedy scumbag named Gaedren Lamm and the second being that their character requires some sort of motivation or goal to help the city. "To get rich" is not a valid motivation. Think of something your character want's to change about the city. An injustice or unfair institution that your character want's to see fixed.

Dramatis Personae

Alika - Female Human(Chelaxian) - Cleric of Torag
Alika is a math genius. A socially awkward girl obsessed with the workings of machines and engineering. She views her faith as greatly tied to her city. To her, this city is one colossal machine and she is called to keep her running smoothly.

Melik The Provider - Male Dwarf - Druid (Urban Druid)
Melik is a Dwarf sent from Janderhoff to train at Korvosa's University. Too bad his uncle he was staying with had other plans. Deep in debt, he sold Melik to Gaedren. His betrayal of his kin left him sour and untrustworthy of others in authorty. He has taken to as a sort of shepherd for his fellow Lambs. He seeks to restore balance, socially and ecologically here in Korvosa. He sees hope in the poor and the youth of the city.

Rat - Female Human (Chelaxian) Ranger (Sable Company Marine)
Rat grew up in the Shingles before being Gaedren's courier. She originally was undecided on her life until seeing the Sable Company on their mounted hippogriffs and found her calling. She seeks to use her skills to tackle the escalating poverty and violence in the Shingles.

Cada - Human (Half-Shoanti) - Alchemist
She was sold at an early age to Gaedren by her mother and never knowing the identity of her Shoanti father. After encountering the venomous effects of Dream Spiders at an early age, she imagined she was a wolfbeast and felt at home. This strange sensation propelled her into a career of alchemy in hopes of unlocking this inner animal. She wonders if it is tied to who her father is/was.

Before I begin with the prelude, let me explain some background changes I made for my game as a nod to a previous one-shot based on a Golarion/pathfinder rendition of 3.0's "The Sunless Citadel." As a nod to that game, Kazavon and a certain Ustlavic Vampire are replaced by Ashardalon and his faithful vampire priest, Gulthias.

My next post will detail my prelude sessions!


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One of the numerous additions and changes to my upcoming CotCT game is getting the history of Korvosa to my players in more exciting ways than the usual text dump or "just read the wiki article on this". I hope you guys enjoy this attempt at telling my players about the history of Fort Korvosa as told in the Guide to Korvosa on page 49. Note: This is a play that should occur early on...possibly a prelude for players..before people lose their muse.

pretext on the art of lower-class Korvosa:

The beautiful Chelish operas are adored by the upper class. Really beautiful, baroque tales of revenge and sadness encapsulate Chelish culture and score rave reviews in Korvosa among the elite.

Pilts' Exemplary Execrables offers a hyperbole of this.

For the poor recognize these Chelish styles as symbols of the upper class and formed its own response to it. Because, while the poor will never be rich, they can certain enjoy a night out mocking them. So they enjoy and relish its own gaudiness, decadence with sweet, sweet satire. Tonight they are rich and having the finest entertainment their copper pinches can buy!

Similarly to what The Misfits did with combining 50's rockabilly style, b-grade horror movie lyrics, and punk rock, this subculture makes a stew of all these various elements blending spices of the Decadence movement and places like Grand Guignol.Take your classic American summer blockbuster or campy horror flick and combine it with some 60's b-grade movie elements and over-the-top gore (with classically played metal and punk scores) and you got this style.

Imagine metal genre classical orchestras adorned in spiked leather outfits and painted skull faces! It is somewhat ethnocentric/Pro-Korvosa but has quite a lot of antidisestablishment influences and nods to many political philosophers from Galt. Oh how delightfully twisted and decadent!

So a lot of this is editable and customizable. I'm really only laying the ground work here and providing some suggestions.

I hope you all enjoy my scatterbrained idea!

A crumpled yellow flyer stapled to a poll or message board, floating capriciously down the street, maybe stuck to the bottom of your shoe, or even reverse pick-pocketed on you, reads:
------------------------------
Friends! Women! Korvosans! make time this week to relish in our delectable history! Here the uncensored, 100% true story of the 12 men who survived and the back of the Shoanti aggressors.
Blood! Bravery! Betrayal! MORE BLOOD!
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
FROM: (DM choice) TO:(DM choice)
Directed by Pilts Swastel, Owner of Exemplary Execrables
Written by: (DM choice)
With music by: (DM choice)
Art by: Salvatore Scream
--------------------------------

Describe the gaudy former temple of Aroden with its graffiti'ed stained glass windows, it's plastic/glass giant gem encrusted doors, dirty red carpet, skull-adorned chandeliers, graffitied bathrooms with things with skulls and sayings like "LIVE AND DIE FREE", etc.

Play this when the play begins. The musicians are all adorned in tight, spiked leather suits with various skull and undead makeup on with long or spiked hair of various colors. Some combination of GWAR/Misfits/80s Glam Rock.

(The play opens with a view view of several black chelish sailing ships coming into Conqueror's bay and seeing Endrin Isle for the first time. You can hint that the backdrops and art is INCREDIBLY detailed (foreshadow Scream!))

Narrator aka DM: In 4407, the flotilla of ships commanded by Admiral Kiamelu land on the island of Conqueror's Bay. The Chelish marines and nobles are instantly attacked by an awaiting force of Shoanti savages.

(The music picks up and the play cuts to the landing of several Chelaxian marines getting attacked on the beaches and become under attack. Describe this opener as one that'd make Saving Private Ryan look like The Lego Movie. Describe the hero, Waydon Endrin, saving his marine brother's lives from the naked, caricatured Shoanti horde.)

Narrator: The Admiral losses his nerve and orders a full retreat stranding several dozen marines on the island. Only the Frigate Merciless disobeys orders and stays behind to provide support.

(Ham up the actors describing intense scenes about the drama with stuff like men saying "DAMMIT ADMIRAL WE STILL HAVE MEN ON THAT ISLAND." "MY SON IS ON THAT BEACH, GODS DAMMIT." With the stern admiral being, like, "AND THERE HE WILL DIE." and walk off. Include the captain of the Merciless being like "SCREW THE ADMIRAL. I'M NOT LEAVING THOSE MEN TO DIE." Really play up the machismo.)

(Cut to Jeggare and his men coming down the river)

Narrator: Many days later, Montlarion Jeggare and his famed expedition's return down the river that will carry his name to find the smoke and besieged marines on Endrin Isle.

(Jeggare takes off his glasses in a "Mother. Of. God." moment before cutting back to the stranded marines.)

Narrator: The stranded marines hold up on the hill that would become Fort Korvosa. Battling Shoanti, hunger, thirst, disease, and the island itself.

(Scene of marines fighting snakes, assassin vines, dodging arrows, quicksand, have a few dramatic deaths. "RODRIGO....NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" with Endrin grabbing Rodrigo's brother and being like "PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER MAN. HE'S DEAD.")

(The drums increases and here comes the climactic battle where only 12 men are left before Jeggare and his team dashes through the jungle and turns the tide. The shoanti men flee leaving their scores beautiful, naked women behind.)

The crowd cheers as the men wipe sweat and blood from their brow and are, like, "Took you long enough, Jeggare." With him being all smug and "Looked like you had things under control. I take it you're the senior commander in charge?" "Your gods damned right.. now what are we gonna do with all these women?"

The crowd cheers and several scream "RAPE THEM! KILL THEM" in a disturbing fashion with the crowd voting for the actors and how the play should close.

Regardless, the play ends with tremendous applause. Perceptive players will notice that the Sensechal himself came out this evening to watch the show and was one of the first to give a standing ovation!


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Spoiler Warning
The following post(s) will contain spoilers regarding not just Curse of the Crimson Throne AP, but Rise of the Runelords AP, Carrion Crown AP, various modules, and DUNGEON magazine adventures.

If you're not okay with that please do not read anymore. You have been warned!
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Introduction
Hello!

This will be my ongoing thread detailing my planned CotCT campaign. The game is scheduled to begin in a few months and I wanted to take the time now to share my ideas and plans with those who I have taken so many ideas and plans from. I love you, Paizo boards.

Granted I really only have the Prelude and Book 1 nailed down, I have the general outline of events ready to present to everyone.

Campaign Outline

After reading the AP for myself and then other folk's takes on the AP, I will be modifying the overall direction of the Adventure Path a few key areas.

I will be focusing my campaign more on the city of Korvosa and the player character's relationships and holdings within it. There will be various urban problems such as Drugs, Racism, Social Class, Labor, and Corruption that rear their head as the PCs seek revenge against their first major villian: Gaedren Lamm and his precocious necromancer nephew, Rolth.

I will be including a Prelude approximately 5 years prior to the start of the actual campaign where all of my PCs are part of Gaedren's Little Lambs. The PCs get to experience the cruelty of Gaedren first hand and will help make their revenge on Gaedren much more satisfying...and leaving them on the trail for Rolth.

The campaign itself will have lots of time before the death of King Eodred II to have the PCs develop a sense for the city. My players should expect a lot of juxtaposition of trivial buildings and streets before the city succumbs to riots, devastating plagues, and a ferocious street-by-street civil war.

After quelling the riots in book 1, the PCs will have a taste of what it is like being on the fringes of the elite of Korvosa. They'll be doing a lot more intrigue and social wining and dining. Council meetings, operas, trials, and more will occur. I'm also considering having a minor kingmaker-y component regarding them owning a manor and upgrading it. All the while the PCs gather clues about Rolth whose trail leads them to a long forgotten and abandoned summer home nicknamed "Misgivings".

Here the PCs will learn of virulent disease being manufactured and must race back to Korvosa for the start of Seven Days to the Grave. (About here is where the frays start to show on my plot rope as I have yet to develop a fun way for the PCs to concoct and distribute the cure for the disease as well as get stuck in Old Korvosa AND out of the grasp of the Queen and her Red Mantis hit squads.) Anyways... moving on.

Escape from old Korvosa occurs with the PCs understanding House Arkona as a possible ally against the throne in an enemy of my enemy sort of way. (Since they oppose her just so they can rule Korvosa themselves.) They discover the truth behind the Queen's power (Kavazon and the Crown of Fangs) and must seek out the Shoanti, fizzle out their planned assault on the city, and earn their blessing. (This "blessing" replaces the need for the sword in Scarwall).

Returning to the city, the PCs must deal with a city in civil war with the resistance's back against the wall. They'll fight city block by city block against devils, undead, and grey maidens (as well as a few loyalists) to reclaim the city. Here they learn of the weak link in Iloesa's plans. The ambitions of the second most high priest of Asmodeus is willing to betray the temple in exchange for being high priest in the PC's new order. He will give up the secrets of the contract held between the Queen and a powerful devil and it's location in the Hall of Wards. (Academy of Secrets). Here the PCs must defeat the contract devil and Lorthact by revealing the exiled Archduke to his enemies in Hell and Asmodeus himself voiding the contract as thanks.

With the Queen's infernal powers negated, the PCs and the resistance begin to turn the tide against the still formidable Queen.

Following that... I'm not very sure. I expect a sort of rebuilding process involving House Arkona and the PCs depending on how that went down and the ambitions of my own players.

What's to Come
My future posts will break down in almost complete detail my plans for each section of this campaign... starting with the prelude.


Has anyone considered using plot twist (and plot twist: flashback) cards as benefits for harrowings?

My idea is that with every harrowing at the start of each chapter, I'll give each player 3 cards: 1 Flashback and 2 Plot Twist Cards for Past/Present/Future. Each plot twist card will tie into a harrowing card and this way the players have been foretold their destiny a little bit and have flexibility for their harrowing to come true.

Example: Describe Zellara drawing the Betrayal harrow card and describe how she predicts a sudden twist of alliances in your future (as well as still foreshadow any future chapter events). Then I'd hand him/her the "backstabbed" plot twist card).


So my friends and I going to be playing a nautical/pirate sandbox game and I thought it'd be fun to play a pirate accountant/Lawyer.

Since clerics are tricky and have those pesky alignment auras, I was thinking about playing a true neutral Cleric of Abadar. Pirate ships and thieves guilds are enterprises and have needs for lawyers and accountants as much as any other business, right? The god of the first vault gives him a shred of authority and legitimacy when he's cooking the books or making our ship's manifest to align with specs.

Now he'll certainly be at odds with the church as a whole. He's someone who worships the more capitalistic/entrepreneurial aspects of Abadar and less on the whole beauracracy/rule-of-law aspect. These odds can range from downright heresy to simple patronizing. Something much akin to a BBC correspondent looking down on a muckraker for "The Sun" or a Corporate lawyer looking down on an ambulance chaser.

I already have DM approval on this concept, but I wanted to open up to the online community for some ideas of some conflicts/rationalizations for my cleric, who worships the god of Excel Spreadsheets, to keep his divine powers.

Would anyone like to take a shot at helping me round out my case for why my cleric of Abadar should retain his powers while, simultaneously, be allowed to cook the books and cheat as legal counsel/accountants for pirates?

PS- I erred against being a cleric of besmara because the jolly rodger would not be a good symbol to represent "legitimacy" in the court of law (not to mention that aura of chaos). Asmodeous was also ruled out because my character 1.)isn't necessarily evil. 2.)Thinks a world of darkness and devilishness is even worse for the economy and human prosperity then what's there now.


Hi!

So the Kickstarter is a few days old and it has already met it's funding goal. I wanted to share with everyone here who hasn't heard of this game yet to think about supporting it.

It's basically a Dwarflike City-Sim with RPG elements capable of being modded to the extreme.

They literally list in the kickstarter video how DnD is a huge influence in their design decision making when it comes to opening up the game to customization and modders.

I bet one of the first custom towns out there will be a model of "Sandpoint".


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Welp. So my ambitions are far exceeding my grasp (as they tend to do) and would love some feedback from my favorite cabal of ingenious GMs on how to flavor my favorite DnD 3.0 module for a special Rise of the Runelords game.
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This is what I got so far:

Sandpoint's Midsummer Festival is a cornucopia of games, foods, activities, and trade.

One of these events is the annual apple auction ran by the unscrupulous Jubrayl Vhiski. Every year for the past 5 years, a single ruby red apple with the shiniest hue and tremendous healing opportunities
(Literally- the apple can be sliced up to 4 times and offer the benefits of a heal spell.) goes for auction to the highest bidder. The proceeds go to alms and Jubrayl's closing the debauchery-laden Pixie's Kitten campaign. (or so he proclaims!)

Now no one knows for sure where this apple comes from. Jubrayl claims he it's from a hidden grove in Devil's Platter known only by a few Varisians. The rumor mill confirms this with a farmer or traveler or two saying they've seen someone matching Jubrayl's description returning from somewhere in Devil's Platter. (Some have said they even have seen him with a few goblins from time to time.)

Now another part of this apple auction tradition is that, while the sun is setting, the apple's seeds are bedded in town in hopes Sandpoint will have it's own life-giving tree, but this has been quite a fruitless endeavor!

Time and time again, the sapling grows unhealthy. Until one night after one or two years, the thorny and crooked tree is stolen away. Some say Jubrayl's Scznarni do it to protect his business, others say its the goblins! (And just last year, old Boderick Quint mentioned he looked up one night from his desk late at night and would swear he saw an old thorny looking tree running away on it's own! But no one listens to that cooky old man..)

So anyways, it's 5 days out from the festival and this year's festival is going to be even bigger than ever (now that Sandpoint's cathedral is to be blessed and opened and all). Mayor Kendra has asked the PCs to get to the core of this apple mystery so that Sandpoint can finally have a tree of their own. Now Jubrayl's offers no help to non-varisians. Varisians or those with more persuasive means can find out that a day's ride into the platter, you can find an old trail left unused by Varisians long ago that will take you to where you need to go. "You'll know you're in the right place."
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Now does anyone have any good ideas about skinning the actual Sunless Citadel as an ancient Thassilonian fortress? How does Ashardalon fit into the ancient Thassilonian/Karzoug/Alaznist narrative? Why is there an ancient temple to him?

I was contemplating making Ashardalon an aspect of Dahak, but I was more hoping to keep this citadel as more of an ancient Thassilonian ruin. Maybe Ashardalon was an ancient red wyrm general of Alaznist/Karzoug with a little too much ego so he thought he was a god? Maybe this was an ancient red-dragon roost/rookery run by this Red Wyrm?

Should the kobolds stay or should I replace them with a splinter group of goblins?

Make the white wyrmling a red one? A blue and foreshadow Karzoug a little more?

Thanks for your time and input!


Hello,

I'll be playing a LN cleric(evangelist) of Asmodeus in an upcoming game and I was looking for some creative advice. His whole shtick is being a young, rich, contract lawyer who loves summoning things to do his bidding. I still need to talk to my DM to go over a few things, but he has approved the general idea of my character. He'll be pretty easy to make, but I need help with selecting my only domain. What would be the best domain for this kind of character?

Now I love the idea of roleplaying out the casting of summon spells as contracts, for example: "This contract is between the caster, Kennedy Valanor, and the Celestial Eagle. It shall be under his and only his control for the entire duration of 1 round(s). This takes effect at the end of this binding spoken agreement by the power vested in me from the great Lord Asmodeus himself. May his works be mighty and all glory be given to him. Amen." My major problem I have is the sermonic performance. Particularly: inspire courage. How do I roleplay this guy so he is inspiring to his party members?


Where Do Dwarf-Eating Carp Come From?

I love this game and I'm happy to see it get an article written about it.


Erastus 22nd, 4710

"You may kiss the bride."

The entire chapel erupts in a fury of cheers for Syra and Gregan Orlovsky, now happily wedded. The doors open to one of the brightest, warmest summer days of the year. You could not ask for better weather. While you make your way out of the chapel, ushers are directing everyone to the stage erected next to the chapel.

Peitros, standing proud on stage in his expensive garb, gathers everyone's attention.

"Greetings, friends! I am so proud of my daughter on her day and may the Gods bless everyone for such beautiful weather! It is a pleasure to see so many faces, both fresh and familiar, joining us on this fine day. I particularly want to wish good luck to all the expeditions into the River Kingdoms that will help Brevoy! I'd like to thank the Iron Wraiths and wish them the best of luck as they venture into the Glenborn Uplands to pacify the region and make diplomatic contact with Pitax, the upcoming swordlord Maegar Varn and his Steel Banshees as they make peace with the Nomen Centaurs, the Copper Claws of the Fanged Legion for their upcoming escort mission into the Slough to ensure the saftey of trade routes in that area and lastly to Ser Bregan and to all his comrades of Mithral Falcons as they pacify Glenborne and rid us of bandits! I look forward to praising you all this afternoon. To any first-time visitors in the audience this morning, I wish to offer my personal welcome and I truly hope that you enjoy your stay here at my estate and expense! And to any of you that I see more regularly, thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to enjoy all of the attractions today's festival will have to offer. I think I even see that Larz Rovanky has managed to tear himself away from his work at the tannery to join us. And to think that I often joked that I wondered what old Larz would be doing if he hadn't been spending all his time getting his hide tanned." Laughter erupts among the crowd and many eyes turn toward a serious looking man with a sour expression. Kendra pauses to wave at him with a warm smile before continuing.
"I will not keep you all from the planned reception and feast so without further ado, let me introduce someone who readily will. Belor, get up here. Captain Hemlock, everybody!"

After a round of applause, a rather dour looking Chelish man wearing an armored coat takes center stage and clears his throat after shaking hands with the mayor.

"Thank you, Peitros. Citizens! Even in the heat of celebration we would do well to remember that which brought this day of merriment to us. Syra and Gregan, we wish you all the best in this world today and forever." After a round of applause, he continues."I am of the understanding that there is a bonfire planned for this evening and I urge all of you, especially those with young children, to observe caution during this event. Please enjoy yourselves responsibly and know that my watch will never be more than a moment away. He pauses to briefly scan the crowd. "Now I would like to welcome the Father to the stage. Thank you."

He gives a nod as the following applause is somewhat more muted than what Kendra had received and, unfazed, returns to his seat at the back of the stage, passing an older, stern looking gentlemen with a well-groomed goatee. As he reaches the podium he loosens his collar and winks to the crowd.

"Thank you, Captian Hemlock. Thank you, Peitros." He nods to each in turn. [b]"For those who do not know me, I am Father Zanthus and priest of Desna. Thank you, everyone, for taking me into your hearts and homes and letting me have the pleasure of presiding over the wedding ceremony. I'll not bore you anymore with another long speech, since you all appear to be eager to get to the celebrations. So, I officially declare the festivities underway! Enjoy!" He is drowned out by cheers before he even finishes the thought.

Within several minutes the crowd disperses in all directions. Criers call out advertising activities of all sorts. All around you are carnival games waiting to be played, veritable mountains of free food and sweets begging to be eaten, and drinking contests starting despite the early hour, and more.

Everyone will have time to roleplay some more before the best-dish competition for lunch is served and a minor honorable celebration for the expeditions will be held at midday. Some more time for games and meeting others will occur in the afternoon and then the joust in the evening.

Games List:

archery game,
Ol' rusty in the Rusty Dragon (Strength competition),
Ring the Bell (Strength competition),
ring toss,
egg toss competition, (2 person event)
sack race, (3 person event)
and long jump.

You do not have to play all of them. Also, if you have a good idea for a game that it is not on the list but you'd like to play. let me know.


Welcome to the It's Always Sunny OOC thread and congratulations on being selected!

Role Call/Dramatis personæ
1. Ser Bregan Stone
2. Areanna Dilante
3. Ravens
4. Valeska
5. Tiomir
6. Vishoon

Now that you all have been selected, I'll go over your characters once more and make sure everything looks good and we're ready to begin.

Rules:

Races- Standard only, please

Classes - All classes and archetypes from Core, APG, and ISWG will be allowed. ANYTHING FROM UM/UC WILL BE ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS

Ability Scores - 15 Point Buy I want to keep this game a little bit tough for you PCs. Don't worry too much, though. Since I will be doing story-based leveling this game and with everything I have a lot in store for you, you guys should be just fine!

Alignment - Good or Neutral Only Please.

Feats - Core, APG, ISWG. Once again, other sources must be approved by me.

Traits - Standard 2 traits

Hit Points - Max at first, average + 1 for every level after

Starting Gold - Average

Starting level - 1

I'll put up the IC game after I have reviewed everyone's sheet. I hope I can make this game truly something great and be a fair GM for everyone. I may make a mistake here and there regarding a ruling or applying a bonus to something, but then again who doesn't? I don't mind if you call me out on an error. I think I'll make it up to you all with style!

To anyone who'd like to send me their HeroLab character file or will wish to contact me privately, my gmail is Olondir.

Are we all ok with running initiative in a block form? If you do not know what that means, I will take the average initiative for the party and your enemies to see who goes first. This way you all may post in any order and we don't have to wait an entire day for one of us to post before moving on. I understand this mitigates the advantages of initiative boosting but I think that is a small price to pay to speed up combats.


Hello and welcome!

I have been preparing for a Kingmaker campaign that the world has never seen before and now I'm ready to start recruitment. I've been having so many ideas for different spins on parts of the Kingmaker AP. Some of these are my own. Others were taken or inspired from others here on the boards. That along with finally realizing the awesomeness that is the Song of Ice and Fire series, I'm eager to announce I am recruiting for my own take on the Kingmaker adventure path, which I call,
It's Always Sunny In The Stolen Lands.

Introduction

The goal for this game is to have a little bit more story driven version of Kingmaker that combines exploration, mystery, combat and intrigue. (Not necessarily in that order.) The game will have plenty of story and plot as well as giving you, the players, plenty of control in the sandbox. I will be using some aspects of previous adventure paths (Rise of the Runelords) in this game.

Style

Like I said before, this game will be a balance of sandbox elements and plot/story elements. The game will take place in the southern parts of Brevoy, will progress into the Stolen Lands, and from there on out you may find yourselves all over the region as you ride the waves of the movers and shakers. Don't be afraid to find that you, too, can cause your own little waves and splashes and move from the kiddy pool to becoming major movers and shakers of the realm yourselves. I feel like I have a very narrative style of GMing and keep an open ear for player feedback. As much as I love thinking about planning this game, if you all end up doing something unexpected I'm not afraid to go with that. :)

Character Creation/Campaign Rules


  • Races- Standard only, please
  • Classes - All classes and archetypes from Core, APG, and ISWG will be allowed. ANYTHING FROM UM/UC WILL BE ON A CASE BY CASE BASIS
  • Ability Scores - 15 Point Buy I want to keep this game a little bit tough for you PCs. Don't worry too much, though. Since I will be doing story-based leveling this game and with everything I have a lot in store for you, you guys should be just fine!
  • Alignment - Good or Neutral Only Please.
  • Feats - Core, APG, ISWG. Once again, other sources must be approved by me.
  • Traits - Standard 2 traits
  • Hit Points - Max at first, average + 1 for every level after
  • Starting Gold - Average
  • Starting level - 1

Application Process

I will be selecting 6 (six) players and I will select them on criteria such as concept, potential, story, and roleplaying. I'm looking for people who can post often and are genuinely interested for the long haul. Since I have no starting date in mind right now (besides in a few weeks), please take the time to think about your application. Note: I do not require a full character sheet at first. I do request race, class, personality, background/ethnicity, appearance, motivations, aspirations etc. Please note your time-zone as well. For the record, I'm on EDT (eastern US).

In the meantime, download the Kingmaker Player's Guide and start thinking about why your character is on his or her way to the wedding festival of Gregan Orlovsky and the daughter of Peitros Aldori, Syra, hosted at Peitros' chateau a couple days ride out of Restov. This festival is a pretty well known event throughout Brevoy and as Syra is Peitros' only daughter it is rumored he'll be putting on quite the wedding for her.

Note: The player's guide is to help you get a feel for the region and area. You do not have a charter for exploring the Stolen Lands. You are going to the wedding as a regular ol' performer, noble, guest, cutpurse with a heart of gold, bodyguard or whatever you think of!

Good luck everyone!


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Hello,

I plan on starting a PbP version of Kingmaker as soon as I get more planning and preparations complete concerning the changes and additions I want to add. I loved reading through Kingmaker and love the potential it has for anything, really. That being said, as written, I felt it was lacking resolution to the nature of the beginning of the AP in the first place. Rostland the Restov are using the PCs to secure a new kingdom and ally/pawn to play against Issia and House Surtova. I want to change that. Instead of enemies from the First World, I want the major issues of the campaign be the realm succumbing to civil war and the threat of an awakened Karzog looming over everything. Using the power of collective minds of DMs who are already running this game or planning to, I'm hoping to streamline my ideas and make things flow naturally and organically.

Naturally, in case you forgot my obnoxious use of asterisks and capital letters in the topic title, here is a disclaimer: POTENTIAL PLAYERS BE WARNED---- THIS THREAD WILL CONTAIN SPOILERS FROM THE KINGMAKER AND RISE OF THE RUNELORDS ADVENTURE PATH. READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

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The game would begin at a wedding between one of the Swordlords of Restov and House Orlovsky in a small chateau outside of Restov. House Orlovsky recognizes the illegitimacy of House Surtova's claim as not regent but true king and this has made them look for allies. This wedding was arranged to "seal the deal" on their alliance with the a prominent Swordlord's son and finalize any and all plans of exploring/mapping the Stolen Lands and growing new allies against Issia. Naturally, House Surtova isn't a big fan of these schemes and have sewn the seeds to stall the expedition and break the alliance. Through layers of intermediaries, a sect of 7-star tattooed (skinsaw men perhaps?) assassins and hired bandits from the Stolen Lands are called to raid and massacre the wedding party.

I'd run this very similarly to the Swallowtail Festival opening of RotRL with plenty of games, competitions and contests. This would let me introduce lots of high level NPCs from several different houses and swordlords. In addition, the families of the bride and groom will be showcasing their soon-to-be-explorers. Including a group destined for the Greenbelt.

As far as the assault goes, all goblinoids will be replaced by humanoids. The leader of this raiding party is an up and coming bandit ranger named Bruthazmus and a mysterious Stag Helmed foe. It will be a combination of a special ops assault and turncoats on the inside. This fight will be largely cinematic with most of the fighting going on around the PCs like in the Swallowtail Festival. They'll see an elf named Shalelu battling it out with this Bruthazmus, unarmed nobles running away, getting shot at and carnage. Keeping true to the Rise of the Runelords AP, during the fighting they'll rescue Aldern Foxglove.

After the assassination attack is foiled and damage is surveyed: lots of nobles lay dead. Among the dead is the entire would-be adventuring party to the Greenbelt. As part of the reward for their heroic defense, they are promised the dead groups exploration charter with a Kill-On-Sight clause for any bandits. It will take a few days for Magister Ironbriar in Restov to sign off on their new charter.

During this time, they can once again talk to the survivors who now have respect and admiration for this new band of explorers.

Aldern Foxglove would love to take them, as a treat for saving them, near the stolen lands to hunt a boar named Tuskgutter. On their way down, they stop at Oleg's and that encounter runs as written. After they take down Tuskgutter, they return to Oleg's. From here a rider from Restov gives them the charters as requested and Aldern bids his farewell for he must return to his chateau for "urgent matters" and wishes the PCs the best. From here I'll run Kingmaker-1.

I'll limit the number of encounters and add much more imagery and capture the feel for the land since this is a PbP. There are LOTS of great ideas on these boards to add flavor to the game. I'll be including weather and lots of ambient details (like the wyvern's flying overhead at night, troll footprints, and some other surprises.) Dudemeister's Hargulka's Monster Kingdom will also be used. I love this idea and it will give an early taste for inter-kingdom diplomacy.

Once they have dealt with the Stag Lord, they'll get their kingdom-making charter from Magister Ironbriar from Restov. They discover upon investigating the Stag Lord's keep that the attack on the wedding was paid for by someone. It was a not a random bandit attack.

At this point, the party is building their city and more and more folks are coming into their city with strange 7-star tattoos. Hargulka goes to war against the PCs as Ironbriar requests their presence in Restov to discuss their discoveries of the attack. The PCs could also use this time to request for aid against Hargulka's armies. Ironbriar is using this visit as an assassination attempt on the PCs for the Skinsaw Murders.

Now not only do the PCs have an army of giants and trolls at their fledgling nation's doorstep, they'll be neck deep in the skinsaw murder mystery and realize something much bigger is going on. (The awakening of Karzog). Xanesha seemed to trying to start communicating with someone near Varnhold. (Right when reports from Varnhold stop coming through.)
The Skinsaw Cult shows up as one of the intermediaries and it is discovered that Ironbriar tipped off House Surtova about the true nature of the expedition and Rostland and Issia mobilize for war.

Houses reveal their alliances and the PCs are caught in the middle of a civil war, a monstrous army on marching toward their kingdom, and the awakening of an ancient Runelord. Very Game Of Throne's, no? :)

Thanks for reading that wall of text and I appreciate any and all input to improve my ideas and make this PbP game amazing. Better than DM Barcas and DM Alexander Kilcoyne games-tier. :)

Special Thanks
I just wanted to thank Greycloak of Bowness for his amazing campaign journal, Dudemeister, Alexander Kilcoyne, Nethys, and everyone else whose ideas and hardwork I've stolen or will be stealing as I plan out this game.