Broken's page

My experience with Pathfinder Goblins has been interesting. I have had the luck of starting RotRL twice now with two very different groups. Both times someone in the party "adopted" a Goblin and worked to "uplift" them so to speak. I mean really worked.

In one timeline the Birdcrunchers are now a "good" tribe that works with Sandpoint and helps protect the region.

In the other, our group's CE Half-Orc Brawler adopted the last goblin child in Thistletop as his own son. He is every bit the monster Pathfinder makes him out to be he but directed towards saving Sandpoint and the region.

Maybe it is our group and the willingness to allow "Anti-heroes" be dark as a group that allows me to see the goblin as a viable player class. It feels natural to us.

I just have a house rule that allows Martial Weapon Proficiency to use the spear as a one-handed weapon.

One of the major benefits of being on Eel's End deck for a majority of the negotiations with the King of Spiders were the rumors of Rolth Lamm's secret hideaway Amra uncovered. His hideout deep in the Grey District was the best lead the group had in finding the missing grandson of the Shoanti leader.

They journey deep into the district and with the Doctor's knowledge of the area found the monolith that supposedly marked Rolth's home. Searching the area they discovered tracks leading back to a nearby crypt. The broken seal on the door hinted at current activity and slowly they descended into the darkness.

A quick battle against skeletal guardians slowed them for a minute before they discovered a secret passage and decided to slowly move through the cramped tunnels. They came out once again into a long hall and slowly filed out of the cramped tunnel. As about half of them exited the skeletal face at the far end of the hall unleashed a torrent of acid. Then snake bodied skeletons broke from the boned lined walls and attacked them.

Just as the last skeleton crumbled a small dark skinned creature darted to the end of the hall and triggers the acid trap once again. The creature laughed and a swarm of stirges quickly filled the room to the groans of the heroes.

The battles had drained them somewhat, but they had now captured the creature. The Derro was half insane but the Doctor used his linguistics to decipher enough to learn that Rolth had left earlier to retrieve a “new girl” for his experiments.

Confident they had discovered the villains hideout, they now just sought out Geakhen's remains. Bursting into the next room, they discovered a plethora of alchemy equipment producing drugs for Lamm's operation. Curiously they also discovered four large tubes, ancient in design, three of which had been drained with the fourth containing a youthful looking half-orc.

As they examined it, Burl recognized the half-orc as a younger looking Giggles. They forced their captive to lead them to Rolth's room. Which he did, leading them up to confront Rolth's Derro apprentice.

Pelted to defeat by Natasha's arrows the apprentice was soon captured himself. Not even the intervention of Rolth's “Son” Cabbagehead, could save him. They took everything they could carry of value, deactivated the carrion golem, and retrieved the body of Gaekhen.

They took the derro prisoner and returned the body to Thousand Bones. Thousand Bones, disappointed in the fate of his grandson and fearing the stability of the city, orders his people leave the city peace. He then charges Amra with bringing vengeance to Rolth, handing him his grandson's spear to put in the Necromancer's heart.

Getting the derro to the citadel they hear rumors of someone being identified as the King's murderer. Finally getting to Croft she take the derro and then redirects them to the accused, Trinia Sabor, last known address.

They cut through the streets avoiding the mob and as they reach the neighborhood they quickly discover the people are helping her escape. Moving past the protectors they begin to chase her across the rooftops when Darius uses his abilities to leap ahead and convince her they are here to help her escape. A ghoul touch later and she is on her way back to the Citadel.
After getting her secured, Leonidas and the Doctor decide to go take another look at her apartment when the details on the woman begin to seem off. Natasha heads off to check on her wards in the Orphanage and the rest of the heroes decide to stay and keep watch on the prisoner.

The Marine and the Doctor begin getting good info after bribing a imp that lives in the shingles of Trinia's apartment. Discovering there is little to imply the woman is any kind of assassin. A Leonidas uses his magical link to speak with his sister, he discovers that the “new girl” Rolth was after was her. A few back and forth with the villain a Leonidas and Doctor hurry off to try and save her.

Natasha discovers that many of the female orphans she brought in have already been adopted. The boys however are excited to see her and the orphanage as a whole celebrates the magical spoon she turns over to the matron.

Word reaches the Queen that Trinia is in the Citadel and a contingent of Hellknights and Guardsmen, all female arrive to take her into custody, lead by the Queen's cousin, Ges Prophyria, recently arrived from Cheliax.

The situation continues to escalate and Darius attempts to charm Ges, provoking the readied Hellknight. Despite the wound Darius spell goes off and Ges, deflates the engagement, but insist on moving Trinia to the Castle Dungeon. He agrees to allow the heroes to keep her company there as a compromise. They agree to the compromise and are escorted to Castle Korvosa.

At the gates they are informed that they will not be allowed to take any of their gear in and must surrender it if they wish to continue. Burl, decides to keep vigilance outside and volunteers to keep the groups items. As they enter he begins beseeching Torag to guidance.

Leonidas and the Doctor find his sister alive but drugged on her bed, a small key-dagger sticking out of her mouth. The Doctor checks her vitals and discovers the paralytic poison will wear off in time but that they should move her someplace safe. They start to go to Natasha's home, when Rolth breaks in on the conversation, listening in through the device that allowed Lyandra to listen to her brother across the city. Leonidas realizing the problem drops the device in a draw and they leave. Returning to the Citadel. Once there, they discover Croft consulting with Orisini, realizing the problem Orisini agrees to take Lyandra into hiding. Still unable to talk, she nodes her understanding to Leonidas.

Natasha soon arrives and is informed of the threat of Rolth on her own home. They quickly head there.

Outside the Castle, a guard brings Burl a plate of food. He looks it over and hears the clang of an anvil ringing from the heavens. “They must leave or become trapped, do not accept food from the Castle. If they stay nothing can be done for three days.”

Burl stands and demands one of his friends be brought out. Gitar exits and talks with him. The cell is spacious for them all inside the only strangeness is the incense burners filling the place with something Darius identified as Flayleaf. Burl passes the message about becoming trapped. Gitar returns inside and relaying the message, only Darius agrees to stay, knowing the risk.

Once back outside the gates, Leonidas arrives with horses, they must go into hiding as now, Rolth is hunting them.

I've pulled in monsters here and there to use in my random encounter charts to throw off player expectations. For those that know the Bestiaries by heart, this is a good way to throw them off a bit, letting the wonder of an encounter hit them again. I fully admit I started with ones that I submitted and it worked so well I continue to this day.

So, I ended up with a small book if backstory. I am going to collect it all and put it in a pdf. Coming SOON (TM).

Prefix: No one will claim the Harrow Deck. Everyone has started seeing visions of Zellara trying to warn them of coming danger.

Started off the game one week later. Dealing with the Hellknights and a rowdy group of protesters when an Otyugh burst through the street. Failed stench rolls, nausea, and combat followed. There is a whole lot of sick people and a dead Otyugh.

They returned to the Citadel to clean up and were introduced to Vencarlo Orisini and the issue with the Cheliaxian Ambassador. They change into undercover gear and head to Eel's End. Vencarlo is charming, slowly but surely winning over the group. Notably informed on them and refreshingly honest with his opinions. He respectfully parts ways with them and promises to meet them again.

Eel's End becomes incredibly straight forward. The Sorcerer heads to the Dragon, and they leave him there for the duration. The Investigator the House of Clouds, spending some time with the Madam Halvara.

Most stay on the deck of the Eel waiting for the King of Spiders to see them.

Amra stays outside "on watch" while the group enters to negotiate the deal.
Lady Natasha and Leo do most of the talking, interrupted by the plea of Majenko and
the sudden return of Giggles.

Devargo is "pleased" they have come to see him and ask if they still have the keys taken from Geadren. They do (no one looked into what they went too). Devargo will give them the Information for the keys. The group quickly decides it is worth trading the keys away and Devargo goes below to get the information, telling them to play Knivies with the boys while he is away.

They talk with Majenko, while the boys explain the game and Giggles and Burl stare each other down.

They trade the keys. Then offer the coins exchange for Majenko. Devargo at first declines, but decides that if one of the player will fight his pets in Majenko's place, then he will accept the coins for the Drake. Amra is brought in and while he ends up with numb arms he wins and Devargo throws them out. Mission Accomplished.

Part two soon...

South Shore greeted the morning of Domina's Ball in its typical nouveau riche fashion. Servants darted
from their homes in early morning runs to the markets of Midland to prepare for the daylong
preparation their pampered lords and ladies would need to meet the King and Queen. The masquerade
ball would draw every coin-heavy house to its extravagance.

However, on a small block overlooking the Conquerer's Bay, the cities elven nobility moved at a pace
born of those who lived much longer lives. Here, the rebuilt home of Lady Anastraina stood with the
other families who had endured the long night after Aroden's death and the madness that engulfed the
city in its wake.

The overgrown vine that crawled up the side of her whitewashed home had bloomed in small yellow
flowers. It's fragrance sweetened the air around the house's pristine garden that made up a majority of
her estate.

Valentin, disturbed from morning tea, strode to the front door from the kitchen. Roksana was elbow
deep in making the morning breakfast, just smiled at him when someone had set the front chime off. He
winced as it rang again. The damnable contraption was liable to wake Lady Anastriana or at the very
least her companion. Humans need for immediate satisfaction had created more problems than they
could ever recognize with such a limited view of time. He paused a second longer at the door to
straighten his jacket and opened the door as the impatient human had started to ring a third time. "Lord
Bard," Valentin chaffed at calling this human lord, at best he was a tenth of his age, "the Lady has not
greeted the day as yet. Would you mind waiting in the parlor?"

Lord Nicolas Bard flashed his killer smile, "Of course my good man. Today is going to be a good day."

Lord Bard flippantly handed the elven servant his hat and set his cane inside the stand by the door.
Valentin turned back to the man just in time as he shuffled out of his embroidered jacket, catching it
before it hit the ground. The nobleman inhaled the butter-rich aroma that pulled into the room from the
kitchen, "That smell! Has Roksana finished her pastries yet?"

Valentine hung the lord's jacket just as he took his first steps toward the kitchen, "My Lord, the parlor is
this way."

The Fort Korvosa Stablemaster looked at the writ in horror, “You have got to be kidding me?”

Leonidas, dressed in his parade attire, returned the look with iron determination, “It's happening,
possibly right now, and the fastest way to get to the Castle is on Hippogriff.”

The Stablemaster nodded, "Damn right it is, 'least most of our boys are already there. Word already
going to the Citadel?" They moved across the yard with purpose, Darius trailing behind with a limp,
did his best to keep up.

Leonidas slung himself up into the saddle and reached down for Darius, "The Arbiter sent word to
them. He is going to the Butcher's shop. I told the gate to send anyone they could to back him up
there."

The Stablemaster stepped away from the aged Hippogriff and saluted Leonidas, "Let her take you
there, she knows the way, it's her sole job these days."

Leonidas glided his hand across the grey tipped feathers along the hippogriff neck, then pulled the
reigns back. The elderly mount reared back as its wings beat once, blasting dust from around the pad.
When they pumped the second time, she kicked them off the ground and pushed them into the sky with
a leap. With wind under her wings again she let out a cry as the rose into the night, then took them
south to the Castle.

Writ in hand, Leonidas burst back into the shopkeeper's home,"Darius, find what you can for a
costume! You should be able to put something together with whats in here!" The tailor, as Leonidas had
begun to realize, must have been contracted to clean and repair the servant's costumes for the party.
After the murder, no one thought to even look if the costumes for the party were still here.

Darius followed the Marine into the home, surveyed the carnage and decided to try his luck in the
adjacent room. "Much better in here. The Butcher killed this man?" The dressing room had been
untouched in the attack. Pots of makeup, tiny crystalline bottles of perfume, colored wiggs in various
styles, and an assortment of clothing were neatly arranged in here. Masks surrounded the room, each
representing a harrow card from the local varisian fortune tellers. "Yes!" came Leo's short answer from
the other room, distracted by something else. Darius wasted no more time.

Leonidas flipped through the shopkeep's ledger. Like every merchant in Korvosa, his notes were
thorough. A week before his murder, the tailor took the job from House Arkona to clean and repair the
costumes for Domina's Ball. Beside the entry for each costume, the tailor placed his mark when he
completed the work. Fifteen uniforms, with only one left. Closing the book, Leonidas stuffed the last
costume and its accessories into his bag, "Just... in case. DARIUS?!"

Darius stood in the door frame watching Leonidas as he stuffed the costume into his bag, "What do you
think?" With astonishment Leonidas almost drew his sword; this was not the same man from the alley.
Before him stood an Acadamae wizard adorned in flowing purple robes. The familiar scent of rose
perfume filled the air masking much of his stench. The Acadamae necromancers preferred to use the
rose scent to hide the smell of death that constantly surrounded them. His simple walking staff had
been replaced with a faux grand one. A white ash staff stained a deep brown, topped with a bronze
cobra head. Its fangs bared and ready to strike from the top as its body coiled down the rest of the shaft.
"Darius?"

Behind his harrow deck themed black and white duality mask, Darius smiled, "We should get your
uniform."

“Domina's Ball," Leonidas said almost in a whisper. The madman grinned. "You're too late." The
Arbiter plucked from his pocket his treasured watch in a practiced flourish. The timepiece was a gift
from the King, for his years of service, and he used any excuse to display it. The twirling gears spun
the arms of the golden gnome on its face into the position of the current time, "Maybe not." The Arbiter
jerked his head and whistled, the guards grabbed the man in his hysterics at the Arbiter's signal,
dragging him away to a cell at Fort Korvosa.

“Which do you want, the Ball or the Butcher's Shop?" The Arbiter pulled a scroll from his greatcoat
and began writing out the warrant. Leonidas looked to Darius, who only nodded, "The Ball." The
Arbiter stopped mid-scratch, looked at Leonidas, and then pointed to Darius with his quill. "Better
clean him up. And hurry." He finished the writ and sealed it with his sigil.

The first game was today, everything went smooth. The party met Zellara, was a little suspicious but Gaedren needed to die. Applied the Advanced template to all the named villains, and added Cutpurses to beef up the fishery. A combination of bad rolls on my part and good rolls on theirs gave them momentum throughout. One group of kids ran off but a second was coaxed into heading to a player sponsored Orphanage from their background. I dropped a few hints that in the streets things were starting to go bad, but they pressed down into the playpen and to Gaedren.

Until recently (the last year) I went through a drought of gaming. Recently I got incredibly awesome group after responding to a pretty random game group looking for players ad from our local nerd facebook group.

We had one game break up due to life, but have been working through a Rise of the Runelord game. Tonight I added a Curse of the Crimson Throne game to that mix. I am stoked for the New AP to see it all shake out "For Real!" but I feel it will be sometime before we think about the newer APs.

"If" I get the chance. Yeah, I am going to take my ideas and weave them through the narrative if possible. I am going to "push" my group through CotCT but even so, I think it will take us a year to get through it. Depending on how I feel after reading it, we determine what comes next after the Curse. I have a feeling I will be doing Second Darkness or Legacy of Fire. My group is loving the feel of how the paths kind of feed off each other and are getting hooked with the links between APs.

Dot

I forget how to link it.

That's my old thread...

Dreaming of Taldor

“You have plans tonight?" Theron's verbal jab at Leonidas had more punch than the sword blow aimed at
his head. The instructors had taken to pitting the two of them against each other. Few others could
contend with Theron's advanced fencing skills.

Begrudgingly, Leonidas had sought outside help, and weeks ago began attending the Orisini Academy,
to catch up with the noble scion. The lessons had paid off. Combined with the previous experience he
had gained hunting down bounties along the Narrows, he was now more than a match for Theron.

Parrying a strike and sliding his foot into position to trip his opponent, Leonidas grunted, “Hunting.
You should try it."

Theron crashed to the ground and looked back up at him. "Seriously using that dock-worker low
fighting on me again, huh?"

“It worked!" The Sergeant observing them cut Theron off. "Your head's not in this Private. Leonidas is
giving you a proper fight, and you're concerned with a damn party. Again!"

The two cadets took up their positions and began again. "No more cheap stuff," Theron whispered as
they locked blades. "Then maybe you can come with me to the King's party tonight." Leonidas
smiled...and headbutt him.

Darius tucked the necklace into his robes, straightened himself up and transferred his weight to his
walking staff. He slowly hobbled over to the murderer restrained on the ground, debating with himself
over which leg he had limped with previously. If anyone noticed his “limp” had changed, they did not
mention it. Most people simply ignored him and that made things so much easier.

The Arbiter stepped aside, giving him a wide berth, allowing him to get in close with Leonidas. The
Marine had started explaining to the condemned man his short-term future. "...you'll answer, or we will
lock you in a cell to rot to death. You'll only ever see one person." Leonidas paused, flashed a grin up at
Darius as he pointed at him, and turned back to the prisoner. "This man. He'll make your food, bring
you water, talk to you as you go mad. If you're lucky...maybe, just maybe, he will share whatever is
eating away at him with you."

Terror filled the man's face as Darius coughed up some bile and spit it into the gutter,
“No..No..supposed to be at the feast...my time...my time...”

Darius leaned in, the reek of putrid meet filled the nostrils of the murder as his hot, moist breath
caressed the killer's face. “The city is vast, my lords, even the Old Town. Ask him where he made his
home.”

The murderer turned his head away from Darius, questing for fresh air. "Tainted meat! We live as cast
off. In the earth. I was Empty once. Then father Skinshaw took me in, and I learned the value of life,
but even he could not keep me fed. The Butcher saw it in my eyes, the hunger! He took me down in his
shop, and there he had found a way deeper. That is where he found Zura! I was anointed! We are the
precurse to the Return!"

The Arbiter frowned but nodded for them to continue on. Darius grinned under his mask, extending a
pale finger to the man's face. He came up short of touching him, but lead the man's gaze to the tattoo on
his arm, "And where he came by his tattoo."

Manic cackling spilled forth as the murder raved, "My Anointment! My power. All will know. Those
who are blessed wear it. She takes the time, blessing us with kisses from the fangs of Zura."

Leonidas sighed. The lunatic was clearly sinking into his madness. "What did you do with the missing
uniform?" The Marine grabbed him and brought him to his feet, "Where is the man you attempted to
imitate, WHO IS THE REAL BUTCHER?"

The murderer's eye rolled around before locking onto Leonidas. "You know him as Khanduras
Farnham. However, he is but the Butcher's vessel. The uniforms are our own vessels, we dress as meat
to have a kingly feast." The madman's shrieking laughter rang in the air as his last words struck
Leonidas.

The Arbiter examined the scene, letting out a slow sigh. "Private...what drives you to dive into these
messes night after night? I need to bottle it and cram it down the throats of every one of the morons
working in Old Korvosa." His face was mostly covered in the bushy mustache that hung from his lip,
but Leonidas had come to recognize the man's hidden grin.

“I was looking for the Butcher.” Leonidas sighed, “I thought I had him.”

“No, not the Butcher." The Arbiter pulled a glove off the hand of the bound man. "A follower
though...we have run into them before." A red tattoo adorned his arm depicting a demon feasting on the
leg of a man. The Arbiter grunted, "The demon ink always tells us what these cannibals ate on their
first night."

The Arbiter stood and motioned his head toward the Beggar on the wall, “His story?”

Leonidas nodded as he pulled the flyer from his jacket. “Wrong place, wrong time...but he's wanted.”

The Arbiter gave him a puzzled look as he took the warrant, "Do you pocket every flyer?" Leonidas
looked over at Darius on the wall. "He helped me subdue this guy. He is sick with something."

The Arbiter looked at the flyer and looked over at the man. "So Empty over there got the cleric sick and
the old man died? Did they know he was like that? Oh, Crab that!" The Arbiter took the paper and
marked it with his own sigil. "Shouldn't be wasting our time...make sure you claim that, I want it off
the books."

The groan at their feet let them know the murderer was finally awake. "I want to bring Darius in on
this." Leonidas quickly added as they turned to interrogate the prisoner.

“Who? The Empty? Whatever for?” The Arbiter wrinkled his nose, his bushy mustache twitching at the
idea of the plagued man near him.

Leonidas grimaced, "I wouldn't want him breathing on me. In fact, I would probably tell you anything
you want to make him go away." The Arbiter suppressed a chuckle and gave a nod.
Leonidas motioned to the vagabond on the wall to join them, “Darius.”

Darius watched as they loaded the body of the girl on the cart. The smile on her face was still there. A
few feet away Leonidas was talking with the Arbiter as they waited for the murderer to wake up. The
guardsman that had been assigned to watch him comically kept his distance.

The cart pulled away with the fallen angel of the night leaving the rose scent she wore to linger in the
air alone. Darius shifted his gaze back to the necklace. The copper chain was fine. Finer than anything
he had ever seen, barely thicker than a thread. It glinted in the torchlight as he stared at it in his leather
shrouded hand. The clasp at each end of the chain was designed to break away, pulling itself back
together as soon as they came close to each other again. It had but a single charm, a fly cast in copper
no bigger than one of the many that constantly plagued the rotting piles around them. Straining his eyes
in the guardsmen's torchlight he examined the detailed etchings that covered the fly, the face of a skull
had been etched into its body.

“Darius.” the Marine had called out to him. Beckoning him over to join them as the murderer woke up.

The Beggar's breathing heralded the return of consciousness and pain. The pesh had run its course
returning him to the hell of life and sobriety. It was the strange scent that flooded his burning lungs that
told him she was there. Rose scented perfume covered her stench. Like many of the poor who lived and
worked the streets to fight for one more day, she used the perfume to hide the scent that clung to those
who dwelled in the lower wards of Old Korvosa. He turned to her, power ready to lash out if his
walking stick was not enough.

"Interesting," came her voice full of child-like curiosity. Her pale skin and greasy dark hair marked her
as a night worker. Her face painted to hide blemishes, gave away her profession. She inhaled the scent
that festered from his decaying flesh, sampling the reek as one would a fine wine, "...what do you
have?"

"More than it appears," his mouth tasted of blood. His lungs, accustomed to the acrid air of the pleasure
dens, burned with fire sparked by fresh air. He watched light reflect back from her eyes as she looked
him over. It felt like those of a predator, strangely familiar and accepting.

She smiled as she reached for the copper chain that dangled around her neck, pulling it free and without
fear reached for his gloved hand. She raised it to her face and nuzzled his hand with affection. Through
half-lidded eyes, she whispered in a ghostly voice, "She is looking for you."

The sudden contact shocked him. The touch of another person had become so...foreign. How long had
it been since anyone had touched him in comfort? It distracted him from the shadow that sprung to life
behind her. The sudden loss of her precious touch tore at his soul as she was suddenly, violently torn
away.

Her hand reached for him as she let out a scream before being swallowed in long shadows of the alley.
A glint of light on steel blazed from the darkness that ate her, and a moment later she staggered back
into the light as crimson spilled down the front of her ragged garments.

She dropped to the ground in front of him, boneless as a doll, struggling to meet his eyes with her own
in a last desperate act. She found his gaze as her life drained from her, using her last moment to smile at
him and let him watch her own light flicker away from behind her brown eyes forever.

"Today's Special, two for the price of one!" The figure stepped from the shadow's embrace, long
slender knife dripping blood and gleaming as the light of the world died with the girl on the ground. In
the purple haze of Twilight, the murderous figure rared back as the Beggar gained his feet, the bile in
his throat rising in tandem with his arcane power, ready to strike.

The alleyway door burst open from a shop a dozen feet away, halting both men and drawing their gaze
as the Sable Company Marine stepped into the alley. Like an avenging wraith, his sword was drawn
and ready for violence. His eyes darted between the two and the girl on the ground, judging the scene
in a moment as he leveled his sword at the slender murderer. "Butcher, this is your only warning," The
Marine closed the distance in an instant, locking blades with the murderer, "Drop. Your. Weapon."

The Beggar stepped back from the clashing men and noticed the woman's necklace still in his gloved
hand. Adrenaline flooded his system, its fuel acting a key to the power within and focusing his rage.
The alley lit up for a split second before his fist struck the ground with an arching blow. The flash
coinciding with some forgotten word that sprang from his lips and brought forth a roar of unmaking as
the ground under the murderer exploded, launching him into the air.

“NOOO!” the murderous foe cried as he tumbled to the ground, landing flat on his back. The Beggars
magic suddenly reversed and the world around them pulled itself back together as if nothing had
occurred at all.

The Marine batted away the slashing blade as he kicked the murderer in the gut, “Stay down! Drop the
knife!”

"I am his Herald! I should be there!" Slashing with his blade, the murderer got to his feet holding his
ribs. The Marine parried a half-hearted blow as he moved in, slammed the hilt of his sword into the
masked murderers face with a sundering crack, dropping him to the ground unconscious.

The Beggar leaned against the wall, staring into his palm as the Marine pointed at him with his blade,
“Your name, Sir.”

The Beggar slowly raised his eyes to the Marine as he thought. Silently weighing his options.

Leonidas studied the silent Beggar. The mask and description matched another poster in his pocket. A
vagabond wanted for questioning in the death of a priest. "Your Name."

Slowly the Beggar pulled the mask away, revealing the pus-encrusted sores on a native Shoanti.
Lowering his gaze as he spoke well enough to hide all but the smallest trace of an accent. "Darius. My
name is Darius."

In relief, Leonidas lowered his sword. "Leonidas...Leo." The man was sick, whatever he has was
obviously passed to the priest.

Reaching into his pocket, Leonidas pulled out a signal whistle and blew three times. Nodding at Darius
he smiled, "Let's get some answers."

Those were the first three responses I got from my players. With my first group of PCs in, I started planning, planning leads to writing and well. So began the Crimes of Gaedren Lamm.

Chapter 1: The Butcher of Beggars.

4706 AR

~

Bridgefront, Old Korvosa, Korvosa
For all his bravado on the training grounds, Theron was a coward. The gilded spoon that kept him safe behind the fortress walls kept him green to the trials that would await them on the docks. Leonidas looked over the flyer the guard had posted for the Butcher of Beggars. "Wears a helmet with horns and a butchers apron, Uses a heavy cleaver blade, gaining followers in the slum by feeding his victims to the desperate, thirty-two confirmed murdered beggars, one murdered shopkeeper, 300 Gold Sails."

Leonidas pulled one of the flyers down from the notice board. No one had ever cared about the Butcher's murders until he killed the shopkeeper in Old Korvosa. The thought, like an ember, burned brightly in his mind as he moved through the streets of the Narrows. As the sun set in the bay he was in front of the murdered shopkeeper's home. The orange light echoed the fire that raged in his thoughts as he entered the shop. How many people had the Butcher murdered no one knew about? How many more innocent would have to die before it mattered to people?

Leonidas moved through the hollowed out shell of a shop, looking for anything out of place that might clue him in on why this tailor had been the one the Butcher decided to extend his murderous wrath. The gore thoroughly coated the room in a vulgar display of butchery. Brushing aside the swarming flies, an almost empty rack on the back wall suddenly stood out as he searched the room. The carnage had spared this one rack and as Leonidas looked closer he could see the one uniform left on the rack was pristine in the otherwise freshly "painted" room.

The sudden scream of a woman from the alley behind the shop broke his focus on the lone uniform. Instinct took over as his reflexes fired, drawing his sword and moving him to back door. Without missing a step he kicked it and burst into the alley.

Lady Natasha Anastriana
Natasha is an orphaned member of a prominent Forlorn Elf family. The family dealt with finance and had significant financial resources. As a child, her family’s estate was torched by Human Raiders. She was whisked away to safety by curious faeries. She was raised as a young child on the other side of the “veil”.

When she was old enough she was returned to Korvosa and claimed part of her inheritance. She was perplexed at the inequality and the oppressiveness of society. She was influenced by Bard who mocked society’s many problems. He became a great mentor for her.

There was a fellow neophyte amongst his followers, a young half-elf, Milo. Milo and Natasha became lovers. Milo represented the bridge between human and non-human, civilization and anarchy for Natasha. She was happy.

But another stinking corrupt human, this time Crime Lord Gaedren Lamm that didn’t like how Milo was organizing the poor. So Lamm organized an accident for Milo. Natasha knows the truth, but can’t prove it. She is soured on humanity and wants revenge.

One of her few human friends is a young Marine in the Sable Guard. They are “hunting” companions. Occasionally they hunt and round up some of the neer-do-wells in the local community and collect the bounty for it.

Darius
Darius is one of the few survivors of a devastating plague that claimed most of his village over a number of years. Darius was summarily exiled from his village when he came of age, due to a perceived connection between him and the persistent plague.

After his exile, he spent several years in the company of Rayna, a blight druid and general curse upon the countryside. She vanished after being hunted down by paladins, prompting Darius to travel to Korvosa.

Darius ran afoul of a zealous priest when he came to Korvosa, gaining a distaste for the cleric and later causing him to fall ill by sharing bread.

Darius has been a slum-dweller and beggar since coming to Korvosa, burning his earnings on pesh and largely wasting away his days in the alleys near the Narrows. He was recently coaxed into trying shiver for the first time, an experience which nearly killed him and prompted him to seek out the man behind the potent drug: Gaedren Laam

Leonidas
My father was the Sergeant of the Sable Company. He died in battle defending the city of Korvosa. Because of this, I have a spot at the Military School.

Things were tough for my mom, so she remarried an Elven Wizard who teaches at the Magical Academae. He has been on sabbatical for the past seven years and no one has heard from him. I have a younger half-sister. She is a bit of a prodigy and is one of the youngest students at the Magical Academae.

I am a part-time bounty hunter. I support myself and supplement my younger sister’s income. Darius and I have assisted the City Guard in the past. I just need a little more experience before I can earn my wings with the Sable Guard.

Baby sister was framed and kicked out of the Academae. The Crime Lord Gaedren Lamm forced her to steal from him. When she finally told him enough was enough everything got pinned on her. I’m going to fix this for my half-sister. She was literally born to be a great Summoner. I managed to trick a member of the Thieves’ Guild into revealing the truth with my interrogation.

Late last year, we as a group decided that we wanted a second game to our Rise of the Runelords campaign. We were coming up on the end of Chapter 2 and I had offered to run Curse of the Crimson Throne but insisted that it would not start until the new year. We play each game once a month, and this Saturday, we begin. I have seven players and have been planning for a month with them, asking each one to pick a connection to Gaedren Lamm and for extra credit give me their backstory and who they are in Korvosa. This is the beginning.

The Players
The Sable Company Marine, Leonidas: Ranger (Sky Stalker) {LG Human:Chelish}

The Beggar, Darius: Sorcerer (Pestilence/Sorcerer of Sleep) {N Human:Shoanti Outcast}

Lady Natasha Anastriana: Fighter (Archer) {CG Forlorn Elf}

Gitar Galen: Warpriest of Gorum {CG Rakshasa-Tiefling}

Burl Lighthammer: Cleric of Torag (NG Heretic: Replaced Artifice domain with Healing}

Amra: Barbarian (CN Catfolk, Raised by the Shoanti)

Doctor Eilif Pharioryn: Investigator (Sleuth) (LN Dhampir – Mordant Spire Elf mother, raised in Korvosa)

Class and Crunch submitted.

Human, Barbarian 8, Invulnerable Rager, NG
Human, Wizard 2, Necromancer, N
Human, Godling 2, Clever, CG

I so want a brawler for Skull and Shackles.

Awesome.

Rock on! This is awesome.

Just looking over this again today, and got to thinking that it might be fun to run it with the Sandbox Exploration rules from Ultimate Campaign (and Kingmaker).

Has anyone tried this? I'd be curious to hear your experiences. I may give a whack at trying a conversion with a hex map myself.

Dude that sounds awesome! I always considered this and hook mountain as precursors to kingmaker. It would be neat to update them both with a little kingmaker love.

Dot

Go for it. Sounds fun to play with.

Why transmutation school?

Sights not bad, I can see how it's useful.

We have not started this one yet but in the past we always have had an "unofficial" group name:

Rise of the Runelords - Lords of Rannick
Serpent's Skull - Trailblazers
Carrion Crown - Pallbearers

At work and don't have time to think it through, but what about a Chariot Driving Cavalier? Focus on Handle Animal and other Cha based skills to be the face, If you had the Medium Chariot (100gp) you could be the transport for a party of 4 and your mount could pull the Chariot. Your Party archer/wizard could ride along and have a mobile platform to attack from.

Viva the Viking Revolution!

Galt/Vikings 2015

Cool! dot

My group sticks to pretty normal stuff. I have one player who has reached out to a few non-core classes (Life Oracle, Ninja and Inquisitor). We try a few arch-types here and there. But mostly the fighter is a fighter, the cleric is a cleric, the wizard is a specialist.

No one uses metamagic.
Guns are allowed, no one uses them.
Outlflank (Teamwork) is a pretty standard feat.
Treasure is missed constantly. Heck it is donated and given back half the time. A lot of times it is spent on "life" stuff. One character owns a horse ranch, another a printing press, another a pineapple farm in Sargava.

Some have elaborate stories for their characters, most don't. Some stick to the same religion between characters. Same races. Almost everyone plays the same alignment from game to game. We wright different ones down, but in play it is the same as all our other characters.

We die to the same monsters every game (%*$# YOU WATER GHOULS!)

We work great together, have OK teamwork, but sorely lack advanced tactics. A hard GM would likely eat us alive.

We get kicked pretty hard in printed modules and APs. Someone dies about a quarter of the time. They get raised. We move on.

We have a blast!

More than three. One closer or equal to a thousand. ;)

Yeah that is what I always thought. Been reading between the lines to much lately.

Good News! All files updated! Chart Landscaped! A few new rules in the FAQ.

NEW NEW NEW LINKS!

Quick_IB6

IB6_FAQ

Full_IB6

Golarian World War: Taldor implodes, Qadira invades, Cheliax tries to seize power, Absolam, Andoran and Galt caught in the middle. I honestly see this as multiple APs each taking on a different phase of the war. Navy battles, Kingmaker, Caravans, Wartime Romance. Heck imagine this as a six year, six AP run. The first year is book 1, for six different view points on the same war.

The New World AP: Arcadia Kingmaker

Viva Galt!

Osirion countdown (Whatever it is, I want it!)

Return of Azlant (Distant Worlds, space invasion)

Vaults of the Darklands

More Runelords!

I too like it so far.

The 'Magic' aspect for weapons confuses me.
So the IB6 +1 weapon bonus is a non magical effect and you need a magical effect (such as flaming or cold or keen) to make it 'magical' for DR purposes or Magic Weapon spell?
Just curious on the 'why' of this.
I tend to lower powered games so I am ok but just curious.

It was a judgment call on my part. If you want to use the system and treat it as magical go ahead.

That's why druids may want that Amulet of Mighty Fists +3, rather than an Amulet of Natural Armor +4.

Well if I go ahead with my thinking. Then by the time a Druid would get the Amulet of NA +4 they would have the equivalent of a Amulet of MF +5 while wild shaped.

as far as penetrating DR/"X"...

Ok, don't throw fruit at me. But does an Amulet of MF work? I know about this. But it calls out "weapons." Weapons are not enchanted with a spell, they just use caster level. The Amulet specifically uses the spell Greater Magic Fang which specifically says it does not bypass anything but DR/Magic. I always assumed it did bypass like a weapon until we started talking about it. Now, I am second guessing that.

It just has a lot of room for improvement in my opinion.

Hey The Red Mage, what would you change? You mentioned Gear Dependency and Wealth Drain as still issues. As well as over complexity. Any quick ideas on how you would change it to better fit your needs.

I like the concept of this, but the chart in the PDF you linked is way too small, any way you could up the size on that?

Work in progress!

Every time Taldor comes up my I remember my dream.

It's a little bit awkward for wildshaping druids and animal companions to penetrate DR/special material though; maybe they ought to have a new spell for that, like Versatile Magic Fang.

First, the original question. Do they currently have anything that allows Wildshaped Druids or Animal companions the ability to bypass non magic DR? I don't think they do. Your Versatile Magic Fang spell is probably needed.

It will be in FAQv2, PCs and Companions will gain the benefits of Weapon enhancement if they have a natural attack (Claw, Bite, etc.) Since they do not have a class feature or ability that grants them additional AC while unarmored they do not benefit from the Defense enhancement. Master Worked Barding or "Dress" (I think that is the right term) will be required to gain the benefits. A druid will need a suit of wild armor to gain his benefits while wild shaped.

On to shields. As it is right now, the formula for armor/shield enhancement is quadratic; (bonus^2)*1000gp. This means that a +1 armor and +1 On to shields. As it is right now, the formula for armor/shield enhancement is quadratic; (bonus^2)*1000gp. This means that a +1 armor and +1 shield sets you back 2000gp, but +2 armor costs 4000gp. You equate 9000gp spent on enhancing armor with a +3, but for 8000gp you could have a +2+2; better AC for less money.

I think I have it covered in the FAQ. A S&B 4th level S&B fighter in IB6 would have a +1 Shield and +1 Armor. A Two-handed weapon fighter would just have a +1 Armor. At 5th, The S&B would then treat the shield and his hand weapon as +1 and the Two-handed weapon fighter now gets a +1 weapon as well.

In IB6, if you have the feats and the master worked gear, you get the bonuses. The Two Weapon fighter makes out like a bandit if his off hand weapon is a shield. Getting the Shield enhancement and the off hand weapon enhancements for free. This makes sense to me as that is how most people fought, and "we" don't see it a lot in games because of the price both in gold and feats to make it work "as seen on TV"

As for tying Deflection/NAC to rings and amulets; I think that's a poor move.

hgsolo made a interesting argument here, and I like my answer. I will add to the FAQv2 a "multiple sunder" rule on armor. "Cutting away" bonuses until the armor stops working completely.

I think your system might also be a bit too rigid; you're making everyone use the same Big Six loadout, basically. But in practice, a S&B fighter will prioritize his magic shield differently than a 2H or 2W fighter will, and the wizard will probably spend more on a single stat booster than a druid. The druid is spending that money on Wild armor or an Amulet of Might Fists, and doesn't rely on his spells nearly as much as the wizard does. And the wizard isn't spending money on enhancing a weapon, he's buying metamagic rods.

Basically, despite the name, the B6 aren't actually the same 6 items for every class, but you're making them that way now. I think the only truly constant of them are the ring of protection, amulet of natural armor and cloak of resistance, with some people taking two and others taking a single big stat booster.

Look deeper. Not everyone will have the same gear.

A S&B Fighter will have his Armor and Shield enhanced at the same level for free.

A 2H fighter will have his weapon and armor enhanced.

A 2W fighter will have his armor and both weapons enhanced.

Each fighting style gets what they need when they need. And in the cases of S&B and 2W at a significant discount.

In IB6 everyone gets a built in stat booster on a stat of their choosing at 9th. But you are not limited to just the one booster. A wizard could use his extra money to buy a stronger stat booster for Intelligence as early as 5th level on the new wealth by level chart. Then at 9th, boost a secondary stat of his choosing.

I am actually split as to how often you could re-declare which stat the built in stat booster enhances. At the least, you should be able to re-choose every time it goes up. I am going to try it that way first and see how it goes in game.

Wild armor, Amulet of mighty fist (if you still need it after above) and other customized gear I think can be covered by the larger Other Magic Item pool now.

Would allowing Mage Armour to stack with IB6 make incorporeal creatures a little too easy to defend against?

I am going to try it in my game and see. I want to say, "Wizards should be awesome at fighting ghost!" BUT...I know someone is going to buff the fighter and ETC... with it until the poor "ghost" won't be able to attack anyone with the ability. If you only want to treat the +4 from the spell as blocking incorporeal touch on AC I think that would be fine and fair too.

Making it simple!

Well after you try it, tell us how it works. It never hurts to try, and we end up with awesome stuff all the time from trying.

I am iffy on Impregnable Defense. Secondary attacks and minion attacks are going to buff you. It may be to good. But three feats to get it may be the counter balance. I like what I am seeing here. If you get a chance to play test them, let us know how they work out.

I understand that you don't like people penetrating special material DR too easily with their integrated enhancement bonus. Fortunately, THAT isn't necessary. Previously, the big argument against a "golf bag" of cold iron, silver and adamantine weapons was that it made it too expensive to have a decently enchanted weapon for every situation, screwing martials. That's no longer a problem, because your improvement for the weapon is now automatically transferred to whichever weapon you're currently using.

That is exactly what I was going for.

Given that, I think it's reasonable to make the weapon bonus mundane, and no longer require that weapons have at least a +1 bonus before receiving special properties. Any magic weapon can penetrate DR, and there's always Magic Weapon spells.

I agree! In the FAQ.

Q. How do other magic items change in IB6

A. The bonuses that are gained from the IB6 do not stack, therefore items that exist in the game that grant those bonus do not need to be removed. The main changes need to occur in the Weapons and Armor categories. The special abilities of weapons and armor tend to be left behind in favor of superior bonuses. I recommend allowing the special abilities to be applied to Master Worked items at a cost of 1.5 times the normal value. Allow magic weapons or armor to have up to a +5 bonus from magical special abilities.

It's a little bit awkward for wildshaping druids and animal companions to penetrate DR/special material though; maybe they ought to have a new spell for that, like Versatile Magic Fang.

I have been thinking about this one. I think I will let Druids and Animal companions gain the Attack/Damage Bonus from IB6. The Natural Attack is comparable to the Improved Unarmed Strike and so I think they should get the bonus. Since they don't get bonuses for being unarmored they would not get the IB6 bonus to defense though. hmm, going to think about this some more. We have a storm coming here. Be back on when it is safer.

Fixing Monsters instead of PCs

For me, fixing every stat block of every monster ever printed seems more trouble than fixing 6 PCs once per campaign. That is my call, you call it the other way. It's all good.

Anyway - good luck with your system.

Thank you.

I'm not so sure about the bonus being magical though;

1) The thing people hate about AMF isn't that they're weaker (okay, they don't like it), but that they suddenly need to recalculate their entire character sheet.

2) It gets in the way of the "awesome mundane" concept, if your carefully non-caster fighter is inherently magical because he's high-level. It forces a flavor (fighters have innate magic) that's not needed.

Treating the bonuses as magical and not working in a AMF was a judgement call on my part. I did it to preserve the way it currently works in game. If you want to treat the bonuses as "awesome" mundane" you could totally do it with little impact on the system as a whole.

I will respond more later, got to make a BBQ!

Honest Feelings

Thank you The Red Mage for looking over the IB6. For my players and myself we are really hoping this system works for us. It wasn't meant to remove gear or save wealth, just standardize certain treasure so a PC doesn't feel like a they are not equipped for a challenge.

Thank you again for looking it over.

I'm liking this so far.

Thank you.

I would definitely set the long chart landscape on its own page.

OK, will work on it and get it out there.

And as for the bonuses hanging on gear, it makes sense and I like what you've done with it so far.

I would probably put the natural and deflection bonuses on an amulet and a ring, respectively. Give them a base cost as well, and allow them to be further enchanted at 1.5 cost. You can still have two ring slots. The main reason I'd argue for this is that it spread the burden out. If you have magic armor and a ring of deflection with the current rules, the armor can be sundered or the ring can be stolen. By putting all armor bonuses on armor you make sunder significantly more powerful.

You make a good point. Placing all the benefits on armor does make it a rich target for sunder. I was wanting to avoid having a "focus" for each bonus. On the same token a Cloak "focus" would be needed.

I think I am more inclined to let the barbarian sunder the armor multiple times. "Cutting away" bonuses until the armor stops working completely.

This also makes the monk equally vulnerable to losing their natural and deflection bonuses, but they keep a higher ac than the fighter without any gear (just like the current system).

You know, I am inclined let the Monk get away with not being able to lose the bonuses. He should shine in a situation where the party is lacking gear. It's a nice shine moment for them.

Also, I completely agree with the idea that the integrated bonus should not overcome DR. It becomes much more feasible for a melee character to get exotic items that still deal decent damage, and they won't need to enchant each one separately. This also reinforces the notion that the party needs to be prepared and gather intelligence on their enemies.

Cool. That is exactly what I was going for.

*Edit: You can also put the stat boosting items on the belt and head slots. Perhaps the belts, amulets, etc. should only cost 50 or 100. You can further enchant them at the same increased cost as weapon enchants. Sure you are still gear dependent, but the cost is nominal, and it prevents sunder-happy barbarians from trashing all your bonuses in one swing.

Ultimately, all that is needed is the quick play charts that give you the progression and the changes to WBL and Treasure per Encounter. Feel free to add the focuses to each slot if you like. The FAQ is just my take on how I think it should work. Change it up as you like.

Yup, totally lost all interest in this fix.

No problem, thanks for looking.

I'm a bit confused, characters only get a bonus to one ability score?

Built in yes. But they are free to buy a second booster with normal wealth. Since the IB6 grants the same bonus they will not stack on the same stat. You can't choose an IB6 bonus to intelligence and stack a headband of intelligence on it. But you could choose intelligence and wear a head band of charisma.

The system dose not replace the items. They still exist. It just provides the a base "big 6" built in.

Requiring a caster level for the pearl seems a bit rough on certain classes, it's often a strategy of monk and fighter type characters to buy a pearl of power and give it to the party wizard or druid so they can hit them with a Mage Armor or Greater Magic Weapon in the morning.

The caster level is for the built in IB6 bonus. Feel free to let the fighter buy a pearl with his wealth and give it to the wizard.