One of my PCs wanted to know why the Swordlords decided to gift the charter explore the Greenbelt to three outcasts and misfits (a human mercenary, a gnome bard, and an exiled elven ranger). Oleg and Svetlana Leveton explained to the trio that they were not the first group to try to settle these lands. SPOILER ALERT!:
About six months ago, the Swordlords invested a significant amount of resources in outfitting a large expedition of mercenaries and engineers led by one Davik Nettles to explore, survey, and later, build infrastructure throughout the Greenbelt.
The Nettles Expedition, as it would later be called, would be the vanguard of the Swordlord's aggressive territorial expansion into the Stolen Lands. Once roads and bridges were built, colonists would settle the fertile lands of the Greenbelt. Alas, the Nettles Expedition ran afoul of a large and organized bandit presence led by the mysterious Stag Lord. While the expedition succeeded in clearing out one bandit outpost and establishing a beachhead at the northern tip of the Greenbelt (now Oleg's Trading Post), it was ill-prepared to face the cunning Stag Lord and his vicious minions. After a series of catastrophic skirmishes within the Narlmarches and the surround hillside, the expedition's forces were ultimately defeated in a decisive battle along the banks of the Shrike River. In a final act of desperation, Nettles burned his own bridge down to stop the bandits' inexorable advance north to civilization. With his expedition in tatters, Nettles cursed the man who took everything from him and then took his own life by plunging into the ice cold river below. Due to being assigned to guard the cleared fort, Oleg is the only man to survive the ill-fated expedition. Unbeknownst to him, Nettles is now an unholy undead creature. His burning thirst for vengeance and the collective trauma felt by all the men who fell in the bloody battle fuel his new existence. Six months later, the PCs arrive on the scene with a new charter from the Swordlords. Still smarting from their lost investment, the Swordlords' new charter places the emphasis on eliminating banditry "by sword or by rope." Their new investment is minimal, and their expectations are low. This new expedition, if it can even be called that, would be easily replaceable and no one would miss a sellsword and a bunch of demihumans. Any thoughts/feedback would be greatly appreciated!
Resurrecting this thread in the hopes that anyone has an active link to this!
I'm slowly, but surely converting my Runelords and Crimson Throne campaign from Pathfinder to 5E. While I purchased Curse of Strahd and Storm King's Thunder, I think I will continue to play Paizo's APs. Paizo is definitely without peer in the story, art, and production quality departments. With that being said, players seem to greatly enjoy 5E for its sleek, streamlined game mechanics and its emphasis on roleplaying. I personally like how the game feels like the 2E campaigns of my youth without the unnecessarily arcane mechanics (Thac0, etc). Combat is MUCH faster and smoother in both campaigns under the new system. The concentration spell mechanic and magic item atunement mechanic also reduce the the "Christmas tree" effect and the amount of bookkeeping required to keep track of everyone's buffs and stat-boosting items. This is especially true at high levels (my Crimson Throne campaign is in its final chapter). Of course, YMMV. My groups consist of high schoolers new to tabletop roleplaying (Runelords), and college students/working professionals with varying levels of tabletop experience (Crimson Throne).
Back when I was a neophyte GM running a Rise of the Runelords campaign, I had a rebellious player who insisted on playing a cleric specializing in summoning/raising undead. He completely ruined the vibe of the party and his antics derailed the campaign. There was simply no in-game reason why a predominantly good party would ever travel with a NE cleric who regularly defiled the dead. Players spent more time worrying about whether or not the creepy scythe wielding Urgathoan would betray them versus preventing the rise of the big baddie. At a certain point, the party got fed up with him animating giant skeletons and researching a path to lichdom. Led by the NG ranger, the party ultimately subdued the cleric, stripped him of his magic items and valuables, and turned him into the authorities in Magnimar. As far as they know, that cleric is still languishing in prison. Since then, I instituted a new house rule: no evil characters in a campaign geared towards good characters and no pvp.
Our GM encourages pc vs pc unfortunately, and Boomerang, he's not a lich yet, but he's planning to become one. He still has to get a phylactery and do some other things our GM is having him do to become one, so I have a while.Kill him before he finishes the process... problem solved. I agree. Unless you absolutely want to play out a pvp scenario, I would talk to the player and GM about how this will detract from yours (and everyone else's fun). Also, in-character, why would your LG character even want to help a NE character find a phylactery? How would him gaining that kind of power benefit your party in the long run? Remember, lawful good does not equal lawful stupid. If he insists on going this route, a LG character would most likely subdue him and turn him into the authorities before he becomes a grave threat that endangers innocent lives.
I just want to chime in here and say, wow. These ideas have got to be some of the best I've seen on the Skull & Shackles forums. Dudemeister, I know that you are currently a player in this campaign, but please feel free to share whatever gems come out of that extremely creative brain of yours! pipedreamsam: that's some good stuff there. Keep it going!
I ran both books over four years ago so my recollection may be a bit hazy. With that being said, here are some key notes from those sessions: BOOK IV:
Spoiler:
Yes, it can be construed as a railroad, but my players did not mind that in the least. First off, you introduce them to the unique and exotic culture of the Shoanti barbarians through actual gameplay as opposed to narrating it. Second, the key players in the book are flat out cool -- Cinnabar, Krojun, and the Cinderlander come to mind. My players developed a healthy dislike for the Cinderlander who I played as a guerrilla sniper that used ambushes and traps to great effect. I played Cinnabar as a mute murderess with eyes as cold as ice. They were very unnerved by her when they encountered her initially (a scene where they witness her casually dispatching a Shoanti war party), and later, in the final climax of the book, terrified of her when she eviscerated the party healer in a single full-round attack. These encounters served to demonstrate just how scary the Red Mantis were. Krojun, I played as an arrogant and headstrong warrior -- think: homecoming king and varsity football captain -- who initially disdains the party before becoming a staunch ally and friend. For some giggles, I had him fall head over heels in love with the party's female paladin who bested him in his little contest (I forget what it's called). Third, the set pieces were fantastic. I had a blast running the scene where they had to get eaten by the purple worm. The party wizard volunteered to become lunch, and luckily managed to teleport out before being digested by the creature. My only criticism would be the fact that you need to actively foreshadow the aforementioned characters and somehow reveal their backstories. Otherwise, you run the risk of them turning into one-shot Darth Maul type villains. BOOK V
Spoiler:
Yes, Scarwall can be considered a grinding dungeon crawl. To mitigate that, I removed half of the encounters and incorporated haunts that slowly revealed the tale of Mandravius and Kazavon.
In my campaign, Kazavon was the charismatic leader of a mercenary band. Ambitious and amoral, he orchestrated his rise to power by provoking the orc hordes into attacking the nearby kingdom of Belkzen. With the kingdom being in danger of being overrun, Kazavon swooped in and and conducted a brutally efficient campaign to drive the orcs back into the mountains. For his role in saving the kingdom, Kazavon was granted a lordship and a castle: Scarwall. However, Kazavon and his most trusted captain: a Shoanti brave named Mandravius, had a falling out over Mandravius' newfound faith in Iomedae and his remorse over the deeds committed in his boss' name. It didn't help that Mandravius had fallen in love with a fellow captain: Deionara (who happened to be the niece of the King of Belkzen) and both expressed a desire to quit the mercenary band in order to live quietly in Deionara's ancestral estate. The loss of his two most trusted subordinates hit him hard. Kazavon was an exceptionally possessive and jealous individual who viewed his subordinates as property. He lashed out by hosting a wedding banquet in Scarwall Keep for the two unsuspecting lovers, and in a scene reminiscent of G.R.R. Martin's Red Wedding, ordered the death of the couple, their families, and the soldiers loyal to them. Deionara was killed and Mandravius barely escaped from Scarwall with his life. Vowing revenge, Mandravius gained the immediate support of the King of Belkzen, who was furious at the death of his grand-niece and her family. Mandravius spent the following months traveling far and wide, galvanizing the Shoanti and the Church of Iomedae to march on the vile madman who murdered his guests at their own wedding. Mandravius' army marched on Scarwall and laid siege to the castle for many months. Cut off from any means of resupply, the defenders of the keep starved, and eventually resorted to cannibalism to survive. When the attackers finally managed to open a breach after months of attrition, they thought victory was at hand. Instead, they walked into a nightmare. With the end drawing near, Kazavon sacrificed his remaining loyal soldiers on a grisly alter to Zon-Kuthon in return for the dark god's blessing. Zon-Kuthon transformed Kazavon into a blue dragon -- a creature that epitomized the mercenary leader's capacity for evil and selfishness. His sacrificed soldiers transformed into horrific devils and undead monstrosities (the boss monsters in the book), and the spirit of Deionara rose as chained spirit -- forever cursed to haunt the site of her death. Kazavon's newfound power and his newly risen minions devastated the unsuspecting attackers. When all seemed lost, Iomedae herself intervened by pouring a small portion of her power into Mandravius' blade. Strengthened by his enchanted blade Serithiel, Mandravius smote the vile dragon and ended his reign of terror... ...or so he thought. No sooner had Mandravius struck Kazavon down when the dragon's bones began to reattach and his flesh began to knit together. Instead of giving way to despair, the indomitable Shoanti paladin clove his adversary's body into multiple pieces and gave them to his most trusted advisors and allies. These individuals were instructed to carry the body parts as far away as they could to prevent them from ever coming together. With this final task complete, Mandravius expired. With their leaders dead, the remnants of both armies retreated, and the Tale of Scarwall Castle faded into myth. If you are interested in hearing more about what I did with Ileosa, the Red Mantis, Kazavon, etc. let me know and I'll start up a new thread detailing my changes.
Has anyone converted and optimized Gray Maidens and the Red Mantis for PF? Also, anyone recommend any good tactics? My PCs are higher level than these iconic enemies in Crown of Fangs, but I don't want them walking over these guys -- especially after I spent the entire campaign building them up. My PCs are: wizard (conjuration), cleric, dragon disciple, rogue, ranger (archer). They are 20 point buy and pretty optimized.
Nice! I am totally going to steal these tactics. Thanks!
Some of the most memorable moments in this AP are the bosses at the end of each book. Half the fun in running these encounters is to tweak or customize them to make them challenging to the PCs. What are some of the changes you made (or wish you had) with the iconic bosses in this AP? Spoiler: After their first encounter with Xanesha, my PCs absolutely grew to despise her. I did not change her too much mechanically when I ran it initially, but I had her become a recurring villain who went up in sorc levels. I ended up replacing Lucretia with Xanesha, and then also had her offer help to the PCs in taking down Mokmurian (her greatest rival) in Book 4. It was particularly entertaining to watch them overcome their temptation to kill her in order to defeat the "greater" evil. Of course, this was all a part of her master plan to take over Karzoug's organization.
Some mechanics changes that I am planning on making for the third run-through: Aldern Foxglove as a Slayer
One of my favorite pastimes as a DM is to tweak/add/subtract content every time I run an AP. I've combed through these forums and have stolen some wonderful ideas for when I finally run this adventure, which I have listed below. Please feel free to share what you did differently! Overall:
Book 1: Wormwood Mutiny
Book 2: Raiders of the Fever Sea
More to follow.
Someone mentioned running Shore to Sea on Grubber's Hermitage near Sandpoint. In my game, I will probably be adapting Masks of the Living God into Skinsaw Murders. I like the idea of the PCs trying to infiltrate the Skinsaw Cult to find dirt on its leader: Ironbriar. Instead of a cult compound in the middle of the city, I might just make the existing sawmill A LOT bigger (like a factory compound). The mask golem = scarecrow flesh golem and all the Razmir references will be replaced with Nogorber/Father Skinsaw stuff.
One thing to consider is the size of the room she's in. It'll be crazy tight with a large critter in there too, never mind fitting that many PCs in. That's a very good point. I may relocate Nualia and her critter to the chapel, so they have some breathing room. This means, I can dedicate the bottom-most floor to highlighting Thassilonian culture and foreshadowing Karzoug. Other thoughts 1: Nualia's spell selection. I'm thinking a mix between buffing and crowd control would work. No escape spells because I'm anticipating that Nualia will fight to the death. Other thoughts 2: I might borrow a page from Smugglers Shiv (Serpent's Skull AP 1) and use the chupacabra encounters to foreshadow the Sandpoint Devil. This can occur while they are exploring the hinterlands and/or moving towards Thistletop. We shall see. Other thoughts 3: Any ideas for an epic soundtrack for the Nualia fight?
Ripnugget is also a cavalier in my game. I've also added another goblin "occupation." 'Goblin Riders' are level 2 cavaliers that fight with horsechoppers mounted atop their goblin dog steeds. I kept commandos as rangers, but they function as infiltrators and scouts. They fight with poison-tipped dogslicers and shortbows. Elyrium is an oracle (I haven't decided on her mystery yet). I currently have 7 players in my VTT Runelords game and I am debating on whether I should bump Nualia up to level 8 (so her eidolon can become large). I'm also debating on bumping up her posse a level or two as well. What do you guys think? They were all built with 15 point buy, but two of them have the rich parents trait. Do you think a level 8 Nualia is too much against 7 level 3 PCs?
Here's what I'm doing for the rest of Nualia's posse: Tsuto Kaijitsu - level 3 ninja
For the second book: Aldern Foxglove: ghoul aristocrat 4/rogue (rake) 3
Nualia's eidolon: The Sandpoint Devil An unnatural amalgam of loathsome animal parts, this mangy beast skulks forward -- walking perversely upright -- on the rear legs of a powerful horse. Its body and head grossly equine, the torn wings of some giant bat sprout from the thing's pox spotted hide. Calloused, milky eyes glare balefully from a nearly skeletal head as a rasping hiss escapes a muzzle filled with broken yellow wolf teeth. SANDPOINT DEVIL CR 5
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Created With Hero Lab® - try it for free at http://www.wolflair.com! *Nualia has buffed her deformed son with the following spells: bull's strength, mage armor, magic fang, haste. *I was debating on whether to use my remaining evolution points to add a tail attack, but decided to give reach to its bite and claw attacks. If a tail attack would be more flavorful, I'd go with that.
Just wanted to say: your gunslinger blows the official playtest version out of the water. Now all I need to do is jerry rig this into HeroLab for my wife...
I ran RotRL three years ago before the game ground to a halt in Book 4. Recently, my players have all expressed an interest in rebooting the game. I promised them that I've added/tweaked a whole bunch of things and this was one of my ideas. I was originally toying with the idea of rebuilding her as an antipaladin, but then I decided that she might make an excellent summoner (high charisma). Her eidolon can be the child she miscarried. Malfeshnekor himself could be another, more eidolon which she is desperately trying to claim for herself. What do you guys think?
How did this dalliance occur in your game? When was Justice Ironbriar able to meet and seduce Mrs. Kaijitsu? Was it at some high society function in Magnimar? Oh wow, this is brilliant! How are you going to reveal all this juicy, sordid info?
Maybe Father Ezekiel Tobyn had a "transcendent spiritual encounter" with one of Desna's celestial handmaidens (perhaps a reward for decades of devoted service) and Nualia was the result. Personally, Father Tobyn struck me as way too much of a perfectionist with a stick up his arse. I could easily see him worshipping a lawful god like Abadar, but Desna? Not so much. Maybe Desna, in her mysterious, fickle way, used Nualia as a means to test Father Tobyn's ability to love and nurture someone unconditionally -- much like Desna herself was nurtured by the blind orphan when she fell from the sky. Obviously, by isolating Nualia and driving her to be perfect completely backfired on Father Tobyn, who felt that he had a sacred obligation to fulfill. The sad thing is, Desna never wanted Nualia to be a picture-perfect nun. Rather, she wanted Father Tobyn to love his daughter for who she was -- faults and all.
Has anyone written up who Nualia's real parents are? Where are they? What are they up to? Are they both aasimars? If they are dead, how did Father Tobyn find her? My PCs are all graduates of Turandurok Academy and I am sure that they'll ask the above question when they begin investigating the goblin attack. On the same note, who is Tsuto's real father? Where is he? What is he doing?
In an upcoming Runelords campaign, my wife expressed an interest in becoming a wolf shaman druid archetype. Considering that the AP ends at around lvl 15-16, a lot of the wolf shaman's signature abilities will be obsolete by then. I am afraid that high levels will relegate her to a support spellcaster/healer who will be vastly overshadowed by her cleric or wizard friends. She primarily wants to play a shapeshifting druid. How can I make a wolf shaman druid that is viable at higher levels? I'm willing to change stuff from RAW if need be. Are there any suggestions? BTW: I read Treantmonk's excellent druid guides. However, my wife really wants to be a "mistress of the wolves" type of character and isn't too excited about transforming into a dire tiger even though they are mechanically better at the lvl 7-10 range. Oh, we are also doing 15 pt. buy.
As a DM, I have a tendency to modify APs...A LOT. Savage Tide is no different. My campaign takes place in Golarion in the Arcadian Sea region. The pirates of the Shackles hold sway there and I decided to make the Crimson Fleet the up and coming rivals of the established Shackles pirates. The Crimson Fleet is a little different in my campaign. While the Cold Captain rules the fleet by virtue of his great power, there is a faction calling themselves the Protectorate within the fleet that disagree with the Cold Captain's cruel methods. They consist of a handful of Crimson Fleet captains and their crew, whereupon Harliss Javell and Kigante (the pirate captain that dies in Kraken's Cove) are members. Prior to the tragedy in Kraken's Cove (Bullywug Gambit), Kigante was the leader of the Protectorate and a well-respected member of the Crimson Fleet. For many, he was the likely successor to the Cold Captain. However, while trying to broker a peace with the Shackles Pirates via Vanthus, things go horribly wrong and a Savage Tide breaks lose. In the ensuing pandemonium, Red Mantis Assassins hired by the Cold Captain murder Kigante (the Crimson Fleet and the Red Mantis share Illazmagorti and have a good working relationship; the Red Mantis will replace the Yuan-ti in my campaign). As an important side note, one of the PCs is the only daughter of Captain Kigante -- she has a burning desire to overthrow the Cold Captain whom she blames for the death of her father and the destruction of her home. Now, you may be wondering about how Vanthus became an emissary for the Shackles pirates. The Campaign Setting mentions that the Shackles pirates basically own Eleder (the Sasserine substitute). I decided that Shackles captains nearing retirement basically assume mantles of nobility in Eleder. This is the case with Haedrath Kellani, Rowyn's mom. Vanthus, through Rowyn, gains influence with the Shackles pirates and becomes their emissary. Once he reports to the Hurricane King about the effects of the pearl, the Shackles pirates devote all their energies to acquiring them. I tweaked the shadow pearls a bit in my campaign. My gaming group is a big fan of One Piece manga and I decided that brave or foolish individuals could consume the pearls and gain their powers. There is a fifty percent chance that you become a souped up savage abomination and a fifty percent chance to gain special powers (like the Devil Fruit in One Piece). The only caveat is that you have to sacrifice something in order to activate the powers (I really had a field day with templates from Advanced Bestiary because of this). Many of the most powerful members of the Crimson Fleet have consumed the pearl and gained powers that allowed them to become a match for the Shackles pirates. (Their special templates replace the lemorian templates in the original AP; thus, the Cold Captain gets the icy template with a crap ton of spell like abilities that deal with cold or ice, etc.) So my rambling now winds its way back to the players. On their journey to the Isle of Dread, they were attacked by three Shackles caravels. They were overpowered, but rescued at the last minute by the Protectorate. As payment for saving their lives, the PCs agreed to join the Protectorate and by extension, the Crimson Fleet. That brings us back to Farshore. They receive intel that the Shackles pirates are descending upon the colony and the Crimson Fleet has refused to give them assistance: "It's a test to see if you are worthy to be a part of our fleet." (Cold Captain's orders). They know that Vanthus and Rowyn (who escaped the first time around) are coming for them. Now, that's where the collective brain power of the Savage Tide boards come into play. I've decided to replace the yuan ti sorcerer with an 11th level druid (The campaign setting mentions a druid pirate captain called the Master of Gales with a giant squid animal companion). The druid captain was instrumental in helping the fleet navigate through the myriad of storms that surround the Isle of Dread. However, I have some questions: -Vanthus is still "normal" (no fiendish template), but has a shadow pearl. Would he arrogantly consume the pearl or shatter it in the end (canon)? If he does consume the pearl, what should his special power be? I've already decided that he has unknowingly garnered the favor of Demogorgon who will raise him as a death knight upon his death.
Thanks for bearing with my fevered ramblings and ideas. I look forward to hearing from everyone!
Hey all, My players are on their way to recover the SW, but I have one minor problem. I ran Torrents of Dread last session and replaced the two generic koprus with Skeliphipka (sp) the kopru druid who was supposed to make an appearance at the SW. Unfortunately, good tactics and great rolls prevented the druid from escaping and I would rather not have another kopru infest their ship. So, my question is: what do you suggest I put in there to replace the kopru encounter?
Can the additional attacks of opportunity be used against the same opponent or do they have to be different opponents?
I played him as very eager to please. There was an aasimar cleric (who would become his object of lust) that he tried very hard to impress. I think he just came off as very creepy from the get-go. The aasimar in question wanted nothing to do with him.
Last weekend, I watched the Pirates of the Carribean trilogy in its entirety and I found myself brainstorming ways to make my Savage Tide game more exciting. Our group has currently completed TiNH and will be heading into BG. I am going to have Lavinia lend them the Blue Nixie on the way to Kraken's Cove and run a pirate encounter (I'm moving the Brotherhood Blockade encounter from SWW here) along the way. Also, at the suggestion of several posters, I plan on having my players run afoul of savage sharks while rowing to the beach in Kraken's Cove as well as using Webbirds from the later Dungeon issues in place of the savage monkey encounter. During their romp through Kraken's cove, I plan on giving them several "redshirt" NPCs (crewmembers of the Blue Nixie - i.e. warrior/experts) come aboard with them. This is to emphasize the lethality of the Savage Fever and the monsters they come across. For the second half of Bullywug Gambit, I am expecting my PCs to play up the inflitration aspect of the Vanderboren Manor assault. My PCs are:
Anyways, what things have you done to make your Savage Tide game as exciting as possible? Do you suggest that I refrain from using the Battlemat and figurines for every combat? What kind of music should I use? What things in game/out of game have you done to make your games more cinematic? Thanks.
I've made it a nightmare for my PCs to rest in Scarwall by hitting them with random encounters and random creepy effects from Heroes of Horror. I also make them roll DC 25 Will save to resist taint every time they rest. I don't think they'll last three days...
I wrote this out for my party and it really made them feel sympathy for Nualia. They are about to face Mokmurian, but Nualia (and perhaps Foxglove) is the villain they like to talk about most. (This is also on the Upping Nualia's Presence Post) Spoiler: Run this as written after you describe Nualia's Observation Chamber and its contents. Nualia’s Flashbacks The woman smiles at you sadly and unclenches her clawed hand. A small clear sphere with red swirls drops into the fountain with a “plop.” All of a sudden, the room is covered in a dazzling flash of light and you instinctively close your eyes… When you open your eyes again, you find yourselves standing suspended weightless in the air overlooking Sandpoint and what appears to be the old church that got burnt down in place of the new cathedral. The door to the church furtively opens as a beautiful little girl with silver hair and violet eyes pokes her head furtively outside before timidly walking outside. As she daintily walks down the steps, a stone flies out of nowhere and hits her head. Boyish giggling can be heard in the distance as someone yells: “Freak! Go back inside!” Clutching the bloody welt on her forehead, she runs back inside crying. You are transported to what looks to be a quaint, old-fashioned schoolhouse. The same sad, quiet girl sits alone in the corner, reading a book. Cruel whispering and giggling can be heard all around her, before she gets up and excuses herself to go use the restroom. Three other giggling girls follow behind her and wait for her to walk into the outhouse before piling tables and chairs outside her door. Several hours later, a little girl’s frightened screams of anguish pierce the dusk. A teenage girl walks back home to the church from the school house. Immediately, the air is filled with lewd catcalls and hooting from the adolescent boys in the area. Extremely uncomfortable with the inappropriate attention placed upon her, she quickly runs back to the church, with her head hung low. A young woman holding a basket is browsing through vegetables at the market, when suddenly, she feels someone yank at her hair followed closely by a loud “snip” sound. Whirling around, she sees an old woman gleefully hobble off with a handful of hair the color of the stars. A mob of petitioners approach her. Many of them have rashes and boils, others have warts. Some others claim to hear spirits in their head. They ask her to bless them. They ask her if she could cure their maladies with her touch. One of them calls her “the Blessed of Desna.” Another asks her to drive the evil spirits out of his head by singing to him. Too much for her, she runs back to the church. They give chase. A stern voice of an older man can be heard: “On your seventeenth birthday, I am taking you to the highly prestigious Windsong Abbey to become a nun. The Abbess expects all young applicants to be perfectly versed in their catechisms. You may not leave this room until you have memorized all of your scriptures.” Hours later, a young woman looks out the window gloomily as the sun sets and another warm summer day spent cloistered in her chambers. A handsome Varisian boy, who recently arrived at Sandpoint from Magnimar, takes her on a picnic for a date. It is her first picninc. They sit on a grassy knoll and watch the sun set. She falls in love. Weeks pass. The boy throws a stone at the church window. The window opens and the girl looks outside. She smiles happily at him before clambering over and climbing down on a cloth rope. He takes her hand and takes her to the moonlit beach. They walk for awhile in the sand until they come upon a strange cave nestled within the cliffs underneath the newly built Glassworks. Giggling softly, they both go inside. Months pass. The two young lovers sit shoulder to shoulder at the mouth of the cave overlooking the waves at night. The girl turns to the boy and says that she has something important to tell him. “What’s the matter?” the boy asks tenderly.
Kneeling before the altar, she prays for repentance that she does not feel. Her foster father yelled at her harshly and had called her a “harlot” when he found out about her condition. He forbids her from leaving the church in fear public ridicule. Bitterness and rage clouds her heart like a thick poison and festers… Eight months later, she undergoes a painful miscarriage. Through the haze of pain suffusing her entire body, she catches a glimpse of her baby – a horrific and deformed monstrosity, which the blanching midwife immediately swaddles up and takes away. In one awful moment of clarity, she realized that she had been carrying a fiend in her belly all this time. She falls into a deep coma. Her coma-induced sleep is filled with fevered dreams. In them, a pregnant woman with three jackal heads and a serpentine tail beckons to her. She approaches slowly and falls into the demon goddess’ embrace. In her other dreams, she dreams of burning the old Desnan church – her home and prison – down, with her foster father in it. She dreams of masked men who revel in the act of hunting and killing other men. She dreams of hunting down and butchering the boy who brought her so much pain. She dreams of a hidden shrine underground shrine, where she meets her tiny new mentor. She dreams of a monstrous goblin wolf – a chosen of Lamashtu – that paces restlessly in ravenous hunger in a small chamber. She dreams of Sandpoint being overwhelmed and razed by a ravening horde of monsters, and she vividly sees herself standing amidst the ruins, reveling in the act of offering the souls of the dying to higher, more terrible beings beyond the understanding of mere mortals. The collective vision ends here and you find that you are once again inside the heart of Thistletop.
All of a sudden, her fanged sword bursts into angry orange flames. Wings outspread and sword trailing fire, she lunges at you with fury in her eyes. Roll initiative!
Has anyone fleshed out any encounters or events for Magnimar? I played up the city as massive, colorful, and wondrous and I would not want to disappoint the country PCs with the typical, bland city encounters. I have already decided to yoink the improved Faceless Stalker encounter by Jodah. However, I want to know what you guys have done with this city to make it your own.
I had a similar problem. Since my players will be running into Nualia in the next two sessions, I'm going to reveal her story in the form of a flashback. For the sake of my game, I created a magic item called a 'memory sphere,' which is a small crystalline ball with the ability to record one's emotions and thoughts. Anyways, here's what I'm going to present to my players: Spoiler:
The woman smiles at you sadly and unclenches her clawed hand. A small clear sphere with red swirls drops into the fountain with a “plop.” All of a sudden, the room is covered in a dazzling flash of light and you instinctively close your eyes…
When you open your eyes again, you find yourselves standing suspended weightless in the air overlooking Sandpoint and what appears to be the old church that got burnt down in place of the new cathedral. The door to the church furtively opens as a beautiful little girl with silver hair and violet eyes pokes her head furtively outside before timidly walking outside. As she daintily walks down the steps, a stone flies out of nowhere and hits her head. Boyish giggling can be heard in the distance as someone yells: “Freak! Go back inside!” Clutching the bloody welt on her forehead, she runs back inside crying. You are transported to what looks to be a quaint, old-fashioned schoolhouse. The same sad, quiet girl sits alone in the corner, reading a book. Cruel whispering and giggling can be heard all around her, before she gets up and excuses herself to go use the restroom. Three other giggling girls follow behind her and wait for her to walk into the outhouse before piling tables and chairs outside her door. Several hours later, a little girl’s frightened screams of anguish pierce the dusk. A teenage girl walks back home to the church from the school house. Immediately, the air is filled with lewd catcalls and hooting from the adolescent boys in the area. Extremely uncomfortable with the inappropriate attention placed upon her, she quickly runs back to the church, with her head hung low. A young woman holding a basket is browsing through vegetables at the market, when suddenly, she feels someone yank at her hair followed closely by a loud “snip” sound. Whirling around, she sees an old woman gleefully hobble off with a handful of hair the color of the stars. A mob of petitioners approach her. Many of them have rashes and boils, others have warts. Some others claim to hear spirits in their head. They ask her to bless them. They ask her if she could cure their maladies with her touch. One of them calls her “the Blessed of Desna.” Another asks her to drive the evil spirits out of his head by singing to him. Too much for her, she runs back to the church. They give chase. A stern voice of an older man can be heard: “On your seventeenth birthday, I am taking you to the highly prestigious Windsong Abbey to become a nun. The Abbess expects all young applicants to be perfectly versed in their catechisms. You may not leave this room until you have memorized all of your scriptures.” Hours later, a young woman looks out the window gloomily as the sun sets and another warm summer day spent cloistered in her chambers. A handsome Varisian boy, who recently arrived at Sandpoint from Magnimar, takes her on a picnic for a date. It is her first picninc. They sit on a grassy knoll and watch the sun set. She falls in love. Weeks pass. The boy throws a stone at the church window. The window opens and the girl looks outside. She smiles happily at him before clambering over and climbing down on a cloth rope. He takes her hand and takes her to the moonlit beach. They walk for awhile in the sand until they come upon a strange cave nestled within the cliffs underneath the newly built Glassworks. Giggling softly, they both go inside. Months pass. The two young lovers sit shoulder to shoulder at the mouth of the cave overlooking the waves at night. The girl turns to the boy and says that she has something important to tell him. “What’s the matter?” the boy asks tenderly.
Kneeling before the altar, she prays for repentance that she does not feel. Her foster father yelled at her harshly and had called her a “harlot” when he found out about her condition. He forbids her from leaving the church in fear public ridicule. Bitterness and rage clouds her heart like a thick poison and festers… Eight months later, she undergoes a painful miscarriage. Through the haze of pain suffusing her entire body, she catches a glimpse of her baby – a horrific and deformed monstrosity, which the blanching midwife immediately swaddles up and takes away. In one awful moment of clarity, she realized that she had been carrying a fiend in her belly all this time. She falls into a deep coma. Her coma-induced sleep is filled with fevered dreams. In them, a pregnant woman with three jackal heads and a serpentine tail beckons to her. She approaches slowly and falls into the demon goddess’ embrace. In her other dreams, she dreams of burning the old Desnan church – her home and prison – down, with her foster father in it. She dreams of masked men who revel in the act of hunting and killing other men. She dreams of hunting down and murdering the boy who brought her so much pain. She dreams of a hidden shrine underground shrine, where she meets her tiny new mentor. She dreams of a monstrous goblin wolf – a chosen of Lamashtu – that paces restlessly in ravenous hunger in a small chamber. She dreams of Sandpoint being overwhelmed and razed by a ravening horde of monsters, and she vividly sees herself standing amidst the ruins, reveling in the act of offering the souls of the dying to higher, more terrible beings beyond the understanding of mere mortals. The collective vision ends here and you find that you are once again inside the heart of Thistletop.
All of a sudden, her black-hilted sword bursts into angry orange flames. Wings outspread and sword trailing fire, she lunges at you with fury in her eyes. Roll initiative! Oh, and because the party is a six-man crew, I've taken the liberty of advancing Nualia's transformation to the point where she develops wings (with a fly speed of 20 because of armor) and I've also given her a flaming sword (just because it's cool).
I absolutely loved Rome and the Wire is quite possibly my favorite TV show of all time. Now, if they make a series about a Song of Ice and Fire (my favorite fantasy series), I'll probably die from the sheer awesomeness. |
