Chuckg's page

It started out as such a simple change...

I swapped out one of the CR2 Darklands encounters for a dretch, that Hosilla sent to 'go check out the lower tunnels after that big collapse'. I wanted the party to actually start off fighting a genuine demon, even if a least demon, rather than just going around with cave fishers and giant spiders.

And just because the description says that dretches are cowardly, and the next-to-last blow reduced it to 1 hp, I had it start screaming (telepathically, of course) 'Don't kill me!', and asked the party if they wanted to just snuff it, or keep it alive for questioning.

So, the first person to speak up said 'kill it', and so I said 'right, its dying', and then the person who'd planned for their next character level to be in paladin not only challenged that decision, but knelt over the dying dretch with mercy in his heart.

At this point I went '... well, I knew the redemption rules would come into play in this chronicle, but not so soon. And this is a really bad situation. And I have to fiat a miracle here just to...'

Anyhoo, I failed my Will save vs. temptation. And the part now has a dretch named Kreggal following them around. More to the point, the /paladin/ has a dretch named Kreggal following him around and calling him 'boss'. Still chaotic evil, but "thoroughly cowed and slightly confused".

As per the redemption rules advice in the player's guide, I am not going to have the little ball of malevolence betray them or attack them after they showed it mercy -- even if the mercy was hugely grudging on some parts. That's just not fair.

On the other hand, I did not remotely plan on this.

So, that's my amusing anecdote from my most recent session.

Right now I plan to, assuming the party continues to treat it decently and explain complex ethicsl issues to its simple mind as best they can, have the poor thing heroically die sometime towards the end of the first chapter...

... and show up later as an archon spirit.

But I'm open to Better Ideas.

PS: I already handwaved 'its a miracle' and the thing can speak in Common now. (Otherwise, the only two people in the party that could communicate with it are Aravashnial, and the PC who first voted to kill it.)

OTOH, it is the most unique assuming of the paladin mantle I have ever seen -- showing mercy to the least of demons.

Its even more notable when you consider the paladin worships the empyreal lord Ragathiel, Empyreal of Duty, Honor, and Vengeance.

According to the timeline on the inner rear cover of the Worldwound supplement, Crusader Queen Galfrey took the throne in Mendev in 4601 -- five years before the opening of the Worldwound, and 112 years before the 'current' date as given by the same timeline.

Which I suppose would be possible if she came to the throne very young and was a venerable age category half-elf now, or a middle-aged elf or an old dwarf, or...

... except that Inner Sea Magic lists her race as Taldan human.

Is this a typo? Did they mean to say 4701? (i.e., 12 years ago). Or has she really been queen throughout the entire Worldwound incursion? For that matter, doesn't the history of the Mendevian Crusades as given in Inner Sea World Guide say that the old ruling house of Mendev didn't die until the opening of the Worldwound, and that the crown only passed to the church of Iomedae after that?

Since I'm going to be running Wrath of the Righteous soon, I need to know whether to RP the queen as a contemporary of the heroes she's going to be interacting with, or as a woman old enough to be their great-grandmother.

Here's a real 'dunce cap' style question.

The XP shown in an Adventure Path stat block for defeating a monster is divided among the # of players, is that correct? If the stat block shows 600 XP and I have 3 players, that's 200 XP each, not 600 each?