A man watches as "The Invincible" leaves the port of Westcrown. The sails profit from a light wind, a breeze that gently removes the long black hairs from the face of the spectator and thereby reveals he is crying. From the galley, a woman and a child wave at him, he replies as enthusiastic as he is able to, trying to hide his sadness from his daughter. Slowly the ship disappears in the vague border of sea and sky, behind him the sun does the very same thing.
Sadness is a dangerous councilor in times of eminent danger, a fact the man realizes when light makes way for shadow. After the statue of Aroden reflects a last sunbeam, his will to survive urges him to make haste. He hurries through the streets and starts to distinguish figures in the shadow. Just a bit further, just... Escape routes race through his head. Doors are closed with many locks in Westcrown, but if he can make it to his brother’s house... The thing is behind him. It's definitely there... But there is a safe place just around the corner. Just a bit further…
The man knocks on the door. Nothing. He tries again, using all his might now, but the only sound he hears seems to be a hissing laughter from behind him. Names are being called, the brother’s name, his own name, names of the gods and later on curses, but the door remains closed. Desperately, the man tries to make it for his own home, but he is tired… That night many screams echo in Westcrown, but the Wiscrani have grown used to it. No door will open at night.
Westcrown, Lamashan 11th
When the sun reappears, a man sits on the floor with his back against the threefold locked door, his hands over his head, repeating the same phrase over and over again. “May the Devil take them… May the Devil take them… May the Devil take them…” At the other side of the city, the corpse of a woman is discovered.
Ozer:
Lamashan 11th. You awake with a terrible headache and a dry mouth, as usual. You get up and stumble to the window to let the sun enter, even if it hurts your eyes. You need to get up, you have a job to do today. If only you could remember what it was… It was discussed yesterday evening, some woman came to the bar and you have been talking with her for hours. Later on the day the job was offered. But your memory refuses any further cooperation, you don’t even know if you accepted it in the end. You put your clothes on, and find a note in your pocket. “Meet me at Vizio’s Tavern at 5 in the afternoon. Be careful. Janiven.”
Mazon:
Lamashan 11th. The screams during the night didn’t escape your notice, but you were too far away to intervene with anything. At dawn, you find the Dottari investigating the leftovers of a Tiefling, already heavily mutilated by scavengers. Their numbers seem to be awkwardly high in this city. The Dottari don’t look like they wish to discuss anything with you, so you keep your distance. While you watch them, you start to get a feeling you’re being observed yourself. A human woman is staring at you. She comes right at you, and addresses you. “It seems our information is correct, you are indeed quite curious about what is happening at night. I don’t like your kind, but you seem decent for your race and perhaps we can help each other out. If you are interested to change something in this city, seek me out at Vizio’s Tavern, 5 in the afternoon.” She doesn’t wait for your answer, and turns her back. Shortly after, he disappears in one of the many small alleys.
Shannon:
Lamashan 11th. For some reason, you couldn’t get any sleep last night. No matter how hard you tried, something kept you awake. The effects become all too clear in the morning, your voice isn’t as pure and powerful as it should be. Luckily there is no performance planned for today. Later on that morning, Fiodor is late on his appointment with you. As you start to worry that something would have happened to him, he finally arrives. With an unusual tone, one that almost looks like jealousy, he tells you about a woman at the door that couldn’t keep quiet about you. Apparently, she would very much like to meet you. After insisting, Fiodor reveals that the name of the (quiet pretty) woman is Janiven, and that she is waiting for you at Vizio’s Tavern at 5.00 after noon.
Ronwn:
Lamashan 10th. You were late on your latest trip from the Dhaens, it was nearly completely dark when you arrived at Faed’s shop. The only other you saw was a middle-aged man running a little harder as you, you could only hope he arrived home in time. Faed was visibly worried, but didn’t say too much about it. The only thing he mentioned was that one of the customers asked about you. A lady named Janiven requested that you would deliver her 7 ounces of¨powdered silver at Vizio’s Tavern, tomorrow at exactly 5.00 in the afternoon.
Maxis:
Lamashan 11th. “You are late” says Edwin with a frown. Indeed, you were supposed to meet him earlier that morning, but that night you were far too interested in the effects of combining an extract of quicksilver with vermilion. The outcome: nothing and the fact you overslept. But as usual, Edwin’s face changes fast. He had never been able to remain angry at you for longer as a minute. He chuckles a bit, and introduces you to his guest. “Maxis, meet Janiven. I’ve known her for some time now, she’s a good woman. I have told her about you and I think you two would get along fine. She needs help from talented people as yourself…” At that point, Janiven interrupts. “We need you as well, Edwin.” The man shakes his head. “I’m too old for this, Janiven. But Maxis will do fine, he will surprise you.” The lady named Janiven nods and stands up. “If such is the case, I would gladly meet at 5.00 this afternoon at Vizio’s Tavern, Maxis. I understand you have questions, but I’m afraid I must take my leave now.”
If your character decides to accept the invitation, feel free to describe untill he/she arrives at the street of Vizio's tavern. If anything else, write it out.
Hi everyone, I’m very motivated to get this started :-) We won’t start immediately, you will have a few days to make some changes to the characters and make sure we’re all perfectly happy about them. I will let go of the personal quest I spoke about in the introduction post of the recruitment. Your background stories have provided me with several ideas to flavor this campaign, so they’re not necessary. If possible, we will start this Friday, but it is possible I’ll delay this if I feel some stories/characters need further perfection.
Let’s take things slow at the start, I hope to establish a good understanding between us this way, one that will avoid sudden walkaways. I have some further guidelines here, check if you’re ok with them please. Also, if you didn’t do before reading this post, check your inbox. I hope to develop a good understanding between players and DM as this is key to any successful campaign. If anything you can contact me by that mail, or by the tools I provided you with in that PM.
Character guidelines:
Advancement: No need to keep track of experience, I’ll let you know when to level.
I’m not afraid of tailoring the AP to suit my needs. For you, this means you don’t have to consider with every choice “in what direction is the DM trying to point us”. If we start with the AP and end up with sandbox adventuring in Cheliax, I’m fine with that. Just make it worth the effort I put in by writing some excellent story yourself.
Favoured Class Bonus: don’t forget to pick one, and mention in your profile which choice you make.
Languages: Make sure you can motivate any language you speak. I’m not fond of picking dead languages, but if you give it a restriction I’d accept it. (I’ll cite Shannons example, it’s one I like: he knows Azlanti since the language is used for some operas. But if he would speak it, it would be that very opera language -> "Help me, I'm drowning!" would be "Alas! Bring help unto me, for I am assailed by the sea!")
Religion: This is an important part for me, because imho a fantasy religion is one of the parts where you can make immersion epic. I’m skeptic to a character without a patron god and you’ll need an excellent motivation (especially one that proves me that it’s not sheer laziness or lack of understanding of RL religion) for me to accept it. Remember I said I’m not fond of psi-powers? Well here is the main reason ;-)
Gods are real in this fantasy world, the effects of the death of Aroden should have proven that. Your patron God will – in normal circumstances – decide the final destination of your very soul. Your character ought to know that. So do a little research about your patron god, make sure your character knows what his patron god wants, when his/her holidays are, what kind of celebration it includes and involve the worship of that God in your RP. Use his/her name in a battle cry, call upon your god, do a prayer from time to time, make a small sacrifice, … Just giving examples. Of course, it’s still Cheliax so actions shouldn’t be too public, but I hope I made myself clear. If you need help with further information, I’ll be happy to provide it.
Campaign guidelines:
In the submissions, I saw various interpretations of the role of the army, Hellknights and Dottari in Cheliax society, so I’ll give you my vision on that. This is something your character would know, especially if he or she is a born Chelaxian. There are three separate military structures in Cheliax. First, there is the Cheliax military. It exists out of a combination of enslaved and enlisted soldiers, led by officers mostly coming from the nobility and it’s one of the largest armies and navies in the known world. As an institution lead by nobles, they fall under direct command of House Thrune. Second, there are the various Hellknight Orders. They are, like the Asmodean Church, quite independent but do support House Thrune in a sort of alliance. The Queen does them favors, they do favors for the Queen. However, they are not the local police and they are not necessary evil. They serve their own goals: make sure there is respect for the law, if necessary by fear. The local police in Westcrown are the Dottari, they own allegiance to the mayor. They are more corrupt as the military and the Hellknights (city militia never is an example of excellent discipline) but their main task is to root out crime.
Factions in Westcrown: There are various factions you might come across at some point in Westcrown. I’ll keep track of how they think of you (using the Factions Guide to help me), you might have positive or negative encounters with them, depending on your choices. If you are interested in any faction (including other factions I’m not mentioning now), either as a story hook or a possible future prestige class or whatever else, now is the time to say.
a. The Pathfinder Society
b. The Hellknights
c. The Bellflower Network
d. The Aspis Consortium
e. The Asmodean Church
The creatures during the night: this is a known curse in Westcrown, since 4676. Current year is 4710, so the curse is going for 34 years. This means it’s widely known, an entire generation of Wiscrani has never known otherwise.
I’d be happy to assist if you need my input on your story, lore, character setup, … So if you have any questions, shoot. If not, do provide me with a character ready to play and tell me when you think he or she is ready to go so I can approve ;-)
Hello everyone. I'm new on the boards, so I'll include a small introduction. I'm an experienced Pathfinder and 3.5 player and about half a year ago I started DM'ing an adventure. I like it and I'm having a wonderful time with my group, but I would like to increase my DM experience a bit. Since Pathfinder has become my favourite, I came here and I'm looking for a group to play Council of Thieves.
So, I'm looking for 4-5 players to get this adventure started. I'll be closing submissions next week (Sunday December 9) and make a final selection 2-3 days later.
DM Houserules
Pace: I have a demanding job myself and I won't be able to play every day, so I won't ask that of you either. 3-4 posts a week is fine.
Storytelling: Given we don't have that much posts, make them count. RP, immersion and character discussions are important for me (as you'll realise later on), if you have suggestions to improve them, don't hesitate.
Absence: I'm very happy if you tell me about expected absences, I don't even need a reason. If it's unexpected and I don't hear from you, I'll provide a "godmode" solution from the moment it blocks the other players.
Game Rules: As said in the intro, I don't have much DM experience. It is possible I will forget rules. Either you accept that, either you tell me in the OOC discussion so I can think about it a next time. But don't let it interrupt play, we go slow enough already. I'll be very careful that no game-breakers come in.
Critical Fail: A backfiring effect, in danger whenever you throw 1. Applied to players, monsters and NPC's on skill, attack and saving throws. Like a critical hit, it will need to be confirmed (next throw needs to fail again in order for the effect to happen) and don't worry, I won't kill your character because of it. Expect yourself to funny and embarassing situations instead.
Let's be adults, but let's be decent as well. I'm quite tolerant there but the moment you cross a line I give you a clear warning. Next time you cross it you're out.
Your Submission
Don't feel obliged to create your entire character sheet, I'm looking for character concepts. I'll be selecting characters mostly on story and how your character blends into Cheliax and Westcrown. After selection, you will have some time to finetune your character. At this stage, I will also work out with you a personal quest, unknown for the others. Here are some detailed guidelines:
Lvl 1, 20 point buy. 2 Traits of whom 1 Campaign OR Regional if you're character isn't from Westcrown.
Races: Standard + Any race from the Advanced Race Guide. Just be aware, the more exotic, the more effort I expect of you to blend into Westcrown.
3rd Party Content: Feel free to propose something and convince me with an excellent Westcrown blend and story.
Psionics, don't try. Unfortunately for you I have a personal dislike for it so it will be near impossible to convince me there. Just warning you in advance.
To make sure you blend well into Westcrown, here is the Player guide.
Story: I want "grey" characters with strenghts and weaknesses. I want you to tell me their motivations in life and get an impression on how they look, how they behave. I want to know how they got in Westcrown and how their life in the city looks like. I would also like you to describe 1 other person you know in the city. Give me all that and we'll have a wonderful game.
The Party
I don't have experience with Evil parties, so I stick to Good & Neutral so far just to be safe.
I won't be checking party balance during selection. If four Gnome Wizards turn out to have the best stories, I'll pick them and I'll provide possibilies to balance the game during fights. But sometimes four Gnome Wizards just make for a better story as the usual combo, and this is exactly what I'm looking for.
