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I thought adding the post as favorite was a means to track it and get notifications if someone replied to it. Since that is not the case, I removed it. It's an issue because it makes combat really lethal. My players tend to get touchy when they fall into the negatives, and they don't die nearly as often as in other campaigns I've followed on the boards. My NPCs/monsters usually don't finish off PCs once they've dropped into the negatives, they move to the next standing target. Only when the theme of the campaign is more intense and dangerous, where the denizens are known for being ruthless - say in Ustalav or an evil nation - would they finish foes if possible. I am starting a campaign with this kind of theme, but players tend to get discouraged and feel like they need to make another character should they die. This campaign also has a PC Witch with the Slumber hex, so CdG will basically be used frequently on my monsters/npcs at it came up in our first session. My reservations were mainly for the Players, because I thought that an instant kill from a CdG (let's face it, your chances of survival are abysmally low) would be seen as too harsh a thing. If it's the RAW, though, I'm fine with it.
I would really appreciate it if somehow I could get some kind of official ruling on this, as I've never seen any of the game designers comment on this matter on the boards and I haven't been able to find any Errata for clarification. There is a debate in my group on the matter of how long it takes someone to perform a coup de grace. My understanding of the RAW regarding this matter is that the action is initiated on the initiative of the person performing the coup de grace and finishes (resulting in the crit and damage requiring the save) at the beginning of that person's next initiative, hence a full round action. Casting spells that require 1 round to cast follow the same timing. Opposition to my understanding of this rule is that the RAW states that the coup de grace finishes at the end of the initiative round the person began the action. Which is the correct understanding? The first allows people the opportunity to incapacitate or kill the person performing the coup de grace before it goes off, whereas the second option is an instant kill if the last person in the initiative order is the one who initiates the coup de grace, because it would go off right after they finish saying "I start a coup de grace" as it would be the end of the round. The main argument for the opposition is this quote: "Sorcerers and bards must take more time to cast a metamagic spell (one enhanced by a metamagic feat) than a regular spell. If a spell's normal casting time is 1 standard action, casting a metamagic version of the spell is a full-round action for a sorcerer or bard (except for spells modified by the Quicken Spell feat, which take 1 swift action to cast). Note that this isn't the same as a spell with a 1-round casting time. Spells that take a full-round action to cast take effect in the same round that you begin casting, and you are not required to continue the invocations, gestures, and concentration until your next turn." My understanding of the rule is being dubbed a house rule, whereas I disagree and say it's RAW. So which is RAW and which is a house rule? The above quote tells me that the term "full round action" has different meaning for different situations, as coup de grace is listed as a full round action, but so are full attacks, withdrawing, charging, running, loading a heavy crossbow, etc. These other actions like full attacks have their effects come into play immediately, however, so if coup de grace RAW functions like my understanding, do the rest of these actions technically function the same way? If a Barbarian makes a full attack on an evil cleric, could an evil wizard who goes next in the initiative order cast Hold Person on the barbarian and negate any damage his full attack had on the cleric? It seems to me that things that have been given the same label but don't function exactly the same under that label. Or the opposition's understanding of the rule could be right and I have been making rulings on coup de grace completely wrong this entire time. Thanks in advance!
I did the same but my players aren't into the the sanity mechanics or pursuing the Whispering Way. And to be honest, the more times I read this AP the more I realize how poorly written it is. After sitting down and talking about the AP with my players, they agreed that this isn't what they want to continue playing. They also agreed that the AP was badly written and that the ending is terrible (although they loved the twist I made up with Lorrimor at the end when I told them about it). So at the end of the day Carrion Crown was ended and after getting feedback from my players I will be starting a sandbox campaign set in the River Kingdoms and Galt.
Honestly I don't think the party has anything they are emotionally invested in because the only things most of them want to do is get out of Ustalav with their lives. Some of them are bound by their sense of duty or hatred of undead which is keeping them here so they can hunt down the Whipsering Way Cultists, but the others are just looking for a way to get out alive. This is basically a horror game where all sorts of unspeakable events are happening to and around the PCs. Some of their comrades have already fallen, some went insane or are slowly going insane, and there's all sorts of spooky, scary and crazy stuff that they keep encountering. The only person they established a connection with emotionally was Kendra, and they left her back in Lepidstadt.
So I started Seven Days to the Grave, and the party cured Brienna of the disease, had the crowd encounter at the Bank of Abadar and then met Dr. Davaulus and the Royal Physicians at the Citadel. They decided to start investigating on their own three days after the outbreak of the plague (so not enough time for people to start dying), so they didn't have very many leads. Brienna was cured but was not given any restoration spells to cure her ability damage so when they went to question her Tayce said she was sleeping, and maybe if they came back in a few days she would be strong enough to answer their questions (her Con and Cha had gone down to 4 and 5, respectively by that point). Instead of waiting, they decided to start asking around about what they could do. At this point nobody had started dying yet so the hook for the lazy body carters hadn't developed yet, so all the Korvosan Guard could do was say they were planning with the Royal Physicians on how to combat the plague and if they wanted to help they could start moving bodies when the time came (an assignment Dr. Davaulus came up with for Kroft to give the party should they continue to stick their noses in his business). This didn't sit well with the party at all so instead of waiting for Brienna to recover or try and investigate another avenue, the party went straight for the wreck of the Direption at 4th level. Let me preface this by saying that this party currently stands at 10 members. Tonight, only 8 of them showed up. This means they can usually take on whatever I throw at them with ease unless I tweak things a bit as combat progresses. For whatever reason, the party thought it would be a good idea to have Ishani only cast Water Breathing on THREE party members and the Summoner's Eidolon, and have only those THREE go down and search for the wreck (who were the Barbarian who decided to NOT wear her armor since she would be swimming, the Magus, and the Oracle of Life). The other five (Two wizards, a fighter, the summoner and a Sorcerer) remained on the ship they rented above them on the water's surface. So the four underwater have water breathing for 2 hours each by the time their ship arrives at the site. They spent 1 hour 20 minutes looking fruitlessly for the wreck before they find it. They decide to investigate the wreck, going right for the stern of the ship where Yvica and her shark companion are and encounter the shark. Because of the party dynamics I made this little guy a Helicoprion Shark instead of the jigsaw. Two rounds into the fight the shark has the unarmored Barbarian pinned with its whorled jaw and is swimming for the hole in the ship it can eat its prey (they still managed to get it to 1/3 of its hit points in 5-6 rounds). Five rounds into the fight Yvica shows up and starts attacking the Magus. The Eidolon chases the shark as its the only one with a swim speed and gets it to about 25 HP before it kills the Barbarian and switches to the Eidolon (the barbarian spends 2 hero points to cheat death, but still sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor with 40 min of water breathing left). The Hag gets the Magus down to a 1/3 of his HP before the Oracle gets her with a Murderous Command, causing her to swim out of the hull after the shark for a round, and gives the Magus and the Oracle a chance to escape (due to the muddiness of the water and the poor visibility, I figured the hag would rather return to the ship and finish looking around. If they were no longer in the territory she claimed, she wouldn't bother looking around in the muddy water for them). The shark attacks the Eidolon after it let go of the Barbarian and kills it, then follows Yvica back into the hull to continue guarding her should those other two return. At no point did the Summoner, who can communicate telepathically with his Eidolon, think to have his pet inform him and the rest of the people topside that this was going on. Even then, none of them would have gone down to help (maybe one would have tried) because they didn't have water breathing on them and it's 80 feet below them. While this was going on I didn't want the topside people to be bored, so while the wreck crew was searching I was rolling percentile dice to see if their search disturbed or attracted anything to the ship. I rolled in the single digits for one of the checks, so I had an aquatic version of a monster that I found in the Oathbound Bestiary called a Scavan find its way to the ship. This Scavan was small for a scavan but large in size, and is basically a snake with three buzzsaws in its mouth where the fangs would normally be. It loves to rend wood and flesh, so a ship out on the water filled with people was a lovely choice. It surfaces and the first thing it does it lunge up out of the water and snatch the ship's Captain and tear him to pieces. Before combat even begins one of the wizards dives off the far end of the boat and starts swimming to the nearest shore. As the Scavan starts tearing holes in the ship's hull with it's buzzsaw teeth, the other casters start doing the same. The only person who even tries to fight the thing is the Summoner who starts casting Summon Monster spells in the water to try and fight it and the Fighter, who tethers himself to the mast (of a soon to be sinking ship) and hops overboard to fight this thing 15 feet under water. First round of combat with the creature and he misses while it crits him. I use the Crit deck and pull the Throat Slash card, which deals 2d6 bleed damage and the target cannot speak or breathe while bleeding. He didn't have water breathing on him so guess who falls to -1 and starts drowning? At this point the ship has floundered and the summoner grabs the fallen fighter with a water elemental he summoned to drag him back to shore while everyone else swims for it. Luckily for them, the crew of the boat was 8 people and those who didn't start swimming for shore with the casters are now being torn to pieces in the water by the Scavan. The water elemental saves the fighter from drowning but he bleeds to death before anyone can reach or heal him (he spends 2 hero points to cheat death). The Oracle and Magus escape to the surface and also swim to shore. The Barbarian is left behind at the sea floor, but I have her spend her final hero point to go into a blackout rage and claw for the surface and for shore, fading back into unconsciousness 3/4 of the way and ending up washed onto shore where her companions find her. Everyone gets to shore but is exhausted at this point from such a long swim and taken nonlethal damage from the cold water. They make camp right on the shore and rest. So nobody technically died but they got their rears handed to them. During the fight, the Magus scored a crit on the sea hag where he knocked her straight backwards 1d6 squares and I told him he knocked a metal box loose from her grasp, which he took. It was the Death's Head Coffer containing a dead rat and some of the infected coins. However at this point the group doesn't care. They were on the fence about leaving Korvosa after the King died during the riots, they were on the fence again after they learned about the plague outbreak, but now they just want to leave this city before they get infected and can't afford to get healed any more. So they venture into Korvosa one last time to get their things and their companions who hadn't gone with them on the voyage, deliver the coffer to the Korvosan Guard and say "Here's the source of your plague", and leave the city. So they discovered that the money was infected but hey never found Rois or the darkwood coffer in the infirmary. They have given up on Korvosa and plan on making a trip for Magnimar until the plague runs its course. I have no problems with them doing this as I can come up with a few good ideas as to what they could do in Magnimar, but I plan on things continuing to evolve in Korvosa without the party. I wonder that without the party's interference at all, would the death toll stay at 5,000? Even with the evidence that the money that washed ashore was infected, they would have no idea about the infected deposit that's already been circulating, and there's no way to stop the circulation of every silver piece in the city. I'm sure Davaulus would come up with something to deflect and minimize this discovery once the party leaves Korvosa. Anyone with ideas as to how bad I should make things in Korvosa? I mean, the Queen's plans will pretty much go along to her schedule as she pleases while the party is gone. I'm hoping that after a few adventures and levels they'll feel more confident about returning to Korvosa once it's become apparent that the city has a dire need for heroes to rescue it, but there's also a part of me that wonders if they even want to go back at some point. If things get worse (which they will), I think they would want to stay away from it.
I wrote that up yesterday in a short span yesterday and didn't consider things like tropes and such. I was too busy making Tar-Baphon in Hero Lab to be concerned with gender sensitivity concerning the characters in MY game. Maybe Kendra hangs herself in grief from the steps of Lepidstadt University over the loss of her daddy instead? I'm sure Petros could find somebody else. Maybe little handicapped Timmy who's had black lung from working in the mines? Just for you... Honestly I don't care if it's Kendra the daughter or Kenneth the son. In my game they are the offspring of a demented and twisted Necromancer who would just as easily spawn and raise their own child to be sacrificed in a dark ritual as they would send them off to boarding school. Gender is a descriptor for the tools I use. But now that you've made me aware of how irritating those tropes are, I will be sure to overuse them as much as possible. Again, just for you.
Adivion Adrissant was one of the most brilliant students Petros Lorrimor had ever seen, nearly reaching the same level of his own brilliance. He saw the young man's struggle with academic boredom, as nothing ever came close to piquing his interest as it all seemed paltry and uninteresting - until Petros took him under his wing and showed him the darker side to history and the arcane. The townspeople of Ravengro who attacked the Lorrimor funeral claiming the man to be a Necromancer were absolutely right. Somewhere along the way, Petros' study of the obscure, dark and magics of Ustalav led him to Necromancy and eventually to the Whispering Way. Adivion became his star pupil, and he showed him the dark abyss that is the lore of The Whispering Tyrant. Petros, already a powerful Necromancer in his own right, was the master and Adrissant the apprentice. The pair had their own theories as to how to free Tar-Baphon, and with Petros' help Adivion pieced together his plan to create the Carrion Crown Elixir. Petros, however, knew that creating a false imitation of The Whispering Tyrant was not enough. He needed a grand sacrifice to open a crack for his master to slip through into freedom, the scale of which transcended good and evil. It required the deaths of not only powerful good beings, but powerful evils ones as well. The sacrifice of the innocent as well as the corrupt. So Petros planned, and plotted, and put together the pieces in his head. Over the course of his travels in his facade as a goodly professor of the arcane devoted to stemming the tide of the undead prsence in Ustalav and around Golarion, he had met several individuals who showed a certain spark of promise that in hindsight would be excellent candidates for his sacrifice. However, in their current states they were raw, unpolished and useless to his plans. He needed to bring them together in a singular event that would set them on a path that would forge them into the heroes that he required. Adivion had already recruited his own minions in Auren Vrood and his cronies, who Petros ensured never physically met, and so he would use them to set things into motion. He began making the necessary preparations that would allow him to become a lich, all while writing in his journal entries that cast a light of suspicion on cultists that were obsessed with undeath known as The Whispering Way and creating the last will and testament which would draw those he had chosen. When he knew Vrood was at Harrowstone, he left his darling daughter at home to go investigate. Knowing they would kill any who stumbled onto their ritual, he played the part of doddering scholar, not making any effort to hide his active search of the prison's perimeter. Sure enough, Vrood killed Petros and made it look like an accident. However, Petros' soul did not pass onto the afterlife. Instead, it passed into the body he had prepared via Clone. He watched his own funeral from afar, delighted to see those named in his will arrive to console his daughter and pay their respects to his inert, lifeless remains. After the funeral, the spirits of Harrowstone began bringing back the dead as zombies to assault the living. Petros thought it appropriate to help things along and cement his status as a victim in all of this when he animated his own remains as a zombie and sent it to his own house to attack Kendra and his chosen champions. He knew that eventually they would become involved due to the unstable nature of the prison and catch Vrood's trail. Their sense of duty would drive them to pursue the cultists and in the process, forge them into what he needed. With that aspect of his plan set into motion, Petros turned his attention towards his apprentice. He had kept Adivion in the dark about his plans, as the Magus was the second sacrifice he needed. He knew that Adrissant was black as coal, and would make an excellent candidate for the sacrifice so long as he was guided in the right direction. Using the elixir on a descendant of Tar-Baphon would be an excellent turn of events, but for Petros' plan he needed the host soul to be completely evil. Count Galdana was anything but that. Indeed, Petros would have to manipulate events so that his champions made it impossible for the elixir to be used on Galdana. He knew what kind of man Adivion was, and that if pushed to the limit he'd most likely use it on himself. That kind of transformation was what was needed for him to fulfill his destiny as the evil component of Petros' ritual; a corrupted soul which had become wholly evil. The last aspect of his sacrifice would require a truly innocent soul, one unstained by the kind of hard decisions adventuring would bring about. No, there was only one person who could be the last part of his master plan, and he knew exactly who it had to be; Kendra Lorrimor, his own precious daughter. Once Petros left Ravengro and started the process that turned him into a Lich, any minuscule amount of doubt he had about sacrificing Kendra vanished. When the time was right, his agents would seize Kendra and bring her to Gallowspire, where she would be sacrificed to The Whispering Tyrant over the corpses of the fallen Adivion Adrissant, slain by the righteous heroes who championed good, who Petros would finish off as the battle with Adrissant wound down to a close. Such an epic battle with titanic forces of good versus evil, capped by a massacre and a sacrifice of pure innocence would open the seal just enough for Tar-Baphon to slip through and finally be free. Unlike Adivion, Petros had always known who his true master was and would always be. So.. thoughts? My party is beginning Book IV, introduced with the Carrion hill module, so Petros is undergoing his transformation into a lich or has just completed it. He will continue to scry on the party and make sure they get to where he needs them to be. He knows Adivion will do his part because he trained him well. Getting Kendra will prove an easy task for him, as the party left her in Lepidstadt to study at the University and has been left alone for a while.
It's been a while since I've posted on the forums. YES, my Carrion Crown group is still going, but the party has changed significantly since last I updated you good folks. We just started Book IV, and I am prefacing with Carrion Hill as they travel from Feldgrau to Thrushmoor. The party is level 8. Current party makeup: Brask Blackadder (CN Half-Orc Barbarian) - One of the original members of the group. Due to a run in with a Dimensional Shambler during their overland travels and a mishap when the creature used it's Shift Planes ability with Brask in its grasp at the same instant another party member struck the killing blow. The ensuing mishap (to the rest of the group, Brask seemed to blink out for an instant and then reappear, but to Brask he was sent somewhere in the Dark Tapestry where he floated in the ether for a year being exposed to all its maddening wonderment) left Brask afflicted with madness (Multiple Personality Disorder). He came back with his original mind, a personality that thinks it's constantly shooting a nature documentary, an evil personality akin to Kenpachi Zaraki (bleach reference), a doom and gloom nihilist that bemoans everything he does as futile since they're all going to die, and Richard Nixon. In a near-death experience at the Stairs of the Moon, where he fell off the edge of the top with Mathus, he found himself in the Boneyard, where he was able to destroy the gravestone of the nihilistic personality and drive it from his mind. He has also contracted Lycanthropy from the Vilkacis. - 0 Deaths Vincent Koilos (LG Human Undead Scourge Paladin of Iomedae) - Another original member of the group, Vincent has endured a great many trials and seen many friends fall. His brother was killed by vampires but has not yet had the opportunity to get his hands on any bloodsuckers yet. I have created an organization of Vampire Hunters called the Brotherhood of the Twelve who have been keeping an eye on Vincent and will contact him directly when he nears Caliphas. - 0 Deaths Detective Inspector Bastargre Pierrot (CN Gnome Detective/Alchemist) - An original member of the group, Inspector Pierrot has been the source of knowledge and most observant of the group. During Book II's encounter with the juju zombies who had been experimented on with the black fluid, talks with the zombies broke down as the undead-hating members of the group attacked them while the others tried to parlay, and in the ensuing melee Pierrot was stabbed in the brain with one of the syringes and the black fluid was injected directly into his brain. The resulting necromantic fluid in his brain has been slowly changing his personality, interfering with his ability to feel remorse, turning him more towards cold logic. The dirty syringe was also contaminated with Mi-go spores, and now they have been gestating in his brain, providing him gradually with a connection to the alien beings in the form of a 'Dark Passenger' who has been slowly convincing him to do things he otherwise would not do. As we begin Book IV and he draws nearer to the Mi-go, he'll solidify his status as one of their sleeper agents, all while he frantically searches for some kind of alchemical cure to his condition. - 1 Death (via Auren Vrood's circle of death) Talena Raducan (CG Half-Elf Inquisitor of Desna) - Talena's player is an original member of the party and was with the group through Book I but gave birth to a baby boy and has been absent on maternal leave since. We look forward to her return soon. Talena was the recipient of the dreams connecting her to the Whispering Way cult that one of our good folk here on the board came up with. - 0 Deaths Cassandra Asheart (LG Tiefling Hospitaler Paladin of Sarenrae) - Born into a diabolist cult, she was rescued by the priests of Sarenrae who murdered her parents and raised her in the name of redeeming the wicked's spawn. She was originally written up as a Divine Hunter, but that proved to be too overwhelming and unbalanced the party (nobody got a chance to do anything as she was killing EVERYTHING in one full attack) and then switched to Hospitaler and has been very effective. She always tries to talk to the evil foes or intelligent undead to try and redeem them. - 0 Deaths Aislin Feralon (CN Human Ranger) - Having traveled from Lastwall, Aislin has come to lend her hatred for and skill at killing undead to the party. She and her tiger animal companion have proven to be a boon. Vjorgomir Bjystolin (NG Aasimar Oracle of Ancestors) - Vjorgomir met the party in Lepidstadt when he arrived for the funeral of his fallen cousin, Ymwodir. He has an extreme prejudice towards undead, which have slain many members of his family. Xurodus (Gnome Wizard) - Crash-landed in Lepidstadt during an ornithopter voyage with gnomish inventor and literally falling into the encounter between Grine and the party, Xurodus has been with the group ever since, unable to leave this "god-forsaken country". He is currently in possession of the Pnakotic Manuscripts. Former PCs still active: Resa Hawthorn (NG Human Rogue) - An original member of the group, Resa was driven mad by a Ghastly Whispers haunt, which afflicted her with Multiple Personality Disorder. With her own personality, a Zon-Kuthon worshiper obsessed with torture and a self-preservation minded serial killer, she made it a point to seek out NPCs who had interacted with the party in the past and murder them, as well as draw up dissent and dislike towards the party among the citizens of Lepidstadt. When Cassandra and Vincent tried to apprehend her, she escaped and is currently at large. - 0 Deaths Angus Ironhammer (LG Dwarf Fighter) - A brewer who came to Professor Lorrimor's funeral. He soon left to pursue his dreams of opening his own tavern, and eventually secured financial assistance from benefactors in Caliphas to open a new tavern and brewery there (player dropped group due to work schedule). - 0 deaths Eliana Makhel (CG Catfolk Oracle of Life) - Attended Professor Lorrimor's funeral but soon found Ustalav's prejudices too much for her and returned to Varisia to assist with an outbreak of Mange among her people. - 0 Deaths Waikuhido Oshiyabe (NG Kitsune Bard) - Attended Professor Lorrimor's Funeral but soon left due to feeling extreme guilt over thinking he summoned the stirges that terrorized the tavern in Ravengro by playing a musical number for the crowd. - 0 Deaths Dr. Vykos (CG Human Alchemist) - A colleague of Professor Lorrimor, he attended his funeral and soon left to return to his studies. - 0 deaths Fallen Characters: Ysowir Caltril (NG Aasimar Cleric of Gozreh) - Slain during Book I by the Gray ooze when he ran into an unsearched room during the fight against the Splatter Man. Ymwodir Vyspolin (NG Angelkin Aasimar Oracle of Ancestors) - Killed by Brother Swarm. Wargen Gorlash (CN Half-Orc Druid) - Killed during the zombie outbreak in Ravengro. When everyone went to the Temple of Pharasma, Wargen adamantly ran off alone to the marketplace. He and his wolf companion were killed by a Zombie and had their brains eaten (player was removed from the group a few games after due to altercation with another player). Thedren Brinetoes (Gnome sorcerer/cleric) - Killed by Brother Swarm. Lisette Bardaeux (Human Wizard) - Killed by Brother Swarm.
Hey Hroderich, I'm definitely interested in joining the Keepers of the Circle. A friend of mine told me about you guys and after reading what you're about I'm convinced this is the place I want to be. I don't want to say which Ring I'll be a part of as of yet because at this moment I am unsure of what I want to do. What I am sure of, however, is that this is the kind of society I wish to be a part of and help grow into a strong and thriving community, if you'll have me.
Apocalypse zombies are the answer. I was just looking at Classic Horros Revisited, and the Gillamoor Plague Zombie (CR 1) is statistically the same as the Apocalypse zombie (CR 2). They are both made using the Pathfinder rules so I'm left wondering which would be the case.. 22 HP seems a lot for one zombie against 1st level PCs (even 8 of them), so I was considering making them squishier (say 12 hp) and adding more of them.
I am definitely NOT saying this will be the case. They will react as xenophobic, bigoted, uneducated townsfolk would normally react, with fear and prejudice. I'm just saying that despite a few of the party members being races that will be lump in with the rest of the monsters in the eyes of the citizens, I don't think it's an obstacle the party can't overcome. This all being with the caveat that they need to be smart with their actions, otherwise people will start dying or being driven out of villages.
Well, I won't be playing around, either. I don't plan on letting 8 PCs run rampant and plow through everything. All zombies will be Plague Zombies with the Relentless Template, for instance. Zombie outbreaks will be deadly, if not for the party then definitely for the villagers, which will create even more havoc. Still doing some research to see what else I can modify to make things scarier and harder for a group of eight but not overwhelm them or make it so they have no chance either.
The Alchemist has decided to play a Human from ustalav who studied under Professor Lorrimor at the University of Lepidstadt. The Inquisitor is playing a Half-Elf. There will be a Dwarven Fighter, and a Half-Orc Fighter as well. The Catfolk and the two Half-Orcs will be the three who will have the most trouble with the townsfolk. The Kitsune can change shape to avoid this kind of treatment, and so these uncommon races make up 3/8 of the party, a minority now that everyone in the group has decided on a character. The group is going to have trouble getting assistance and avoiding harsh treatment wherever they go unless they can overcome these social obstacles with high Diplomacy rolls. The Aasimar Paladin already has a +12 Diplomacy check at level 1 (4 cha mod, 1 rank, 3 from trained, 2 from City born feat, and +2 from being an Aasimar).
I actually did add Aasimars to the list yesterday as I figured they'd be the race that would have the least amount of intolerance, and perhaps even some would be glad to have one around.. But then I thought about the superstition in the country, so I came up with this blurb: In Ustalav, Aasimars are the treated with the least amount of prejudice by the normally bigoted and intolerant populace. In fact, some of the citizens prefer having an Aasimar around to bring their community good luck, as they believe their holy blood can ward off undead and misfortune. Some view them as a blessing, as many Aasimars come to Ustalav to fight the deep-seeded evil that lurks in some of the country’s darkest corners. In the deeply superstitious eastern part of the country, however, some will hunt down a known Aasimar to use his or her blood in the creation of good luck charms, warding spell components and potions, and to use in rituals to protect homes and children from evil. As far as Orcs are concerned, they are one of the three uncommon races listed in the CC Player's Guide as suggestions. I figured if Orcs were mentioned as being playable in Ustalav and they are the most hated, then Goblins wouldn't be that much of a stretch and even some of the more exotic races. Granted, I did add a number of uncommon races to the mix but I definitely didn't add ALL of them. There are many more races (Irit, Undine, Oread, Hobgoblin, Duergar, Drow, Gripplis, Wayangs, etc) that I didn't include because I felt they wouldn't make sense for the region or they would be too far out for being in Ustalav. In my eyes, I can definitely see small communities of Catfolk and Kitsune living in Varisia, a location Professor Lorrimor would have traveled to regularly.
I've run 6 separate campaigns with 7-10 players before so I can tell you with confidence that it can be manageable and fun as long as you know how to run a group of that size properly. Tip 1: Adapt on the fly From a preparation standpoint with an Adventure Path, all the prep you really need to do is read if you plan on sticking to the AP material. All of the encounters, strategies, story setup etc is all there in the book. What you need to focus your energy on is making adjustments once the game begins. Be prepared to add Hit points to creatures to have them last longer, adjust their to hit and damage modifiers if they can't hit the PCs or if they're hitting too hard, add reinforcements if they are being slaughtered too easily. With a large group it's best to add than it is to throw too much at them and then subtract. The goal is not to make combat drag on forever but not have it over in the blink of an eye because the party is rolling over everything. Adjust to ensure the epic fights stay epic and the trash fights last long enough to make them expend resources but not be more difficult than it's intended to be. Tip 2: Chaos reigns With a group that size it's hard to keep things going along the way you want it. Don't fall into the trap of railroading because they are going off track. A lot of the times I find that if the party wants to do something else that's not on the schedule, let them. I can always find a reason to tie in what's going on with events that will bring them back into the track of the main story line. granted, this may take a while but and will usually mean using a module or custom content or something not from the AP books, and that's up to you whether you're comfortable doing that. Tip 3: Keep the flow unobstructed Seven players means there will be tons of things potentially going on at once: side conversations, people on their iPhones/iPads, one or more people in the bathroom or smoking outside, people eating, players giving attention to pets. Things not related to the game that take attention away from what's going on or from what you're saying. yes, jokes are fun and side stories can be entertaining sometimes, but you need to keep a handle on what's going on around the table and put the kibosh on things that are causing too much of a distraction or that detract focus from the game. Especially during combat. Combat can take forever if you're not careful. I don't mean to say rush the players, because that just creates more problems. What I am saying is that you need to implement practices into your game that will help keep things moving along. Have your players who are "on deck" pre-roll their attacks and damage so when it's their turn they can announce their action, move, and the attacks if any can be resolved much quicker. If someone is taking their sweet time to decide on what to do, skip them, go two players down the initiative order and then go back to that player. If they are taking too long, do the same thing until they are at the bottom of the order and tell them if they can't decide you are moving to the next round. Most of the time it doesn't come to that but you can't get hung up in the game because of one person, that creates an opening for your other players to get distracted and start losing interest. Utilize computer programs (i use DM Genie for the combat tracker) or white boards to keep track of initiative so everyone knows when it's their turn to act. Tip 4: Cycle between players Sticking with one or two players in roleplay or conversation or following their actions for too long just creates an atmosphere of boredom for the players, and some might even think you're playing favorites. Best thing to do is follow a character for a bit as you ask them what they're doing and then cycle to the next player and so on. A lot fo times the group will split to investigate something so then you cycle between the groups to try and give them an equal share of the game time. Try to bring them back together before you put them into combat. If one group gets into a fight alone, try to alert the other group that there's trouble with sounds of combat being heard or something to that effect. It's best not to have separate groups in different combat encounters because that just complicates things. Tip 5: Encourage roleplaying Roleplaying can get very interesting in large groups. Interaction between party members can be very fun so give them opportunities to interact with each other. Interact with them through NPCs and talk to them, either as a plot device or a source of information to answer their questions or as a potential ally or adversary. Trust me, a night spent roleplaying and having fun through worthwhile and entertaining interaction between party members with little or no combat won't net you any complaints (unless they are obsessed with kicking ass in game). Tip 6: Level them when you say they advance Experience points are more trouble than they're worth. Players will kill every monster in the dungeon and disarm every trap they can find to max out their experience if you let them. So don't; tell them to advance a level when they get to a certain point in the AP or complete a plot arc if it was during a side quest/adventure. It's a lot less stressful when people aren't hounding you for experience in between sessions or at the end of a game, and it allows you to control the pace of the game. I have more to say but I don't want to build a wall of text here. These are just my opinions so as my good friend Robert says that and a buck fifty can buy you a cup of coffee. Take or leave what you want, or nothing at all. Just a fellow DM's perspective and experiences.
"Trade aside, the rich and dark history of Ustalav is lure enough for the adventurous and curious among all the civilized races of the Inner Sea. Furthermore, Professor Lorrimor was more open-minded than many of his fellow countrymen, and counted members of all races among his friends and colleagues." "While the preceding races are the most common in Ustalav, several non-core races might fit well into the Carrion Crown Adventure Path. In each case, these races will most likely present a more challenging time for players, especially in more superstitious and provincial regions of Ustalav, but they f it very nicely into the Adventure Path’s themes." Those are taken straight out of the player's guide. The characters are coming to Ustalav for the funeral of Professor Lorrimor, someone who traveled across all of the Inner Sea and made a staggering number of contacts. Who's to say the ones that he made special connections with weren't people who stood out, either race wise or whatever other factor piqued the Professor's curiosity. The races I listed above are the ones that I picked out and said were ok to play in the campaign. Yes it will be more challenging but so what? There's no point in playing if you start at point A and end at point X in a nice, smooth game. It's predictable and boring, IMHO. Hitches and bumps along the way keep people on their toes, increase the amount of paranoia and tension, which is what you're looking for in a gothic horror game. Where's the fun if the PCs aren't looking over their shoulders to keep from being next, whether it's from an angry, hateful mob or a vicious creature?
Current party makeup: Kitsune Bard
Only two people in the group out of the 7 have ever played Pathfinder before. Helping them adjust to the game shouldn't be an issue as I have done it many times with other players in the past. I'm slowly converting all of the gamers in this region to Pathfinder!! :p
I've stated to my PCs that uncommon races will be treated with intolerance and bigotry, even outright attack in the eastern parts of Ustalav. The people will stereotype the anthro-races (tengu, catfolk, etc) as Lycanthropes, Tieflings as demons, Fetchlings as shady people only out to steal your wallet, etc. Even Aasimars would be hunted in the eastern part of the country for their blood to be used to make good luck charms, components for spells and rituals to ward off evil. Despite my warnings, so far I have the current party makeup: Kitsune Bard
Fun times :)
Hi all, Doomcrow here. Some of you may know of me from the Kingmaker forums here on Paizo's messageboards. I've decided after a short break to pick up Storytelling and begin anew with Carrion Crown and a completely new group. I decided to use Obsidian Portal for this campaign, which you can visit here I'll be using this thread to keep track of the game for the entertainment and amusement of my fellow storytellers, and to welcome any feedback and/or suggestions you may have. My players get this one warning to keep out of this thread. My players are just now beginning to throw around character ideas but things will be moving quickly as this Sunday is slated to be our first session.
Well this game has come to an end prematurely. The party finished the events up to the end of Blood for Blood before the game fell apart suddenly. In the end: The PC Cat took over Falconcrest United via coup de tat, allying initially with Maugrim, the barbarian who became possessed by Armag. However, when "Maurmag" rode into town and met the party, the renowned bounty hunter Mikmek arrived with his current quarry, Maugrim's father (who remember was the object of obsession for Maugrim to get revenge). Also remember, Maugrim had made a deal with the Grim Reaper to stave off death until his father had been killed. Just as Maurmag confronted his father, another PC lit his dad on fire and killed him right in front of his eyes. This summoned the Reaper, who attacked Maurmag and all hell broke loose. In the end Xaleth, the Half-Dragon, Half-Troll Zen Archer Monk and son or Hargulka was the one to get the death blow on the Grim Reaper and thus (to his pleasant surprise) took the mantle of the new Grim Reaper. Maurmag accepted death with the demise of his father and shattered Armag's sword on his gravestone in the Boneyard, destroying the curse of Armag and freeing Maugrim to wreak havoc in the line to see Pharasma. The new Reaper allied with Cat and ran off all the other PC's who had attacked her to try and stop her coup. They now rule the whole of F.U. while the sorceress Felice (who remember is the last scion of House Rogarvia), had months earlier claimed her birthright and with the help of her ancestors, rode on the back of a flight of red dragons to cleanse and conquer Brevoy. The new rulers made an alliance and now the three rule the region with an iron fist/claw. The other party members have scattered to the four winds.
Hi all! I will be starting Carrion Crown and I wanted to get the opinion of my fellow DMs on how uncommon races from the Advanced Race Guide would factor into the Ustalavian setting for the campaign. I have these races added into the mix with the Core Races: Catfolk
I already know how Changelings, Dhampirs and Orcs will be viewed as they were included in the CC Player's Guide. Ustalav is filled with xenophobic, superstitious people so I'm not sure if any of these races besides the three already mentioned would actually live in/have settlements in the country. If anything it might be small groups. I'd bunch the goblins in with the Orcs as far as their situation. Some of the monstrous looking ones might actually be persecuted in Ustalav because of all the dangers its citizens face from undead and other creatures and they would just assume these people are the same as the monsters. Any opinions?
Here are a few from my Campaign Drosk Ruellis (Human Necromancer ?? / Agent of the Grave 5) - Member of the Whispering Way and puppet master of undead activities in the Stolen Lands. Has been looking for an artifact long-lost in the depths of the Hooktongue Slough, designed by Tar-Baphon: the Necrosis Configuration. With it, he can reform the remains of anyone or anything that has ever died within the radius of the Configuration's pulse when used, and create a massive horde of undead. Shamus (Human Wizard ?? / Chronomancer ??) - A jovial spellcaster who pops in when he wants and leaves just as suddenly. He keeps the true nature of his magic a secret, but has given knowledge of a spell or two to those he deems worthy of knowing.
I'm using the Kingdom Building excel spradsheet that was developed on these boards to keep track of everything. I wouldn't be able to do it otherwise, because I have to keep track of 4 'kingdoms' within my party's confederacy, plus 2 additional NPC kingdoms I created, and Pitax and Mivon currently, so that's 8 different spreadsheets to track and maintain. I haven't modified the way magic items for BP works yet so right now my players are rolling in thousands of BP.
So as some of you may know from my campaign thread, IMC during the 1 year celebration of the founding of my PC's kingdom, I ran Carnival of Tears module. Things got out of hand and my party waited too long and ended up getting 80% of their town's population killed by the malevolent fey, in addition to having one of their party members killed during the event. Due to the devastating effect this would have had on the campaign, I decided to get creative. While the spirit of the dead PC Iorweth took his journey to the afterlife after being turned to paste by a lumber planing machine, he was intercepted by a tall, imposing figure clad in Yellow robes, his face hidden as he made an offer to the young wizard. He could help undo all the death and destruction his inaction and drunken stupidity caused (this character had gotten severely hammered during the festival and thus was heavily impaired when the fighting broke out) by striking a deal with the figure. It would bring back all those citizens who had perished due to the evil fey's cruelty and erase the memory of the massacre from everyone's memory (save the party), if Iorweth agreed on behalf of the party to pay an undisclosed price in 10 years time. Iorweth struck this bargain and the fledgling kingdom was saved. The 10 year mark for the debt to be paid is nearing. Obviously the figure Iorweth met is Hastur, the King in Yellow, and nothing about this deal is good. There are so many things that could happen here when he comes calling that I wanted to open it up to my fellow DMs and see if we can't put our heads together and come up something rightfully epic. The deal saved about 3,000 lives.. Right now the kingdom has grown and there's well over ten times that amount of people living in my party's main kingdom. I want to come up with something special as this is the King in Yellow after all. I also want to begin foreshadowing it as I am 4-5 years out from the date but things are going by quickly. The party is just coming off a 2 year downtime and the next downtime may be even longer. Perhaps a play begins showing in the local theaters... So, what say you my peers?
Somebody in another thread a while ago to use http://donjon.bin.sh/d20/weather/ to generate the weather in Kingmaker for the Stolen Lands, which I have been using ever since. Using a Cold climate, in Winter, with Supernatural weather as Common, it produces some bitterly cold winters. A colder than normal day in winter can reach a low of -53F with a high of -37F. That would wipe out entire countries, one would think. The PCs circumvent this by very expensive investments in Endure Elements wands for the masses and investing in gnomish technology to heat the streets and homes in their towns and cities so people don't freeze to death where they stand. Anyway, my reasoning behind this is that Nyrissa has taken every measure to ensure that the Stolen Lands are the most deadly, inhospitable lay of land you could find. The PCs, however, are defying her by settling them and thriving, but winter is baaad news Kingdom building wise. I double everything that gives consumption in winter, so Consumption usually rises into the 60s-70s per month (not a whole lot given the way Kingdom Building and BP generating works). Regardless, I chalk this insane weather up to someone Nyrissa has tasked with using powerful magic to warp the weather in this region and conjure all this nasty, many times supernatural weather (like snow storms that can raise people who die in it as wights, or skies that make people go insane as confusion for hours on end). I would appreciate ideas on who or what this entity may be that is controlling the weather from behind the scenes. My PCs suspect someone is behind it all, and want to find him/her/it soon. I want to create a whole adventure around finding and confronting this weather mastermind. Some ideas that I have so far:
Ok so admittedly it's been a while since I made a post here and I apologize for getting out of the Kingmkaer messageboards loop. My Kingmaker campaign has been ongoing, though and there has been a lot of progress. Without going into much detail, I will gloss over what's happened so far: Aftermath of Blood for Blood After Drelev's death, the town of Fort Drelev was successfuly liberated and won over by the party. My players decided that they wanted to form a confederacy of territories that each PC controls, with Duuchess Nerle being the overall Leader as he is leader of the original country of Falconcrest. The Judge renames Fort Drelev Turning Point, and establishes the territory of Graythor, part of Falconcrest United (FU). Maugrim the barbarian has fully succumbed to Armag via Ovrinbaane and has turned into Maurmag. He attacked the Party and has fled into Numeria to reunify the tribes into his horde. Surprisingly, the PCs managed to reach an accord with Hargulka via diplomacy and, after participating in a tournament of strength against several of Hargulka's top Lieutenants, the small monster kingdom of Hargul (5 hexes) becomes part of Falconcrest United (FU). A new PC (Maugrim's player) joins the party: Xaleth, the Zen Archer Trollkin, green dragon blooded son of Hargulka. Brevoy has broken into all out civil war now that Noleski Surtova has been assassinated. Natala Surtova leads the Issia faction (Houses Lebeda, Lodovka, Garess and Surtova) while Lord Poul Orlovsky leads the Rostland faction (Houses Orlovsky and Medvyed, with the Swordlords of Restov. Part of the deal with Abraxus is that Cat be put on the Dragonscale Throne, but Cat has no current interest in this. Felice, however, is the last known member of House Rogarvia, but she too is uninterested in ruling Brevoy. The war has not involved the PCs, yet. Cat decides to get married to her sweetheart, Stefan, a Daemonspawn Tiefling. They have a brood of 6 children. Cat remains in Cairnheim for a year during the pregnancy (her player plays several other characters in the meantime). The party finally goes to inspect the situation in Varnhold 6 months after the first report of non contact with the country found its way to them. After a long and arduous investigation, they find Vordekai's lair and after several failed attempts to penetrate his lair (resulting in Shaden being imprisoned via the spell, and two other PCs dominated and turned against them), the Lich is finally defeated after Lumen gouges her eyes out and destroys the Occulus of Abbadon (visions from Pharasma gave her insight on how to destroy the artifact). The citizenry of Varnhold (about 25,000 people at this point as Varnhold had reached 36 hexes before Vordekai pied piper'ed them) were freed from the much larger soul jar vault Vordekai kept, but unfortunately Maegar Varn and most of his Council were among those whose brains had been removed and eaten and were not brought back. Instead, Felice takes over Varnhold and renames it Azureton as it becomes part of Falconcrest United (FU). Falconcrest United is currently comprised of Falconcrest (60 hexes), Graythor (20 hexes), Azureton (36 hexes) and Hargul (5 Hexes). The plan is to eventually absorb the Lambent Kingdom (20 hexes), Galanor (22 Hexes), Mivon (haven't figured out how many hexes they are yet), and contend against Pitax (122 hexes from Turin's files) and eventually take over the entirety of the River Kingdoms as a confederacy. Right now we are in the midst of a 2 year downtime period and will resume in the year AR 4714.
Ok back to filling you guys and gals in. Remember, the party is split at the moment trying to accomplish two things at once. Here's the current roster, with everyone either at 9th or 10th level currently: Team Armag's Tomb (Self-Titled Team Kick*ss by the pcs)
Nameless Judge (whom I call Torquemada out of game for my own reference) - Half-Ogre Inquisitor of Abadar. Think Judge Dredd. Cat - "Tiefling" Ranger who is the Husker and daughter of a Worldwound Balor Lord that the party's Kingdom is in an open alliance with and for whom they built a city of demons in their kingdom(the party also agreed to put Cat on the Brevish throne, all in exchange for her father's help in saving them and their kingdom from a mega powerful daemon they unleashed). Maugrim - Half-Elven Barbarian so bent on revenge against his father that he made a deal with the Grim Reaper to stave off death until he exacts his revenge. Currently a Minor Graveknight. Has a Summoner Companion through Leadership feat. Holan Dadj - Human Druid driven slowly and increasingly insane as he draws ever closer to the inner workings of the universe through his scrying and spiritwalking in attempts to assist the party. Accompanied by his T-Rex animal companion Sharptooth. Felice - Human Dragon-Blooded Sorceress and last heir to House Rogarvia. Team Fort Drelev (Self-Titled Team Propaganda Bomb by pcs)
Darien (new to the party) - Human Bard and lying womanizer extraordinaire. Recruited to sow the seeds of discontent in Fort Drelev to ripen it for party Liberation. Saru - Human Rogue/Shadowdancer, bodyguard of Darien paid to protect him on his missions and from fans who've become too adoring. Recap of Sessions After the battle with the Black Sisters, the party licks their wounds outside of Armag's Tomb and camp until the next day. The Black Sisters sustained a blow to their numbers in the fight and managed to push back the party but knew they would not be able to win the next fight unless they regrouped and were forced to retreat to their lair. For some reason, my party became convinced that these tests which laid in the tomb were meant for only their strongest warrior to pass, so they decided to send in Maugrim the Barbarian in... alone. Being a Minor Graveknight actually helped Maugrim out a bit here. First, he decided to go down the path which led him to the Boulder Trial and the Ice Chamber Trial. His high strength allowed him to easily roll the boulders into place and his immunity to cold from being a minor graveknight lets him pass the ice chamber test with no issue. He never finds the secret door and thus doesn't find the daemon, but does kill the Iron Golem 1v1 when he luckily pulls the Decapitation Crit card from the Crit Deck. He slays all of Armag's skeletal champions and continues into the temple where he fights and kills its eternal guardian. Neglecting to drink potions and heal himself before continuing, not knowing what he's about to face, he encounters Armag Twice-Born and goes half-cocked into a fight with the mad Barbarian. He almost wins in a 1v1 fight (Maugrim is ridiculously powerful and crits very often, capable of doing over 100 points of damage in a round if he crits), but is cut down by Armag and is slain. The party decides to wait to Maugrim to return, not knowing he has been killed. They wait all the way into the next day, when finally someone emerges, only it's not Maugrim. It's Armag, accompanied by the Black Sisters who have recovered their strength and healed Armag of his wounds. A battle ensues and the party slays Armag, leaving the remaining Black Sisters to howl in rage and flee so that they can exact their revenge against the party. Sharptooth is slain in the battle and Holan Dadj is overcome by grief. Seeming to finally snap, he wildshapes into a great bird and flies off into the distance towards the Nalmarches (the player decided to retire him and play a new character; he'll become a recurring npc). Torquemada takes Ovrinbaane and resists its attempts to affect him, however he does not realize what its doing and thus believes it's merely a typical magic weapon. He decides to keep it for now as he believes it would be a nice gift for the Pathfinder Society to appease them after the bungle they made getting their excavation team at Candlemere forcibly removed by the Worldwound demons. Meanwhile, at Fort Drelev Team Propaganda Bomb has infiltrated Baroness Stroon-Drelev's birthday party and has slipped out to investigate the castle while Lumen has infiltrated through the lake entrance Satinder told her about. Lumen sneaks undetected by the guards through the castle and investigates the level where the Baron sleeps, only to find "Lady" Maray in her chambers using her absence from the party as an opportunity to write an intelligence missive to her contacts in Daggermark. Lumen decides to watch hidden in silence instead of acting on this, believing she might be useful later alive than killing her now. A few moments later Baron Drelev enters her chambers, wanting to "play". Maray uses her charms and way with words to keep him from growing suspicious and feigns tiredness to get him to leave her chambers and head to his bed for some sleep. Lumen waits until the Baron goes to bed and enters his room, creeping to his bed with the intent to slit his throat in his sleep, a tactic that has become her signature move (murdering the Stag Lord and King Surtova in this manner). Luckily for Baron Drelev, he is a paranoid man and has affixed a Stone of Alarm underneath his bed, which triggers an ear-piercing alarm when Lumen climbs up onto the bed to kill him (she is a halfling after all). Hannis Drelev, a light sleeper who sleeps in his glamered armor, rolls away from a deathblow that still caught him as a sneak attack (alarm sounded before she could initiate a coup de grace so she opted for a suprise attack instead), grabs his longsword which he keeps at his bedside and engages Lumen in a 1v1 duel. Darien and Saru are close when the alarm sounds, and the bard's quick thinking allows him to use his Hat of Disguise to pose as a guard and post at the BAron's door, using his Bluff to turn away anyone who comes to the door, claiming it's only a false alarm. Since she got the drop on him and managed to damage him from the get-go, Lumen kills Drelev but just barely escaping with her own life. Darien quickly enters and they find the stone of alarm which he casts silence on. Right then and there they come up with a plan: Darien will use his tools to pose as Drelev and they can try to take down everyone else using that ruse. Lumen strips Drelev's body and gives his possessiosn to Darien to pose as Drelev while she hacks up his corpse and tosses it into her bag of holding (her interrogation bag of holding filled with awakened bee swarms). Things seem like thy will go well, if only someone hadn't seen them. Drelev employed an 'independent contractor' to assist him with silencing rivals who were voicing dissent in town due to the situation with Armag and Pitax, a cleric/rogue/shadowdancer devoted to Groetus named Shaden. Shaden shadow jumps into Baron Drelev's quarters to make a report just as Baron Drelev falls and waits hidden for the right moment to strike. When Darien is dressing as Drelev he casts Murderous Intent on Lumenm, causing her to effectively gut Darien in a full sneak attack and leave him on the floor dying. Shaden then casts darkness as Saru enters the room from his lookout post in the hallway and strikes. Lumen, already injured severely from her duel, has her self-preservation sense kick in and she immediately goes out the window and begins climbing down the castle to the balcony on the floor below to escape. Shaden attacks Saru fiercely and Saru escapes out the window, stealthing as he scales the wall. In a confusing act, Shaden heals Darien, saving his life. He tells him that the man working for him (Saru) is his new target and that he will offer Darien his services if Darien gives up his employee (Shaden has an extreme prejudice against other shadowdancers), explaining that since his contract with Drelev dissolved upon his death, he's available to take on a new job. Lumen uses this time to get back to the lake entrance and break Terrion Numesti out of his cell before the guards get wind of the Baron's murder (believing she killed Darien). Shaden takes Darien with him through the castle in order to draw out Saru, not aware that he has been following them stealthed since Shaden healed Darien. This session was the last for Saru's player, who would be leaving the military and returning to his home in Arizona later that week. Since he told me he wanted to go out with a bang, I gave him a special one-time use ability for the game: something I called Explosive Seppuku. Basically it would insta-kill his character in a big explosion so he could go out in a flourish. Well, his player decides to use this ability as he creeps up on Shaden, inside the castle of Fort Drelev. This was unexpected but I went with it since I was the one who gave it to him. So Saru self-explodes right behind Shaden and causes an explosion which decimates the castle and kills anyone inside who doesn't have Evasion (note: Shaden and Lady Maray have evasion, and thus escaped this mess unharmed. Shaden by the way is the new character of Holan Dadj's player). Darien, Baroness Stroon-Drelev, Imeckus Stroon, and all the guards and guests inside the castle proper are killed in the resulting explosion/collapse of the castle. Lumen had already cleared the castle with Lord Numesti by this point. Due to the use of a Plot Twist card 'Best Day Ever', Darien's body is flung by the explosion so far into town that he crash lands in the Temple of Erastil and is given Breath of Life by the residing priest in time to save his life. Meanwhile, chaos all around town ensues.
So, to continue: After things died down after two assassination attempts, the party sits down to dinner in Crimson Keep. Lumen gets another sleeper signal through her magical collar to conveniently open the skylight in the dining room before dinner begins. During the meal, a squad of Baykoks (beastiary 3) sneak onto the rafters through the skylight and make a called shot: heart and crit on Doochess Nerle, piercing his heart and causing Con bleed as well as puncture his lung (from crit deck card). The Judge senses trouble and manages to dive in front of Nerle and block the other three arrows with his body before they can finish off Nerle. After a fierce fight, Nerle is spared due to spending hero points and they party is on guard and wanting to get to the bottom of these assassination attempts. Two new characters join the party: an arrogant, womanizing bard and his shadowdancer/ninja bodyguard who only deals nonlethal damage to his foes (except for undead). After hearing rumors of the cult known as the Whispering Way possibly moving into the Stolen Lands and possibly having a hand in one of these attempts, the group decides to investigate this lead. They also hear that their theocratic neighbors in the hooktongue slough, the Lambent Duchy, have unearthed the ruins of an ancient city beneath their capital that is said to be the remains of a city of crusaders who defeated a massive undead army, something this Whispering Way might be after. The group heads for the Slough, but whilst in Tatzlford during their travel they come upon a force from Baron Drelev's demesne who attack the town and the PC's aid in its defense. I have switched Varnhold Vanishing and Blood for Blood in my campaign. My group has the ability to teleport and fly at great speeds and was able to cover the map of the Slough with relative ease once Kisandra Numesti filled them in on the situation and have already dealt with the Boggards by slaying their priest-king so Garuum can take over, rescuing the refugees from Pitax and located Armag's tomb. Lumen, the bard and his bodyguard split off from the group to infiltrate Fort Drelev and make contact with Satinder Morne after showing her Kisandra's ring. Lumen uses the back door Stinder tipped her off about and nearly is eaten by the black puddings before running and finding the musk to evade their pursuit. The bard and his bodyguard use the Baroness' birthday party as an excuse to get into the party by taking the place of the entertainment, and are currently sneaking around near Imeckus Stroon's room, about to find trouble. An animus blizzard hit the area and it snowed for 5 days, dropping 7 feet of snow on the Slough and killing the hostages Armag took from Drelev, turning them into wights upon their death. The party opens the cage of wights and kills Kisandra's sister while letting the other wights attack the Tiger Lord barbarians, using the distraction to get the sister back to the Cathedral of Abadar in their capital to be tended to and resurrected. Once the barbarians at the camp outside the tomb are dead, the group enters and picks a fight with the Black Sisters, who seem to know a lot of personal information about the party members. The Sisters prove to be more than a match for the group and they are forced to retreat. That's where we are right now, and tonight is the next session. I'll fill you in tomorrow.
Hey guys, sorry to keep you waiting!! It's been very hectic but I will fill you in on what's happened in my Kingmaker game since my last post. The situation with the Soothsayer and the Claymores became further complicated when the foretelling of the Soothsayer's visions began to take form: Crimsondale began receiving droves of Tiefling immigrants from the Worldwound, all of them pledging their loyalties to Cat, their 'Generalisima'. Among them was an entourage of Tieflings who offered themselves as personal bodyguards of Cat, who claimed to have been sent to Crimsondale along with the rest of the Tieflings by Cat's biological father. Their leader, Stefan, quickly catches Cat's fancy and becomes her love interest. Cat learns from Stefan that her real father is a Balor Lord named Abraxus, child of Deskari, grandchild of Pazuzu and Lord of the Worldwound city of Drezen. Her mother was a Rakshasa whose identity only Abraxus knows. He had been searching for her for years since she was stolen from him by demon rivals and had been the victim of a ritual that sealed away her true demonic nature and left her relatively powerless (Tiefling equivalent). The only way for her to undo the seal upon her is by regaining her strength the only way a Demon can: by acquiring souls to power her. Stefan gives her two gifts from her father: a dagger with a crystalline blade and a crystalline spherical receptacle. He tells her that anyone she kills with the dagger will have their soul extracted into the blade, which she can deposit into the sphere and help her work towards undoing the binding upon her. The body that is left behind after the kill is nothing but a soulless husk. Of course, Cat keeps this a secret from the rest of the party. The group decided to draw out the serial killer as he had just left another body for them to investigate. Cat suggested they try to lure out the Claymores as well into an ambush. Using magic and disguises, they dressed Raaz, the fighter and bodyguard of Doochess Nerle up as Cat and used him as a decoy/bait to draw them out. Unbeknownst to the party however, was the fact that Raaz had been bribed by the Claymores to turn against his fellows and not only tell them the details of their plans but help them set up a counter ambush, in which they unleashed a Volosaur (from Oathbound bestiary) upon the city (Raaz's player was bored with playing a fighter and asked me to kill him off so he could bring in another character). Raaz was killed during this fight and his body burned to ash and scattered as a traitor, but Maugrim too died, his body crushed by the Volosaur when its corpse plummeted from the sky in defeat and fell on him. This is when Maugrim discovered what exactly the Grim Reaper meant by what he said to him when they struck their bargain. Maugrim awoke after death on the battlefield shortly after his demise not alive or undead, but in a deathless state where he would remain until his bargain was fulfilled and his revenge on his father exacted. (I modified the Grave Knight template as below:
Psychologically, the desire to win and get revenge on his father increases to almost all-consuming levels. Maugrim would do anything, sacrifice anything or anyone to achieve these goals. He becomes increasingly bitter as feelings of isolation and loss begin to slowly consume him. . You cannot physically enjoy sleep, food, sex, or other such pleasures, though you can still feel emotions like triumph, victory, and the grim satisfaction of absolute dominance. He's like a victory junkie.) Maugrim was also able to uniquely see a being that the Reaper sends to observe the doomed shortly before their deaths, a being Maugrim refers to as 'Death's Messenger'. He appears to Maugrim many times observing some of the people maugrim encounters, including Maegar Varn as he departs to return to Varnhold. Maegar Varn returns to Varnhold after his daughter Rosala awakens and reveals that she had been taken by red kobolds led by a man who would change his shape at will. This points the finger at Hargulka's kingdom, however the party decides not to engage him just yet. The party then went to the Soothsayer who had summoned the Claymores and threatened him with exile unless he turned on the Claymores and came to work for the kingdom to use his powers of prophecy to help them. With major diplomacy and magic, they were successful but it was short lived. The night the Soothsayer agreed to help them and moved into Crimson Keep, his body was found in his room, his throat slit and his body reduced to a dessicated husk, much like those found in Rosala Varn's manor. The evidence left at the scene indicated that a Claymore had murdered the Soothsayer as an act of revenge for turning on them, a lie the party believed. (In truth, Cat murders him using her dagger, stealing his soul and plants evidence to deflect blame onto her pursuers). Security measures were taken and traps were laid upon the Keep's windows. Searching for the Claymores once more, party Druid Holan Dadj went out into the countryside to look for leads on them and came to Glimmerscale, where he found a lead putting a team of Claymores at the Old Sycamore where the Mites once dwelled, which had been converted into a Granary for the kingdom. Before Dadj could leave, he was stopped by a beautiful Elven woman who questioned him about Lumen and gave him a blue ribbon to give to her. She seemed to know her and thinking her an old friend, decided to give it to Lumen upon his return. Lumen took the ribbon and recognized it as the collar she wore while under magical compulsion from her former mentor, who used her to steal and kill for her as her little puppet. Coming into contact with the ribbon triggered a dormant contingency spell cast upon Lumen long ago and having failed her Will save, her sleeper orders had been triggered, yet she still managed to function normally while she planned her programmed assassination. Following up on the Old Sycamore Granary lead, the group managed to find four Claymores squatting inside the granary and managed to kill two and capture the remaining two demon hunters. Taking them back to Crimson Keep, they locked them in the dungeon with the intent of questioning them in the morning. Cat has other plans, not wanting questions to be raised during the interrogation regarding their ignorance of the Soothsayer's death, so she uses her Tiefling entourage to help her disable the guards in the dungeon and murders the captive Claymores, stealing their souls as well. The Nameless Judge, infuriated by the failings of the City Guard, calls for the resignation of Falconcrest's Warden (Akiros), who does so in shame and travels to Stag's Hollow to seek redemption in the eyes of Erastil under Jhod's guidance. All of this happening inside the party's own castle right under their noses was extremely discomforting to the characters and so people who worked and lived there were beginning to be questioned about the killings. (Cat had made sure to use magic to ensure she covered her tracks to remain undetected). As people were being questioned, suspicions reignited over the adopted child of Oleg and Svetlana, the boy Ged who was found in the ancient servant of the Horseman of War's tomb when they first arrived in the Stolen Lands. The child had always exhibited super creepy behavior, and so his parents were questioned about him. Svetlana had nothing but praise about her boy, but when the lad himself was brought in for questioning things got.. disturbing.. It seemed the boy knew things about the past of several characters, including the Judge, that only he knew. He also seemed to have the ability to give people horrifying hallucinations. Holan Dadj was brought in to examine the boy and experienced a vision wrought by a hallucination Ged gave him, which caused him to fly into a hysterical psychotic episode. In this vision he experienced wearing multiple peoples skins as his own and the faces of certain people, one of which was Oleg. After recovering from the vision, Dadj was drawn to the room of Oleg where he found Oleg missing and all of this things gone. The party investigated the disapperance using Dadj's vision as clues and discovered the body of Oleg in the tomb of a soldier killed over a year ago. They also discovered that whomever was posing as Oleg had been embezzling funds from the kingdom's treasury and when he fled the kingdom he stole hundreds of BP and took it with him. Deciding to put off the situation with Ged, the group went after the impostor and chased him to a wizard in town who had agreed to teleport him to Thousand Voices. They convinced another wizard to teleport them to the same location for a price (he gouged them of 8,000 gp, something Cat disliked and later 'husked' him for in his sleep), whereupon they found a castle that was half in flux with the Material Plane and half in flux with another plane altogether. Pursuing this Skinstealer into the castle they met traps and magical wards within, along with an imprisoned Magus who became a party member. Eventually they recovered the stolen BP and killed the thief, while coming upon a strange throne that seemed to be able to alter reality somehow in strange fashion, but the Lady of the Castle, unknown to them but for a disembodied voice, ousted them from her castle before they could use it for their benefit. Downtime for the winter begins, and Lumen disappears to conduct her mission, in which she is successful and returns without anyone knowing she had left, save for Cat and her entourage. Later in the winter word reaches Falconcrest that King Noleski Surtova was brutally murdered in his sleep and that the assassin was never caught. Civil war is upon Brevoy. The next session was a special Christmas-themed session, where a magical weather phenomena known as an Animus Blizzard struck Crimsondale around Yule time. Animus Blizzards raise anyone who dies in it as a wight, causing havoc. It just so happens that on Yule night, this Animus Blizzard claims the life of legendary icon Niklaus the Red, who delivers presents to the good children of Golarion and spreading 'Cheer' to a lucky few mothers around the world while his assistant, the Krampus disciplines naughty children and spreads holiday 'shame' to an unlucky few men and women around the world who have been very very naughty. The Nameless Judge is picked by the Krampis following Niklaus' death to fill in for him for the night, whereupon they will need to choose a permanent replacement. During this night a Storm Dragon decides to strike the kingdom and attacks, leading a band of snowmen ninjas to attack the city, causing the death of the newly added Magus in the party (which was partly the Magus' fault anyway). After the battle ends and the night is over, the General Raphael is chosen as the new Niklaus the Red. Attention is then returned to the situation with Ged, and ways to try and cure him of whatever is possessing the young boy's body is devised. MAugrim, remembering the skin scroll he found in the altar devoted to the Horsemen back when he was marked by the Reapers, retrieves and reads it aloud, hoping to understand its meaning and try and find some kind of connection. Unfortunately, doing that only awakens the Daemon possessing Ged fully, and it threatens brings to bear the full weight of its powers down upon Crimsondale before it departs to ruin the rest of the world. In reaction, Cat has word sent via magic to her father Abraxus to hep her against this Daemon, a call which he heeds personally.. Abraxus arrives via teleportation and addresses the Council of Falconcrest, offering to strike a deal with them, after some negotiating by the party. In exchange for his help in defeating this powerful Daemon, the party agrees to let demons loyal to him build a city on Candlemere Island that will be an autonomous part of Falconcrest, where they will be allowed free reign inside the walls of their own town, and allowed to roam the rest of the country so long as they follow their laws. They also agree to a full and public alliance with the demon city of Drezen, and agree to do everything in their power to put his daughter Cat on the throne of Brevoy in light of their recent power vacuum. With this agreement made, the party along with Abraxus meet Ged in glimmerscale after he has reduced much of the town to rubble and after a brutal fight are able to kill him and allow Abraxus to claim his soul for his own, after which point the Balor Lord departs with a smile. Later that winter the group decides to finally deal with the serial killer in town and begin their search in earnest. During this search they encounter two former members of the Founders Day Festival (from the module Carnival of Tears), Quinn and the Swinomancer. Quinn's mind has somewhat shattered and now he lives as a doll maker in Crimsondale, and the Swinomancer has since reformed and returned to Crimsondale as a legitimate pie maker. During questioning of Quinn, it is revealed that his wife after being released from the Ice Crystal in which she was imprisoned, hated her husband and left him a shell of the man he once was. It is then that the party notice movement in the window of the building across from them and decide to check it out. The building across from Quinn's shop is heavily trapped and has many disturbing writings and sketches within, many of the young women who fell prey to the serial killer. Discovery of a secret passage leads downward into an icy chamber where floats a d8-shaped chrysalis made of blood and within resides a woman - Quinn's estranged wife. She had been manipulating an Ice Yami to take the blood of his victims to form the chrysalis, which once completed would restore the beauty and vigor she lost during her magical imprisonment inside the artifact and subsequent side effects of her release. Killing the Yami brought an end to the serial killer threat, but the woman in chrysalis still posed a threat as she exhibited the ability to touch the minds of men and corrupt their thoughts and bodies, turning them into ice yamis. She also seemed to be protected by a prismatic sphere surrounding the chrysalis, which the party could not at the time bypass. The party quarantined the city block as they returned to the castle to discuss what to do about her, commissioning a Rod of Cancellation to be ordered from the Black Market. Cat was quick to act in sending word out through proxies to hire thieves to steal the rod as it was being delivered to the party, take possession of it and use it to negate the barrier so she could 'husk' her in her chrysalis. Later that night Cat meets with Maugrim and the two strike an alliance; Cat agrees to keep Maugrim's sword safe whenever it is away from him (or while he's reforming), and agrees to help Maugrim get revenge on his father in exchange for his loyalty to her. She even shows him how she could get his soul for him from the Reaper by demonstrating it on Death's Messenger, who becomes spiritually/astrally 'husked'. The next day is filled with chaos as the party learns of the rod's theft. They track down the thieves, who they discover work for Galek, Maugrim's father and that they operate out an organized bandit town somewhere near Falconcrest. After heavy interrogation by Maugrim they learn that the bandits have been enchanted. None of them know the location of the town or how to get there. All they know is that they fall asleep and when the awake, they find themselves in town. The lone surviving bandit who had been caught leads them to where they dropped off the stolen rod, the same city block they had quarantined. HEading back down to the icy chamber below the house of the serial killer they discover that Quinn's wife in the chrysalis has been husked (by Cat, still eluding them). The party begins to put two and two together, knowing that many of the targets who had been husked had come into contact with the party before their deaths, leading the Judge to begin questioning his own party members. Using magic the Inquisitor catches Cat and Maugrim in lies and compels the truth from her, revealing her as 'The Husker'. She and Maugrim are imprisoned in the dungeon but later are freed by Cat's entourage led by Stefan and escape to the site where the Demons have begun building their town with their vast resources. In the rush of their escape, Cat's dagger and sphere were left behind and confiscated by the party. The raw power of the souls contained within the sphere and the allure of the dagger tempt the Judge, Nerle and Lumen, who begin to covet these items for themselves. Felice is unaffected and manages to hide the dagger while the Judge fights against his own will and hide the sphere in Tenzekil's old cottage. It is also discovered around this time that Brevoy's leadership has begun to suspect Nerle of being part of the King's assassination and request him along with all of the colony leaders to travel to New Stetven for a meeting. Nerle believes this to be a setup and refuses to go, causing great tension. There is mass chaos over the death of the King, and for someone to claim the crown one must find the killer, for in the case of an assassination where the king leaves no heir, magic contingencies were put in place to create a new ritual of succession. The body of the old king, crown upon his head, is sealed in his tomb magically. In order to be crowned King or Queen, one must use the blade of the assassin to unlock the tomb to claim the crown. Once the party learns of this, Lumen confesses to assassinating King Surtova to the party members and the Judge is forced to place her under house arrest, to be placed on trial later in the month after Cat is dealt with. Winter ends at this point, and the date for an auction planned by the group to sell the heads of the Volosaur and Storm Dragon they killed draws near. Cat and Maugrim return to Crimsondale to reclaim her lost possessions and later manages to reclaim the dagger after regaining Felice's trust. They attend the auction under disguise, an event which drew many dignitaries and mages from around the region to claim the prizes of the dragon heads and parts. In the end, it is the representative from Hargulka's Kingdom who wins the bid for not only the volosaur head but also the storm dragon head (Yes Hargulka plans on having them both raised and sending them back after the PC's kingdom to get revenge, with help). After the end of the auction, however, a mass assassination attempt of the party is sprung into action by an unknown source using Carnivorous Oozes against each party member. One such ooze inadvertently is thrown by the Judge onto the Hargulkan representative, who teleports away in horror and will clearly spell mayhem for them later on. After surviving that attempt, a separate unknown source summons a Bandersnatch outside of Crimsondale, marks Doochess Nerle for death making him the Bandersnatch's target and unleashes it. The party braces for the path of destruction it with carve as it begins running through the city to get to the Doochess, but a traveling wizard who came for the auction steps in and sends the Bandersnatch away before it can cause any real harm. A strange fellow by the name of Shamus creates some kind of portal as the Bandersnatch is in mid leap and it is whisked away. Shamus says it will return at some point somehwhere inside the country but he's unsure when exactly, as his magic is sometimes a bit random sometimes. Shamus also saves the lives of several guards who had been crystallized by the Carnivorous Oozes, using some kind of magic on them after having the room cleared of everyone so he could work without being watched by prying eyes. Before he leaves he teaches Felice a new spell. (Shamus is a Chronomancer and will play a part later on). There's more to tell as my synopsis is not yet current with what's going on in the game but I'm getting there....
Rat, my intent with posting these questions was to help inspire DMs who may be doing the same thing to ask similar questions in case they were in a creative slump like me. I'm not quite sure why you're answering them in character but if it helps you in your game as a GM or PC then more power to you! As for the previous posts, asking the same questions again every week as a review just seems like an easy way out for me. I think I'll do it once or twice regarding key morality and ideology based questions but other than that I think that'll be it.
Hello all! It's been a while since I posted here, my apologies for it's been very very hectic around here. So, I come to you as I am in need of assistance from my fellow GMs. Since I started my Kingmaker game, I have asked my players each week on my campaign's forums a question for them to answer in character. I do this in order to help them further develop their character as well as to pluck and develop hooks to help immerse their characters in game. This Player Participation, an idea that my friend Robert Brambley inspired me to do with my campaigns, is totally optional. I add incentives by offering in-game bonuses to their character that are effective for the next session only, plus an extra boon for the entire party should everyone complete it before the beginning of the next session. I have been fairly consistent in posing questions, however I am running out of things to ask!! I turn to you, my fellow GMs, for assistance in questions that have eluded me thus far. Below I will share the questions I have already posed to my party so please feel free to use them for your games if you are doing something similar or would like to start. Questions: Who or what do you fight or fight for? What are your character's limitations? What mysteries surround your character? What triggered your desire to go adventuring? How did you happen to take up a sword, lockpick, or spell book and go looking for trouble? Which god do you worship and why? Come up with a short phrase, prayer, poem etc in the gods honor or describe some sort of daily ritual that your character performs in your gods honor. How often do you pray and is there a specific time of day that you do so? Describe a 'tic' that your character has. What item do you carry with you at all times that is very special to you? What does it look like? Why is it unique? and Why is it so important to you? Describe your birthplace. Were you born in a population center such as a city, town or village or were you born into a nomadic family that traveled to many places? Did you grow up there or did you move away? What is the culture like there? What deities in the pantheon are favored the most? Is there industry there? What's the local government and/or nobility like? What's the geography and weather like? What was it like for you personally to grow up there, or if you didn't, what was it like growing up never having a stationary place to live? Who is your nemesis? Someone you consider either a rival, or enemy. What is the reason behind this? How did you come to feel this way about this individual? Were you friends or allies before and then had a falling out? Tell me a little about this person. From where does he/she hail? What do they do? In a morally grey situation, which side would your character fall on when the time for tough decisions had to be made? How would he/she react? Create an idea for a Law for the Kingdom and a suitable punishment for breaking said law. It will then be voted on by the ruling council to determine if it will be written into law. You may come up with multiple ideas. As a leader in the kingdom you are building, what are some goals that you would like to see achieved for your Capital City and nation as a whole? What are some activities that you'd like to have at the Founder's Day Festival and why?? Eulogize someone who has died in the Carnival of Tears massacre. Create two NPCs; the first will be related to your character in some way. Could be a relative, a friend, someone from your past, a business associate, an enemy, guardian, lover, whatever. It must be a NEW NPC (ie, not someone mentioned in your background already). The second NPC is one of the 3,750 people living in Crimsondale, a normal citizen. Was there anyone you looked up to growing up as a child? A hero or role model that you knew of, or someone in your life that affected you in such a way that you wanted to take after them? Who was this person and what were they like? If you didn't have anyone like this, why not? Why did you choose the deity you currently call your Patron? What events if any led you to this spiritual calling? Were you born into the faith or was it something else? As a player, if you could, what advice would you give your character? Speak as if he/she were sitting right here in front of you. Use proper tone so they might heed your advice... What do you do for relaxation? What things do they do for enjoyment? What interests do you have? Describe a defining moment in your childhood and how it influenced your life. If your life were to end in 24 hours, what 5 things would you do in those remaining hours? What should Falconcrest's flag look like?? What colors, symbols and patterns would you include? What do they represent? List any past serious relationships that you have had, and give a brief overview of the relationship(s). And just in case your answer is a clever 'none', there's another interrogatory!! Name seven things you hate in others. This one was structured as an interview by the NPC in charge of the kingdom's newspaper:
When was the first moment you realized you lived in a world with monsters living outside your door? Describe how this realization came to be. Describe the first time you killed another sentient being. How did it make you feel? Do you regret it, or does the decision haunt you to this day? Do you have a good luck charm? Describe it, how you came to get it and why you think it brings you good luck? If you don't have one, why not? Do you not believe in luck? Why or why not? Do you have any sort of criminal record? Elaborate if so. If not, were there any close calls? Tell us what your favorite food and drink is, whether it is hard to make or contains rare ingredients, or if it's made by someone special. Is it a food or drink made In only one tavern, or can it be found everywhere? Name one trait your character would possibly change about themselves, physically or otherwise, and explain the reasoning behind it. If you could change one thing about the world, what would it be? What is your reasoning behind this and why? What do you think awaits you in the afterlife? Does your character wear any jewelry? If so, what kind? (bracelet, non magical rings, crowns, necklaces, earrings? What are they made of? If not, explain why your character chooses not to wear jewelry. Does your character frequent a town tavern? Do you have a "reserved" seat at the local restaurant? Are you a frequent visitor to the Brothel? If so, tell us about it! What days you frequent the establishment, what you do there, any other pertinent information. Tell us about your character's education. Do the have any formal schooling? Who taught them how to read or write, if they can do so? Is there a favorite teacher or mentor that your character had? If so, where are they? Introduce me to your first born child; imagine your progeny, if you will, as you envision them at their twentieth birthday. Describe what they look like, tell me their names, tell me who you think their other parent could be, tell me what their hopes and dreams may be. Tell me if they followed you down the path of the adventurer, and if so, what kind of adventurer would they be? If for some reason you can't have kids or don't fathom any reason why you would, then this progeny could be adopted, a ward, or disciple you take up in the future. Tell me one location your character has never been to and would like to visit once before they die. Why do you wish to go there? How did you come to know about this lace? Does the journey/destination have any special meaning to you? Cheers,
Nation: Falconcrest
"Falcons love Noblery"
This happened (sort of) IMC, with one-third of their population dying as a result of the Carnival. One of the PCs died during the course of the battles, and in death he made a deal with an unknown spirit to return the slain townspeople to life and in exchange, this spirit would come to collect on its debt in ten years. It may look like a hack GM job of glossing over, but making deals with the King in Yellow doesn't lead to better outcomes. This will come back to haunt them big time as it's almost halfway in game time until the deadline. Sometimes players will be unhappy with whatever you do. Some like to argue and some people are there just to do whatever they want because they think it's fun and because since they are the heroes they should always be right and win. A lot of the time those people don't understand the concept that as a GM it's not always about catering to the players. Actions have consequences and stupid things lead to harsh results. If they don't like it then they should find another table to play at, it is your game after all and you're taking the time to prepare and run everything.
So our heroes return from Candlemere and immediately rush Rosala Varn and Lumen, who had both suffered insanity from the cultists rituals and the splinter of Yog Sothoth's consciousness that eeked into the world, to the Exalted Coffer (Cathedral to Abadar) for healing, with the rest of the party seeking restoration of their drained Strength and Wisdom as well. After much healing, the priests told the group that Rosala would need a week of bed rest before she'd be out of the woods from her ordeal. The PCs took this time to recuperate for a few days and get make equipment purchases and upgrades before deciding to investigate some of the other events taking place in Crimsondale. The first was the troublesome Soothsayer and the demon-hunting adventuring group called the Claymores. His sermons had drawn crowds since his initial visions of Cat leading a demon army to the gates of Falconcrest and heralding the doom of all its citizens. He and his followers held a peaceful protest at the gates of Crimson Keep (Castle) in the Castle Ward, which drew a crowd of 400 over the next few days. 'Duuchess' Nerle and a few of the PCs went out to meet them and convince them to disperse, and to tell the Soothsayer to leave Falconcrest. The Soothsayer invoked the River Freedoms and told them he was free to say what he liked and convey his visions and message, and that the people were free to listen and speak out if they pleased. They called for the exile of Cat, and a heated debate followed. The Soothsayer finally caved and agreed to disperse, under duress, but not leave the country. They next decided to investigate the serial killer who had been piling up bodies. His recent victim was his 50th. This killer targeted beautiful women of wealth and status between the ages of 20-35, and varying races (but none of them were of the small-sized races). The bodies were found in dramatic poses, exsanguinated and their faces cut off with chilling accuracy and skill, yet no blood was found at any of the places they were found. The most recent body was found in a park in broad daylight. No witnesses have been found, no description of the killer and no leads as to the killers identity or location have turned up. The PCs went to the park where the most recent killing took place and conducted their own investigation. During this time, a Plot Twist card revealed a figure cloaked and hooded in black, who Cat chased out of the park and into the city proper. Maugrim and Lumen chased after Cat, who soon found out that the person she chased lead her into an ambush. Four snipers on flanking rooftops shot arrows of Greater Tiefling Slaying at her, striking her twice. The Claymores had tracked her here and laid in wait, hoping to get the chance to assassinate this Demonspawn general who would bring about the destruction of this country. Cat survived the slaying effect of the arrows, prompting the assassins to quickly escape before her friends could catch up and overwhelm them. Returning to the Crimson Keep, Nerle met with Joric Kordath, a representative of the Pathfinder Society. He informed Nerle that Crimsondale was being considered among 5 other candidates for being the home of a new Pathfinder Lodge to be founded in the Brevoy/Iobaria/Stolen Lands region. He also negotiated a deal for the PFS to send expeditions into their territory to survey and excavate several points of interest (such as Candlemere). It was a relatively quiet but interesting session. Organized Play Characters
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