Harald Henning's page

Lots of good ideas and feedback - thanks!

I can work with the ideas of Endrin's desparate position and like the idea of a magical crossbow bolt that he is reasonably certain should take out a human tyrant. I do not like any suggestion that Endrin is ignorant, stupid, or forgetful about the potential toughness of a person. Like it or not, if you're playing d20, the option of an instant kill with a single weapon strike is simply not to be expected when you're dealing with any person of note, no matter how well placed the strike. I strongly believe this has to be reflected in the attitude, actions, and plans of the NPCs in the world, otherwise you'll always have disjointed stories, which destroys the suspension of disbelief that makes for a good story.

Norgerber's post actually illustrates my issue very well. His description of the combat is farcical - and that is exactly what the players will think when they hear the story told as it is written in the module, because players will dissect what the GM is telling them to glean important information.

Mary hit the nail on the head with her post. It should be clear that my issue is not with the coolness of the story, or the need for detailed combat explanations in the module. I just want actions that won't mislead the players due to inconsistency with the rules.

So, I think my version of the story will run along the lines of:
- Endrin has developed huge misgivings about the Queen, and has talked to Kroft and other confidants about it at some length, including his thoughts that she needs to be removed
- Endrin takes a very powerful crossbow bolt (note Bane is not really enough with 2d6 damage - it should probably be a unique, deadly artifact level magic item) from the Sable Company Vault of magic weapons (this can come out later, or be surmised by Kroft)
- Endrin decides to take action out of desparation, and because he has the weapon he thinks will do the job
- Endrin must be fairly certain that the assassination will not simply be reversed by a Raise Dead, hence he must also have at least talked to the senior Clerics of Abadar and Sarenrae about their opinions of the Queen, in order to have hope that her assassination will spark a general uprising against the current monarchy which will be supported by many other powers in Korvosa (this may come as info to the players, depending on their contacts)
- Endrin's attack fails, to his and everyone else's great surprise, as the Queen recovers from a crossbow bolt to the head within seconds
- Ileosa pins him to the wall, and over several agonizing rounds strangles and stabs him to death, while everyone else watches in horror at the apparent ease and glee with which she does it

The setup of the Escape from Korvosa includes a description of an ill-planned and ill-fated attempt by Commandant Endrin to assassinate Queen Ileosa. Unfortunately, the whole scenario is barely believable, unjustifiable with the Sable Company morality, and seems impossible to make work under d20 rules. This story, even if only told to PCs, only serves to make them question how such utter nonsense could occur - and what it might really mean.

If someone could explain to me how to have this whole encounter make sense both from an in-game standpoint, and how it is supposed to work using the d20 rules, I'd appreciate it. Summarizing:

1 - It makes no sense that Commandant Endrin, leader of a supposedly LG military organization, suddenly decides to pull a crossbow and take one shot at the Queen. That's neither Lawful, nor Good, nor smart, nor wise, nor ... Any PC will look at this and have to wonder what's really the story.

2 - Under d20 rules, how does this one shot hit the Queen in the temple, and how does she then pull it out and kill the certainly high-level Commandant with one strike?

... The poor, and foreigners are the ones who most likely die from the plague. They are the ones suffering the first infections...

How so? The few boxes that wash up are randomly targeted. The coin in Abadar's vault will go to merchants and craftsmen - not the poor. And foreigners are actually less targeted.

It would make much more sense to initiate the plague by distributing infected coins (silver and/or copper) directly amongst the people to be targeted.

... Having a natural disaster to tighten control and enforce martial law is just making her job so much easier....

True, but it's the non-sensical details of the execution and the fundamental economics that I have issue with. If this is a master plan derived by an intelligent being, espcially one that craves power as wellas wealth, it needs work.

One idea is to change it so that there is an extra layer of deception. Perhaps the price for getting the poison used on the king was an agreement with the Urgathoan cult to inflict this upon the city, with the promise to target only the Queen's undesirables. And it all gets a little out of hand. In fact, the Queen may want to set up, even secretly double-cross, the Urgathoans so they are stopped, while she benefits from the chaos they caused.

Another idea provides a way for the Queen to avoid ruin of her own finances as Korvosa's economy is shattered. The Queen's Physicians and Gray Maidens could be given the power to seal houses, businesses, and workshops of those infected. Personal property is confiscated, ostensibly to stop the plague spreading, but any valuables actually end up on ships outward bound to be sold elsewhere to replenish the royal treasury.

... As for the ship, it makes no sense. This is intentional - it is a decoy of the Queen to serve as a plausible reason for the Blood Veil infection to the common people, ....

Where did it load and sail from? Using it to generate and stoke rumor is a fine idea, but when it is investigated by the PCs, those questions need to be clear - and should point somewhere that makes sense.

Most likely, it would have loaded in West Dock, sailed from Korvosa, then turned around, perhaps changing sails and/or name. A controlled undead could have guided it the last stretch upriver.

...and something to keep these pesky adventurers occupied rather than seeking a reason inside Korvosa all along. ....

If she were truly worried about and aware of the PCs, she'd do something directly. As you note, the ship is a ploy for another audience - the common folk.

...As for the Grey Maidens, they are not conscripted off the streets, but rather come from the existing fighting forces of Korvosa. Sure, the timeline is a little thin for a full torture and brainwashing, but magic might make a long way short here. The uniforms are less of a problem IMHO. All Illeosa really needs is the mask, the rest can come from normal guard stocks.....

Armoring a whole force of low level (2nd only!) fighters in masterwork full plate is excessive, and not something you just pull out of normal stocks.

Thin timeline indeed. I would suggest that a ship from Cheliax docks in Korvosa some time before. This ship brings, courtesy of the Arvanxi family, personal bodyguards for the new queen (the first Gray Maidens - the core of the new force), as well as her "personal physician" Dr Davaulus and some assistants, themselves all Urgathoans who are also transporting some presents for the local Urgathoa cult (the leukodaemons). This can all be done as part of her official coronation, and can be used to stage the Gray Maidens, as well as provide a timeline for the whole setup of this plan.

Let's say Dr Devaulus is the one who developed the poison for the king, and he arrives to collect his reward for it. This reward is the consecration of a new Temple to Urgathoa, in Korvosa, which requires that the city be subjected to a plague. The Queen agreed to this, in order to have a new ally in the city, as well as her other reasons. Potentially when she realizes the extent of chaos and damage, and especially if she realizes that the PCs are on the trail and needs to cover her own involvement, she betrays her new allies.

...As for how to derive a cure from an innate magical effect, i am afraid my personal spellcraft knowledge is insufficient, as is my supernatural medicine rating. I'm willing to assume it to be possible, though.

My issue is not that magic can't explain it. My issue is that a cool relationship between Varisians suddenly and easily gets distilled in a bottle. I would much prefer that the notes identify that in order for the cure to be effected on someone, they must somehow receive and accept some distinctly Varisian magic. In order to affect every being in Korvosa, divine aid might be needed - some god opposed to Urgathoa, but close to Varisians.

I've got a whole host of questions with this module. While each individual encounter and characterization has a definite "cool factor", the overall module has many things that just don't add up.

The whole rationale behind the Queen's instigation of the plague doesn't make any sense. It's stated she wants to remove the Varisians, Shoanti, and poor. Yet this plague is non-discriminating, other than the fact that the poor always tend to suffer more, since they have no resources. It is an utterly chaotic and uncontrollable way to achieve her stated goal. There is no consideration made for stopping the plague from affecting everyone - in fact the Urgathoans imply that it should destroy the city, and have no plans of stopping at all. And that's another consideration altogether. The plague will doubtlessly cost the city immense amounts of money in terms of lost labor and trade, even if it is stopped at some point. This directly and seriously will impact the royal coffers, which are already drained. Considering the nautre of who the Queen is supposed to be influenced by (Kazavon), that also seems a very unlikely goal. Queen Ileosa is acting not like a scheming villain, but rather like a genocidal maniac - why?

The plan for the initial distribution of infection is also somewhat nonsensical. The blood veil is concocted in Korvosa itself, in the Urgathoan temple, and yet a mysterious ship is loaded somewhere else to sail to Korvosa for the express purpose to be sunk in the river, with the hope that at least some of its cargo washes up where it can be found in a timely manner. If the plague can be spread as simply as through infected coin, then spending huge amounts of money on creating a bunch of magic coffers, some of which may wash up on shore, is a huge waste of resources, effort, and unecessary exposure. Rather than providing a red herring, the plague ship is a clue, especially considering the papers knowingly left on it. There could be many other better plans for misdirecting the source of the contagion, while easily spreading coin throughout the city, in places and with people you actually want to target. In the module, there isn't even any way provided to follow up on the deposit of plague coins in Abadar's vaults - it's just something that has happened already.

The sudden appearance of the Gray Maidens is poorly justified. You cannot simply conscript all pretty women and la voila - there's a hardened, trained, loyal military force. Even assuming you can brainwash half of them, it makes no sense that the others aren't missed when they're imprisoned. Moreover, their equipment is seriously expensive, and takes time to make - where did it come from?

The Queen's Physicians are all petty rogues equipped with an expensive mask. Why? If their purpose is simply to observe and foster the spread of the plague, they are either hired help - which would not warrant a magical mask, or they are fanatical Urgathoans, which should have some appropriate stats.

The encounter with Vencarlo and Trinia is not really tied into the adventure in any way. I understand it is continuing the development of those characters, but if it is done here, it should have at least some purpose.

The vampire spawn encounter in Racker's Alley is also random, without any possibility provided of connecting these creatures to their source, or any added plot development.

The Lavender encounter seems incongruous to its effect. 700 people saved because you shut down a snake-oil salesmen? There've got to be dozens of such opportunists in a situation like this.

The Carowyn Manor encounter is a good example of a targeted attack, but unfortunately falls down on explaining how the attack was done. It implies that smokebombs with Vorel's Phage were used, but Ausio's description tells of crossbow bolts fired. So how did one intruder manage to fell every single person at that party? Nobody was able to defend themselves? Nobody could run away? That is just impossible without some serious other influence. If the smokebombs were used, what is their effect - it would have to be devastating? And does Jolistina still have 4, as described in her stats?

The Hospice of the Blessed Maidens was an Arkona warehouse. And so ...? This fact is thrown in there, seemingly important, but has no impact at all on the adventure.

The blood veil immunity of the Varisians is supposed to be a magical effect based on the influence of Vorel's wife on some Varisians, which is not necessarily by blood relationship, but rather through the Varisian "family". And yet the research notes are supposed to allow alchemists to find a cure based on this? That makes it mundane, and removes that whole interesting aspect.

The setting and atmosphere of the Guide to Korvosa are great, you really get a good feeling for the flavor of the city. However, I am having some problems accepting the numbers behind the scenes - and that makes it difficult for me to work with some of the content.

The city is only supposed to have about 18500 current inhabitants, which is not a huge amount, although it is good-sized for a city in medieval times. However, somehow, this population supports 700 full-time Korvosan Guard, and over 200 Sable Company, on top of the bureaucratic structure of the Magistrates, the King, the Arbiters, as well as having cash for expenditures for fantastic structures such as the Tower, the Ampitheater, etc.

Which community of 18500 people could afford all this? Assuming normal proportions, we are talking 10% of the active adult population is in the military, not to mention any of the other overhead. That's huge!

The problem also shows in the map. The number of buildings is hard to estimate, but I would guess 10000 is not unreasonable. Even with the underpopulation due to the Magnimar exodus, that's still only a few people per house - which is very low for a city. 10% of the city, i.e. let's say 2000, live in Bridgefront, 3 blocks of buildings averaging at least 3 stories high with the Shingles. If you look at the map, you're seeing at least several hundred buildings. So the poor are living in 3-story buildings at only 10 persons per building?

I'm wondering what reality checks and considerations were made to provide a basis for the economic structure of the city as it is described. Otherwise I feel the population should be increased by about a factor of 3 at least, and that's assuming the outlying holdings of Korvosa double that population number.