Everyday Elohim's page

If you are open to let your players collaborate with you in the creation of the setting there is a free game you can play together called Dawn of Worlds. It is a fantasy world creation exercise where all players are gods: each round everyone gets a number of points that they use to shape the geography, create races and civilizations and cause world-shattering events. You go through three ages in which different forms of creation cost different amounts of points.

It is very interesting and makes sure that everyone around the table has the opportunity to literally chape the world you'll play in. It also ensures that everyone gets a basic setting knowledge from the fact that they were directly involved in the creation process. I'm also making a campaign setting currently like you and I'll use Dawn of Worlds with my players this Friday to form the basis of it. If you're interested I can report how it went and give tips based on the experience. :)

Hi, gonna start up the AP real soon with my dear players! Before I get the ball rolling though I'd love to read if fellow GMs here have integrated the major Noble Houses in the story, and in that case how? House Arkona is already heavily prevalent in the AP for example, but what about the other ones? Bromathan, Jeggare, Leroung and Ornelos aren't nearly as featured, and it feels like a shame to let them stand in the background while all these power shifts are going on in their city.

I'm planning to deepen the intrigue a little by involving these other factions of Korvosa in the events of the AP and let them play against each other. While there will be more balls in the air to juggle I believe that it could turn out fun and rewarding for the group. Most of my group watches and loves Game of Thrones, and I'm certain than they'll eat the political intrigue right up and play the game of the crimson throne (?). An interesting aspect is that one PC is a paladin noble who's part of one of the Dock families (he chose Rich Parent trait and plans to be a Noble Scion), a dock family that has heavy ties to House Jeggare. If the Jeggares involve themselves in the shadow war with less than honorable deeds, what would the PC's stance be?

So, have any other GM done something similar and what experiences and tips do you have? Thanks on beforehand

You don't want to have too much inter-character conflict in the party, so this character's suitability may depend on what the rest of the party looks like -- if they're mostly CG/Cayden/Desna types then it's probably going to be a bit of a headache.

The player that wants to be the character in question is actually the first one to tell me what he's planning, the others are still thinking. I'll be getting the others ideas in the next couple days, so we'll see what happens with the alignment balance in the group.

I don't see Asmodeus being a really "wreak havoc" kind of guy, and doing so in his name may be particularly problematic. Manipulative, absolutely -- but he's one of the principal bastions of civilisation, law & order.

Yep, I totally agree with you. I'll see to it that I'm more clear with empathizing the lawful part of lawful evil to my player. He has previously had a quite random playstyle with his evil PCs and been doing acts like killing innocents on a whim instead of with a structured plan in mind, so he's naturally into the chaotic side of evilness.

For starters, make sure you're familiar with all of the AP before you start running it. things that happen in an adventure should come as a surprise to the players, not the GM!

Haha, indeed! I have skimmed through the whole AP once and have done a detailed read with books 1-3, so I'm getting into detail with 4-6 right now. It seems like an especially good idea to read all of this particular AP on beforehand since there are a lot of great opportunities to foreshadow things.

Hi, I'm going to start up this wonderful AP in a couple of weeks. I've told my players what we are running and that they should begin to think out a concept for their characters. One of the players has approached me and said that he wants to play a Sorcerer with the Infernal bloodline (and later later levels the Diabolist prestige class). He wants to bind devils and wreak havoc in the name of Asmodeus while at that same time being very manipulative in the city. He hasn't figured out a clear goal or purpose yet as far as I know, he just likes that concept.

I'm wondering what impact and consequences that kind of character would have on CotCT. Could it work with a lawful evil PC in this AP? I also believe I read somewhere that clerics of Asmodeus have a role to play in the last module, could that be problematic? Since this player has always liked evil destructive PCs I've been allowing him in previous campaigns to play such characters, but I'm not sure if that would be good in this one since the AP's about saving the city. Please help, thanks on beforehand! :)

It's not CR 24. There's guidelines in the beastiary about applying class levels, under the monster advancement section. The CR for a frost giant wizard 15 should be 19 or 20

Oh, wasn't aware of that. I just took this stat-block and added 6 levels, which I translated into CR. Well, thanks for the correction, it actually makes me happy that her CR is lower than I originally calculated. :)

Great ideas Trimalchio and Douglas! Especially the connection with Leng sounds very cool and believable, I just might run with that idea about the Jarl annexing the Linnorm Kingdoms for extra-dimensional powers. Especially since we are simultaneously running Wrath of the Righteous the concept of another Worldwound opening would feel very real, since they've been to the real thing.
Keep the ideas coming though! I'd love to see some more!

For those of us who aren't up to speed on the setting -- is there any other information on the DJ? Race/class/level? Anything else about her?

Yes, I realized after writing the post that she is a kind of obscure character unless you've been reading through the Lands of the Linnorm Kings book (like me when I prepped my campaign), and that only a few might have read about her. Here's the info that exists so that anyone might be able to help:

* The Deathless Jarl (female frost giant 15 wizard) operates from the legendary fortress of Zar Kragnaral in the north of the Linnorm Kingdoms, in the middle of the Stormspear Mountains.
* She's an ancient creature and only she (and perhaps her closest allies) knows her real name. It's hinted that her lifespan has to do with the Leng spiders that she has an alliance with.
* She has an unnerving beauty and commands countless giants in the Stormspear Mountains, giants that she uses through subtle manipulation like dream sendings to tribal leaders.
* She mostly employs frost giants and their minions, such as winter wolves and yetis. Also has ice linnorms, white dragons and shantak birds that have roosts in her fortress. In her dungeons beneath the fortress there are gug and leng spiders to be found.
* Although she's known in giant society, no people in the Linnorm Kingdoms have heard of her, and she clearly has the advantage of surprise when she decides to strike.
* Lastly what I said above, that her ultimate goal is a complete secret, and that the only thing that's certain is that if she simply wanted the Linnorm Kingdoms she would've tried much earlier. This is what I want help with.

Also, what level are the PCs now, and what level would they be by the time the might be facing her?

Because the last session with my players was the first they are still sitting at level 1, so the Deathless Jarl is nothing I plan on throwing on top of them quite yet. That said, we're running with fast track advancement and I might throw in a mythic rank or two when we get further into the campaign, so they'll catch on to her quite quickly level-wise.

She will be CR 24 so there's a LOT of time to foreshadow and to let her plans (whatever they might be) come into fruition. Though I am prepared to weaken her stats for the sake of campaign pacing, I'm not a 100% sure whether I want level 20 PCs teleporting around the Linnorm Kingdoms (especially with the party right now, 2 of them are evil and another one is getting there).

Hi all, to begin I have to say that I was troubled whether this would fit best under Advice or Campaign Setting, but I settled for this one. If this is incorrect placement I shall move it.

So, me and my group have just done the first session for my home-grown campaign set in the legendary Lands of the Linnorm Kings. Nothing of big importance to plot has happened, and I'm planning to keep it that way until I have a relatively clear campaign structure. One of the things I've decided is that the mistress of Zar Kragnaral in the north, the Deathless Jarl, is going to be the master villain of the campaign and the last enemy to overcome for my brave viking PCs. I really like her as an antagonist because she clearly is a very manipulative overlord (just read the section about her control over the troll clans) and on top of that has the arcane powers to do some really crazy stuff.
I'd love to get suggestions on what the Jarl's motives and goals might be. The simple route would be to just assume that she wants to wrestle control over the Linnorm Kingdoms, but the text contradicts that in a strangely specific way: "What the Deathless Jarl’s ultimate goal could be is another secret she has revealed to few, for had she wanted to claim the Thanelands or the Linnorm Kingdoms as her own, she certainly would have attempted to do so long before today."

So, I'm interested in hearing suggestions and advice what ultimate goal the Deathless Jarl might have. I myself have no idea and it would be great to hear the opinions of all you wise messageboard scribes. :)

Druma, because everyone forgets about Druma. :c

On a more serious note, the Lands of the Linnorm Kings are quite amazing and Varisia feels so iconic to Golarion that I can't resist considering it one of my favorite nations. Really, it's a difficult question since there are so many to love.

Why not the d20 one? I find it quite complete. :P

Edit: There is a list of all previously released prestige classes on page 3 in the Paths of Prestige book, though PrCs released after that book won't be there.