MistChild's page

Be careful about tempting your PCs, it can easily become a double-edged sword and destroy the party (personal experience).

Give them a taste of his own power and the benefits that it brings isn't something Big-K does deliberately. He has no interest in corrupting the PCs (unless he needs some other powerful greedy souls for something... hmm). All he wants is to exploit them as long as they are useful and then take them out once they become a hindrance.

Don't force the corruption on them. If they refuse the "evil" rewards Big-K offers, let them. This could also further increase Big-K's paranoia. ("Why do they help me without wanting anything in return? What are they up to?")

That said, working for Big-K will not be easy anyway. Even if the PCs manage to resist the many temptations of Xin-Shalast, Big-K's allies will not easily accept their presence there.

In brief, Xin-Shalast is a very dangerous place for the PCs, even with Big-K's protection.

I really hope your PCs take this road. This campaign looks more amazing every minute that pass!

If you want to go with moral issues you have many ways.

The PCs could become Big-K heralds, bringing word of his intention to unite Varisia under the banner of Xin-Shalast to Magnimar, Korvosa and the like. Big-K is a declared tyrant and will not esitate to use force if its needed, but he's not stupid. If he finds a way (the PCs) to persuade at least some of the largest Varisian cities to join his new empire without wasting resources with a war, he will be glad to do so.

Or, Big-K can send them to rescue some old ally (like Gargadros from module 3) or recruit new ones (

But in the end Big-K's true goal is to restore Thassilon with him at the top of the pyramid, so the line between what is acceptable to do for Varisia's sake and what is not will become more and more difficult to trespass (if your PCs aren't evil, obviously).

Shattered Star could help.

I merged CotCT and CC easily. I started CC when my player reached Caliphas.

I considered doing something like that, but I want to start with the KM/CotCT stuff at a much lower level. Well played, however.

I preferred Ileosa as a destined bloodline sorceress instead of a bard. There's also the Imperial bloodline in the ARG.

This will be a gestalt game, so I would go with a bard/sorceress or bard/witch build for her.

Spoiler:

The Vanishing is acquiring not only blood but bones, flesh and souls to 'jump start' the Blood Vault on Candlemere. Ileosa knows that she can use the Blood Vault to fuel her transformation into a 'daywalking vampiress', and to do so she needs not only the blood of her subjects corrupted by disease and terror, she also needs direct infusions of life energy.

This is good. It could work in a way similar to

the adjective "prior" immediately preceding the word "APs"

That's what I missed, thanks for the clarification.

Key word is "Retrospective". He means looking back to APs before the one in which the article is printed.

Got it. I thought he was talking about the modules of the same AP. In this case, thumbs up for this too.

drumlord wrote:

I realized that amid my complaints I didn't address the OP. I don't need more maps in the AP usually, and certainly not 1" scale maps. PDFs are great for that kind of thing. I see Adam's point too about not being able to simply expand the adventure. Mostly I'd like the pages to be used for expanded or extra supplemental material (city, creature, npc, deity articles) related to the AP. This is why people love Sandpoint so much, because we got so much information about its locations and NPCs.

This is the kind of thing I could go for as well.

Thumbs up for this.

James Sutter wrote:

So what do you think?

Here's a random idea for a column that's cropped up based on the logistics conversation - what about a retrospective column on prior APs. A last opportunity to fix/patch problems, expand portions, or otherwise re-visit a topic raised by a prior AP. It could be additional rules for kingdom building, Nualia's more detailed backstory, or another encounter that ties together two volumes of an AP or provides a bridge into a module. Think of it as an advertisement for the Paizo back catalogue and reward for your long term, continuity minded readers (plus, an additional incentive to subscribe).

The problem with this would be that, as stated, modules are written by different authors and when the first comes out, the second is already being revised for the final release. It would be difficult to add something like this at the last moment, I think.

I think the cost argument is a valid one. That said, I think that the fiction, though very well written, could be released separately, leaving room for something actually useful to the AP like some text addition that the authors often have to drop for space reasons.

Merge ** spoiler omitted **

I really like it, but I would leave the Old Cults more in the background, because I can’t see a clever BBEG attain immortality and ultimate power only to then ruin everything by releasing an Outer God upon her head and ending the world (and also to remind the PCs that there is always something bigger and badder waiting in the dark).

I was also considering replacing Vordakai with some lich from the WW (maybe Socorro), tying the Oculus of Abaddon with Tar-Baphon by having a semi-sentient shard of the Whispering Tyrant’s will trapped in it (a very “Eye of Vecna” thing).

Still don’t know why Tar-Baphon should be behind the Vanishing, though.

Some other thoughts on Kendra and AA:

Is this too much convoluted or could it work?

Greetings all. First, sorry for the bad english, it's not my first language. Second, spoilers ahead, so be careful.

I was planning a campaign combining Curse of the Crimson Throne, Kingmaker and Carrion Crown. I don’t care about running the modules as they’re written, but rather to write a homebrew campaign borrowing elements from all three APs. It would be neither CotCT, KM or CC, but something else.

This is what I have thus far:

The setting will probably be a heavily modified Brevoy/Ustalav mashup. As far as I am gone, I made Queen Ileosa the sister of King Noleski Surtova (in place of Natala Surtova) and plan to have her

The campaign will begin with the PCs still in Restov (in this setting the city has its own major noble house, even if the Swordlords still play a very important role in the rule of the city), attending to the wedding between the King and the Lord of Restov’s daughter (one of the PCs), arranged for prevent the civil war by binding the Swordlords to the Dragonscale Throne.

However, before the ceremony the gathered nobles will be attacked by a group of assassins disguised by Swordlords’ guards, who will kill the King. I borrowed the wedding idea from this thread, so thanks to Olondir.

After this I am unsure whether to go on with Edge of Anarchy or Stolen Lands. Either way, the PCs will end obtaining the kingdom-building charter from the new Lord of Restov.

After dealing with Rivers Run Red, the PCs will be called back to New Stetven to pledge fealty to the new Queen and will be stuck in with the events of Seven Days to the Grave.

As for the Kingmaker part I will drop all the fey stuff in favor of political intrigue with Brevoy’s noble houses and the mystery of the Vanishing, that I would relate to the Whispering Tyrant, even if still I don’t know how.

In all this, where is Carrion Crown? Well, this is the issue. I really like all the Petros/Kendra/AA stuff in this thread and was planning to use Ice Titan’s approach, but I don’t know how to fit Professor Lorrimor’s assassination and the pursuit of the WW in with the kingdom-building part. As I said I’m not interested in running the modules straight as written, so I’m looking for some advice here. Maybe I can tie the WW with the events of Seven Days to the Grave.

My other issue was about the BBEG:

Ok, this is all. Any thoughts? Am I insane or it is doable?