So one of my players wants to play an Elf. A large portion (including the opening sequence) of the first book has prominent nightmares/dreaming/sleeping scenarios. Withe elves either not sleeping at all or editating for a few hours a night (depending on where you look) AND being imune to sleep...
How do I encorporate this with the Elf? Its a psychic/mind effect? Its hallucinatins with no/impossible saves? He slept because reasons?
Oh. Oh Gods. I love this. I've totally stolen this for my campaign. They're going to encounter a few swarms of Tooth Fairies and a "Leader" in the form of an Alchemist Tooth Fairy.
I've ran several APs now, mostly RotRL and Kingmaker, but have yet to have completed one with a group.
My question though, is regarding creature treasure. While running the APs and handing out only listed treasure (ie, a room is listed as having X amount, a creature is listed as having X items and X gold) it seems as though my players don't QUITE keep up with their Wealth by Level.
If a creature is listed in the encounter as See Bestiary, should I be giving out the appropriate treasure for that creature as listed in the Bestiary?
As an example, lets say an AP had several Gnoll encounters. A quick read through the encounter would normally say See Beastiary Listing. Lets also assume these encounters don't have any "treasure" listing.
The Beastiary listing for Gnolls says: NPC Gear (Leather Armor, Heavy Wood Shield, Battleaxe, Longbow with 20 arrows, other treasure).
Do you award the treasure as appropriate for that Gnoll encounter? Or do you assume they are empty handed, since the AP doesn't say anything about treasure?
Well, they explored the hex with a certain old woman and the Candlemere hex our first session. Candlemere hex was ampped up considerably and they ALMOST ran away (I had them surrounded by Wisps, which they now despise). They ended up trading knowledge of spells like Cause Fear and Raise Undead to two of the Wisps who were fighting them the most, for safe passage. Those two took off with their two strings and the others followed. The Wizard and somewhat leader of the group (I have one player who EVERY game we play HAS to lead the party, even if another player WANTS to lead) is quite angry about this and hates that he had to bargain with such evil entities.
They also encountered Robin Goodfellow in his hex (I put him nextt to the King of the Forrest) and got to deal with a hex that's constantly changing. They decided they will NOT be building in that hex.
They took out the King of the Forrest last night, and succeeded in their survival check to remove the head for mounting and in skinning it as well. They know it won't count as "dragon hide" for purposes of that specific armor but they want to make Oleg (who they befriended) a fancy new "almost dragon hide" cloak. "Who needs oilskin when you can wear dragonskin?!" asked the Paladin as he skinned the thing...
With that done, they decided they should probably start heading back, the cleric memorized a casting of Gentle Repose the next morning so that she could use it on the head to make sure it didn't rot before they got back. They encountered a "wandering tribesman" in the woods making his way towards their capital city. I played up the "rough" look of him, and how wild and mangy he was. They befriended him quite easily and I think its going to make the ensuing werewolf event when they get back much more intense... They know this guy, he was so friendly...
They went to the Lizards folk towards the end of our session. They befriended some guards and were going to go speak to the King when they heard Tig scream (he was near death). The guards visibly flinched at the sound, and with some more diplomacy the players learned that they have a "New God" who is a "bad God" and makes them "hurt and scare, but not eat". Long story short they killed the chief and his pets, named one of the "Braves" the new leader (after asking the two guards which one they'd follow) when he responded "Let it go" to their question "What do you plan to do about the child?". Then, while the Paladin was taken to Tig (who had almost died before the Paladin got there), the rest went to kill the "God". Which they had already decided had to be a Wisp. In that ensuing fight I almost killed the Wizard...
So my players have decided that they are going to explore the enitreity of the remaining green belt (From RRR) in just two excursions. Their plan is to be gone for a few weeks at a time, and explore first one half of the alloted area (from their capital at Stag Fort down and all area to the left) then the other (same deal, towards the right).
This means they will only be away from their capital twice. So they will only have the opportunity for two of the "Kingdom Events" from this book.
More importantly, this means that either this session or next they will be entering Hargulka's territory. How should I handle this? I had all these plans to incorporate some of DM's ideas and also Orthos's Fey stuff... But now?
So my players have just started Rivers Run Red, and we took 13 months to "build" their kingdom. They have 23 hexes and a road in almost all of them. They have several farms, an orchard and mines. They have two armies, and both a capital city AND Olegton (a very small town at Oleg's Trading Post).
My problem is, have they explored too far? Do they have too much? It seems pretty large for this early on.
Name: Lord Asheron Ostlavsky
Race: Half-Orc
Class: Marshal 3
Adventure: The Stolen Lands
Location: Stag Lord's Keep
Catalyst: Injured and pissed off Mythic Challenge "Stagy"
The Gory Details:
The party's plan was: Enter the Keep under the guise of new recruits. The female human Artificer would go engage Auchs in a game of "Soldiers" with his toys and keep him occupied. The Cleric, Cavalier, and Marshal would go hand over the booze to the Stag Lord. They'd wait until he got drunk, then kill him in his "sleep".
They decided to change the plan and just attack him after handing over the booze.
Stagy was rather pissed off. BUT Stagy was lounging on his bed.
They stabbed stagy was he was still lounging.
Stagy got up, they got an AoO. Both crited.
Stagy was still alive, and even more pissed. He moved to the corner of the room.
Cleric Sonic'd the bandits who were coming to their "lord's" aid.
The Cavalier charged. He crited.
Marshal attacked and missed.
Stagy was barely alive and angrier yet. He shot his mythic "free" shot at the Marshal and crited. Marshal went down. Two shots into the Cavalier he goes down.
Cleric heals the Cavalier. Cavalier gets up and drinks his potion.
Stagy fires another free shot into the Marshal, Marshal is now beyond saving. And Crits on the Cavalier.
Cleric is pissed. Moves up and Mace Mash Faces Stagy. Stagy drops.
The party doesn't have enough to revive the Marshall. And the Cavalier was "bonded" to the Marshall, so he "left the party".
We just ran through it last night. I ended up having N behind the bear's curse as well. I'd kept track of the choices each character was making throughout the beginning which came in handy.
After they defeated the bear, and the entire party had drunk from the fountain, the cg Cleric of Calistria played into my hands by saying "I'm going to rest here by the fountain for a bit." She rolled a will save, and "fell blissfully asleep". Everyone else thought they should roll as well, and came up with 7, 8, and 4. :D Brilliant.
I'd had no intention of them having to do this, the original will save was just to throw her off base, but this was just too perfect to not use.
They all "awoke in land that is not your own, though you can't quite place why." It was basically a dreamscape/demense. Depending on the choices of the characters they were approached by a likeness of either Queen summer or Lady Winter. Two of them should have been approached by a neutral entity, but I couldn't think of anyone. My bad :-/
The likeness told them in a dreamy, ethereal voice they had overcome a powerful foe, but there were worse yet to come. Their assistance in helping to vanquish these common enemies would be heartily awarded.
After this, they looked around and saw they were dream sharing and were each carrying on the same sort of conversation with the same, or similar entities. Through a q&a session that was heavily laced with rhyme and riddle and words unspoken on the part of they Fey, they learned that each could choose a different side if they wished, though the potential allegiance and protection of one side would not apply to those who were allied with the other. Further, remaining neutral was an option as well, but would mean no guarantees of protection from any side.
In the end, two chose Summer and two chose Winter. They awoke to feel the essence of either cold or warmth flowing through their entire bodies and then their very blood seemed made of liquid "ice/fire". Thus the onslaught of their Mythic power.
The best part is, the party members seem to think there is the potential to reap huge rewards from the fey, perhaps even eternal life... But no bargains were made. The gift of Mythic Power was given, and received, with no guarantee of retention after the "problem" is dealt with. And no specific rewards or gifts were guranteed on behalf of either court beyond vague "protections".
All in all I'm pretty pleased with the outcome. They players are happy knowing they have a specific source of their mythic power, and that is not some deity they don't have allegiances to. I'm happy to have been able to include a stronger presence of the Fey, and even more pleased to have been able to do they fey courts proper justice in both circle-speak and vagueries.
So I can't lie, I love your ideas, and they were in line with what I was struggling to come up with on my own, so I MAY be borrowing them for my own campaign...
But I'm also thinking I would like to make it Mythic as well, and I thought it would be interesting if their mythic ascension (the bear at the temple) could somehow tie in with the Summer/Winter/Neutral Courts of the Fey.
I did, actually Menelaus. Mine has "Cat" and "Bush". Due to some complications with both faeries and alchemical tests, his cat is now a rose bush and his rose bush is now a cat. :p
I'm fairly certain I've seen a set of rings (one for jailer, one for prisoner) or perhaps a ring and a pair of manacles that allow the main bearer (jailer) to "keep tabs on" the other wearer (prisoner). They also prevent the prisoner from casting.
Even if they don't exist, it would be fairly simple to rig something like that up.
I think you could get away with having a specific section of the prison (cell block) warded against d-dooring/teleportation. I would have liberal use of anti-magic zones.
It would also not be beyond reason to have several casters among the various guards and higher level screws.
And I think Phillip had the right idea. In a world in which magic items are the norm, they would most likely be banned from a prison. And there are various ways a jailer/guard or caster/guard could attempt to detect them.
I'm still on Stolen Lands IMC, but my players and the random dice rolls are making things quite interesting.
They fey are a more prevalent thing in my world, so they have actually started making more of an effort to be friendly with Perl and Tyg. At this point, they are the ONLY two characters who have made ANY mention of the Stag Lord. And, because they are fey and they refer to all people as Biggins, they call him the "Big Stag Biggins". My players haven't yet picked up on the fact that only humanoids are called "Biggins". And they've seen glimpses of the "Giant White Stag" in the woods and at the horizon line. And with Jhod talking about a temple to Erastil, and the necklaces they've found on the bandits, they think "Big Stag Biggins" is a reference to Erastil. :')
Also, through random encounters, they are convinced that a Hunter is stalking them or is a personification of Erastil, that some of the other fey are enchanting small animals (rabbits, squirells, and the like) and awakening them to cause an animal uprising...
And the best was today, rolled random encounters of Hunter, Wolves, Worg. I rolled with it, and had them see the "stalker hunter" go traipsing off through the woods. He was followed a little later by the sounds of padded feet passing, and then a bunch of high pitched howls, accompanied by a lower pitched growl. They rolled a knowledge nature and realized it was wolves and a worg. One of the players said to the other "We have to kill it! Its evil, and intelligent! If we let it go, it might go tell the bandits that we're here!!!" But it managed to get away.
And because I liked that idea, it led the pc that was chasing it to the outskirts of the bandit camp.
Through a combination of some of the pranks listed in the linked thread, and some of my own invention based off of those, my players are now convinced there is a tribe of bunnies and squirells that are becoming intelligent and highly evolved which plan to overthrow the humanoid races. The LG Cavalier also believes the forest is "Haunted and overrun by evil fae! It must be burned to the ground and killed with fire!!"
The CG Martial and leader of their group (and eventual ruler) has taken to ignoring the pranking as much as is possible and just "Not giving them the reaction they obviously want". As he feels this will cause them to loose interest
The two females, CG Cleric of Calistria (plying them with sweets) and CG Artificer (named Jewels) both think the fey are great and are trying desperately to make friends with them. They find the pranks hilarious.
Thus, each of the "Biggins" has earned a nickname from the pair. The Cavalier is "Cranky Biggins", the martial is "Boring Biggins", the cleric is "Sweetie Biggins", and the artificer "Sparkly Biggins".
I was actually thinking of playing of the alchemist side of him, and then running him like the "merlin" character from Shrek the 3rd. Complete with a lack of pants and a robe (in this case a leather apron) that doesn't quite reach down to his knees. ;)
Mostly just obviously crazy, from both a tendency to sample his own creations for testing and consuming purposes, and just simply being out of touch with society and proper etiquette/behaviour. Bust still mostly harmless.
Plot twist cards are a Paizo product. I don't use them, but as I understand
it they allow a little bit of a story telling opportunity to enter in the
player's arena. The player draws a card & can influence the story in an
interesting way.
... Maybe I'll just stick to not bothering with the plot twists...
Philip Knowsley wrote:
So - back to ye olde kingdom events. I pre-roll, usually years at a time,
& then use what I've rolled to build NPCs & events from the books into the
game. If an event is rolled which doesn't fit with what has gone before,
then I make one up, or I re-roll.
This allows me to put some real thought into the event, rather than it be
some random good or bad thing...
I kinda like this idea. I think I may have to borrow it for my campaign. I know I made quite a few mistakes the last time, in letting the players have a little more free reign with the rolls and certainly in allowing them to over expand rather quickly.
This time around I think I'll reign it in a little, and I'm definitely going to be a little more heavy handed with the fudged rolls for major players. My dice do not like me when it comes to my npcs and making rolls...
I've also started using Plot Twist cards with kingdom and/or PC events. That is, if there's a plot line or a situation, I will lay 3-4 Plot Twist cards face-down in front of the player. The player chooses a card, and that card influences how things play out.
That's a really clever idea. Did you come up with those yourself or is a product you found somewhere?
pennywit wrote:
I would veto the CE kingdom/good PCs combo. I think it's possible under RAW, but Rule Zero should triumph.
That's what I was thinking. Sometimes its just nice to get an outside opinion that backs your play though, you know?
My players are gearing up for the actual kingdom building portion of the campaign and I have a few questions.
We've played it once before, and got to the 3rd book, before we had to stop for rl issues. That time, it felt like they were expanding far to quickly and their kingdom was growing at a rather quicker rate then it should have been.
I let them make the rolls before, for random events I mean, and then told them the results. This time, should I make the rolls myself? It might allow me to skew the odds in my favor should they be expanding to far too fast...
Also, is there anything in the rules about the alignment of the kingdom vs the alignment of the players? They want to make the kingdom chaotic evil for the bonuses. But they're all good aligned, one of them is even lawful good... Even if it's not in the rules, I just don't see how they could justify it to themselves as characters...
