Name of PC: Mool Altiuri
Race: Human
Class/Level: Sorceror 5/Dragon Disciple 7
Adventure: Skeletons of Scarwall
Catalyst: All dem Wraiths
Story:
After defeating Sargeant Lashton, the party was attacked between the gates by the minotaurs. They solved this by smashing through the walls (The Barbarian Kyeran managed this in only 2 hits, Earthbreaker...) and killed the minotaurs. Coming up to the gate controls, Kyeran (who had just killed 5 of the Minotaurs) decided to scout on ahead to explore some mysterious lights. At this point, relatively isolated, I jumped him with a Dread Wraith and 7 Wraiths. Needless to say, his touch AC was not all that great, and he was quickly quite low on Con. The rest of the party came to the rescue, but then Mool the Sorceror was all alone behind everyone and the Wraiths, spotting an opportunity, used their insubstatiality to move through the walls and surround him, making him go down in a single round. The players then learned of the curses ability to trap souls as I ran a similar scene to Zelleras as the party enter the keep.
This lead to the party having to ask Glorio Arkona for help in acquiring a diamond for a Raise Dead spell, for which he demanded the "jars" of the Hag (The party did not roll high enough Knowledge checks to know that the jars of Hags contains souls). I considered this deal (once completed) as a trade in souls, which meant the cohort Cleric lost his spellcasting ability and had to atone for the act, which again took him away from the party for a few sessions.
This one doesn't really count, but it was a good scare to the players so I am throwing it in here as well:
Name of PC: Trinia Sabor (as a PC)
Race: Human
Class/Level: Bard 12
Adventure: Skeletons of Scarwall
Catalyst: Domination Betrayal
Story:
The party entered the stables and I rolled that the dragon was sleeping when they came. The Arcane Archer/Ranger Zyriel (who have crazy high Perception) managed to make out the very faint snoring.
The party then decided to light up the interior of the stables using Dancing Lights, which I of course ruled would wake up the dragon.
The ranger then tried to Sneak inside and have a look around, but found only a waiting dragon who instantly dominated him (I am using Steev42's Conversions). He then told the rest of the party that it was safe to enter and only a critical Sense Motive by the Xian the Monk made him stay back and avoid a strength-draining Breath attack to the face.
With almost every character blinded (most of them avoid the strength damage, though), the Dominated Ranger was ordered to fire a full volley at the lightest armored target, Trinia the Bard, who, thanks to Zyriels favored enemy being humans, quickly dealt over a hundred points of damage and brought her spirit forward, almost being claimed by Scarwall. The moral strain of this command allowed the Ranger a new saving throw against the compulsion, which he managed to clear.
The Monk (the only character who could see anything at this point) took the blinded Shadowcount Sial in a grapple and physically carried him to Trinias lifeless corpse, placed his hands on her wounds and told him to cast Breath of Life, which he managed to in his blinded state, thus saving the bard this time.
The party still need to fight both Zev Ravenka and Nihil and they have learned though an Augury that the weakest spirit anchor is in the donjon (true since Mithodar has claimed the Prelate Aruth as his new 4th anchor), so I expect more deaths to come
One of my players is using the Sable Company Marine Feat from the Player's Guide.
Spoiler:
I had him be a trainee until level 4 and then act as the party's liason to the Sable Company. He quickly got promoted and earned the rank of Major for helping to end Blood Veil.
Then all hell broke loose. In the Purge of the Sable Company following the Commandants assassination attempt, every other senior officer were murdered, leaving Zyriel as the new Commandant and since he had just taken Leadership, he was joined by Jotakar Raeland (an NPC of my own creation), who had been the Commandants confidante and spiritual advisor, and who would help him to rebuild the Company.
The party has since reclaimed an outlying, abandoned base, that used to serve as a Hippogriff breeding ground, and have started converting it into the new Headquarters with some help from the always nefarious Glorio Arkona. For this project I use a modified version of the Kingdom rules from Kingmaker, which the player and me runs on the side as Sendings between the party and the base
NobodysHome: No, they do have a cleric companion, but he might have to stay in the Barbican to maintain it as their base of operations, but I have not decided yet. I certainly look forward to roleplaying Sial and Laori in there
Name of PC: Jamroar
Class/Level: Level 9 Rogue
Adventure: Escape from Old Korvosa
Catalyst: Senshiir, Continuous Barrage and lucky rolls for the GM
Story:After deciding against fighting Glorio in an all out round 3, the party is locked in the dungeon.
Dealing with both Sivit and Vimanda proves no problem, but then the unfortunate Barbarian is teleported right into one of Senshiirs cells and subjected to several rounds of prodding and damage. Only then is the party able to locate the illusory wall and enter the torture chamber to face the Beatific One.
After dealing a decent amount of damage, the creature suddenly turns around to face the rogue and one massive Continuous Barrage (total of 7 attacks) later, Jamroar the Rogue is smashed to a pulp.
The party puts the body in their Bag of Holding and the player decides to continue as Trinia Sabor at Blackbird Ranch.
Jamroars final resting place is a shallow, unmarked grave just outside Harse.
The party is soon to enter Scarwall without a Paladin, so more is sure to follow
The situation was less problematic than I had feared. The players knew perfectly well that they were in way over their heads and was willing to negotiate a deal.
I came up with 3 things to help the party make the "right" decision:
1. As suggested here I made sure to allow the party contact with Glorio through a "Stone of Message" (which I invented on the spot) and through that kept the party informed of various seemingly lucrative tasks that need handling and feeding them various useful but not critical tidbits of information. While they have not accepted any tasks yet, I suspect that an incursion into Scarwall and the misery and death from that will leave the party much more susceptible.
2. The Ranger has become the new Commandant of the Sable Company with the assistance of Marcus Thalassinus' hitherto unknown spiritual advisor, Jotakar Raeland. However, to rebuild the shattered company (using modified rules from Kingmaker), the new Commandant requires resources and experienced officers, both of which Glorio is happy to provide in order to use the Company as a puppet army later. This offer of help was sorely needed and even though the party suspects ulterior motives, they needed it too much to refuse it.
3. The Monk, who had the Rakshasa mission, grudgingly accepted the offer. From all the surveillance Glorio has over them, along with his ability to mind-read meant that he knows the Monks loyalties and decided the easiest way to handle the issue of the Monk revealing him would be an assissination in Kaer Maga, which only failed thanks to Shadowcount Sial intervening. Glorio is already planning new strikes against the Monk, but Sials sudden appearance have given him pause while he investigates this newcomer.
All in all, I might have let the party get away somewhat easily, but given their lack of experience dealing with a situation like that, I think it was the best could do.
In the end, the brooch is only there to give the players a bit of gold in the beginning, introduce the Queen and Sabina Merrin and most importantly, channel them to Cressida Kroft.
I would suggest that Kroft or one of her lieutenants hear of the PCs exploit in clearing out Lamm's lair and contacts them.
You could even consider running Grau Soldado now and letting him be the introducer.
As you get further along in the adventure, you might try to see if you can somehow involve the Queen, so that the party is granted an audience and if you want to be heavy-handed, let slip that the reward is still out or that she heard that they were involved in Gaedren Lamm going down and wants to know if the recovered the brooch.
Also very interesting, but that would of course require that he can somehow still hold them to their commitment when they get back, either by power or usefulness.
Having him as an ally during the uprising on the heroes' return might prove interesting. It will hopefully show the players that Good by itself cannot win this by itself, that they need people like Glorio or the Brotherhood.
I will certainly agree that his most important goal is to acquire more power by deposing the Queen, and that there simply must be a betrayal at some point, though it might be better to have him do it before the final encounter with the Queen rather than after, because I don't want to take away too much away from that threat. But, then again, that final betrayal might also be a interesting experience.
He will have an easy way of keeping tabs on them, through a gift it suggests in the chapter: the Ring of Evasion. My group currently has both the Ring and the Dagger and left house arkona without dealing with Glorio or Vimanda
You are absolutely right, of course, but I am thinking more in case he wants to contact them with a "favor" for them to do or the party wants to acquire some information from him. (Even though that might be a tough sell to get the party to do)
Aeshuura: That seems like a solid way to cast Glorio. Perhaps he could become someone the players can turn to whenever they are stuck for clues. He can count on the players' silence, not because he is forcing them but because it would simply be bad for their future success to betray him. All he asks are simple favors now and again. Of course, he will need some way of communicating with them, but that can probably be arranged.
You guys are giving me some great input :D
Thanks a lot so far
The Other Item: ..ah, I misread it. Yes, the rogue is indeed carrying the "object"
I like the "noble with mysterious allies" approach. The players have seen his prowess in combat, but not his true nature. They could perhaps be persuaded that he has simply been given powers in return for his cooperation.
I am thinking that if the party takes his offer, he will contact them now and again for "favors" during the remainder of the campaign, reminding them of their choice. I am just not sure how Glorio is going to enforce that.
Further involving Vimanda would also be interesting, because she knows what is going on.
Spoiler:
since one of the players are carrying the raktavarna
I guess Glorio could know about the players search through his contacts, his mind-reading powers or due to the fact that they have one of his bloodstones.
Basically that he will let them leave (and go down to get Neolandus) rather than destroy them, in return for some as of yet unspecified boon.
I ended the session in part because wanted the full details of the offer, which I thought might have a large impact on the campaign going forward, to be well-thought out rather than simply pulling something out of my a**.
CaroRose wrote:
Also, are they currently carrying another "object" of interest to a different player?
The only thing I can think of is theoretical leadership of the Sable Company (the Ranger and his cohort).
Also worth mentioning is the Wizard character, whose player are probably leaving the game. He "disappeared" last session and Bahor have hinted that he knows where he is.
I have considered something like Geas, but I am not sure how that will impact the game going forward.
I find myself in a fairly interesting situation, and I hope you guys can help me with some ideas.
The Situation:
The party knows that Arkona Manor holds both Vencarlo and Neolandus and wants to go in.
However, one of my players have an, until now, secret mission to chase Avidexu (The guy from the underground temple). He knows him to be a Rakshasa and that he is in Arkona Manor, but not the full secret of the family. (My guys are new to Pen'n'Paper and I wanted to give them at least a chance at preparing)
They tried an initial foray into the house, which managed to kill 2 cousins and made them aware of the threat. The rogue also nabbed one of Bahors Third Eye bloodstones.
Second time around they tried a "diplomatic" approach (get invited inside and attempt to subdue the Majordomo). They succeeded, but Glorio created a magic mouth to invite them up (based on telepathic link to Carnochan and the bloodstone carried by the party). They went up there reluctantly and ended up confronting him. After killing the two remaining "cousins", we stand at a threshold. Glorio, whose mighty defences they are failing to penetrate, has flown out into the middle of the balcony area and extended a final offer to the party, but before the party got into a discussion I ended the session.
The Question:
I have no idea what the party is going to do.
If they fight, they are likely going to TPK, but that is their choice.
What I can't decide, is what will Bahor ask for if they lay down their arms? They practically know about his true nature, but I will not hold that over him and force him to attack, but I definitely think he wants something to hold against them, so that they can't act against him in the future or reveal him to the world.
He'll probably send them through the Vivified Labyrinth in any case, just to test them, and he still plans against Vimanda of course.
Sorry about the rant. :)
I really hope someone have experienced something similar or have a good idea. I have seen (and used) a lot of great material from these forums, so I humbly wish to tap into some GM gold.
I do it like CaroRose, with one reading for the entire group. I tend to do a full spread with the entire deck, and just improvise on the results. Try doing a few practice runs for yourself, just so you get a feel of how to take the vague descriptions and spin them with what is coming up in the adventure. Make sure you have a clear idea in your mind about what the players are likely to face when you Harrow and don't be afraid if you are stumbling through it. I still feel clumsy when I interpret, but my players say that they really enjoy it.
It was rather funny. They had taken out the zombies and were pounding her pretty good when she began to retreat and started mumbling "banana...banana...". They couldn't figure out what was going on until she got hit again and dropped to 0 hp. Then she collapsed and wailed "The safety word is 'banana!'"
Shadowborn, that is awesome. Wish I had seen that before my party got to her and beat her to a pulp.
My party also did that, but none of them studied the papers too closely and the one who did fumbled a hidden check to notice Dr. Devaulus's name. They also tried the Speak with Dead trick, during which I threw the Physicians, the Urgathoans and even the Mantis into the conspiracy but spent 2 questions denying the Queen's involvement as specified in the book.
Great way to integrate Sial, Gotunran. I'll probably try something along a similar vein, because I am certainly worried my party are just going to ignore him or worse in Ashes.
Running the AP with a bunch of guys, I hadn't GM'ed before this, and most of my players had not played a Pen'n'Paper before, so it has been a bit trial and error, but I think we have managed to develop some interesting interactions. We are currently in the middle of Book 3
The party description will contain some spoilers
spoiler:
Xian, Human Monk. Was one of Lamm's Lambs and escaped on an Arkona ship to Vudra, where he was accepted in a monk order. Returned to Korvosa to hunt an fugitive Rakshasa (Avidexu). He suspects one Rakshasa might have just begun to exert its influence in Arkona Manor, so I look forward to what will happen when the party discovers the truth.
Kyeran, Human Shoanti Barbarian. Spouse was murdered by Lamm, and the Shoanti society blamed Kyeran for bringing her to Korvosa. While Kyerans role so far primarily has been to sulk, be paranoid and smash stuff with his Earthbreaker, I expect him to take center stage in the Cinderlands, where I suspect he might try to be accepted as a Shoanti again.
Zazz-Tosti, Gnome Wizard, Academae Graduate. Tosti to his friends. When he found out his friend Rosti was buying corpses from Lamm to use for necromantic experiments, he looked the other way in the beginning, but after discovering that Lamm sent murdered people and was blackmailing Rosti not to say anything, he took matters into his own hands and reported Rosti, who was expelled from the Academae. Rosti felt betrayed and nursed his hate while working in the crypts of the Grey Quarters, and while leaving everything else behind him, he remembered Tosti's betrayal as he began to call himself Rolth. Rolth escaped from the Urgothoan Temple and have already sent one team of assassins after Tosti, with more sure to follow.
Ethain, Human Cleric of Desna. One of Lamm's Lambs, found religion. Ethain left the party last session (his player didn't have enough time for it) but are due to appear again for a guest session, probably in the Acropolis of the Thrallkeepers in the Cinderlands.
Jamroar, Human Rogue. Another of Lamm's Lambs, he later made a career for himself in the Cerulean, and his contacts have so far been helpful in Old Korvosa, but let's see what happen when the party turns against the Arkona family. Has a definite kleptomanic streak.
Zyriel Dawntracker, Half-elf Ranger. Before Marcus' murder, he was a freshly promoted major in the Sable Company, he is now the highest ranking officer left alive. Ileosa decided the entire company was traitors and ordered a purge. Due to Ethain leaving, the party lacked a Cleric, so Raeland joined as Zyriels cohort, since the entire thing co-incited with Zyriel showing Leadership. He has vowed to restore the Company and take down Ileosa. The ordeal seems to have awoken latent magical talent and Zyriel aims at becoming an Arcane Archer.
The Cohort: Raeland, Human Cleric of Sarenrae. Marcus Thalannius' advisor and confidant and one of the few to escape the purge of the Sable Company. Sought out Zyriel to protect him and aid him however he could, hence becoming his cohort.
I am too a first time GM running this campaign with a group of friends, most of which have never played pen'n'paper RPGs before, and its really been a blast.
Picked up Edge of Anarchy at a con and blazed through it. Before I knew it, I had read through the whole AP and just had to find someone to play this with.
Already found a lot of good tips and ideas here, including updated stat-blocks (which I was barely aware of before coming here)
