| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
If I ever run this again, I'm putting this in any divination my players attempt about Xin-Shalast.
...but it also wouldn't make sense to have an entire city filled with denizens that are constantly suffocating. OR WOULD IT. The evil DM worldbuilder in me is intrigued by the idea of an evil empire that just doesn't care if the enslaved inhabitants of a city die off at an alarming rate. What does it look like and/or function. How would my players react to their characters finding such a callous place? Mmmmmmmmm, delightful malevolence....
Someone reworked Mammy Graul into a gravewalker witch with the Flight, Cauldron and Cook People Hexes, and I shamelessly stole that build idea.
You should enjoy This Thread.
Foreshadowing and losing the stories of bad guys is why I started writing vignettes for them. In hindsight, I should have included Viorian among them. Viorian's a good one to highlight because, unlike some others(the Scribbler), she was out in the world and doing things prior to her place in the adventure and the party has a good chance of running into people who knew her. I wholeheartedly agree with foreshadowing upcoming baddies for your players.
One of the reasons I love APs, is they validate many divination-based magic. Sounds like you're going a step further, which I applaud. When I gave my players pieces of history from behind the DM veil, they really responded to it. Visions of puzzle pieces they aren't likely to run across, is another great way to increase immersion. It's also great foreshadowing. RotRL is dense with Lore- so much that all your ideas plus others (like the Scribbler, the Late Unpleasantness, Mokmurian first finding Xin-Shalast and/or Karzoug, the Denizens of Leng, the histroy aroudn the old Light's construction...etc) could be doled out to the players weekly and never even touch the plot or give anything away. I gave my players a bunch of campaign info, and they still felt challenged in every book. In fact, once we finished the campaign, I saw where I could have and should have given them more. I think you're on to a great idea. To answer the question of your subject line: a LOT.
Well it finally happened. We played the final battle. My players took all the photos of the final build because I was absolutely wiped from the three days of straight build to finish it off in time for the game. Updated the Flickr account with their pics . Special thanks to TomParker for sending the file for the incredible 3D printable throne. Karzoug was most pleased!
I have my base coat down; a semi-gloss brownish/black. I'm going to attempt to "marble" it with a lighter brown and a gray/white to lighten things up. It is very dark. The good part about the semi-gloss is that the reflective surface keeps you from losing all definition to the shadows. I'll test the marbling tonight and take some pics. And I'll post the actual names and brands of the paints.
...they'll get to enjoy a sort of clip show of their relevant acts of sin and virtue... Oooooooooooooo- I love a good montage! This would start arguments in my group, but I really like this idea.
Name of PC: Nissa, Female Half-Elf
I'll echo blahpers' great suggestion and add that it's not the worst idea to utilize the hivemind of the forum to collectively problem solve a tricky intelligence greater than our own. The board might be slow to respond, but that's the only drawback I can see. Hit us with particulars of the contract and world/campaign and I'm sure more than one person will be happy to help find the holes and wiggleroom in the contract.
A goblin holds a live chicken in one hand and a torch in the other. It looks like it's attempting to cook the chicken with the torch but the chicken is squirming around too much. The gobbo fixes this by tossing the chicken and then the torch into it's own mouth.
10/10 throne. Would spend millennia on.
Some may be stillborn. Given Nualia's history, such stillbirths would be traumatic for her. She would spend a round or two in shock before fighting again, possibly in a rage. Adding to this flavor, the stillborn ones are "normal" when birthed. Only the twisted versions of summoned creatures make it out alive. Keep the shock and/or rage over the stillborn.
I would describe the skinsaw man rather than state that he's so-and-so. Have him dressed in sodden clothes the PC hadn't seen before. The combo of 1)the change to a ghoul and 2)the Your Lordship persona will have distorted facial features enough that a description rather than an early reveal is warranted.
This logic might go over better if it's comes with a nudge and a wink from a fellow adventurer, like Ameiko (who might then sweeten the pot by offering free room and board at the Rusty Dragon)
I want to run a roleplay idea through the crucible of the other gms. Like many, I have neglected tracking sin points. Part of the reason is that I play alignment behind the scenes. Part of me also knew that, when the time came, they would not be the same characters. Where that leaves me is with a party that I could label with a few sins here and there based on how I feel they've played their characters, but that seems more fun for me and less fun for my players. So I thought that I would create a trial for their characters to undergo as part of passing through the portal to runeforge. Sort of a personality test, designed when Runeforge was built, for whatever alien notions people had 10K years ago on why it was necessary. I looked for similar threads here and found one piece of inspiration here. For additional inspiration, I am also thinking about The Cube personality test and that issue of Knights of the Dinner Table where Sara gets a chance to gm and runs them through a personality test(epic, btw). Closer to the test from the link, I want it to reflect the seven sins, and be designed to look for the associated virtues as well. i.e. the Envy test is _meant_ to be the Charity test... because in my version of history, Runeforge was built before the corruption of magic from the seven virtues of rule into sin magic was complete(and wouldn't they have insisted that they were being true to the virtues anyway?! but that's a different thread) Here's what I have so far: For Reference:
generosity / greed
love / lust humility / pride temperance / gluttony charity / envy kindness / wrath zeal / sloth Begin by describing their experience as they step into the portal, both for the person and for the rest of the party watching them. These are both individual journeys and a group journey for anyone who steps through in the hour the portal is open.
Lissala:
Describe them floating through the ether between worlds, when a being appears. It's a duality. It appears as both a stern-faced woman without a mouth, and as a god-like figure with a snake's tail, a woman's torso, six wings, and a sihedron for a head. Both versions appear simultaneously and superimposed on one another. She introduces herself as Lissala and let's the character know that in order to enter Runeforge, they must undergo a series of trials. The trails will have permanent effects, she lies. Sloth:
Lissala begins by asking the character if they wish to proceded with the test. It's a trick question, as they will procede whether they want to or not, but the desire to face the trails shows zeal, while attempting to back out shows sloth. Greed:
Lissala disappears, and the character is faced with a female lamia harridan who offers the PC a material boon that will help them both through the trial and during their time in Runeforge. They have only to name it. Once they name their boon, the Lamia Harridan produces it; but warns them that in order to possess the boon, another must be deprived of it. They then get that boon, if they want it, and the Lamia Harridan fades away. Pride & Gluttony:
The group see each other for the first time, though far enough away as to be out of earshot of each other. An imperious-looking and wizened male cloud giant appears. He demands to know "that which you do better than anyone among you" from each PC. In a booming voice heard by all. He promises to make the PC greater at that thing if only they should declare to all that the PC is best at it. If the PC declares it, I let them know that they notice some insight about whatever it is that translates into a mechanical boost of some kind +1BAB or +2STR or something like that. The giant smiles and asks if the PC is pleased with his gift in a rhetorical way. If they like it, he can grant it to them again- they only have to declare louder than before that they are the best. He will continue doing this, well, forever at this point. I haven't worked out what the cap would be. He then fades away. Envy:
Lissala reappears and brings the PCs close together. They seem to be facing all of each other at the same time. Just by looking at one person, another knows all abilities, feats, spellcasting, and (probably)possesions of that person. Anytime a player states that they are looking at another PC, I'll instruct them to hand over their character sheet to the other player: "You look at him and it is as if his person is laid bare before you." However, they wont' know motivations, thoughts, emotions, desires not listed on the character sheet. Lissala offers them a chance to either gift an ability of their own to one other member of the group, or to take an ability form one other person. She tells them it will be a permanent change. I'll have them write down what they decide on and reveal them at the same time, as Lissala fades again. Wrath:
They are again alone and a male Rune Giant (which my PCs have not yet seen or even heard of, I think) appears towering over them. He crouches low to speak with conspiratorially with them. I may research Death Note to get an idea of what to say for this. He will tell them to name their most hated foe. He will promise to strike that foe down and show them their demise... if they have already been killed, he will offer to banish them from the afterlife and into a torturous undeath. He also promises that the PC will gain knowledge and experience for the death as if they had smote the victim themselves. He fades after they have chosen or refused. Lust:
I'm not 100% sure what to do with this one. I have Lissala appearing again and instructing the PC to "Love her" in order to pass into Runeforge. What loving her means is left up to the character to describe. The dodge would be describing something that fits neither love or lust in what they do, since it is left up to them. Once done, I'll know which of the wings of Runeforge welcome them. The party finds that everything which happened during the journey goes away: no new possessions are held, they can't kill with one blow, nothing.
I'm not saying it's the case here, but I feel that the number of "redeem Nualia" threads means the root causes for seeking her redemption stem from the very thing that drove Nualia to become who she is in the first place.
I think you would benefit and enjoy reading The Frostfur Captives. It's a great example of what the party will face while 'leading' a goblin 'army'. I also tend to think it won't be so much a of a power boost for them, even early on. Sandpoint is probably not someplace they could take their army, but I'd say have fun with it and let your players have fun with it.
If I'm Ironbriar, the most important thing is to get the ledger back. I think everyone is wrong to poo-poo the use of legitimate law enforcement to get it- once I have it back, I can make any claim I want as to what's in it. Ironbriar is a genius for having both legitimate and underworld means to exert his power. He's also genius in that he can use his legitimacy to shape the story of events (As he tells them to the rest of Magnimar) In a highstakes game of he said, they said- Ironbriar has the upper hand of being an established authority figure in a profession tasked with doing what the party is doing. The party might have proof, but Ironbriar can manufacture proof. So if I were him: I would open an investigation, lead by some lacky on the watch loyal to me, into the B&E/murders at the Seven's Sawmill. I'd make sure there was no way to connect me to the sawmill, even if it means the lacky is covering it up or overlooking it. I'd send another group of the watch to retrieve the ledger- it is, as they are claiming, evidence into the serial murders going on, and the watch should be investigating, not some vigilante group. This is perfectly reasonable action for the watch to take, even if Ironbriar weren't guilty. Turf wars are common in law enforcement (or so I hear). I would also, if I haven't been smart enough to do so already, maneuver myself into the position as being the Justiciar in charge of the serial murder investigation, so that when the ledger is retrieved, it makes it's way to me.
Separately, I'd have the cult do the gruntwork of trailing the party and finding out where they're staying, etc. The guard can do this as well, but the pretext has to be investigating the party's involvement with the B&E/murders at the sawmill, and is more likely, unless handled correctly, to tip his hand. Having both sides tailing the party seems like the all or nothing I would utilize to get that ledger back, if I were he. I don't have the Magnimar Suppliment, so I don't know what else he could bring to bear on the party. My main point, is that using the watch to facilitate getting the ledger back is not an insane or unhinged thing for him to do. How many IRL politicians/etc., abuse their power and get away with it. Often the flashy all-too-visible villain is as untouchable as the hidden one, and it's their status that makes them so.
Give the traps arthritis.
I'm not terribly experienced at linking to other threads, but this is a Thread from General Discussion where they talk about ideas for an ambitious campaign involving many Runelords. You might like the ideas. The General Discussion thread, when I searched, had a number of hits when looking for runelords like Krune, Sorshen, and Alaznist. Happy hunting!
Notes:
The present tense was really tough in this one, but it wanted the players to know that it was happening simultaneous to what they were doing.
They were grumbling about whether or not they'd ever get to fight a dragon, so I took the opportunity to let them know they would, and also give them a hint that Longtooth's loot was going to underwhelm them. They didn't pick up on it. "Mokmurian." Closing the ancient book in front of him, Mokmurian looks up. "You are young." "I am impatient." A flume of fire rises in the darkness, jetting up from between dagger-like teeth. The room is briefly revealed. Stone pillars, ancient and cracked, turn golden and then return to gray, stone walls appear momentarily before retreating back into the void. Red scales flash orange and glimmer beneath the flame. The dragon thrashes it's tail down, raising it's torso higher and bringing it's reptilian head level with two others: an ogre's head within a golden cage sitting atop a stone desk, and a gray face, equally large, situated slightly above and behind the cage. Breath receding, the room is again only privy to the light a single candle on the corner of the desk. "Agreed." Nose to snout, the two appear equals. One possessing a demurely annoyed countenance; the other, a rictus of anger. "There is wealth to be acquired, and I am overdue my share." "I have none to give, and you would do well not to make demands of me." The dragon ponders with a sharp exhalation that ruffles the pages of Mokmurian's book. It looks slyly back upon the stony visage. "Then at least allow me to do some pillaging. I have not yet tasted the chaos of human terror." Mokmurian opens his mouth to reply, but it goes slack. His eyes roll back, and snap straight again. His body droops and goes rigid at odd angles. The dragon warily inches back. "YOU. WHAT IS YOUR NAME WYRMLING?" a different, more insidious voice demands from Mokmurian's lips. Caught, seemingly by the power of the voice, the dragon stutters, "Longtooth, great lord." "YOU KNOW WHO I AM." It is not a question but still commands an answer. "You are The Claimer, great lord." "AND YOU ARE A PITIFUL EXCUSE FOR YOUR KIND. A NEWT, NOT YET GROWN. YOU WILL HAVE CENTURIES TO AMASS A BED OF GOLD, IF YOU SERVE ME." Longtooth, tries to hide the curl of a lip the belies his anger at being so addressed. "MY RETURN IS UPON THE HORIZON. IN THE MEANTIME, DO NOT THREATEN MOKMURIAN. TO ME, YOU ARE BOTH INSIGNIFICANT. BUT TO YOU, HE IS AS A GOD. FAIL HIM, AND I WILL HAVE YOUR BRETHREN HUNT YOU DOWN." The odd angles of Mokmurian's stance smooth themselves while the last echoes of the voice reverberate about the room. Longtooth adopts a relaxed pose, recognizing the familiar light behind the giant's eyes returning. "Yes, of course" Mokmurian continues, seemingly unaware "Find Teraktinous. He thinks he has found what I've set him to seek. There are humans there, and once you're done with them, you can bring the item back to me faster than he. I'm sure you can share in the spoils, as well, yes?" Longtooth turns and slinks from the room with a throaty chuckle. Mokmurian returns to his reading, but stops as the ogre's head begins speaking.
First installment.
Some notes:
My players immediately picked up on the Game of Thrones references for Fort Rannick, so we ran with that- Vulture is the colloquialism for Black Arrows, just as Crow is for the Night's Watch.
First two parts describe the same scene from different viewpoints. I wanted them to know that leaving Rannick unattended didn't mean it would stay empty, Yap was a poor guard (and also I was sneaking extra loot in to their party loot via him), and the third part addressed their concerns, hopefully in a humorous way, that they wouldn't be able to sell all the ogre hooks and armor they were piling up. It didn't quite come across that the store is/was in Magnimar.
It was the damndest thing. After months on the road, the endless f*$@ing rain, the queerly empty jails, returning to Fort Rannick with just two recruits this time to find it in ruins- all those were things one could wrap their head around. Here he stood, though, with two young rowdies, in the rain, surrounded by Rannick's smoking walls, staring at a mound of treasure- ogre hooks, a spear, a trident, scroll tubes, medallions, quivers of arrows- and the treasure was crying. Glancing at Geoffer and Trent, he say the gleam of greed in their eye. They turned to him, hopefully. He held up his hand and shook the rain off his hood. "No. We don't want no f##~ing part of that. Heard of things that pretend to be what a man wants. He wades in to the gold only to find he's hip deep in some f~!$ing thing's jaws." "What happened here, Benrir?" said Trent "Dunno. Shoulda guessed as much when Ferry was f$!&ing empty. It were bad, though. Foul. We'll be leaving." "Where?" "Pendaka. Gotta find out the f!%%'s going on around here. Bitter Hollow's prolly gone as well, if the Fort's taken." * * * * * With a few sniffs, Yap watched the humans turn and leave. He hadn't meant to scare them away. Well, he had; just not this way. This way wasn't any fun. He couldn't remember the last time he'd played a trick on anyone. The ideas just didn't come since hit mistress had turned sad. Now he was sad, too. He could have turned visible and given them a fright, at least. No. Then they'd want what he was guarding, and if the good people off finding his mistresses lover came back and found all their stuff gone, they might not return Lamatar. Yap sighed, heavily. That would be bad. Maybe he could make them happy and play a trick at the same time. A good trick. He remembered seeing some things in the fort when he was looking for survivors, and had an idea. "I've got it!" he exclaimed It didn't come out as ecstatic as he'd hoped it would, but it was a start. And Yap zipped off into the tunnel behind the waterfall. * * * * * A new day started when the bell over the door jangled. Khord stepped out of his shop, holding a stepladder and a new shingle to hang. He tried to be cheery, but the rain stifled it. And the worry. Khord shrugged his shoulders in greeting to the few people out this early, and trudged through the mud to the spot under the sign reading "Khord's Ogre Emporium and Curio". How long had it been since any Vulture had come by, he thought idly. He was running out of stock. Two weeks since ordering the shingle, and here it had come. He set up the step ladder carefully, and took his first step up, causing it to sink into the mud to the first rung. A month? Two? He couldn't recall when he'd last had visitors from the Hook. He took another step up, and another, until he could reach the old shingle. He reached up past where it said "For Lads both Big and Tall" and unhooked the old plank. He dropped it in the mud, quickly, and attached the new before stepping down again. He took a moment, despite the rain, to admire the new look. "Articles For the Discerning Brute AND the Lowbrow Noble", it said. New direction for the shop, he thought. Just hope some lousy Vulture shows up soon.
This is a share thread for fiction written for players. My players expressed a real desire to know more about what's going on. The reached midway through Book 3 and still had no clue what the larger plot was (some key character deaths did not help). We had a talk about it, and realized that gaming is unique in that you are the audience and the main character(s), and so there's a fine line but definite line between what they can know as audience and what they can know as protagonists. They were suffering as audience members, so I offered to do some writing on the side for them to give some backstory they might not otherwise get. i.e. The Scribbler... I remember playing in Jade Regent and seeing on the boards that a particular npc had a three-page backstory in the book, but in play ended up coming across as a door guard. I definitely see a chance to enrich player experiences both at and away from table, here. And rather than sit on them as I have been, I thought I would post them for others to use or not use. I don't have time for things like rewrites, though, so everything is kind of as is. I'll make notes about things that seem like errors or singular to my campaign. Feel free to add stories if you have them.
aka "Who's Enchanting All These Ogre Hooks, and What Does a Masterwork Ogre Hook Look Like?" They've got a forge running in the Clanhold, I just said the advanced ogre running the show was good enough to make masterwork, and the hags were the ones enchanting them. Not that anyone in the party asked, mind. BUT IF THEY HAD.
Name of PC: Diana
Your situation is remarkably similar to mine when I began running RotRL, right down to running them in a smaller adventure before throwing them in to the main campaign. Some things I wish I did differently: I wish the starter adventure had been during the Late Unpleasantness... this would have given them some backstory without the long conversations to 'get to know' the town before the festival. I recognize there are other ways to do this. This also allows them to play characters from Sandpoint so that they know people and places. I wish Pathfinder was easier on noobs to learn... Druids, most especially, as they have the most rules to learn of any class I've tried or DM'd. In general, the two at my table that had gamed before took to it, but the three that had only ever done videogame rpgs were and remain in the weeds, a year later. And these are some bright folks. This is a personal gripe, though. Maybe limit their exposure to extemporaneous rulebooks until they're ready. Do go with Unchained Monk and Rogue, though. I was glad I had the rain start earlier, but don't start it where I did: just before Foxglove Manor. Wait until later in Skinsaw, otherwise it will have been raining longer than even a fantasy campaign can withstand. That's it I think. Xanesha is still a TPK possibility. Don't be afraid to give them lots of Thassilon info early. Everything else is worthless advice for managing first-time players, and you can probably manage that bit on your own. Good luck!
This makes me want to play a pugwampi... just kidding, nobody's that sadistic.
Just last game, my party fought BM on the dam along with the ogres. I haven't gotten their feedback yet, but I think it went well. My party also went straight to the dam instead of back to TBF. I moved the ogres so that they weren't sandwiched between hostile trolls and a hostile ettin. I had them camped out and working on the far side of the dam from the ettin. Having the dam break as a cause for BM to disengage via getting swept away was much more believable to me than how events are outlined in the AP.
My players had backstories that, very coincidentally, all pointed them towards Hook Mountain at the same time. The alchemist was tracking down his former mentor, who joined the Black Arrows, but left a clone to incubate under Turandurok (among other clues) that the alchemist completely overlooked. The ranger was looking for a father he'd never met, who I said was Kaven Windstrike (and renamed him Brenthain to match the backstory). He heard the name while they were in Magnimar. So, the way the adventure went:
They didn't even need to talk to Magnimar's Lord Mayor to know where they had to go next... They dubbed it Plot Hook Mountain
My party only just finished book 2, so here are the survivors so far... Gogmurt: Exhausted all his offense (including the goblin dogs and losing his AC)against the party without taking much damage. So he negotiated to let the party pass IF they took out the humans in Thistletop and not the goblins. He waited a day, and scouted Thistletop while the party was in there. Discovering they'd killed all the gobs therin, he lead the refugees on the mainland down to the Licktoad tribe and lives there still. Damn Longshanks. Habe: The party was convinced enough of his innocence to spare him and his orderlies. They never saw that he was the one who alerted the necromancer to come up and attack. After intimidating Habe, the party alchemist took over as the sanitorium's patron and was going to take the Leadership feat to make Habe and the orderlies cohort/underlings until he died. Habe doesn't yet know his new patron will not be returning. Xanesha: Only just faced and defeated the party, but was forced to flee. She returned to the Shadowclock to retrieve her loot, and ship town. She will obsess over the party and return at the appropriate time.
I used notes that I passed to the people affected by a haunt. They read the note while I described what they did to the rest of the party, and they could break in when they wanted to adjust my description. When a universal affected everyone, everyone got a note. This way they didn't know if the others were experiencing the same haunt or a different version of the same haunt. The Dance of Ruin, for example: I printed the notes up beforehand, and passed them out as they were affected. Below is what each person affected would get each round that they failed their save to break free of the haunt.
Round 1:
The piano explodes into music; a catchy, but discordant Varisian tune in a minor key. You feel a desire to dance so strong you know you cannot stop yourself. No sooner do you know that you will begin dancing than a darkly beautiful, raven-haired young woman is in your arms. Together, you are caught up in a dance of pirouettes, that has you leaping across the room. Make a Will save DC 15 Round 2:
Your dance partner begins to age; her raven hair dulls and fades, and her olive skin pales. A thin dark line stretches across her once flawless neck. The dances continues as energetically as before, though, with her laughter filling the air. You begin sweating and your legs burn from fatigue. Make a Will save DC 15 Round 3:
Still laughing and dancing, the woman’s neck darkens further into an angry black-and-blue bruise circling it. You aren’t sure how much longer you can continue to dance at this frenetic pace, but the music thrums in time with your feet, and you find you cannot miss a step. Make a Will save DC 15 Round 4:
Her eyes water and bulge, and her laughter is subdued as she struggles gaily to get it out. Her movements become stiff and forceful in order to keep up in the dance. Tired as you are, the music continues, and you now lead the dance. Make a Will save DC 15 Round 5:
Your dance partner’s tongue protrudes and no more air escapes her lips, making her wild smile macabre. You are certain that she no longer moves through the steps as you guide her through another pirouette, though it could be the exhaustion that makes it feel so. Her eyes glass over and her hair begins to fall out. You are so very tired. Make a Will save DC 15 Round 6:
You now dance with a corpse- mouth twisted from joy to pain, hair clinging to her scalp in patches, skin desiccated and pulled tight over bones. You dance until the song ends, when the corpse crumbles from your arms into a pile. You can barely move- you might crumble as well if you have to take another step, but you are released from the dance. Make a Will save DC 15 Of course, those who make their saves get to see my description of what's really going on, and can try to help their friends out of danger. If you're REALLY ambitious with this, you could record each haunt (complete with ambient atmospheric noise to cover you talking)and have your players come to the game with earbuds to plug in to an mp3 player in place of notes. That way the person in the haunt doesn't get to hear what their character is actually doing- they act based only on the information of the haunt as told to them by the recording. If I get to run this campaign again, I'm dedicating time and resources to try that.
This is less a thing that should be added or removed, and more of a reminder of something easily forgotten(because I sure did): When running the farm encounter in Skinsaw, don't forget that almost all the ghouls present are very recently people from the Hambley farm or neighboring farms. That means entire families, including children. I had treated the ghouls like standard Bestiary ghouls, and it didn't occur to me until one of my players made an off-hand comment while standing over Hambley's body in the farmhouse that went something like "Well at least we didn't have to cut down his family". And my response was "Oh crap- you did." *Cue crestfallen faces of my players* Big opportunity to add real horror to the scene when players are forced to wrestle with the fact that the monsters were truly innocent people up until minutes or hours previous.
This two-part list is pleasing in the eyes of both gods and men. Thank you, Strife!
Perhaps he is like any of the actors that enjoy portraying multiple roles in the same film: you could make an adventure where every non-combat encounter the party has ends up being this same villain. He could have multiple haunts that he owns. On first meeting the PCs, he sees an opportunity for fun: He engages them to track down a fictitious missing person/item, and directs them to the first of the places he owns. He beats the PCs to the place, changes, and is the encounter they meet there, directing them on and on down whatever rabbithole adventure he desires. Maybe he uses this as a way to gain their trust while simultaneously setting them up to take down his enemies. He doesn't have to limit himself to humanoid forms while doing this, either. If he's a BBEG, then he's running his own recon on the party at the same time; finding quirks of personality he can exploit, gathering information. Maybe he tails the party on combat encounters to learn vulnerabilities, as well... you know, in case they 'catch on' to being used as pawns, and turn against him.
The only bard I've ever made was a clown. Big shoes, red nose, face paint, and a horn. His greatest desire was to sneak up and yell "*honk honk*, Mr. Orc!" and run away without being hurt.
I played with a guy who ran a wizard, specializing in chronomancy, named Justin Time.
And often times real people are fictionalised that way for the same purposes. WAT. I'll never be able to watch Jersey Shore the same way again!
I ask my players to take an alignment quiz I found while back. I hide the results from them. Because I feel that they are going to play their characters how they like no matter the alignment, doing this allows me to free them from the illusory constraint of saying "I'm this alignment, therefore I must act this way", while still tracking a starting alignment. If there were not mechanics in place that dealt with alignment (chaotic weapons and such) I'd get rid of it entirely. If they do something hideously different from their secret alignment, I make a note of it. After three or so notes, I make a call on whether to adjust their secret alignment. Characters grow over time, after all. Again, they are never explicitly told their alignment. Very rarely has it changed from their character's starting alignment. Most of the time, taking additional damage from some alignment-based source doesn't require me to divulge their alignment. It's just extra damage that I describe. That seems vague when I type it out, but often my descriptions are their to emphasis the result i.e. "You've been hit by axes before, and this axe has hit Jim Darkmagic over there... this was an especially bloody hit you just took. This axe doesn't like you, dude." For disclosure, I only run APs due to life time constraints. I realize I could avoid alignment entirely if I made my own stuff. Having them do the alignment test is also a sneaky way for me to get them to start thinking about how they'll play their character before the first adventure. I've also found that players will default to a Chaotic Greedy alignment no matter what they put on their sheet. All this gives me and the players the best of both worlds, until alignments are written out of the mechanics.
[citation needed]
D**k move that prompted a derailing argument over whose responsibility ti is to prove or disprove an argument. Could have been avoided by saying "Here is an example that disproves your claim, is there another that contradicts it that I overlooked?" Manners are cooler than being right. That being said, I think an errata is in order, because one logical leap reads the rules for Grapple and Armor Spikes, finds "attack" only in the parts concerning damage and concludes they must reference each other. And another leap goes further and reads the Attacks definition, finds that everything grapple is a "grapple attack" and concludes that armor spikes deal damage everywhere in the grapple rules. Neither are wrong, but they do contradict each other. |