Shackled City Loose Ends


Shackled City Adventure Path


The Shackled City AP was written by a myriad of authors with each adventure linking not always a huge concern. This is evident in the amout of NPCs and organisations that go missing during the path. While James Jaccobs did his best to try to foreshadow certain important allies and foes in the Hard Cover not all loose ends were avoided.

So.... This thread is all about the loose ends you found in the path and what, if anything, did you do to clean them up?

From the first chapter I found Keygan Gelve's whole involvement in the kidnappings a bit of a loose end. In the HC James mentions he may be arrested. My party were not particularly taken with the deceitful gnome and found his familiar ransome excuse pitiful. As a result I had Keygan arrested and tried for his actions. My party is at a currently at a quandary whether to help the gnome or leave him to the mercy of the court.

Anyone else know of any loose ends?

Delvesdeep


Glad to have you back Delvesdeep!

I think loose ends are something of a given with any large adventure. PC's go in unexpected directions, certain NPC's click with the party (and the GM), while others aren't that interesting and drop off the radar. In my case this was the striders. Although they're a pretty cool organisation, I just don't have any wilderness oriented PC's. So the striders aren't that hot with my players. I solved this by combining the Striders and the Chisel into one big organisation, and making it benevolent. (in other words, no self-serving corruption).
Another example: my players released Kaurophon after sacrificing themselves in TotSE. So right now, he's a loose end. I may have a fix for that, though <evil grin>.

Here are some loose ends I found:

Jazidrune and the Malachite Hold are both huge loose ends. Big complexes connecting the city directly to the underdark... that's got to be a problem to right-thinking captains of the guard.

The Last Laugh is a bit of a loose end too, although they connect back into the story nicely by Lords of Oblivion. I think they should tie in to other adventures too.

There are too many dragons, and they don't tie into the AP as well as they should. This was partially fixed by James. A more structural fix would be to remove some or all of them.

The invasion of Redgorge should feature more prominently in the campaign. It's a turningpoint for Cauldron after all. From that point forward the Cauldron Government becomes LE.

Celeste is a cool character, but only makes an appearance once. (and near the end, in LoO in James' HC). I would love to see her in a more prominent role.

that's it for now... I'll probably think up more loose ends during the rest of the day.


How about, in additon to loose ends, some "loose beginnings"? I think that some of the villains faced in Thifirane's mansion would make that large battle encounter more meaningful if they, or their agendas, and been encountered or at least foreshadowed for the players by that point. Vervil Ashmantle has been linked to slavery through his letter to Kazmojen in Life's Bazaar through a letter, but the letter is not signed and it is unlikely the players can figure out who is the author without some more clues later on before they go head to head with him at Thifirane's mansion. Many of the other villains, could be hinted earlier. Perhaps the bugbear vampire, Drakthar, was sired by a vampire created by the Necrocants, or by Mahd. If one of the DM's players is a monk, you can introduce the Order of the Silver Dream, and through them, Mahd, long before she is encountered.


Chef's Slaad wrote:
Jazidrune and the Malachite Hold are both huge loose ends. Big complexes connecting the city directly to the underdark... that's got to be a problem to right-thinking captains of the guard.

I had a problem with this as well. The way I will be solving it is by having Zenith Splintershield's niece coming to claim the Malachite Fortress. She will be bringing a large contingent of dwarves with her; Karitha and her followers are all young dwarves, leaving their overcrowded home for greener pastures (darker malachite?).

I have yet to work out the details, but I think they'll be taking over Jzadirune and the Kopru ruins, too.

(One of the players in our group wanted to claim Keygan's shop, Jzadirune, and the Malachite Hold. His rogue for obvious reasons, his paladin to guard against what might come from below. I asked how his paladin would be guarding when he's off adventuring...)

Having Zenith's niece so close during "Zenith Trajectory" may cause some issues, but since the party's dwarven cleric already has an (acrimonious) history with the Splintershield clan via his parents, I think the longterm roleplaying benefits are worth any headaches this will cause.


IMC I have added a temple of Moradin to Cauldron because one of my players is a dwarven cleric of Moradin.

Jzadirune has been repopulated by gnomish wizards.

The Malachite Fortress has been retaken by the Moradin dwarves.

After some political turmoil (dwarves tramping through Jzadirune and disturbing the gnomes), the Stormblades brokered a treaty between the dwarves and the gnomes. Jzadirune is now a source for magic in the campaign, and the Malachite Stronghold is a source for dwarven weaponry. The dwarven clerics provide remove curses whenever a gnome gets the vanishing.

Drakthar's Way has similarly been retaken and reconsecrated as a chapel to Moradin. My player was instrumental in "The Rolling of the Head" when Moradin's head was put back on Moradin's statue as the goblin graffiti was cleaned. The whole place was resantified and again, the Moradin dwarves have retaken it and are now guarding another underground entrance to Cauldron.

The Kopru Ruins are currently flooded and inhabited by the lone, insane Kopru.

The players keep wondering whatever happened to the Lucky Monkey, but haven't bothered to go out there to see (and I have no idea-- suggestions?) Shensen Tesseril has taken up residence in a park in Cauldron (as per HC), but the Lucky Monkey is a large inn exactly 1 day's ride from Cauldron, so it should be a lucrative business. Who would take it over?


dodo wrote:
Jzadirune is now a source for magic in the campaign, and the Malachite Stronghold is a source for dwarven weaponry. The dwarven clerics provide remove curses whenever a gnome gets the vanishing.

Ooh, I like this. I hadn't considered the economic benefit of the dwarves, just the military/security aspect.

dodo wrote:
Drakthar's Way has similarly been retaken and reconsecrated as a chapel to Moradin. My player was instrumental in "The Rolling of the Head" when Moradin's head was put back on Moradin's statue as the goblin graffiti was cleaned. The whole place was resantified and again, the Moradin dwarves have retaken it and are now guarding another underground entrance to Cauldron.

IMC, the dwarves will also be securing the Path of the Soul Forger (aka, Drakthar's Way). I really like the religious aspect of the dwarves you added, too.


Let's see, as for some of those loose ends- IMC, Jzadirune and the Malachite Hold represent pretty grave threats to the town since they're connected to, respectively, a deadly magical disease and the Underdark- the lord mayor is probably going to go to either Vortimax Weer or the temple of Wee Jas and have them stone shape the entrance out of existence.

I too noticed the massive number of dragons- well, it is a Dungeons & *Dragons* game, isn't it? But I replaced the one flying about the Plain of Ulcers in CH. 6 with a cadaver collector from MM3- same CR, makes more sense for the location (large battlefield and all), and who wouldn't be intimidated by a cadaver collector with the corpses of demons and angels stuck to it? Oh, and while we're on the subject of monster overpopulation, has anyone noticed how many golems there are in the game? Easily as many as the dragons, if not actually more.

And I think the real turning point for Cauldron's government comes in chp. 4 or early ch. 5 when Vhalantru finally assumes power- after that, everything pretty much goes downhill, starting with the invasion of Redgorge.

Other than that I have to say I like loose ends being included- it's all just stuff to spawn ideas customizable to your own game, and if you don't like it, don't include it. Just because it's a module series doesn't mean you can't be creative with it- it's only a guideline.


Padan Slade wrote:


Other than that I have to say I like loose ends being included- it's all just stuff to spawn ideas customizable to your own game, and if you don't like it, don't include it. Just because it's a module series doesn't mean you can't be creative with it- it's only a guideline.

No please don't get me wrong. This thread is not a jibe in any way or form at the SCAP. I love creating side treks, foreshadowing and roleplay opportunities stemming from losse ends and future important NPCs. In fact this thread is a means to identify oppotunities to do more of the same!

I find the whole Last Laugh one big unforfilled loose end. The organisation began as a prominant player with Jil signalling herself to the party as a players in the cities problems from the first encounter. Unfortunately besides another appearance when she was torturing Fario little to nothing else was mentioned about the organisation. As I mentioned in another thread I used them as major antagonists to my homebrew thieves guild I set up in the city - The Acquirers. You could easily do the same with the Striders the target instead or favoured shop owners (ie Skie, Vortimax, Bolar etc) who will not pay their protection money. Having an opportunity to attack the Last Laugh guildhouse before Foundation of Fire, would be very satisfying for the party.

Drakthars Way is also a big loose end. The Vhalantru wishes to smuggle the half-orcs into the city unnoticed yet when the party stops this avenue nothing happens. The half-orcs just wander in and seemlessly infiltrate the gaurd even though Tereson is suspicious of them? How does this work?

More later

Delvesdeep


delvesdeep wrote:
Vhalantru wishes to smuggle the half-orcs into the city unnoticed yet when the party stops this avenue nothing happens. The half-orcs just wander in and seemlessly infiltrate the gaurd even though Tereson is suspicious of them? How does this work?

If I remember correctly, the reason given in the SC for half-orcs showing up even after Drakthar's Way is closed is that Vhalantru finally just connives the mayor into allowing the half-orcs in and then (begin speculation) one of the two of them goes to Terseon and says "I know you don't trust the new half-orc guards, but you're gonna have them anyway. Deal."

You're right about the Last Laugh not having a good finish- after all there are supposed to be 5 leaders (the Jesters) and Velior is the only one PCs actually run across, I think. (I don't have the book here to look at) Probably good for a spin-off adventure once the SCAP is finished- after all, Velior could have just been the low-level n00b Jester that was allowed to go out in public and the rest of them are epic and scary.

I, personally, feel sorry for the Alleybashers- after all, they are around for only 2 chapters, when you kill nearly all of them in chapter 3 and then their headquarters burns down. Pretty sad competition for the Last Laugh. I'm tempted to alter it just so I can have a group of Last Laugh and a group of Alleybashers walking down the street snapping their fingers and then have a massive gang war while the PCs are gone in chapter 6.


I think in a campaign this size loose ends are wanted, needed and intentional. This campaign was devised to fit into any setting and support every PC class and race. It accomplishes this quite nicely by giving an DM everything and more that he could need to run an intiquite plot driven campign and tailor it to his specific vision and characters. If all the loose ends were sewed up tight it would make it that much harder for DM's to customize the campaign to there setting and characters.

That's the number one thing I like most about SCAP. I have been able to work all of my PC's backgrounds into the stories, organizations, and NPC's that exist in Cauldron because the loose ends are better left sewen together by DM's than by the authors.


I assume the Alleybashers are a front for the Last Laugh, so their demise will be taken for granted (Last Laugh uses them as fall guys). To keep the Last Laugh on the radar however, I replaced many of the coins in the Kopru Ruins with "Jester" variants. I think the Ebon Triad would object to using "minted" money.
In addition, I increased the value of a Jester coin to 100 gp. This reflects the steady corruption of Cauldron's economy by the Last Laugh. I the future I will increase these ten-fold more as Navalant's power wains away.
Last Laugh "markers" highlighted the the journey to the Kopru Ruins as well. No more ideas on the Last Laugh yet - but the counterfiet thread on other boards suggests this is an obvious route to develop.
And Flood Season's most obvious loose end... the hillfolk. Are they only mentioned in the index?
The half-orc army inspired me to create a backstory to explain their presence. I used material from D&D's website ("The Village of Camiram", "Seawell") and ran the characters through these adventures before they reach Cauldron. The characters successfully unite a half-orc tribe with humans to defeat a true orc tribe. Naturally, some half-orcs are discontent and choose to leave the Tribe of the Crescent Moon. Enter half-orc malcontents.
I flesh out all the journey times between adventures with Viscious Venues, Maps of Mystery, etc. The lack of detail annoys me (but I'm probably obsessive compulsive ((I think most DM's are))).


Yes...and no. I believe that James attempted to sew up as many losse ends as possible when he compiled the AP into the Hard Cover but there were too many to do the lot. I'm sure you're like me and change things to suit your party even if they are not loose ends but merely because they would work better for you and your characters.

For example I decided to add a few different organisations and NPCs into the AP to better suit my party. I created a good 'thieves guild' called the Acquirers to cater for my rogue and give the Last Laugh a target.

I created a mysterious mage/noble who is infact a Rakshasa (sp?) and who will offer the party side treks to find Spellweaver Relics on various planes.

I have ensured that the party only recieve half the XP awarded to ensure I can prolong the AP and include more Side Treks etc (Strangely though, even with the XP reduction, the party has kept up with the level advancement recommended. They are 5th level halfway through Flood Season.

All in all though I agree with you completely that the loose ends should not be seen as a negative but rather opportunities to add your own stamp on the campaign.

Delvesdeep


dodo wrote:
The players keep wondering whatever happened to the Lucky Monkey, but haven't bothered to go out there to see (and I have no idea-- suggestions?) Shensen Tesseril has taken up residence in a park in Cauldron (as per HC), but the Lucky Monkey is a large inn exactly 1 day's ride from Cauldron, so it should be a lucrative business. Who would take it over?

In my game, the player who plays Kyra Lanthenmire (Cora's sister) took keen interest in the Lucky Monkey and Shensen, inviting her to join the party. I was fine with that until we added a new player, then it seemed too much. So I informed the player that the will of the family of the Lucky Monkey was that it was to go to the church of Farlhangn if none of the family survived. Shensen was tasked with restoring the Lucky Monkey and managing it back to business. So, she dropped out of the group and went to work. She relies heavily on advice of the owners of the Tipped Tankard Tavern (who are the parents of another PC) and they have helped her find new staff for the Lucky monkey. Once a week Shensen comes to Cauldron for supplies and spends the evening with Kyra who enjoys showing off Cauldron to her. That took care of everything in a tidy manner.

Because Kyra made such good friends with Shensen, Shensen and the new player invited Kyra to join the Striders and Kyra will become a member when she gets enough ranks in the nesessary skills. She is now an ally; the new player is a full member heading into the Strider prestige class, and Kyra and Shensen also brought in Kyra's other friend and fellow Kordite Zachary Aslain. So now the Striders has two members in the PC's group: the Sisters of the Dawn, one in the Stormblades, and one at the Lucky Monkey looking for clues on Cagewright activity.


I agree the loose ends in a large campaign are inevitable, and in fact a good thing. They suggest ways for the players and DM to flesh out the story through their choices. (As long as the loose ends don't disrupt or swallow the main plot.)


I guess loose ends aren't just inevitable, they're the only thing between a great campaign and one that's been railroaded to death.

just thought of another one:
* The nobles and government: A big bad evil organisastion (BBEO) tries to take over, fails, but doesn't leave any marks on the nobles or any other organisation? yeah right! So what did happen? where they bribed? weak? dumb? If so, what makes them fit to rule the city after Vhalantru or the cagewrights disappear? Ok, so this isn't realy a loose end. But still, it's a great little political plot a DM can include into the last few chapters.

*


Keygan was questioned by the guards for his involved with the skulks. When the guards found out that he had several skeleton keys and that none are accountable for (Well the party thief has one, but only I the DM know that)they decided to get keygan to begin replacing or altering all the locks so one key doesnt open them all. Starting with the rich first. This will be his punishment. Fortunately there has only been a few break ins with the skeleton key since his capture and its hard to prove if a key was used or not, especially when the thief who has one, tries to make it look like the locks have been picked.

Regards
Z

Chef's Slaad wrote:

Glad to have you back Delvesdeep!

I think loose ends are something of a given with any large adventure. PC's go in unexpected directions, certain NPC's click with the party (and the GM), while others aren't that interesting and drop off the radar. In my case this was the striders. Although they're a pretty cool organisation, I just don't have any wilderness oriented PC's. So the striders aren't that hot with my players. I solved this by combining the Striders and the Chisel into one big organisation, and making it benevolent. (in other words, no self-serving corruption).
Another example: my players released Kaurophon after sacrificing themselves in TotSE. So right now, he's a loose end. I may have a fix for that, though <evil grin>.

Here are some loose ends I found:

Jazidrune and the Malachite Hold are both huge loose ends. Big complexes connecting the city directly to the underdark... that's got to be a problem to right-thinking captains of the guard.

The Last Laugh is a bit of a loose end too, although they connect back into the story nicely by Lords of Oblivion. I think they should tie in to other adventures too.

There are too many dragons, and they don't tie into the AP as well as they should. This was partially fixed by James. A more structural fix would be to remove some or all of them.

The invasion of Redgorge should feature more prominently in the campaign. It's a turningpoint for Cauldron after all. From that point forward the Cauldron Government becomes LE.

Celeste is a cool character, but only makes an appearance once. (and near the end, in LoO in James' HC). I would love to see her in a more prominent role.

that's it for now... I'll probably think up more loose ends during the rest of the day.


The invasion of Red Gorge is another loose end that is left hanging. Tereson leads an force to confront the Chisel during chapter 5 but we don't hear much more about the insident after this point. I notice Chief mentioned on another thread that he has used the idea of bringing Demons into the scene at this point. I don't mind the idea but has anyone run the invasion as written in the Hard Cover. Was the event just glossed over in your game? Did it have any impact?

Another major event surrounding Red Gorge that is left unmentioned/unwritten is the citizens flight to the town in the wake of the erruption. What happens to the town? What happens to businesses such as Skie's, Vortimax etc and organisations such as the Last Laugh after the event?

Delvesdeep


delvesdeep wrote:

The invasion of Red Gorge is another loose end that is left hanging. Tereson leads an force to confront the Chisel during chapter 5 but we don't hear much more about the insident after this point. I notice Chief mentioned on another thread that he has used the idea of bringing Demons into the scene at this point. I don't mind the idea but has anyone run the invasion as written in the Hard Cover. Was the event just glossed over in your game? Did it have any impact?

Another major event surrounding Red Gorge that is left unmentioned/unwritten is the citizens flight to the town in the wake of the erruption. What happens to the town? What happens to businesses such as Skie's, Vortimax etc and organisations such as the Last Laugh after the event?

Delvesdeep

I dont really consider these loose ends, just open to customization by each DM to best fit the events into his/her campaign. In my campaign the invasion of Redgorge was an important backdrop to the expedition to the Demonskar. I used a short timetable to push the party. They believed that Alek held the key to ending the invasion, and when they found him, defeated Nabthataron two members of the party teleported with his body back to Redgorge just in the nick of time to broker a peace. The players loved it because it gave them a chance to really use the diplomatic skills.

As for actions folloiwng the eruption that is entirely up to you! In my game it will be very intersting because a pair of the PC's are married and have an appartment, that I convieniently located in the zone of heaviest destruction.


walter mcwilliams wrote:

In my campaign the invasion of Redgorge was an important backdrop to the expedition to the Demonskar. I used a short timetable to push the party. They believed that Alek held the key to ending the invasion, and when they found him, defeated Nabthataron two members of the party teleported with his body back to Redgorge just in the nick of time to broker a peace. The players loved it because it gave them a chance to really use the diplomatic skills.

As for actions folloiwng the eruption that is entirely up to you! In my game it will be very intersting because a pair of the PC's are married and have an appartment, that I convieniently located in the zone of heaviest destruction.

I like your stance on the Invasion of Redgorge. Using it as a backdrop much like the rising floods in Cauldron during Flood Season is a clever idea. I'm getting the impression that you don't like the term 'loose end';). Would you prefer unfinished opportunity or open ended plot hook?

Isn't everything that I run in my campaign up to me? I still like to hear what others have done and pinch all the good ideas to use for myself. Afterall that is what this message board is designed for. It does sound like your married couple is in for some exciting times ahead. Does having married characters pose problems? Are they married players as well?

Delvesdeep


delvesdeep wrote:

Yes...and no. I believe that James attempted to sew up as many losse ends as possible when he compiled the AP into the Hard Cover but there were too many to do the lot. I'm sure you're like me and change things to suit your party even if they are not loose ends but merely because they would work better for you and your characters.

For example I decided to add a few different organisations and NPCs into the AP to better suit my party. I created a good 'thieves guild' called the Acquirers to cater for my rogue and give the Last Laugh a target.

I created a mysterious mage/noble who is infact a Rakshasa (sp?) and who will offer the party side treks to find Spellweaver Relics on various planes.

I have ensured that the party only recieve half the XP awarded to ensure I can prolong the AP and include more Side Treks etc (Strangely though, even with the XP reduction, the party has kept up with the level advancement recommended. They are 5th level halfway through Flood Season.

All in all though I agree with you completely that the loose ends should not be seen as a negative but rather opportunities to add your own stamp on the campaign.

Delvesdeep

I had to add a substitute organization for a PC who wanted to take levels as a "Knight of the Purple Dragon". It called for a little rewriting of the prestige class pre-reqs, but kept the same spirit. The organization is known as the Knights of the Purple Orchid. It was a collaberation between myself and the player and it worked great.

We started playing before the HC so I added a library to the town as well, The Silver Libram. It is run by a small sect of Bocobian priests/monks.


zoroaster100 wrote:
If one of the DM's players is a monk, you can introduce the Order of the Silver Dream, and through them, Mahd, long before she is encountered.

What's the silver dream?

dodo wrote:
The players keep wondering whatever happened to the Lucky Monkey, but haven't bothered to go out there to see (and I have no idea-- suggestions?) Shensen Tesseril has taken up residence in a park in Cauldron (as per HC), but the Lucky Monkey is a large inn exactly 1 day's ride from Cauldron, so it should be a lucrative business. Who would take it over?

I had it put up for auction and the players had a chance to buy it if they wish. Nothing beyond that.

Good idea for switching the dragon with a cadaver collector Padan Slade. I remember complaining when the AP came out in dungeon about too many dragons, in particular a random encounter. So that's a good replacement.

Regarding the half-orc mercs the in game info the players find out after some investigating is that they are the personally army of the Blue Duke. A cauldron noble who has a sprawling estate (more military camp) outside of Cauldron. His trade is arms and mercs which is what the half-orcs are.

So is there no foreshadowing for some of the later villains? I just assumed that had been fixed since the AP. But I have not read ahead yet.

I'd love to hear any kind of foreshadowing or re-occurrences of dead in the water PC's and organisations (*cough*hillfolk*cough*) anyone has used. I am going to read the entire HC now after seeing this thread.

walter mcwilliams wrote:
We started playing before the HC so I added a library to the town as well, The Silver Libram. It is run by a small sect of Bocobian priests/monks.

FYI the town does have a library. Pretty good one at Blue Crater university.


walter mcwilliams wrote:
We started playing before the HC so I added a library to the town as well, The Silver Libram. It is run by a small sect of Bocobian priests/monks.
FYI the town does have a library. Pretty good one at Blue Crater university.

Added with the release of the SCAP hardcover. I began running SCAP while it was still a serial adventure in dungeon.


The town gaurd and in particular captain Teresong (sp?) has posed a delemia for me of late.

Is he a misguided good guy?

Is he a villian needing to be desposed of leaving honourable Skylar Krewis to take over the position?

Is the guard evil once it becomes inflitrated by the half-orcs or a mix?

How did people handle the gaurd during the AP?

Delvesdeep


Quote:
From the first chapter I found Keygan Gelve's whole involvement in the kidnappings a bit of a loose end. In the HC James mentions he may be arrested. My party were not particularly taken with the deceitful gnome and found his familiar ransome excuse pitiful.

Yep, my PC's felt the same.

As it turns out, they ended up killing Starbrow (Ghelve's familiar-- LONG story!!), so I fudged a bit and had Ghelve fall into a coma and eventually die as result.

This allowed the Stormblades to buy the vacant property out from under the PC's noses while they were in Drakthars' Way. it has worked out well, so far.

Tied up the Ghelve problem, added in a new thread to hook the PC's. Problem solved! :)

Scarab Sages

ShadowDenizen wrote:

Yep, my PC's felt the same.
As it turns out, they ended up killing Starbrow (Ghelve's familiar-- LONG story!!), so I fudged a bit and had Ghelve fall into a coma and eventually die as result.

This allowed the Stormblades to buy the vacant property out from under the PC's noses while they were in Drakthars' Way. it has worked out well, so far.

Tied up the Ghelve problem, added in a new thread to hook the PC's. Problem solved! :)

In our game Ghelve was arrested for aiding the kidnappers. I decided that Kazmojen (and his allies amongst Veril and the Last Laugh) wouldn't want Ghleve going on the record with anything, so they had him assassinated in prison.

This let the PC's know that there was more organization behind the kidnappings than just Kazmojen, and they possessed somewhat significant resources to reach Ghelve in jail.


Ghelve was lucky that he appeared in the beginning of the adventure, he was spared. My players have gotten increasingly more puritanical as the game progress. "Hes Evil! I Smite him!"

But I use Gheleve now as a "face" of caulderon. Some one caught up in the horrors going on around him. He also crafted a great door over the entrance to the malachite fortress/jzadirune and gave the pcs the only keys. It was his "greatest work ever".


delvesdeep wrote:

The town gaurd and in particular captain Teresong (sp?) has posed a delemia for me of late.

Is he a misguided good guy?

Is he a villian needing to be desposed of leaving honourable Skylar Krewis to take over the position?

Is the guard evil once it becomes inflitrated by the half-orcs or a mix?

How did people handle the gaurd during the AP?

Delvesdeep

I see Terseon as somewhat indolent. He does his job but without zeal. Then I see him being corrupted by Vhalantru. Bribes, offers of greater status etc. However, he is still just about the leader of the "conscience faction" (those who still have scruples and won't do outright evil) of the Cauldron guard, which is why I plan to have him disposed of by Zarn Kyass during the attack on Redgorge where he can be a convenient casualty of war. (This last bit is stolen from Chef's Slaad and his expansion ideas for the Battle of Redgorge). This will pave the way for a split in the cauldron military between those supporting the coup d'etat and those aiding the PCs against it.

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber; Pathfinder Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

I see Terseon Skellerang as a righteous, but hot-tempered man. The challenge of Alek Tercival angers him so much, that he starts the "Battle of Redgorge" in his rage. He is cleverly directed in his actions by Vhalantru, who mentions these solutions as a way to further weaken the security forces of the city. But Skellerang does not see this in his rage.


delvesdeep wrote:

The town gaurd and in particular captain Teresong (sp?) has posed a delemia for me of late.

Is he a misguided good guy?

Is he a villian needing to be desposed of leaving honourable Skylar Krewis to take over the position?

Is the guard evil once it becomes inflitrated by the half-orcs or a mix?

How did people handle the gaurd during the AP?

Delvesdeep

Not really, he is a high level fighter with the security of the town in his hands, he is LN, totaly loyal to the city and the government, not very bright and blind to the moves of the real leaders and what's going on.

He is only concerned by the whole city and organisation, all thinks have to run smoothly even if some must pay for that.


christian mazel wrote:

Not really, he is a high level fighter with the security of the town in his hands, he is LN, totaly loyal to the city and the government, not very bright and blind to the moves of the real leaders and what's going on.

He is only concerned by the whole city and organisation, all thinks have to run smoothly even if some must pay for that.

Should he be accountable for his actions then or is he merely acting as town security?

Do you believe he is acting in his own best interests or the towns?

Does he become tainted by Vhalantru's evil influence as the path continues or is he completely unaware that his actions are anything other than just and lawful?

Is he a 'goody' or 'baddy'?

Delvesdeep


delvesdeep wrote:
christian mazel wrote:

Not really, he is a high level fighter with the security of the town in his hands, he is LN, totaly loyal to the city and the government, not very bright and blind to the moves of the real leaders and what's going on.

He is only concerned by the whole city and organisation, all thinks have to run smoothly even if some must pay for that.

Should he be accountable for his actions then or is he merely acting as town security?

Do you believe he is acting in his own best interests or the towns?

Does he become tainted by Vhalantru's evil influence as the path continues or is he completely unaware that his actions are anything other than just and lawful?

Is he a 'goody' or 'baddy'?

Delvesdeep

He follows orders of whomever is in charge, the "blind eye" of the law.

I think he sees the government as necessary to keep order and unless there is proof that it will bring disaster and chaos to obey the ruling nobility he will not agree.
Maybe he will shift to LE when Lord V usurp the ruling but I don't see him this way, he will follow orders and unless they are opposite to his LN thinking he will go on.
Lawful doesn't mean "just" in all ways, it's more "to put the community before the individuality"....it can be very "unjust" to some.

Liberty's Edge

I just had the guards destroy the elevator and seal the entrance between Jzadirune and Malachite


Coridan wrote:
I just had the guards destroy the elevator and seal the entrance between Jzadirune and Malachite

How did the Stormblades get down to destroy the entrance to the ubderdark during chapter 2/3?

Liberty's Edge

delvesdeep wrote:


How did the Stormblades get down to destroy the entrance to the ubderdark during chapter 2/3?

I haven't seen that part...we're just starting Zenith in the upcoming week and I tend to miss things looking through the cluster of magazines I borrowed from my friend (hardcover is in the mail tho!)

Worse comes to worse I'll just say they didn't, the entrance is sealed up either way. I can make up some greater achievement for the Stormblades to piss off the party (who haven't even met the blades yet since I didn't have time for the "Unwanted Attention" in the WE when doing flood season)

Dark Archive

As for Jzadirune (with it's magical curse/disease) and the Malachite Hold I had the Cathedral of Wee Jas petition the Lord mayors office to have Kheygan's shop turned over to them as "magical disease" comes under their purveiw. And as Vhalantru is the Lord mayor's office there where no probelsm there.

The Cathedral then placed the Shakleborn Wee Jas PC in the shop and made it his problem (which once he could animate dead to create guards was not a problem). This kept him close enough for Embril to keep an eye on him, but far enough away to not detect their heresy, whilst leaving him alone to play with thing she should not, like animating dead, and slowly become evil of his own accord.

As for post campaign the caverns are all highly likely to collapse when the quadrant collapses during the earthquake, and the tunnels will become inhabitated by freed undead from the destroyed crypts of Wee Jas. Thus running the gauntlet from the Underdark, assuming the tunnel The Stormblades is cleared from below, will be somewhat difficult. The newly invigortaed Shrine of Pelor (given the destruction of the Cathedral) would most likely attempt to contain the undead, and gain new converts for this selfless act.

Basically I am sure with a little though you can wrap things up by tailoring it to your campaign and what your players will respond to :)


My group turned Keygan in. Using a set of laws I found for another small city in Dragon Magazine, mixed with some of the laws from Waterdeep, It was found that Keygan was crimanally liable and had to make reparations of several thousand gold to the city. Considering that my group robbed him blind, all he had for reposession was the deed on his home and property. My group promptly bought It for 2,000gp (what it was worth according to the Stronghold Builder's Guide). Other loose ends in the plot I just tie to something later on. "Remember that alleybasher you punched in the face and got away? One of the gaurds at the prison has a black eye and small smudges of makeup..."

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