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I couldn't find where the invisible tattoo of the Carcerian Sign is located on the Shackleborn. Anyone know if this is noted anywhere? I have the hardback version. Though the party is just entering Chapter 2, one of the characters is a warlock and has the See the Unseen evocation (darkvision and see invisible). So what is the chance that he noticed the sign on Terrem? He also happened to have noticed the beholder's assistant.
I don't believe it's specified as existing in any particular location on the body. In my campaign, most individual who bear the sign have it located on their face, meaning it is relatively easy to notice by anyone who can see invisibile.
Our party Warlock had the same ability and noticed the assistant. Of course later in the campaign, after meeting Celeste, she vanished, and the party is convinced that she was the one assissting the beholder.
I agree that the sign can be anywhere on the body. The shackleborn who are being collected should be those whose signs are located where they can be observed - so the PC with See the Unseen should definitely have noticed it.
One of the PCs in our group has the background trait that they have the sign - of course, ho knows nothing about it. Another PC will soon have the ability to see invisible things, and at some point, she'll notice the sign on him. However, I'm going to have it located somewhere that's easier to conceal (on his shin, possibly) to explain why the bad guys don't realize he has it, and therefore why they aren't kidnapping him.
In the hardcover on p403 of the Local Hero traits, under the "Secret Effects" heading, it says:
"The Scarred Soul trait indicates that the character is also one of the Shackleborn! The Carcerian Sign is plainly visible on this character's face if he is in the radius of an invisibility purge, anti-magic zone, or other region that suppresses invisibility. Likewise, characters that can see invisible things can see the Sign."
Though I can't imagine any problem with the Sign being present somewhere else on a character's person. I just remembered the reference.
Regards,
Koramado
One of my characters is a Shackleborn too. I plan on using him to generate a great deal of hate for a few very important villian who otherwise are all but forgotten by the party.
Why go through all this?
To build a real hatred for Orbius, Jil and the Last Laugh. The missing hand will be particularly upsetting (he will have it regrown when the party trek off the outer plane of Ysgard for another side trek).
Other than during the first adventure, the party never see or hear from the beholder so when they find out he is one of the main villians I can't see it having the same impact.
If the party, and the Shackleborn character in particular, has a real loathing for Orbius and Jil then ultimately it will make the encounters, and subsequent deaths, far more satisfying.
The kidnapping may also reveal the importance of the Cancerian sign, the veiled lady (another nameless villan otherwise)and the Last Laughs intent on the characters organisation.
The encounter
Sometime soon after they return from 'rescueing' Zenith I plan on having Jil send the character a personal letter from his 'mentor' asking to meet with him at the Lakeside Pavillion. If the character takes the bait, Jil and a troop of Last Laugh will ambush the character and smuggle him into a Safehouse.
When the character comes too Jil and another vile thief will be standing infront of him before Orbius teleports into the room with a visable veiled woman.
Jil will show Orbius the sign on the character and Orbius will be very pleased. Orbius will say that even though they now have enough Shackleborn he will keep the character as an emergency and asks the thieves to stand back. Just at the last minute though Orbius tells the 'vile thief' (not sure about exact description, abilities etc as yet - any ideas?)to remove the characters left hand because he is feeling hungry.
With great pleasure the thief saws off the characters hand before throwing it to Orbius who chomps it down while the characer watches on. Orbius then instructs Jil to return to Velior and instruct him to destroy the characters guild and commands the vile thief to gaurd the petrified character until the veiled lady returns to teleport the statue back to his lair. He then uses his eyestalk to turn the charater to stone before teleporting away.
The party will be notified by their Last Laugh informer that the character has been taken to the safehouse which should get the party into rescue mode. They will likely storm the house, defeat a few last laugh harlequins before facing off against the vile thief.
What potential problems can you forsee?
Is this a good way of using the Shackleborn trait?
Delvesdeep
Hey, that sounds like fun! I might put it a little later though. In the process of returning Zenith to Cauldron, the warlock in my group noticed the Carcerian Sign on his face, but chose not to alert the rest of the party. The warlock is Shackleborn as well and was hoping to learn more about their own Sign from Zenith before telling the rest of the party.
She didn't get the chance though, since the derro Kravichak Riolgh abducted Zenith from the PCs own house while they were taking turns guarding him through the night. For intrigue, I had Kravichak use dust of appearance on Zenith to make the Sign visible so he could verify that Zenith was the right victim. The one PC in the room at the time saw this happen as he charged Kravichak and got a glimpse of the Sign for himself, before Kravichak teleported away with Zenith in tow. Relating the event to his companions who had come running as he shouted during his charge, he told them about the strange symbol he had seen on Zenith. This is when the warlock chose to share that she, too, had such a symbol. The party became immediately suspicious of her. It was great!
They began trying to research the symbol, but have not yet turned up any useful information. The warlock has lost the trust of at least two of her fellow party members and it would be a great fit to include your eaten hand encounter and have her try and explain it to the rest of the party. I think I might try and do it after the tax riot and before the PCs leave for their meeting with the Chisel in Redgorge, just to leave a little more time between the abduction of Zenith and this new encounter with Orbius. It could make the meeting with the Chisel even more tense, as the Chisel might find their own reason to be distrustful of someone telling a strange story of how they recently lost their hand.
A great little addition to the story and a useful way to inject Jil, Orbius, and the Last Laugh back into the plot some more.
Nice!
Koramado
Yeah, I'd decided to have the sign somewhere hidden instead of on that specific PCs face for story reasons, but I like the ideas you've presented, delvesdeep. Since my group hasn't yet had an opportunity to "see invisibility" and notice the sign, I have a bit of time to decide which way to go on this one...
With great pleasure the thief saws off the characters hand before throwing it to Orbius who chomps it down while the characer watches on. Orbius...
"He made me watch.... he made me WAAAATCH!!!"
Sorry... Sin City scene where Marv and the probation officer are locked up in the creepy farmhouse running through my head.