Well I see that you are already aware that the Ebon Triad has at least some ties to Hextor, I would suggest that it actually makes for some very interesting interplays.
Tell your DM you are very interested in ferriting out heretics within the religion of Hextor and destroying them.
Sean Mahoney
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One of my players is playing a LE cleric of Hextor/ordained champion. Sent to Diamond Lake on a mission to kill or capture a heretic member of the Ebon Triad, his introduction to the (mostly good) party was rather easy. The lawful aspect of the Hextorian faith and his respect for teamwork has meshed well with the party. The party also has a LG paladin of Pelor, but she's a childhood friend and is somewhat in love with said cleric of Hextor so has been somewhat blinded to his evil ways. I let him start with a ring of undetectable alignment and an archaic holy symbol of Hextor (Knowledge religion DC 20 to recognise), gifts from the Church of Hextor to many of its agents abroad. As a player, he especially enjoyed the second adventure and would now like to eventually see his character repent his evil ways and become LG by the end of the campaign, becoming a cleric of Heironeous. He's even willing to lose his clerical powers for a couple of levels since he and I both decided that his redemption wouldn't be as simple as a single atonement spell. At the moment we're playing through the 7th adventure and he's still alive and evil. His chance at redemption will arive soon and should he seize it will certainly make for an interesteing story. Overall, one of my favourite characters to have ever DM'd...
We ran an almost entirely LE party through most of AoW, including a Cleric/Ordained Champion of Hextor, an Anti-Paladin/Knight/Blackguard of Hextor, and a Hellfire Warlock. I wasn't DMing, so I don't know how much my DM had to change, but my impression was not a lot at all. We had a TON of fun, and some of my best D&D memories are in that campaign.
So I'm a wholehearted recommendation, I guess. Smite them all! FOR HEXTOR! :)
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We ran an almost entirely LE party through most of AoW, including a Cleric/Ordained Champion of Hextor, an Anti-Paladin/Knight/Blackguard of Hextor, and a Hellfire Warlock. I wasn't DMing, so I don't know how much my DM had to change, but my impression was not a lot at all. We had a TON of fun, and some of my best D&D memories are in that campaign.
So I'm a wholehearted recommendation, I guess. Smite them all! FOR HEXTOR! :)
Several characters in our party actually formed friendships with Kendra & Garras (the married Hextorites) and they became recurring characters in our game.
I would love to hear about your LE AoW experience. Sounds like a blast. The picture of the Ordained Champion in Complete Champion is just so friggin bad@$$...
I would love to hear about your LE AoW experience. Sounds like a blast. The picture of the Ordained Champion in Complete Champion is just so friggin bad@$$...
Okay, lots of spoilers here. Read at your own peril.
Goodness, what to explain...we started off as characters living in Diamond Lake, just like most every other party. My character (the Warlock) was the primary imtimidator for Balabar Smenk. The cleric of Hextor was sent to DL to determine if it could be used as a foothold for the Church, since it's so close to the Free City and already has that sort of reputation. Originally, our goal was to find something out in the hills that would let us gain control of one or more of the mining operations, and then ruthlessly take over the other mines one by one. The only major change that our DM made to the beginning of the campaign, I think, was setting Allustan up as a secret Hextorite, who was in the city trying to find some way to get the Heironeous garrison out the door. This set him up as the same ally he is in most every other campaign.
Of course, once the Ebon Triad made its appearance, it got personal. :) And by the time the party learned of Kyuss and the Age of Worms, we were trying to save the world like anybody else -- sure, we were evil, but we didn't want to become worm-infested undead any more than the next guy.
Beyond that, the game proceeded a lot like you would expect. We had a blast being gladiators in the ring, the Spire was as tough for us as it was for anyone else, Darl Quethos was the scariest encounter ever, etc. We hit another big change in Prince of Redhand, of course, since we could walk around openly. I actually think our affiliation helped quite a lot, since instead of being the usual "pilgrims in an unholy land" theme, it became more of a game of trying to figure out who was heretical and who wasn't, and maneuvering through a city (one, btw, that we absolutely LOVED) without convincing Zeech that we were out to take his place. My warlock also discovered the Blessed Angels, of course, and developed a new goal to gain control of the Eyrie somehow.
Lashonna was a bit of a trickier spot, since we were NOT inclined to work with a silver dragon -- which is funny, when you think about it. It was almost like that module was set in reverse for us, thematically.
Tragically, our game was cut short at the end of Kings of the Rift, as I moved to New Orleans. Hopefully we'll get to finish it one day!
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Read at your own peril.
Done and done. Thanks for sharing. I hope you guys get a chance to finish it one day, too. Our group's been playing off and on for 2 1/2 years, and we're just now wrapping up AGoW. At least you made it as far as you did...
I am curious, though...how did your party's alignment/affiliation affect your interaction with some of the non-Kyuss-worshipping, but still more or less evil NPCs, like Filge or Moreto, for instance? Our group tends to make friends with the minor villains, which has had both positive and negative repurcussions thus far...
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One of my players is playing a LE cleric of Hextor/ordained champion. Sent to Diamond Lake on a mission to kill or capture a heretic... As a player, he especially enjoyed the second adventure...
I suspect one of my players will enjoy the second chapter, but for the opposite reason!
How did your party's alignment/affiliation affect your interaction with some of the ... more or less evil NPCs?
Well, let's see...
-- Zyrzog the mind-flayer we (eventually) killed, because the dude was a mind-flayer. That was really enough reason.
-- Moreto, I believe, we let go about his business -- but I know my Warlock ended up with his lantern, so maybe he bartered it to us? I honestly don't remember -- but by that point, any undead who weren't "on our side" were suspect.
-- Anybody involved with the Ebon Triad was killed without mercy.
-- We figured out Loris Raknian had it in for us pretty early on, so when we went into the Games we called our group "Raknian's Heirs", both implying (to the Games) that we were going to be champions of an equal caliber *and* implying to Raknian that we were on to him and had plans to kill him and take his stuff. He escaped.
-- AGoW we absolutely loved, and the dungeon in that module became one of our secret hideouts, since it's SO lawful-aligned. One of the critters inside (which I won't mention in case you haven't seen it, but is a LE monster) our Blackguard actually flirted with and wound up befriending. He stayed in the dungeon to help guard our stuff.
The really interesting interactions came a little later, but they involve people/spoilers that I don't want to mention if you're only at AGoW! :)
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The really interesting interactions came a little later, but they involve people/spoilers that I don't want to mention if you're only at AGoW! :)
I think I know who you are referring to...
My favorite aspect of these forums is the opportunity to observe what choices other parties made, what their group dynamic was like, and how that affected the campaign. I suppose a party affiliated with Hextor would have a pretty clear chain of command, though I would guess personalities still came into conflict periodically. Concepts like a consistent leader and easily identifiable chain of command are quite foreign to our band, much to the consternation of our knight.
Oh, our group can get into conflict with the best of them. Corbin, the warlock, is a greedy, cowardly, Mephistopheles-worshiping jerk (that's my PC); he just happens to be more or less loyal to Durnan, our Cleric/Knight/Ordained Champion of Hextor -- both of those characters are the only ones that have survived from first level.
The Ex-Paladin/Knight/Blackguard of Hextor, Melinde from Diamond Lake (yes, we corrupted one of the NPCs), is technically Corbin's cohort (there was a great scene where she sealed her fate by cutting down Balabar Smenk after he tried to escape from prison) -- there's a lot of Emperor/Vader going on with the two of them. She's MUCH more loyal, though, to Durnan -- to the point where she almost constantly throws herself in harm's way to defend him. It's almost comically tragic, really -- she's "hold the line, defend the Captain" so much that it's almost as if she's suicidal, trying to die in battle to escape her corruption...except that she always manages to prevail, which just brings her more strength(XP) and solidifies her standing with Hextor.
So those three are pretty well inseparable -- the other PCs (and there have been several, we have two other players that seem to have bad luck with dying) get along more or less with the party depending on who they are. The Red Wizard was the only one to call Corbin's bluff, refusing to pay him for item identification (which is the kind of person Corbin is, if that gives you an idea). The Dread Necromancer had to endure our constantly making jokes about how he was already dead -- then he died and came back with the true ghoul template, or something, and we laughed even more at him because now he actually WAS undead (and, of course, in the back of our minds we were ready to kill him if he started acting even the slightest bit wormy). Turns out he secretly worshiped Vecna, and had built a lair in the Faceless One's wing unbeknownst to Corbin, who had taken over the mine and founded a cult to Mephistopheles there.
I think all of us had plans to kill the others, if necessary, and there wasn't EVER a time when someone died when Corbin and Durnan didn't sit down and talk about whether or not they were worth the expense of bringing back. Durnan only died once, in the mother of all grand melees with another evil party (which I won't spoil, since I don't think you're there yet), and Corbin raised him at Melinde's insistence -- but kept a good portion of the treasure for himself before he did.
As you can see, I love to get into the social dynamics of parties, too! :) Ours is basically summed up by that silly RPG motivational poster that's on the 'net somewhere: Lawful Evil -- bringing order to the galaxy, even if we have to choke the $#!+ out of it. ;)
Flirted with, though? Eeenteresting... I guess I shouldn't judge, though.
When you're the Blackguard with the 18-Charisma, Negotiator Feat, and more ranks in Diplomacy than the rest of the party put together, you can pretty well win over anybody you want, however you want. I guess she thought he was endearing. :)
Moving to New Orleans will not stop the Age of Worms, Corbin, the Warlock. Kyuss, Lashonna, and Dragotha will wait for you.
Moving to New Orleans will not stop the Age of Worms, Corbin, the Warlock. Kyuss, Lashonna, and Dragotha will wait for you.
Don't I know it. Did you know -- and I swear I'm not making this up -- that there's a time in the middle of Spring/Summer where you have to look out for a particular kind of caterpillar in Nola? They breed in big numbers, fall out of trees, and can bite/sting you.
Seriously. If this is in the Apostolic Scrolls or New Orleans winds up overrun by wights during a Saints game, I'm gonna be pretty pissed. ;)
Back on topic: FOR HEXTOR!!!
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We ran an almost entirely LE party through most of AoW, including a Cleric/Ordained Champion of Hextor, an Anti-Paladin/Knight/Blackguard of Hextor, and a Hellfire Warlock. I wasn't DMing, so I don't know how much my DM had to change, but my impression was not a lot at all. We had a TON of fun, and some of my best D&D memories are in that campaign.
So I'm a wholehearted recommendation, I guess. Smite them all! FOR HEXTOR! :)
Man. I guess Red Wizards don't count for much anymore. -sniff-
Man. I guess Red Wizards don't count for much anymore. -sniff-
Not after giant octopins, they don't. ;)
I did mention you later, as the only PC with stones enough to call Corbin on his money-grubbing. :)