Well howdy! Our gaming group brought you the tales of our battle through the Rise of the Runelords in Mxyzplk's Rise of the Runelords Campaign. Now our doughty band is taking up the challenge of the Curse of the Crimson Throne, using the Pathfinder Beta rules. I'm keeping up a separate thread on the playtest board for the rule playtest commentary and issues; this thread will be "story only."
As usual the writeups will be links back to my blog. This isn't because I'm a click whore, it's because our session scribe (Bruce the Mighty) composes these honkin' huge 10-20 page PDF session summaries (with diagrams if necessary!). I could cut and paste the text into the forum but I'm pretty sure it would make the PostMonster cry.
I have a main Curse of the Crimson Throne page where I link all the character sheets and other relevant info. Then there's a page for each chapter in the AP, with the session summaries linked into it and my commentary below. So if you ever get lost, just head to the main page:
Our Heroes
- Annata Vieri, a fair priest of Sarenrae the Dawnflower. As a small child, she was in enforced servitude to the crime lord Gaedren Lamm of Korvosa, who forced her and her peers to con and steal for him. After he beat her nearly to death, she escaped into the church and has lived there ever since, helping tend to the sick of the city. She's my character!
- Malcolm Zirkus, a scarred Chelaxian warrior who wields a double flail. He is Chris's character (who played Roscoe Dillon, cleric of Gorum, in RotR). I'm unclear on his beef with Gaedren Lamm but he was beating up a bar full of people Rorshach-style to find him.
- Thorndyke, an urban ranger (apparently the new PC term for homeless people who dig their dinner out of an alleyway). He is Patrick's character (Maru Maru the Shoanti monk from RotR). He had a sibling taken by Gaedren Lamm.
- Valash Not-Gurelle, a half-elf half-Chelaxian air bloodline sorcerer and scribe. Apparently his elven dad was a random philanderer who loved and left his mother, now he hates elves, Chelaxians, and himself. And being a scribe. And Gaedren Lamm but I'm not sure why. Yes, you guessed, it, this is Bruce's character (Yenneck Grumman the ranger from RotR).
Weep not for Patrick and Chuck, they are playing in the second CoCT session - we had too many players and split into two four-person campaigns, both running through the AP at the same time.
And as always, mad props to Paul the DM.
And thus our campaign begins. Our four heroes come together when summoned by a spooky Varisian woman who needs vengeance for her dead son - vengeance upon the child-exploiting crime lord Gaedren Lamm! Annata's not the vengeful sort, as the Dawnflower teaches redemption of all. But for Lamm, she might just make an exception. What to do? Find out in...
Edge of Anarchy, Part II continued the urban fun, as we took on missions for the Korvosan Guard to help stabilize the city. Sure, we stopped some killers and met with the crime boss known as the King of Spiders to get blackmail material on a Chelixian ambassador, but more importantly, Annata has been meeting some interesting men!
Last time, actually, is when we met Grau, the Korvosan Guard sergeant who was wandering the chaotic streets drunk and depressed. We escorted him back to Citadel Volshyenek at the time, and now we’ve been sent there by the Queen to help Field Marshal Kroft and the Guard. He’s cleaned himself up and has been showing the heroes around. She got the whole story out of him - how he and his fencing master had both fallen in love with the same woman, another fencing student, and it had all ended badly. (And the woman was Sabine, the Queen’s bodyguard and rumored lover!) A sad story and six pack abs. He definitely needs an understanding ear, and maybe hearing about the Dawnflower can help him.
Then, she met Vencarlo Orisini, a dashing gentleman, who was bringing important information to the Field Marshal. He’s well connected, very honorable, handsome - and Grau’s old fencing master! Annata was ready to not like him, but her standoffishness melted in the face of his nobility (he actually asked after his old student, who he wished well despite their falling out.) And you don’t get your hand kissed much on the streets of Korvosa nowadays. And he owns his own villa… And the long hair looks good on him…
What’s a good girl who’s been largely holed up in a temple for the last seven years to think!?!
And speaking of that, the heroes have had to be deceptive to set up their various “stings” - catching the assassins, for example, and even just going to talk to the King of Spiders (a notorious crime lord). Since confronting Gaedren Lamm and embarking on this hero business, she’s found it very easy to slip back into the mode of setting up a con, like she used to do back in her criminal days. Her friends, and even the Field Marshal and Vencarlo, say that it’s necessary to do what is needed to save the city, and that certainly seems like a noble goal, but Sarenrae teaches to be honest in all dealings… She’s been trying to reflect on all this, but the only real time she’s gotten for prayer and reflection lately was somewhat distracted, as it was in the office of the butcher shop in hopes that the mysterious benefactor of the poor who had been funding the place would make contact. (Annata knows it’s silly, but in her heart she hopes it’s the fabled Blackjack!)
It’s As Golarion Turns in this second session of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path.
The party’s capture/rescue of Trina Sabor, alleged assassin of the King, in Curse of the Crimson Throne: Edge of Anarchy Part III is about the last straw for Annata. She can’t be sure that Trina didn’t have anything to do with the King’s demise (a poor artist with a magical mithril shirt, dagger, and potion loadout? That’s a little suspicious) despite her convincing-sounding story to that effect, but she doesn’t feel right about how everything happened – Field Marshal Croft seems honorable but she’s bound by her orders, and the orders coming down to her seem more and more questionable. She had wanted to talk to Trina herself, have the goddess prove the truth of her words, but they’d been sent off immediately on an errand to retrieve that poor Shoanti boy’s body from the boneyard. And while they were gone, the Queen’s guard spirited the girl away. She wept in anger and frustration when they returned from the crypts to discover Trina’d been taken without even an interrogation to her execution.
Even tired and out of spells from their battle with the minions of the necromancer Rolth, she would have stood up for the girl publicly had she been sure of her innocence. She tried to find anyone to talk to who might be able to do something, but she couldn’t find Vencarlo or the Field Marshal, and Sabine and the Queen were inaccessible. She felt for that poor girl – as they marched her out to meet the headsman, she fervently prayed to the Dawnflower to spare her if she was innocent, or to grant her a quick end with no pain if she was not… But then the goddess answered her prayer in the most unexpected and awesome way ever – Annata’s heart leapt in her chest when Blackjack himself appeared to spirit away the condemned artist right off the chopping block!
Sarenrae’s word on the matter could not be any more clear. If Blackjack is against the Queen – then she shall be too! No more accepting questionable jobs in the alleged name of order and the public good. Annata will get to the bottom of this, and as the Book of Light and Truth says, “Where the Dawnflower’s rays shine, the darkness can not stand.”
Hey, took a while to get it in hand but hope it's worth the wait!
Here's my favorite part from Part III:
A huge otyugh notices the characters’ entry. It happily burbles out, “Warm! Food! Blobber globber globber!”
Annata immediately panics, “They can talk! I didn’t know they could talk!”
Malcolm is equally upset, “I didn’t know they could talk either. This changes everything!”
Thorndyke turns white, “If they’re intelligent and can speak common, then why are they sitting down in the sewers? Do they have a society? Will they come up and take over the city someday?”
Valash offers, “I think they’re already doing that! I’m scared! Scared and confused!”
This is actually pretty much verbatim what happened during the session - Bruce sometimes takes liberties with dialogue but not in this case. None of us had any idea otyughs were intelligent enough to talk, even having fought and killed one before in this campaign, and basically we all freaked out. It's funny in retrospect, but both the characters and the players were horrified that the poo-beasts are sentient. I still don't like to think to hard about the ramifications of all that.
Luckily, Patrick is the pragmatist of the group, and attacked anyway; the rest of us were kinda thrown into confused inaction by the whole thing.
In Curse of the Crimson Throne: Seven Days to the Grave, Part I, Annata and her friends were busy bees indeed. First, they are trying to nip this darn Blood Veil plague in the bud. Grau came to her and asked for her help because his niece was sick and needed help. They set out immediately. Grau was standoffish and wouldn’t talk to her much, which hurt Annata’s feelings a little. He was just like “OK, here’s my sister-in-law’s house, get to healing, gotta go!” Hmph! She’s practicing her icy demeanor for the next time he shows up.
Next, Vencarlo asked them to come over! Annata had been wanting to ask him about the political situation (and see him again on general principles). When they got over there, he had the escaped assassin/victim Trina Sabor with him! Blackjack had entrusted her to him to aid in her escape. (Yes, it’s obvious to the rest of the party that Vencarlo’s Blackjack, but not to Annata!) They promised to smuggle her out of the city. Vencarlo said that things had gotten too hot for him politically and he was going to need to go underground in Old Korvosa for a while. Annata’s breathless “Oh, Vencarlo, are you in danger?!?” provoked a round of groans and “Jeeezus”es from the other players at the table. I am proud. Anyway, we snuck her out of the city, the other characters largely foiling any of Annata’s efforts to learn more about the girl and what her deal is.
Upon reflection, this is the first major crime Annata’s performed. She didn’t really think of it that way at the time, but all these postings about new campital crimes in town made her face that fact. She had just talked with her spiritual mentor, Father Valdur (incidentally the head of the Bromathan family), who confirmed to her that serving the greater truth and good sometimes required some minor deception. So she’s OK with it, but a little sobered now in retrospect.
The appearance of these “King’s Physicians” and “Grey Maidens” seems ominous. Annata is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt, despite her companions’ immediate ranting about cryptofascist comspiracies. But it is fishy enough that she’s willing to check into them a bit more.
Meanwhile, Valash appears to be going totally and completely insane. Obsessive/compulsive mania and paranoia. Up till now Annata was tolerant of her friend’s quirks but now she’s getting concerned.
The dungeon crawl against the wererats went well. Annata managed to save the lives of all but one of the wererats, still being very reluctant to have anyone die. She was disappointed that she couldn’t talk Girrigz, the wererat leader, into repenting of his evil ways and accepting redemption. But, the Mark of the Outcast she placed upon him will likely prevent any further shenanigans. And they saved an otyugh!
Best quote from this session:
Broken-Tail [a captured wererat] leads the characters into the Rat Warrens. Along the way, Annata asks, “So, do you have a name other than Broken-Tail?”
Valash grumbles, “You had a name, but I’ve taken it. You see this bag? That’s where your name is now. Until I give it back, you’re just Broken-Tail.”
Annata rolls her eyes. Again.
The wererat squeaks, “Once upon a time, long ago, I was known as Bob.”
Valash mouths, “Bob” and gestures at his bag.
In Seven Days to the Grave, Part II, we go scuba diving! In Korvosa's equivalent to the Hudson River. As is traditional, the ranger gets screwed out of actually affecting anything with his ranger powers. Reefclaws? Sorry, they're aberrations. A shark? Sorry, it's a hag's buddy. Poor bastard.
Annata used Speak with Dead for the first time, to demand the truth from the dead priest of Urgathoa we found. We were not all that shocked to find out that the head of the Queen's Physicians was implicated. And the Red Mantis, some improbably-garbed assassin cult (they kinda resemble Ambush Bug, my favorite supervillain, but not because of his menace factor).
Worried that the guard might decide to arrest them at the Queen's behest, Annata insisted on going into Citadel Volshyenek alone to tell the Field Marshal this information. She thought Kroft had generally been fair with them, but had also turned over Trinia to the Queen's goon squad when instructed. Luckily, it appears she's practicing being less Lawful and said we should go find more proof!
I had a long confusing exchange with the DM from trying to roleplay Annata's relationship with Grau. He was there in the Citadel. I wanted him to want to see me so I could give him the cold shoulder. I had trouble getting this across. "Does Grau want to talk to me after?" "Yes, what do you want to ask him?" "No, no, I want him to want to talk to me, but I don't want to talk to him." "What?" It's so hard being a chick.
Then we went to the cool zombie death house to find the Ocarina of Gypsies, and rescue Hugh Hefner. Annata actually took that crossbow bolt from interposing herself between the crazy-lady and the lord; that's not clear in the summary. It was pretty entertaining how the villainess' S&M act largely defused any Intimidation-based interrogation of her. I am nothing if not persistent so I got her to open up more later in her cell. And then comes the best quote of the session:
Once Annata is finished talking to her, Malcolm steps up with his cosh. “Sleepy time!” WHACK!
Annata protests, “But she’s already in a cell!”
Malcolm calmly answers, “Well, now she’s unconscious in a cell.”
Boys.
We started our first proper dungeon crawl in Seven Days to the Grave, Part III! Annata had hoped to somehow spy around in the Queen’s Physicians’ “hospital”, but we pretty much had to disguise up and go in the front. That worked very well! She gave Valash her doctor’s mask, and she used the glamered armor they had found to simulate a Grey Maiden’s armor (at the cost of a point of AC). She was a little uncomfortable at how... form-fitting it was, but serving the Goddess requires personal sacrifice. I made up Malcolm to look sick and Valash turned Thorndyke invisible. And off we went!
We managed to penetrate all the way to the boss before we were discovered. The session summary gets it a little wrong and it’s confusing what happened - when Valash brought out the disease-box he was like, “What could this thing be, Doctor Davalus?” Apparently every single Physician is in on the plot and knows what they are, so Davalus decided to fight us. Bad plan, we unloaded on him. I was worried we wouldn’t get out of there after, but the Maidens and Physicians didn’t stay crunchy in milk and the nurse apparently didn’t summon the cops. So we wasted them all and extracted the Varisian experimental subjects. Annata’s still fretting about what to do about the 60 plague victims in there. And then, the dungeon!
Best quote from this session:
Annata offers, “I need to contemplate the religious implications of these murals.”
Malcolm points out, “They’re going to kill everyone. You think too much. I never think about things, that’s why I’m such a good fighter.” Malcolm grabs one door handle and opens it. This triggers the trap: the skeletons breathe out poisonous gas, then animate. The creature’s arms and weapon spring from the door and cut through him.
Malcolm gasps and falls as his lifeblood sprays out against the wall.
And it happened exactly like that. The scythe critted and did 63 points of damage to Malcolm! We were really worried he was going to die, so worried we didn’t laugh and gloat at the time. But now we can. Mmmwah hah haaa!
Predictably, when we finally got to fight Rolf the necromancer he d-doored away. I always hate that.
We wrapped up the chapter in Seven Days to the Grave, Part IV. It was a little disjointed, as we left and returned to the warehouse/dungeon sooo many times. I halfway hoped the nurse that fled would bring down the Queen's goon squad or something so that we didn't have unlimited back-and-forth. It becomes too tempting to play it safe (clear a room, rest, clear a room...)
We fought Nosferatu. Not sure if that is what it was called, but the pic was a total copy of the original from the movie. Then we leave, and go back to free the ocarina player, then leave, and go back to clear the place.
I was a little unhappy with the writing towards the end, though. In both chapters there's been some "Korvosa is totally rioting and there's starvation! Well, not really. Plague has closed down the city! Well, not really. They all hate the Queen! Well, not really." Last we heard, the city was in flames because of the city being enraged that this new Queen was now in charge, but when we come up with proof that her own hand-picked SS guys and goon squad are behind the plague, Guard captain and populace alike are all "Oh, must be a coincidence." What!?! But to no useful end, since immediately afterwards, in a cutscene we're not there for, she reveals herself as evil anyway. It seemed like a big "f*ck you" to the players.
I am not allergic to story - all the "sandbox" or "old school" gamers out there say "story baaaad!" But this is really the first time in the APs I've felt like they were more in love with their own story than the PCs' part in it.
Sure, Paul our DM hews very close to the written word and you could say he should just change it, but having to change it reveals a weakness.
Anyway, in the end it's a minor nit - the chapter was still enjoyable overall - but it seems to me a bit of a warning sign. Interesting characters and driving plots are great, but should never threaten the primacy of the PCs in the story.
Best session quote:
We find an operating room, and cells beyond with more hapless Varisians. As Annata tries to calm them in Varisian, Thorndyke demands, “Stop speaking that dog language!”
Next time - Escape from Old Korvosa!
In Part I of Escape From Old Korvosa, the third chapter in the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path, we defy the Queen’s quarantine of Old Korvosa to get to the bottom of some things! The first thing we get to the bottom of is the taste-meter, as this session has 200% more bestiality jokes than usual. And then, we liberate Old Korvosa from its most proximate oppressor, a new local crime lord. We took him seriously until we found out he was really a bard with a pet gimp.
Then, after dealing with the local decadent aristocracy, we go looking for our buddy (and Annata’s would-be squeeze), Vencarlo. His fencing school’s been burned down, and his house seems like it’s been abandoned just minutes before we arrived. And then the ninja bug-men attacked!
In the wake of that, we find out that the old seneschal, one of the few people with the legal power to thwart the evil Queen’s plans, may still be alive and in Old Korvosa! And we also find an outfit of Vencarlo’s that reveals an awesome secret…
Things get hot and heavy in Part II of Escape from Old Korvosa. Annata, Malcolm, and Thorndyke venture into the belly of the beast. We go to stay at Palace Arkona and decide to do some snooping! We suck at that, but luckily Lord Arkona seems to be in our corner.
Next, we traverse a weirdo Cube dungeon. It's kinda cool, and the decorators knew how to carry a motif, though the proliferation of symbols is more annoying than dangerous. And finally, we find Vencarlo - or DO we?!?
And then, we find out how three level 8 adventurers fare against CR10 and CR12 opponents - at the same time!
Part III of Escape from Old Korvosa is a jumbo session. It’s actually the end of Escape from Old Korvosa and the beginning of A History of Ashes. And the hits keep on coming!
First, we find Vencarlo at long last! Once we escape, he passes on the mantle of Blackjack to one of our heroes. But that’s not what Annata wants the most from him… She tries to provoke him into starting up a romance, to little effect. In reality, the DM admitted that he wasn’t comfortable role-playing the romance. Which was a little surprising to me, as our DM is gay. “Between the two of us, you’re the one who’s uncomfortable with this? Damn, I guess I need to be hitting the gym!”
But before we leave the city… Annata feels obliged to speak out! Yes, I actually prepared that whole speech (entire text is included in the session summary). So sue me, I’m a roleplayer. Educated folks and people with enough of the Old Country in their blood may recognize the bit towards the end that I included as an homage to Irish patriot Michael Collins.
Then we move into A History of Ashes. I have to say, we were pretty nonplussed by the Byzantine plot laid out before us. “To find out about the relics in the Queen’s crown, you need Guy#1 to tell you, but to do that you need to perform Heroic Task 1, but to do that you need Guy #2, but to do that you need to perform Heroic Task 2, but for that you need Guy #3, but for that you need to perform Heroic Task 3.” Michael Kortes, we have our eye on you. The action setpieces better be spectacular to make up for this lead-us-by-the-nose plot.
Annata is in a weird place right now. She is starting to see the hand of destiny laid strong upon them. It had already been impressed upon her that the two men she was fighting alongside were a Korvosan Guard and a Sable Company Marine, which is very symbolic of the founding of Korvosa. But now with venturing out among the Shoanti, she is starting to wonder if she’s Saint Alika the Martyr in this tale. As a Korvsan city girl, she has been told since she was young that Shoanti are barbarians, pretty much into arson, rape, and murder in whatever order occurs to them, depending on how much they’re out of their primitive minds on fermented horse urine or whatever. So mentally she’s hovering between “chosen of Sarenrae” and “martyr complex.”
So now we’re in a weird dungeon with two Brotherhood of Bones weirdos. Laori was all right, but Annata’s not sure about these two. They did help kill the latest wave of Red Mantis assassins though. And did the author really think the tentacle beast was going to be a surprise? The second we heard “drop down to dark water” we all said “Yep, it’s Helm’s Deep.”
People of Korvosa!
Dark times are upon us. Our so-called Queen is flaunting the law as she tears our city apart. Her “physicians” were nothing more than imported saboteurs from Cheliax who spread plague and chaos in our streets. She has murdered our king and conspires with devils in her quest to weaken our people and our nation!
Was not our city founded by the bravery of Waydon Endrin and Field Marshal Korvosa? And have not the Sable Company and the Korvosan Guard served and protected our city for centuries? And now the Queen has, with her own hand, murdered Marcus Endrin and illegally dissolved the Sable Company. And also with flagrant disregard for our charter and the will of the people, she has supplanted the Korvosan Guard with her own pet mercenary force.
But we, the free people of Korvosa, will not be fooled. Our monarch serves by the will of the people; we are not slaves or subjects to be slain or dominated for her convenience. She is subject to our laws, not their master. Her foreign influence and consorting with devils will not help her avoid seeing justice for her crimes.
And I say to you that the Goddess sees all these things. Remember her love for you; she will strengthen you while we endure the disgraces of this despot, until we can remove this Queen in favor of a true ruler of the people of Korvosa. Her anger burns hot against this usurper and the deception she would commit against our city, our home.
The Queen has her Chelish agents, her devils, her Grey Maidens, her evil
priests… But we have a weapon more powerful than any in her whole arsenal. We have our will; our will to not bow to any order but our own, any institution but our own.
Brave men have dared much in the defense of Korvosa. And we have all suffered much. But no true Korvosan can rest until we are once again free!
We continue into the fourth chapter of the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path from Paizo, using the Pathfinder RPG beta rules.
Part I of A History of Ashes is kinda Part II since we got a lot of the initial plot explication out in the previous session. We were really short on players, so Chris’ girlfriend decided to dive in as Amiri the barbarian, and she learned the joy of the UltraHack!
It was a short session, we screwed around a lot beforehand. We went to get devoured by the sandworm, but the noob is the only one who got swallowed! Then we go to perform some barbarian initiation ritual where we have to keep our poles erect for three days straight. Has anyone else noticed that this whole adventure path has been pretty homoerotic? In the art, even in the character descriptions, there’s "a lot for the ladies" in Curse of the Crimson Throne. Good thing I’m playing a female character.
We’re moving quickly, and we finish up the fourth chapter of the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path this session.
In Part II of A History of Ashes (10 page .pdf), Annata, Malcolm, and Amiri successfully complete our Shoanti ritual as Thorndyke rejoins us. And then we have to face the biggest Red Mantis hit squad yet. Amiri and Krojin Eats-What-He-Kills benefit greatly from their barbarian unflankability. Sadly Malcolm does not, and the fight turns into a WoW-style format of Annata pouring healing as quickly as she can into Malcolm as he hacks at his opponents. Annata is pretty lucky with striking people blind, her blindness spell succeeds on Cinnabar the Mantis leader. It’s one of Sarenrae’s prime punishments for infidels so her good luck is dramatically perfect.
Annata respects the Shoanti people a lot more now. In the beginning she was fearful (as around Korvosa they’re generally considered to be the murder and rape brute squad) and looked down on their “savage” ways. But living with them, and seeing how they conduct themselves both in battle and in camp, she’s impressed. They’re certainly brave - Krojin didn’t even bother considering the whole “turn them over to the Red Mantis” spiel from Cinnabar - but they are also surprisingly joyful. Annata’s never been a big partyer (being largely confined to a temple for most of her post-street urchin life) and their celebrations, even after being attacked, seem much more honest and unabashed than Korvosan life, which appeals to some of her understanding of Sarenrae’s teaching (their worship of the sun also seems symbolic to her). She gets a bit of a Spring Break experience out of the celebrations and she needed that; being underground resistance in Korvosa had her wound pretty tight. By the time she has to leave, she is proud to be a Sun Clan Shoanti!
Amiri stays with the clan and Annata works to get her hooked up with Krojin. Brandie was just temping as a player, and Amiri’s backplot says she was trying to find acceptance with the barbarians so that wraps up neatly.
At the end of Part II, we actually started The Skeletons of Scarwall and did the initial briefing, Harrow readings, etc. And we get to see Laori again when we go find the Brotherhood of the Bones people! Shadow Count Sial and Asyra are lame, but Annata really likes Laori. Except for the evil-god thing they are two peas in a pod and happily chatter away with each other till Malcolm and Thorndyke are driven to distraction.
We head out to haunted Castle Scarwall in Part I of Skeletons of Scarwall (8 page .pdf), the fifth and penultimate chapter of the Curse of the Crimson Throne adventure path. Fighting undead is where Annata is a Viking, so we’re kicking bony ass and taking ghoulish names. We were tickled to be fighting orcs and skeletons, it’s like we’re first level all over again.
I know it’s hard for a DM to run NPCs in a party, but these three Brotherhood of Bones hangers-on we have are worthless with a capital LESS! Well, except for our favorite, Laori, who is always entertaining. This session, she let Annata know she’d like to sleep with her! I’m writing a separate blog post about how she dealt with that. Will it violate the Paizo fansite license morals clause? Find out, read post once it's done!
At the end, we fought and slew what we think is the “main boss” but it didn’t lift the evil aura around the place; Paul was impressed that I then intuited we’d need to kill all the sub-bosses and then kill the main boss else he’d just respawn. I’ve been playing RPGs and computer games for 25 years, I know how game designers think.
Let me say again for the record how sweet the Channel Energy power is for clerics in Pathfinder. For those not familiar with it, Pathfinder replaced turning undead with “channeling energy.” It heals people in short range and harms AND turns undead. You can augment it with feats as Annata has - her channeling damages (but doesn’t turn) evil outsiders, she can make it heal only her allies (by default it heals everyone in range), and she’s quickened it to a free action with Quicken Turning. It means that:
* If you have a day where you’re not fighting undead, one of your major class powers isn’t worthless.
* You can heal at range rather than always having to incur attacks of opportunity to go heal a comrade.
* You can heal multiple party members at once.
* You have loads of dice of healing that don’t eat up your spell slots. Thus you get to use spells for useful proactive things.
* With the quicken, you aren’t wasting your time every round of combat with only healing.
Face it, as damage dealing has grown, Cure spells have not kept pace. Even low level characters dish out or take like 20 points of damage a round - at our level, 80 points in a round isn’t uncommon and I’ve seen more than 100. The usual 1d, 2d, 3d, 4d Cure spells are pretty much worthless in the face of that; I’d need ten minutes and my entire spell loadout to take care of just a couple rounds of combat. So the channeling steps in to fill the gap and let the cleric do something in a round other than heal. Neat!
We continue to clear Castle Scarwall in Part II of Skeletons of Scarwall (8 page .pdf). Two more of the four sub-bosses, a devil bat lady (who really reminds me of an enemy from some video game I can't place) and a shadow dragon, fall to our swords and sorcery, leaving only one sub-boss to go and then the main boss - who we already killed once before, so no worries there. Our party is only three strong, but we are mighty!
The main challenge is keeping enough spells held back to take care of Shadow Count Sial when he finally decides to turn on us. He's acting even twitchier than usual and it's clearly only a matter of time. I hope Laori sides with us and not him when it all goes down. Though Annata's not quite sold on the hot girl-on-girl Laori proposed last session, she's been a good friend so far.
We hit level 13 at the end of the session. For Annata, I'm thinking adding a level of Crusader (a holy martial artist from Tome of Battle: The Book of Nine Swords) to get more combat prowess. She's supposed to be a holy warrior but her damage sucks (1d6+2 whether you need it or not!). She's finally worked through the feat chains to add one of the Pathfinder beta crit feats, which will help... She could make her crits fatigue, stagger, sicken, or bleed an opponent, I'm still deciding which. But with Crusader she'd get all kinds of nice boosts. Paul's letting me swap out Stone Dragon school for Desert Wind school to match Sarenrae's sun focus, though counting the powers as one level higher. I'm thinking Death Mark, Fan the Flames, Flashing Sun, Foehammer, Divine Surge, and Thicket of Blades stance. Although Iron Guard's Glare is also attractive, and if combined with Fire Riposte and Holocaust Cloak, and potentially the various fire shield magics Annata has available to her, could be compelling.
It's a shame to lose a level of spellcasting, but truth be told, seventh level cleric spells suck. First of all, there's not enough of them. And four of those, really the only good ones, are basically the same spell (dictum/holy word/blasphemy/word of chaos). Spells like Holy Word and Disrupting Weapon suck because they specify that they only affect creatures of less than your caster level. So they're no use on big bads, they are only mook-mowers, and we have plenty of other mook-mowing options. The symbol spells which also take up several spots on the spell list suffer from the same issue. She'll miss the level bump to Channel Energy way more.
Quite the drama erupts in Part III of The Skeletons of Scarwall, in which our dear priestess Annata gets killed! The last sub-boss in Scarwall got her with a Trap the Soul, and all our anti-undead/necromancy/death magic protections were of no avail because – get this – that’s a conjuration spell. The boys killed the demi-lich and broke the gem, but then had to Shadow Walk back to Kaer Maga to get a Resurrection. On the one hand, dying is scary, on the other hand, she got to see Sarenrae Heaven first hand and meet the Sunlord Thalachos, Sarenrae's herald, so after she recovers from the physical aftereffects she’s mentally and spiritually quite invigorated.
Then the Shadow Count (and pet chain devil) finally turns on us and Laori. We spank him but Laori heads out to Cenobite Heaven to sightsee, so the Boner Squad is no more. And sadly Laori missed her last chance to put the moves on Annata.
And then we finally get the fabled (and holy, intelligent, and badass) blade Serith-Teal! Thondyke is chosen as its wielder; as it’s both intelligent and holy it’ll have no part of Malcolm, and Annata (though to be honest a little jealous) thinks he’ll get a lot more use out of it.
And with that, Castle Scarwall is cleansed! We get a sending from Vencarlo that tells us it’s time to return to Korvosa and whip some b~~%+-queen ass. About time, we reply. But first, we have $50k a head to gear ourselves out like the 14th level master killers we are! To the magic mall!
Go enjoy the full 10 page .pdf summary of the session (and all the others). Your favorite adventurers will return next session with Crown of Fangs!
The last chapter of Curse of the Crimson Throne starts out with a bang in Crown of Fangs, Part I. In Kaer Maga we meet a bard and his Shoanti barbarian girlfriend/henchman who also wants to see the Queen fall in Korvosa. We sign them up!
Behind the scenes, Patrick (Thorndyke) is in London for a month, so we had to send him ahead of the group to "scout". Bruce (Valash) is still stuck in a bizarre employment purgatory where his ex-employer is keeping him on on a contract basis but he has to fly to frickin' Minnepolis every week and is unlikely to ever return, really. This left us with only me (Annata) and Chris (Malcolm) - we are mighty, but 2 PCs is a little light. Luckily, there was a player who had to drop out of the other Curse of the Crimson Throne session at this point, Ed (Cayden Cailean, a bard). To get in a better RP experience, rather than run one 8-person game of CoCT, Paul (our GM) kindly split our gaming group and ran 2 4-person games. So we called up Ed and he'll be getting to finish out the AP, just with us instead of his original party! That's a nice win-win.
After we blow all our money on the best gear the Pathfinder RPG and Magic Item Compendium have to offer, Annata Word of Recalls our group back to Korvosa, into the shrine to Sarenrae at the Temple of Many, where she spent so many years as an initiate. We're quickly reunited with the rest of our resistance brethren - Vencarlo, Neolandus the seneschal, Grau the guardsman, and even Field Marshal Cressida Croft has gotten off her ass and decided it's time to fight the Queen. They give us a laundry list of targets which we go and prosecute, including a Blackjack impersonator and Sabine herself! Sabine, for those not following along, was at the heart of a love triangle ending in a duel between Grau and Vencarlo back in the day, and now she's the Queen's lesbian lover and goon squad commander. Except, sadly, they say she's really honorable at heart and should be turned and brought back alive. Annata's a good enough Sarenrae... -ite? ist? that she'll do it, but it doesn't make some parts of her heart happy. We brought her back alive; I'm sure she'll start vamping on Vencarlo again.
Annata is still way in love with Vencarlo and keeps trying to get him to do something about it, but he keeps saying "Yes, well, back to the struggle..." When she was younger this would have driven her into a fit of insecurity, but she's pretty confident in herself now and it's starting to annoy her. "I'm cute, smart, and can wipe out a small army solo, what's his problem?!?"
We also go on a special ops mission inside the Queen's palace. The bloatmage, her new seneschal, escapes us but we kill a mess of devils and retrieve the body of an Abadarian priest. Our comrades get things underway, and resistance forces reclaim the streets of Korvosa!
Things are going well. Annata's still trying to figure out Cayden's part in the story. She is one of those people who sees symbolism in everything, and so far she's seen huge parallels between Malcolm and Thorndyke and the original founders of Korvosa, Field Marshal Jakthion Korvosa and original Sable Company Marine Waydon Endrin. She wouldn't be surprised, when it's all over, to see them heading up the Korvosan Guard and Sable Company Marines respectively. She suspects she's Alika Epakena (St. Alika, who died saving Korvosa from the Great Fire). She died once already at the hands of a demilich in Scarwall Keep, and though her comrades released her soul and got her a Resurrection, it definitely showed her that there's ways to die that magic won't cure, and would be unsurprised to give her life permanently in a final effort to save her beloved Korvosa. Cayden - she's not sure. Maybe he represents Montlion Jeggare, the gentleman explorer who also had a hand in the founding of the city, and became a major merchant house? The whole thing with House Arkona hasn't been resolved yet; her deal with the hidden rakshasa Lord Arkona is chafing at her and her inclination to purge all evil from Korvosa is starting to chip away at it, so there may certainly be a power vacuum there too. She'll figure it out, she's sure that destiny's hand is laid hard upon the group.
In Crown of Fangs, Part II, it gets interesting. We go back to assault the castle again. And we get to use a deck of many things! Old school indeed. And we mostly survive! Thorndyke gets to kill a horned devil not once but twice with the magic sword Serith-Tial. And Malcolm gets a keep and lands; his long held goal of becoming Doctor Doom is near at hand.
Annata has a bit of a bad day – she gets tentacle-raped to death by a worm devil. Her deck of many things draw is the only thing that saves her! And she goes from orphan to noble in the bargain.
And our new bard Cayen has a complicated love life. First, his brother shows up to play his barbarian girlfriend, which is weird out of the gate. Then, he gets his alignment changed by the deck to Lawful. And finally, the Red Mantis leader falls in love with him (again, the deck at work). Hell hath no fury like a high level barbarian woman scorned!
Next session will be the campaign finale. Will we defeat the Queen? Will Snu-Snu cleave Cayden in half? Will Vencarlo finally romance Annata? Will Thorndyke do justice to the legend of Blackjack? Will Annata become the next Queen? What will Malcolm choose to defile with his bodily excretions now? And will Korvosa finally be free? So many questions – but nothing might and magic can’t answer!
Crown of Fangs Part III is the campaign finale for the Curse of the Crimson Throne. Annata, Malcolm, Thorndyke, and Cayen have to depose the evil queen and then stop her weird blood ritual from killing everyone in Korvosa.
For nine months (realtime and, approximately, game time) we've been working towards this moment. Over many battles we've learned our own powers and how to work together as a team in perfect concert. And it all pays off. We storm Castle Korvosa and liberate it, only to discover the real Queen has already left for an ancient Thassilonian site for her blood ritual. But the hounds of war have been loosed and distance and sorcery do not deter us from the pursuit of justice.
When everything has settled, we get the rarest of rare things - a real storybook ending. You'll have to read the full session summary for the details!
I personally enjoyed this campaign the most of all the ones you see here, and I think the other guys feel the same way. Using the Pathfinder beta rules, we didn't have much in the way of rule frustration that mars some of our other games, and the mix of solid roleplaying along with interesting NPCs, sweet locations, and demented foes came out as a totally solid mix.
I hope you've enjoyed our tale of the Curse of the Crimson Throne. Check out our continuing adventures for more fun!
That's great! Congratulations on finishing the campaign!
Thanks, we definitely have a sense of accomplishment from this one. And I got to be PRETTY!