|
My Wife (our bard) told me to post this twist I put into our Rise of the Runelords campaign:
Mentions material in the first three books:
Last night we did the Brother of Seven’s Sawmill. My problem with the fight and Ironbriar’s role in the whole thing is that is has this really cool part, a Magistrate using his position to protect his wicked cult.
My problem with it as written was that the party would never feel how twisted his misuse of his authority can be. In the unlikely possibility that the party deciphers his logbook, they might get his whole story- someone from Magnimar might recognize him while fighting him, or they might find out who he is if they engage in any meaningful dialogue.
So I put a twist on it. When party had cultists yelling “Protect Ironbriar”, felt to them like a little part of their world fell down. Here is why:
One of my player’s (the monk) background story elements involved a wandering brother who has had some slightly shady dealings and whose current location was unknown to the player.
In my gaming room (my basement) I have kept a corkboard that represents the posting board of the Rusty Dragon Inn. The postings have grown or changed since they began adventureing: Same menu, new odd jobs, something about a group of rangers called the black arrows welcoming new recruits, etc. One thing that was always been there since shortly after the goblin attack, has been a wanted poster from “a magistrate’s office of Magnimar” for the capture of the PC monk’s brother in regards to an murder.
Between Burnt offerings and the Skinsaw murders, a new posting was added proclaiming that the justice Ironbriar was looking for anyone with information about the recent murders in Magnimar.
After Foxglove manor, when the party went to Magnimar, they made a bee-line for the Ironbriar’s office. They were given the same treatment as when they tried to get to any murder scene… Offical matter… we have it taken care of… etc… in Ironbriar’s case it was “you need an appointment.” “ you need to talk to his clerk to get an appointment” “you need an appointment to see his clerk” “No, you cannot go inside to see his clerk, you need an appointment” “Do you have an appointment?” …etc.
So, my wife (playing the Bard) wrote a letter to Ironbriar. She told him about the party, that they had some information for him about murders in the Sandpoint area, and that they were staying at the copper dwarf inn & tavern. ( A tavern run by a Dwarf with a copper mechanical arm, They loved it’s dwarven tourist-trap feel!)
The next night, a party member woke up to a faceless stalker in his room (disguised as the inn’s owner) trying to plant the real dwarfs copper arm in the room. Combat ensued. PCs won and figured out that someone was trying to frame them for these murders, as the inn’s owner (now missing an arm) had been sacrificed on the floor below and a few guests slain.
Of course, when my players got to the sawmill, they had waited till a Oathday… at midnight… So everyone was mid ritual upstairs. The fight was fantastic, and as soon as the cultists dropped some lines about protecting Ironbriar (obvious references to the “important looking cultist with the scariest mask”) I could see my players register his whole role in it.
IronBriar usually knew about anyone that looked into the murders, because they came to him. He’s killed anyone that looked too far into the murders. He knew exactly where the player’s were staying and tried to eliminate them. He is even trying to frame the monk’s missing brother.
Ironbriar even got in some mightily good villain dialogue mid fight. It was great! And the party really really, really hated him for what he had been doing.
In the end, they found another wanted poster of the PC’s brother in Ironbriar’s room. It had in big letters written across the front “Traitor”. After a discussion with the captive Ironbriar, the party thinks that the brother was somehow involved with the cult, but ran away and has since left the city. .
Spoiler for where they will find the PC’s missing brother:
He will be one of the three blackarrow survivors. Can you guess which one?
Great work, cyrusduane !!
I really love the part with the Dwarf, I will steal that if you don’t mind ;-)
I totally agree that these villain needs a little backup to make him memorable, here is my take on him:
SPOILER FROM HERE
My players didn’t kill Tsutso in Burnt Offerings, Amiko asked them to accompany her to Tsutso’s trial in Magnimar (as a Noble he can’t be judged in Sandpoint). The trial was (of course) held by Ironbriar, I described him as a stern but fair judge, so hopefully they will go right to him when they finally go back to Magnimar (they are on their way to Foxglove at the moment), I will try to play Ironbriar as helpful advisor before they finally discover the sawmill.
I will change the whole Sawmill-Cult to something more upper-class, freemason-y.
I can’t wait for the faces of my players when the find out that Ironbriar is the villain, one of them is a lawyer, another one a Judge
Damn, how can I make a Spoiler-Tag ?????
Nice!
Damn, how can I make a Spoiler-Tag ?????
Click the "show" tag when posting. It's [ spoiler ][ / spoiler ] without the spaces.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Here is my twist starting from
defeating Aldern - I didnt hve a direct lead to the townhouse.
BTW My group has 7 players so i beefed up the power. I changed the Iesha and Aldern characters (Iesha was the foxglove) due to the male dominant party. I called the murders the Star Murders (not sihedron) and didnt have the cult called the Brotherhood of the Seven (they were brotherhood of the summit) due to its too obvious connection
Aftermath
Once they have defeated Iesha if they go to Sandpoint and tell anyone they will find some investigators from Magnimar present. They have been investigating the Star murders and word of this development has reached the town. Sergeant Tamisan Hoyle will be the investigating officer. He brings a couple of Magnimarian guards with him. They confirm the symbol as the same symbol as the Star Murderer and that they will make a report to Justice Ironbriar. They tell the party that there is a reward which will be coming their way.
A few days later Usher Creeble will attend to thank them for their service. He has ridden to town and visited the Misgivings. However when he arrives a message will be waiting for him (having come by fast boat). The Star Murderer has struck again in Magnimar- this time the victim was Hugle Ruffiallo, the proprietor of one of the most upmarket gambling dens in Magnimar. This man was a friend of Mayor Groboras and the Mayor has demanded the investigators of Sandpoint be summoned to try and track down this menace.
Welcome to Magnimar
The arrival in Magnimar is heralded by a squall blowing in from the ocean. It dies down overnight but in the morning clouds are gathering again.
Justice Ironbriar, Usher Ghalt (Dwarven lunmber merchant - ranger/assasin), Gaius Vanderale (ne'er do well aristocrat/bard)and Tamisan Hoyle (doppleganger-rogue) now make up the senior members of the cult of Father Skinsaw in Magnimar. Usher Ghalt and Gaius Vanderale were recruited by Justice Ironbriar into the corrupted Brotherhood of the Summit. Tamisan Hoyle is a ‘redeemed villain’ plucked from the Hells by Justice Ironbriar who realised his potential. Once it becomes clear that Iesha has been destroyed they will want to know whether their cover has been compromised. Justice Ironbriar will invite the reputable members of the party to meet with him to discuss details of the defeat of the Star murderer.
Carter Sharp ( a known friend of the group in Magnimar and an inveterate gambler) will advise that he has a high end game organized for this evening and they are welcome to join him once they have finished up.
The meeting at Ironbriars will not occur until after midday as he has duties in the morning, overseeing justice in this town. After lunch he will discuss that he has a list of murder victims, their occupation and the location their body was found. He tells them that they have been unable to speak with the dead bodies nor discern anything about the moments before their death. The only thing they have had in common was that they were universally greedy people who pursued money and were often well off, though they were not necessarily robbed. The theory initially was that money was the motive but as the body count mounted that theory has needed some revision. The sign of the seven pointed star has been carved on them with a sharp implement like a razor, this has been carved on them before they died. This sign is common in Thassilonian architecture and is said to represent the seven schools of magic used by the empire, also to represent the seven sins associated with those schools. While this is very interesting the knowledge has not helped locate the murderer. While Ironbriar clearly begrudges the PC’s he appears interested to see what they know. He suggests that they go, together with Seargent Hoyle. He says that Seargent Hoyle will know how to get in touch with him should the need arise. He will suggest investigating the Foxglove Townhouse immediately.
Seargent Hoyle will make it clear he is leaving the investigation to them, he leaves that up to the characters. He is here to watch and learn. He will report what is found back to Justice Ironbriar. He will try and stay at the rear of the party, his glaive is not much use in close quarters.
On the way to the townhouse another squall will blow in, driving wind and light rain making hearing and missile fire outside difficult. They will arrive at the Townhouse shortly after 3 in the afternoon.
In Iesha’s nest egg there is 300 PP and potion 2 doses invisibility, potion remove fear, oil 3 doses of magic weapon and a bunch of love letters mostly signed G.V. but at one point there is a reference to “my Vanderale heritage” and the welcome to the cult of Father Skinsaw (Religion DC 20 to know that is one of the names of one of the subcults of Norgober, dedicated to murder), the final note says “Do not worry about the death of Aldern—we will take care of it. It seems we are now obeying the Mistress.”
A DC 15 knowledge local will tell the party of Gaius Vanderale- the black sheep of the Vanderale family. He is totally disinterested in making money but rather has devoted himself to the arts. He lives in a small unit in the Marble District. Enquiries in that district can direct the party to the location. Sgt Hoyle will insist they go their immediately. It shall take just less than an hour to get to his house (arriving about 5 in the afternoon/evening) during which time the storm will worsen.
Gaius Vanderale’s house.
Gauis lives in part of the upstairs section of the Shy Mouse a quality restaurant. His living quarters has a beautiful lounge, a small but elegant upstairs with a bedroom large enough to have a desk and a balcony. The proprietor a halfling known as Master Gwenson will do what he can to avoid a fuss- including letting them in to Gaius room and telling them he has been out since mid morning.
In the bedroom will be found (search DC 20) a secret panel with space for 3 war razors but only 2 are present. In addition amongst Gaius papers is an invitation to the Reefclaw and Rose, Carter Sharp’s pub to the high stakes game that is being held tonight.On the way they will here that there is trouble in the harbour and people are being called to help the ships- it is being taken care of by the town guard.
The Reefclaw & Rose
The trip to the Reefclaw & Rose will about about an hour and a half.
Upon arrival at the Reefclaw & Rose the game will have broken up and Gauis will have take Carter to some other game- they left alone 5 minutes ago and no-one knows where they have gone – there are about 5 directions he could have gone in, split up and follow- Sgnt Hoyle will go for help.
Someone will see Carter being carried into the Sawmill and someone with a strange mask closing the door.
The light will go on in the top room…
Initially only Gaius will be present and the party will arrive before Sgnt Hoyle returns.
If they hang around waiting then Sgnt Hoyle will turn up and tell them they are on their own for at least a half hour but more like a couple of hours and better go in if they are going to save Carter.
Usher Ghalt and Justice Ironbriar will follow them up to arrive when they get to the top level.
I have been struggling with the transition from Misgivings to Magnimar for a while now and this thread has been extremely useful in generating ideas for completing the story elements and potential in this story.
Werecorpse, I particularly like your ideas here, though since I am using Aldern as is I can't use them exactly.
I guess I would like to do two things that aren't really in the adventure.
First, I would like to introduce the PCs to Magnimar in a much better way so that they feel a bit more connected to the area. I vaguely recall a thread a while back that gave some encounters around Magnimar with the intent to do this... I will need to search this out.
Second, continue the investigation feel of this adventure into the Magnimarian portion which seems to not be in the module (dropped for space?), and this is where this thread shines.
I guess the only thing I would want to play up more is the characters ability to drive the investigation themselves.
I will have to think about how exactly I want to do this a bit more... I do think I would like to work in the Mayor and the plot to kill him in this as well. Perhaps have the Mayor show up at thier first meeting with Ironbriar unannounced and be the one who commissions the players to investigate on behalf of the city (in an almost offhand manner). Ironbriar would have to go along with this begrudgingly. Then I would need to have some way of the PCs finding out about the plan to kill the Mayor and then foiling it.
Perhaps I will have Ironbriar NOT present at the sawmill, but some other member of the seven. Then have the PCs discover clues to the plot against the mayor and they can rush in and stop Ironbriar from performing the ritual on the Mayor himself... we'll see...
I will post what I come up with...
Thanks for the ideas!
Sean Mahoney
some plans
Sean Mahoney
My version would be useable merely by having Gaius Vanderale become a female vanderale ne'er do well- say Gevevieve Vanderale.
The main elemnt I felt was missing was the lack of any members of the brotherhood of seven except mooks
I found it hard to come up with an investigative scenario and I have found they dont really suit a 7 player group- which is why i went more for the cult setting up the party a bit. I recommend if you do go the investigation route, have Ironbriar have a patsy ready as the suspect and have them urged to report the supect (maybe a lumber mill owner) to Ironbriar who organises a group of guards (sense motive the guards seem a bit bloodthirsty in their eagerness to get to a fight) and goes with the party secretly, at night, to cacth the lumber owner in his lair- of course it is the players who are trapped. Players will 'enjoy' having Ironbriar turn on them
My players carved up Ironbriar with the Sihedron rune and made it look like he was the latest victim. It got them out of trouble with the guards, as it seemed they'd tried to save him but were just too late.
You got to love their pragmatism.
The main elemnt I felt was missing was the lack of any members of the brotherhood of seven except mooks
I feel the same way, so here's my idea
Spoiler:
I plan to flesh out the surroundings of the mill a bit, I think my players will spy on it for a while. upper-class coaches arrive, hooded man go into the sawmill (I picture dark coaches with dimmed lanterns – to give a “From Hell” feel to it all).
On the lower floors henchmen (without masks) work the mill and act as guards, on the upper floor the masked (upper class) cultists and Ironbriar sacrifice a victim to NorgoberWohooo, I have finally understood how spoilers work
|
|
Wow, great stuff. It's good to see people who had the same problem with Ironbriar being just another bad guy, if you don't change stuff.
In my campaign, the pcs met a caravan from Korvosa, who had no healer with them. When the pcs arrived, they were asked to check one wounded lad, who was found this very morning, almost dead. The victim bore the rune on his breast, and while he was talking about Turtleback Ferry (where he came from) the cleric noticed that little tattoo on his wrist, showing as well the rune!. With the caravan was Justice Ironbirar traveling (who had been in Korvosa, to deliver of the fungus from Foxglove Manor, which he was instructed to do by Xaneesha).
This way, they got to know a really polite and nice Justice from Magnimar, who also showed them where to stay for the night in Magnimar. He also gave them the bounty for that bandit, which head was found below Foxglove Manor. All in all they had a nice chat with him, discussing everything what they had experienced with him. As soon as Ironbiar had shown them a decent inn, he went to plan their murders.
When they finally confronted him in the sawmill, it was exactly what I had hoped for...
Here is my twist starting from
[spoiler] ommited
So can i get some of your advise in turning Iesha into the Foxglove.
Is it hard to do without all the proper pictures?
This thread contains the exact information and approaches I have been pondering and hoping to implement (but haven't quite gotten around to). I have been thinking that there needs to be more Seven style mystery and death in Magnimar before the party eventually figures out who the mastermind is.
I will be stealing quite a bit of the above.
CJ