I have been GMing Kingmaker for a while now, and the players are at lv6, and little over half-way through Rivers Run Red. So far, it has been going rather well, but there are some interesting possibilities that have presented themselves before me:
Villains getting away to haunt the players another day.
So far, Tartuk the kobold sorcerer, and Rigg Gargadilly, the quickling rogue, have made their escape from the clutches of the PCs. And as the players expand their influence, I find that having some antagonists may provide some entertainment.
I am in the middle of making my very own "League of (escaped) Evil" to haunt the players. Tartuk and Rigg are both tricksters in their own right, and I am looking for some suggestions on how I can best make the lives of the PC's sour with these two insufferable little cretins.
(I have leveled up Tartuk to 7, since he has had to fend for himself in a now human-controlled land, and equipped him with mostly manipulation and divination for his new spells known, as well as fireball, since I imagine he would spite-blast a few herds of livestock, a random caravan, etc.)
RPG Superstar 2011 Top 32
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The really nasty recurring villains hit you when you are down and escape before you can put the hurt on them.
I would do the following:
1) Give them allies and not just mooks.
2) Give Tartuk some decent divinations (and maybe another level so he can scry and dimension door)
3) Have them show up when the PCs are weak (after random encounters, late at night, etc)
4) Have them high tail it before things get nasty.
I plan on doing some other things with Tartuk. For one, I converted him to a summoner (for story reasons) and two I changed his backstory. I like him being a gnome-turned-kobold but I think I will change his backstory to cursed by the BBEG fey. Instead of being resurrected by decent townsfolk I will have him cursed with madness and continual reincarnation in continually more demeaning forms (like lich-light).
I want to make curing him of the curse its own mini-story so that the PCs can eventually make some use of him.
...I'd love to do that with Tartuk in my game. Except Chief Sootscale is wearing his skull as a hat now.
Didn't stand a chance.
You could have Tartuk lead another tribe of kobolds to attack one of your secondary towns. Then after the PC's spend resources wasting the kobolds he ambushes them. Perhaps with some large monstrous ally
If him and the quickling work together they could be a perfect infiltration team. The fey can dash into the heart of the PC's castle while invisible, Tartuk can scry on his location, and teleport in a whole load of nasty.
1) Give them allies and not just mooks.
I had some ideas:
- One of the few surviving mites from the first part take on some druid levels and come back on a giant mantis (or other large vermin), hellbent on taking vengeance for his murdered kin.- A troll (later taking levels as ranger) serving Tartuk through charms and compulsions (since giants now count as humanoids).
- An evil fey bard (thinking a twisted satyr), sent by the BBEG to aid the enemies of her enemies
- A cleric of Gyronna, motivated by spite for the loss of the cultists
Basically create a "party" of evil characters, who have CRs close to the PCs level.
How about Grigori (or another agent from Pitax). Or others with ties to other River Kingdoms - Mivon's Swordlords spring to mind.
How about Grigori (or another agent from Pitax). Or others with ties to other River Kingdoms - Mivon's Swordlords spring to mind.
I was contemplating him, since a bard can be a huge asset to a group of villains, but since he is non-evil, and left town on a high note, making the spymaster almost tear his hair out, he doesn't have a reason to associate with such nasty characters.
About the Mivon Swordlords, I am not quite sure where they will stand in relation to the fledgling kingdom, so I might use one or two optimized bad-guy fighters that represent a political extemist faction of Mivon, in order to TRY to make enemies, and sour the relationship so a war might be possible down the road.
Since it was the Rostlandic Swordlords of Restov who put the PCs in power and will be benefitting from their presence on the Southern border, maybe factions closer to the Issian king would want to destabilise Restov's Southern 'allies'.
My players just killed goody Niska, but in a rather stumbling and drawn-out manner, allowing her to succeed in some nefarious horrors;
- sacrificing over a score of newborns to the goddess, by fooling the mothers into believing the children were stillborn then spiriting the children away after convincing the distraught parents that she will see to it that it received a proper burial
- weaving unrest by spreading rumors that the horrible chain of misfortune indicates the anger of Gyronna, seeing how the capital IS built on the site of an unholy monastery (old Stag Lords fort)
- sowing general distrust between the good townsfolk, by fabricating rumors about the ruler (being a dark-featured man from Ustalav) is dealing with dark energies and the undead, and might well be the cause of the bad harvest (rolled two "food shortage" events back to back before Niska's event)
So, she fell in pretty good favor with the goddess, and the shrine was defiled with a fireball, killing all the cultists outright. Anyone got any good ideas how Gyronna's spiteful nature might come back and bite them in the bum? (Don't hold back on the horrible department, I have no problems using Book of Vile Darkness or various Tome of Horror effects, as the players are rather exceptional in finding the most powerful spells, feats and other boosts to power they can find)
One idea I had was to use her vengeful spirit as a guide and confidante to Tartuk and Rigg Gargadilly, using her intimate knowledge of the capital to let the "League of Evil" make informed strikes and cause most pain and havoc. Maybe even have her come back as a low-level undead to bolster their ranks as their cleric.
Also, they routed most of the trolls, almost losing the figther (Cleric's prayer spell saved him, as I calculated too much damage initially, and sent him to 3 points below Con, prompting me to hum "Bon Jovi - Living on a Prayer"). I was thinking of having Tartuk charm and befriend one of the now scattered trolls, and giving it levels in ranger (keeping CR=PC levels) with favored enemy Humanoid (Human) to reflect it's anger and lust for revenge. Expanding the league of evil beyond the two tricksters.
I'm so going to steal the League of Evil idea.
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...And I'm calling it at 10 replies until the "Dr. Horrible" reference surfaced. That's 9 more than I first guessed!
Love the idea of bad guys banding together. Anyone every enjoy the Lone Wolf game books? There's a nice scene in the 11th book, "Prisoners of Time."
I had wanted to do something like you described in our first "Crimson Throne" game, since the characters were upstanding and turned Gaedren Lamm and all the others they'd subdued through nonlethal damage into the Watch. Was going to love having those inmates running the Citadel when... someone... fully came to power and freed them.
I created a satyr half-fiend bard, serving as Nyrissa's hands-on lieutenant, since I imagine that if she is willing to sponsor and aid trolls, she would be very interested in aiding evil fey, and others with an interest in bringing down the PCs and their little upstart nation.
Kilbranner Half-Fiend Satyr Bard2
“Before you stand the most fiendishly attractive creature you have laid eyes upon, his black eyes shining with lust and luster, his wavy brown tresses perfectly framing his handsome face. The perfectly sculpted body rising from cloven feet, covered in barb-like curls, wrapped in glistening black leather wings, crowned with curved ebony horns. Even the most pious woman momentarily forgets the existence of her god in the presence of this undeniable manifestation of carnal sin.”
Kilbranner is one of Nyrissa’s confidantes, born from the union of a satyr and a succubus, he is desperate to prove his worthiness as the Nymph’s mate and lover, as her corrupted beauty is haunting his every waking moment. When he learned of Rigg and Tartuk’s ambition to topple the pesky humans, he gleaned a chance to earn the favor of his love. And maybe find some diversions to temporarily quell his burning desire.
CR7 - XP 3200
Neutral Evil Medium outsider (native)
Init +6; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; low-light vision; Perception +23
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DEFENSE
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AC 33, touch 18, flat-footed 26 (+4 shield, +6 Dex, +6 natural, +5 armor, +1 dodge, +1 deflection)
hp 87 (10d6+52)
Fort +7, Ref +15, Will +12; (+4 vs. bardic abilities, sonic and language dependent effects)
DR 5/cold iron and magic; Immune poison; Resist acid 10, cold 10, electricity 10, fire 10, sonic 10 (until it has reduced 50 HP damage); SR 18;
SA: countersong, distraction
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OFFENSE
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Speed 40 ft., fly 80 (good)
Melee horns +6 (1d6+4), bite +11 (1d6+4), 2 claw +11 (1d4+4)
Ranged short bow +9/+9 (1d6+9/x3) (Every hit restores 3 hp for Kilbranner, up to a total of 30)
Space 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks pipes, fascinate, smite good 1/day
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10) At will-charm person (DC 20), dancing lights, ghost sound (DC 19), sleep (DC 20), suggestion (DC 22) 1/day-fear (DC 23), summon nature's ally III, (CL 10) 3/day - darkness, poison (DC 22); 1/day – contagion (DC 22)desecrate, unholy blight (DC 22)
Spells: (CL 2, Concentration +11)
Lv1 – 4/day: Sorrow (DC 20, BoVD), Inspirational Boost, Grease (DC20)
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TACTICS
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Before Combat: Kilbranner is a master of deception and guile, and draws upon his exceptional skill in disguise and stealth in most situations, observing and gauging the PCs before even considering combat. Any encounter with him would likely be of his choosing, and if he is able to he will try to charm and compel as many potential allies to aid him before he takes on the PCs as possible. He uses his wand of shield to prepare for a potential violent encounter.
During Combat: The first thing Kilbranner does is fly out of melee range, and if he is leading the rest of the League, he uses his inspire courage, enhanced with an Inspirational Boost spell. Otherwise, he tries to scatter his opposition with Unholy Blight and Fear, and take out the rest with his bow, relying on his exceptional defenses to keep his enemies at bay. If he is forced to land and have to do melee, he fights furiously, using his smite to try to bring down a PC that has suffered significant damage, or seem easily felled, and delivering touch spells like Poison and Contagion on heavily armored PCs.
Morale: Kilbranner is here to lead and guide the league of evil, and considers himself far too superior and valuable to the cause to die for anything short of defending his mistress. If reduced to less than 30 HP, he flees, taking wing if he can, or creates a diversion to hide and skulk away. He will not, under any circumstance, reveal information about his mistress, or her plan for the Stolen Lands, as that is a surefire way to lose her favor forever.
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STATISTICS
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Str 18, Dex 22, Con 20, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 28;
Base Atk +5; CMB +11; CMD 25
Feats: Dodge, Deadly Aim (factored into ranged attack and damage), Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Weapon Finesse
Skills: Bluff +21, Diplomacy +27*, Disguise +21, Handle Animal +27*, Fly +15, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (nature) +8, Knowledge (planes) +7, Perception +25, Perform (wind instruments) +27, Sense Motive +11, Stealth +23, Use Magic Device +20;
Racial Modifiers: +4 Perception, +4 Perform, +4 Stealth
*: Skill bonus derived from Versatile Performer
Languages: Common, Sylvan, Infernal
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Treasure: +1 strength adjusted +4 composite short bow fitted with a lesser lifedrinker crystal plus 40 arrows, masterwork panpipes, +1 mithril chain shirt fitted with a clasp of sonic protection (lesser), ring of protection +1, wand of shield (13 charges, CL2) (Lifedrinker crystal and clasp of sonic protection is found in Magic Item Compendium)
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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SQ: Bardic music (15 rds/day)
Pipes (Su): Kilbranner can focus and empower his magic by playing haunting melodies on his panpipes. When he plays, all creatures within a 60-foot radius must make a DC 22 Will save or be affected by charm person, fear, sleep, or suggestion, depending on what tune he chooses. A creature that successfully saves against any of the pipes' effects cannot be affected by the same set of pipes for 24 hours, but can still be affected by Kilbranner's other spell-like abilities as normal. Kilbranner's use of his pipes does not count toward his uses per day of his spell-like abilities, and if separated from them he may continue to use his standard abilities. The pipes themselves are masterwork, and Kilbranner can craft a replacement with 1 week of labor. The save DC is Charisma-based., Smite Good (Su): Once per day Kilbranner can add extra damage equal to his HD (maximum of +20) against a good foe.
Notes: Kilbranner levels up with the players, staying 1 CR over their APL. His favored class is bard, favoring spells that aid his minions and disrupt/debuff his enemies.
I know Kilbranner is dangerously optimized, and may seem more powerful than his CR indicates. If you want to tone him down, feel free to do so, but I am dealing with a group that puts a face to the term "party optimization" and "Min/Maxing" and plays in a hive-mind manner that completely overshadow any signs of individuality and personality of the characters. So I really need him to be this powerful to not be crushed in one round of combat.
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*snip*
I had wanted to do something like you described in our first "Crimson Throne" game, since the characters were upstanding and turned Gaedren Lamm and all the others they'd subdued through nonlethal damage into the Watch. Was going to love having those inmates running the Citadel when... someone... fully came to power and freed them.
I did pretty much exactly this, except it was
It ended with a massive battle at the PCs big reward ceremony for curing the plague. Featuring Rolth, a Ghoulish Gaedren (without age penalties and some added rogue levels), a dominated Jolistina, a flesh golemized Vreeg (built from the corpses of Vreeg, the derro and cabbagehead) and a bloody skeletonized Verik Vankaskerkin.
Very epic.
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I am resurrecting the League of Evil...thread.
I may be incredibly evil, but I have about three fairly threatening enemies that survived to torment the group later, and I had a diabolical idea.
First, the survivors:
- Yethim - a random will-o-wisp who the group failed to kill not once, but twice(he ambushed them during the Tatzlwyrm encounter once they fatally wounded one of the Tatzlwyrms, using its fear to return to full HP). After nearly dying a second time, he really, really wants to kill them all and the feeling is somewhat mutual.
- Nugrah the Decrepit - in a strange twist, the cleric of the party defied all expectations and saved the Stag Lord's life rather than let him go down in a blaze of glory. The Stag Lord, who respected strength above all else, agreed to a truce and even allowed the cleric to meet Nugrah, which went a long way to explaining why the Stag Lord believed in little else but survival of the fittest. Since the Stag Lord was left to decide his father's fate, the old druid was simply sealed into the cellar and left to rot. Suffice it to say, leaving an extremely evil druid alive and removing the one person he fears...not a good idea.
- Davik Nettles - Make nice with the Stag Lord and there's going to be one very ugly consequence... as long as he's alive, Davik Nettles is effectively immortal and powered by hate. It's easy to be sympathetic toward a dead man, but I gave Nettles and the Stag Lord a little more backstory since it seemed strange that the Stag Lord would be impressed by Kressle's courage but murder a guy with the stones to stand up to him. Our Davik was a fly-by-night operator who came to the Stolen Lands to make his money on toll bridges, scoffing at the six river freedoms as provincial thinking. He bribed bandits to build his reputation as someone to be respected and when the Stag Lord came to compare the reputation with the man, he was found wanting. Rather than face the Stag Lord in single combat, he tried to bribe him as well, digging the hole a little deeper, and ended up setting his own bridge on fire in the hopes that would clean the slate. So the Stag Lord made sure Nettles was on the bridge while it burned. The vengeful corpse merely wanted the Stag Lord dead, but now he has a new group of targets...victims whose deaths won't end his suffering but by the same token, won't send him into the next life, either. He's starting to enjoy the immense power granted by his unlife and could become the most dangerous of all three loose ends...
Now, here's what I'm thinking of doing with them and any other enemies the PCs make while forging their new kingdom:
Three NPCs is very nearly a full party. So, aside from being a little weaker in starting cash, what's to stop them from starting a rival kingdom of their own? I'm not expecting a vibrant city that the rest of the world is going to trade with or even a huge number of hexes. But where there's a city, there's potentially an army and a stronghold waiting to challenge and destroy everything the PCs have made. The most diabolical part is that the PCs will spend over a year, possibly longer, not even realizing someone else is starting a competing franchise. All those ideas that seem sort of weird but work mechanically, like a city that has cemeteries on every block? Maybe humans wouldn't like to be surrounded by dumps and brothels, but how do trolls and kobolds feel? I'd like to keep to the rules as much as I can, but I have a little free license since this would be an evil nation rising up on the bones of that long-forgotten barbarian. As a matter of fact, that's not such a bad way to finance a city. If you don't care about squeezing people, it's not hard to rake in the build points...
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I am resurrecting the League of Evil...thread.
I may be incredibly evil, but I have about three fairly threatening enemies that survived to torment the group later, and I had a diabolical idea.
First, the survivors:
** spoiler omitted **...
Now I'm wondering about cost offsets like Slave Labor, which would reduce cost but probably bomb Loyalty into the stone age.
Now I'm wondering about cost offsets like Slave Labor, which would reduce cost but probably bomb Loyalty into the stone age.
I'd probably rule you'd have to be an Evil -- or at least LN -- kingdom to employ slave labor. That said...
BP is abstract. It could be people paying their taxes to let you hire carpenters, masons, and so on. It could be people investing their own money and labor to build buildings for themselves. It could be you whipping kobold slaves on the brickworks. Lots of possibilities.
It won't be infinite labor; you don't have infinite numbers of slaves. (And you still have to at least feed them, unless you're working prisoners to death, in which case your kingdom is definitely Evil, and you still have to replace the slaves. Unless you animate them as zombies. Which is going to cause its own problems... see how the spiral gets out of control?)
I'd probably have the use of slave labor give your kingdom +1 Economy, -1 Loyalty, and -1 Stability, plus generate 1 Unrest each turn (or more if you're using lots of slaves.) Necessarily much effort must be employed to keep them down.
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Now I'm wondering about cost offsets like Slave Labor, which would reduce cost but probably bomb Loyalty into the stone age.
I'd probably rule you'd have to be an Evil -- or at least LN -- kingdom to employ slave labor. That said...
BP is abstract. It could be people paying their taxes to let you hire carpenters, masons, and so on. It could be people investing their own money and labor to build buildings for themselves. It could be you whipping kobold slaves on the brickworks. Lots of possibilities.
It won't be infinite labor; you don't have infinite numbers of slaves. (And you still have to at least feed them, unless you're working prisoners to death, in which case your kingdom is definitely Evil, and you still have to replace the slaves. Unless you animate them as zombies. Which is going to cause its own problems... see how the spiral gets out of control?)
I'd probably have the use of slave labor give your kingdom +1 Economy, -1 Loyalty, and -1 Stability, plus generate 1 Unrest each turn (or more if you're using lots of slaves.) Necessarily much effort must be employed to keep them down.
Well, these are definitely evil people. Alignment isn't a problem there.
Seems mild for such a large shift in a society. Using that as a starting point, maybe something more like: +4 Economy, -8 Loyalty, +1 Stability, 1d6 Unrest once. it's used to boost productivity. My thinking is that slave labor might lower the average citizen's loyalty and generate unrest, but fear is a strong motivator and would likely add to stability rather than decrease it. The residual effects are handled by the loyalty penalty along the lines of taxing the citizens into poverty. I very nearly increased the continuous unrest you suggested, but as James Jacobs pointed out, the reason no building gives a continuous adjustment to Unrest is because it gets out of hand very quickly. As a penalty on every check, giving slave labor continuous unrest would turn slave labor into a net penalty with no benefits at all(if only that were true).
That's my thinking, anyway.
EDIT: I think I would have it add to Consumption, but the idea is for a sort of single-choice Edict. Tying Slave Labor to Consumption would end up as a wash, probably. Maybe rock-bottom Consumption, like 1 BP, so that the benefit pays out handsomely at a cost of being able to live with yourself.
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EDIT: I think I would have it add to Consumption, but the idea is for a sort of single-choice Edict. Tying Slave Labor to Consumption would end up as a wash, probably. Maybe rock-bottom Consumption, like 1 BP, so that the benefit pays out handsomely at a cost of being able to live with yourself.In Early America, the Founders considered Abolishing Slavery then and there, but it was too important to the economy to not allow slaves. Maybe it would give an even higher bonus to economy as well as reducing consumption (BP is approximately considered Labor, and slavery is free labor) but the price of it would be scorn from other countries, you would PROBABLY get attacked, looking at the Guide to the River Kingdoms, freedom from slavery is one of the 6 freedoms. Also it would kill your conscience to let something like that happen.
Consciences aside(Evil NPCs, after all), you make a very good point about the reaction of other River Kingdoms, which means the population is much less likely to be human since gathering a human workforce is likely to be tricky without an environment friendly to this kind of evil. Someone suggested the evil Druid high priest could start reincarnating animals to create a docile humanoid workforce, though it's a bit of a large investment per slave. Probably pays for itself in a manner similar to roads though.
Combine it with Bad Horse, and you can have the Evil League of Evil.
Ah, but do you really need a human workforce to have slave labor? Not only is there at least 1 tribe of kobalds around (and where there's one there's bound to be others), but there's an even better source of slaves handy. Just give the evil druid a way to raise the dead, and you have a skeleton/zombie workforce ready made. Just find a few massacre sites (and I wager that Tartuk had set up a few of those in his time with the kobalds) and you have your undead workforce. They don't need to take breaks, and they're remarkably resistant to union organizers...
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Combine it with Bad Horse, and you can have the Evil League of Evil.
Bad Horse should be an antipaladin, not a low-level Rogue. Or else an Abyssal bloodline Sorcerer. Maybe even with Wail of the Banshee for his death whinny.
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Ah, but do you really need a human workforce to have slave labor? Not only is there at least 1 tribe of kobalds around (and where there's one there's bound to be others), but there's an even better source of slaves handy. Just give the evil druid a way to raise the dead, and you have a skeleton/zombie workforce ready made. Just find a few massacre sites (and I wager that Tartuk had set up a few of those in his time with the kobalds) and you have your undead workforce. They don't need to take breaks, and they're remarkably resistant to union organizers...
Actually, I created a survivor from one of Tartuk's kobold annihilating turns as Shaman, a permanently yellowed kobold raised from the dead. I might give him the undead sorcerer bloodline and have him handle the workforce. I do like the pure evil of reincarnating animals to be humanoid slaves though. It's a really vile thing for a Druid to do.
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So here's what I'm doing with the League of Evil and their fledgling Kingdom:
Sounds like you’re off to a good start. Here are a few things you might want to consider in how your Evil League of Evil might work:
1) How did your motley crew of disparate bad guys meet up with each other? Your mention of Nyrissa nudging along Nugrah might be a good start (did she bring them all together?). You also need a common cause to unite them all; simply hating the PCs might not be enough for a lasting alliance. They’re likely to turn on each other at some point in this alliance of convenience
2) Where are you placing the bad guy kingdom? The location with correct proximity to resources and to the PC kingdom (not too close, not too far) will likely be important.
3) Where is the enemy kingdom getting its resources and expertise? The druid turning animals into people is a good idea for slave labor (wicked idea, btw), but what about higher up and more skilled positions? Also, what about the initial start up costs and continual revenues needed to maintain a kingdom? Reincarnation and other such spells cost a lot of money too. Do the baddies have any trade partners that might give the PCs a clue as to what’s going on?
Overall, I like how your enemy kingdom idea a lot. From what I’ve read about this Nyrissa in the first couple of modules, it seems like a thing she would be likely to string along Nugrah. And the foul idea of him slaying animals (possibly after Awakening them) and reincarnating them into human form is pure (evil) genius. FYI, if you have the Standing Stone adventure for 3.0 D&D, there was a spell in there that an evil spellcaster used to turn normal animals into humans to repopulate a town he had wiped out. Also might give you some spooky ideas for what their lair might be like.
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My party did a poor job of searching the Stag Lord's fort. The missed some stuff that will be coming back to haunt them. Literally.
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Sounds like you’re off to a good start. Here are a few things you might want to consider in how your Evil League of Evil might work:
** spoiler omitted **
Ooh, thanks for the heads up on that older adventure. Definitely going to check that out for the flavor. I'll post an update soon that will answer a few of those questions(for starting funds, I was thinking that a certain evil someone with access to stone shape and relegated to guarding the loot might have been saving for a rainy day in sealed compartments throughout the cellar, especially if he spotted a few things that only a caster would know were valuable, but that's only a fraction of what they'd need).
How to keep them all together is the most important question, and that's going to require some thought. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants had a singular agenda, after all, and it was a lot bigger than "kill the X-men." With this group of miscreants, it's going to have to be a careful mix of power and self-interest.