Some of you may have seen my other posts about starting CoTC with only two players. I have ways of making it work (NPCs, etc) but I also have another idea and I'd like your opinion...
I was thinking of running each player (independantly) through an opening adventure where their lives are affected by Gaedren Lamm. Rather than just having this be part of the characters' backgrounds, I'd like to actually run them through it...
For instance: A player finds out his friend was murdered. When he investigates the murder, all signs point to Lamm. The player will probably pursue this, only to find that he is in way over his head and has to quit the investigation. Fast forward to him receiving the mysterious card....
I thought this would be a fun way of fleshing the Lamm-hatred out, as well as giving the PCs a jump start on some XP.
Any thoughts?
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I'm working on something like that myself at the moment. While I haven't got to far, I will go the Oliver Twist route. The Adventure takes the PCs as a kids gang working for Lamm, seeing and feeling his abuses for themselfs.
Then fast forward through everything leading to the characters current live (even wild stories like a lost or adopted noble kid if someone actually wants to play a noble etc.)
The characters, after receiving the mysterious note will probably meet again for the first time after 10+ years, friends once, now the might even pe part of different worlds (poor mercenary/rich "son" of a noble, guard/pickpocket etc.)
It might take a few more month to develope, but the we are still playing RotR.
Nice, I'm working on something similar myself.
Prequel adventures will start some five years before the AP. The PCs are all lambs in Lamm's network and they will run through some adventures that willarkkr them for life.
Some ideas:
- Lamm has noticed the new hype among young nobles: shiver. He has obtained an old abandonned theatre in which he he allowed a nest of dream spiders to hatch. Now he needs the lambs to 'milk' the spiders. Later on the PCs also witness Lamm contacting an alchemist ally who buys the drug ingredients and they witness Lamm selling drugs.
- Once a year the king visits the market. That day is a great opportunity for pickpockets, so the lambs are sent to pick as many pouches as possible. There the PCs witness a young Chelish noble woman catch the eye of the king when she's thrown off her horse (Ileosa who staged this accident to get the king to notice her). In her fall she loses a brooch, which one of the PCs picks up. There will probably some pickpocket, run and hide challenge in this encounter as well.
- Later on (during a great feast celebrating the king's marriage) Lamm will sell one of the PCs as a galley slave, and in a drunken stupor almost beat one of the others to death, only to be stopped by Blackjack, who saves the PC and sends him away to be raised elsewhere.
- I will also try to work in some NPCs who will play a role in the AP and give one of the PCs a younger sister who will become one of the Gray Maidens.
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For instance: A player finds out his friend was murdered. When he investigates the murder, all signs point to Lamm. The player will probably pursue this, only to find that he is in way over his head and has to quit the investigation. Fast forward to him receiving the mysterious card....
I thought this would be a fun way of fleshing the Lamm-hatred out, as well as giving the PCs a jump start on some XP.
Any thoughts?
I had the players find harrow cards (ones that would have easily tied into their past) with their names written in red ink (blood) on them telling them 'I know how you can (get your sister back/revenge/find out who wronged you), meet at my harrow shop at (time)' and when they all got there and sat down for the explanation/reading, she stood and said 'ok give me your harrow cards' and before anyone responded she said 'Thanks' and did the reading. I palmed the cards I had given to the players into the first reading, so I could 1) have an idea on what to say and 2) make sure the players knew she did have their card, even if they didn't give them to her
What the Pcs were doing when they found the cards was up to them.... I told them to take me through a normal day in their PC's life and stopped to throw out a comment or have then roll a perception check every few minutes (looking for the card and any fun troubles/vents I could think up while waiting for the results)
also at Eels end
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Nice, I'm working on something similar myself.
Prequel adventures will start some five years before the AP. The PCs are all lambs in Lamm's network and they will run through some adventures that willarkkr them for life.
Some ideas:
- Lamm has noticed the new hype among young nobles: shiver. He has obtained an old abandonned theatre in which he he allowed a nest of dream spiders to hatch. Now he needs the lambs to 'milk' the spiders. Later on the PCs also witness Lamm contacting an alchemist ally who buys the drug ingredients and they witness Lamm selling drugs.- Once a year the king visits the market. That day is a great opportunity for pickpockets, so the lambs are sent to pick as many pouches as possible. There the PCs witness a young Chelish noble woman catch the eye of the king when she's thrown off her horse (Ileosa who staged this accident to get the king to notice her). In her fall she loses a brooch, which one of the PCs picks up. There will probably some pickpocket, run and hide challenge in this encounter as well.
- Later on (during a great feast celebrating the king's marriage) Lamm will sell one of the PCs as a galley slave, and in a drunken stupor almost beat one of the others to death, only to be stopped by Blackjack, who saves the PC and sends him away to be raised elsewhere.
- I will also try to work in some NPCs who will play a role in the AP and give one of the PCs a younger sister who will become one of the Gray Maidens.
I hope you don't mind if I expand on some of those Ideas myself.
Yeah, Cpt...that's some great stuff.
I just don't think it's that exciting to say "Oh yeah, there's this crime boss that you really hate...and now you get to go kill him."
I'd rather flesh that out a bit more IN game.
All great ideas, one thing to realize though is that Korvosa was colonized by Cheliax and still wants to be part of Cheliax and it was mentioned in the original primer that they speak Chelaxian not Common(Taldane)... At least among the Middle and Upper Class peoples. They are verry pompus, this is the Paris of Varisia where as Magnimar is t he London. Riddleport - Cairo. The street people speak Common(Taldane) and Varisian, and many speak Chelaxian. Most local trained bards will also speak Chelaxian as well. It just adds more color to the game. Of course everyone els in Varisia speaks Common the Language from Taldan, or the Varisian language. Those Gypsies... Then there are the Scarni the Mafia of the Varisians :)
The place was founded by a Jeggare - yes an ancester of the Elven Jeggare of the Pathfinder stories in the Pathfinder Adventure Paths, Pathfinder Tales Prince of Wolves, and in Pathfinder Fiction... The Richest family in Varisia and in Cheliax... Possibly in all of Avistan... though not the richest group or person...