After talking with my wife, I've decided to run Kingmaker for her. She wants to be a paladin of Erastil with the eventual goal of getting a stag mount. She doesn't know that she is destined to be queen (I didn't want her to become overwhelmed before our first session).
How to bring her to the Stolen Lands?
- I've decided that she is the only daughter of Oleg and Svetlana who, as a filiel daughter, comes back to help out her parents. The fact that she got a strained letter from her mother hinting at problems back at the lodge also helped. :)
- Questions: What was she doing away from her parents in the first place? Going to paladin school? How does one go about becoming a paladin of Erastil in the first place? I'm actually wrestling with the idea of having her start out as a fighter, but gaining her paladinhood through a spiritual experience at the hidden shrine of Erastil (maybe do a quest so she earns it?)
Cartography Elements
- My wife is a new player and I don't want her juggling too much responsibility. However, she is a talented artist, so she might actually enjoy this element. What do you think? Should I do it or should I have her do it?
NPCs
- I'm thinking about supplementing her with the stock NPCs at the back of each adventure path.
- How and when should she meet them?
Kingdom-Building
- I don't think this part appeals to my wife so much. She told me that she loves the storytelling aspects of gaming; building stuff isn't really her cup of tea.
- Is there any way to make this easier? Relegate it to the background somehow?
I don't think, unless you're planning on spending a lot of pre-Stolen Lands time with her character, that you should start her off as a fighter. She wants to play a *Paladin* of Erastil - not a fighter who worships Erastil.
As to how you "become" a paladin? That's up to you as GM. I've had PC paladins who went to some kind of martial training either under a knight or a knightly/paladinly organization. We know that such organizations could exist given Akiros' backstory - so she could very well have been at that training facility.
(Twisted GM Backstory Element: Akiros could have been one of her instructors, as a slightly more advanced student, when she first started her instruction. Seeing him now with the Stag Lord could lead to some interesting story elements.)
Or I've also had PCs who were simply *born* paladins - pure souls called to the life of championing. They've studied the martial aspects of paladinhood same as other fighters (either working with professional soldiers, mercenaries, or training under a master somewhere), but their paladin abilities are entirely inherent.
(Twisted GM Backstory Element: She could already know Jhod Kavken, having met him as a little girl at a temple of Erastil. Jhod would have been a young, bumbling, uncertain initiate at the time, who may have done her some kindly deed.)
And, yes, there's "kingdom in the background" sidebars throughout. You don't have to create an NPC ruler - you can still have her be queen, you just hand waive all of the kingdom building elements and decide how the kingdom evolves through roleplaying.
As to the stock NPCs... Lee's idea is simple. In fact, they could be the group that Restov sends to explore and colonize the Stolen Lands, with your wife befriending them once they help with the bandits at Oleg's (and them welcoming her into their group, which she - because she's the main character - quickly starts to become the leader for.)
Or, you can introduce them one at a time, developing good backstories for them and introducing them as locals and hunters that live in the Stolen Lands and are willing to be recruited for adventuring purposes. If you're careful with the combats, there's no reason to have the party just exist from the very beginning.
Now that is just so cool....
How about something along the lines of she tells Oleg/Svetlana that she feels a calling to serve Erastil and heads to Rostov to figure out what it is and meets Akiros, before his fall, and she studies to be a Paladin. She could also have met with Jhod (Atrus has some good ideas).
She gets the letter from mom and dad, however she goes to the Lord of Restov and he says that he will send some folks in a few days, but she could go with this party of adventurers that he was just about to send into out. She ends up being a member of the group with the charter.
I'd trim down the list a bit, and only have three others besides her. Perhaps Lini, Harsk and Sajan (or Valeros). That reduces the load on you to run NPCs. I might even do Kyra (cleric), Valeros (fighter) and Harsk (ranger), which eliminates an animal companion and druid wildshape, and the monk ki stuff, as well as the barbarian (Amri) rage stuff and keeps it simple.
-- david
Papa.DRB
http://rapidshare.com/files/434902851/Solo_RPG_Guide.doc
This is something I put together on the WotC D&D forums, hope you can use it!
Just have the Iconic figures in the back (the pregenerated ones) build the kingdome for her, and let her run it :)
Check out the blog - Man, Husband, Father, Ruler ....and Favored Soul, Knight of Iomedae - under Kingmaker for inspiration :) Well worth the read :)
Hulrun of Kenabres is an awesome storyteller :) Your wife would probably love his stories :)
DARN!
I started off the campaign Friday night and missed the whole Akiros angle! That would have been way cool!
Anyways, here's what happened so far:
My wife's character, Sasha Leveton, comes home after three years of serving in House Lebeda's armies. Fear of civil war after House Surtova took the crown caused many of the great lords to muster forces from the countryside. Oleg's name came up on the conscription list, but a grievous hunting accident several years prior prevented him from serving (Tuskgutter mauled his leg badly and he walks with a painful limp). Consequently, the recruiter decided to take on Sasha. (We entertained the notion of Sasha "pulling a Mulan," but decided against it. Necessity called for extreme measures and the Great Houses were open to training and equipping females who wanted to fight in their mens' stead) Luckily, the current generation of young men and women from Brevoy were spared the horrors of civil war.
At home, she quickly figures out what's going on and puts her military training to good use. She draws up plans for taking on the bandits and spends the day rehearsing with her parents what they were going to do when the bandits arrive.
On the night before the attack, she has a strange dream: a magnificent white elk leads her through the forest into a forest clearing before vanishing into thin air. A stone shrine to her deity sits in the clearing. She enters the shrine and sees an apparition of a priest in archaic clothing carrying the bloody heart of a large beast in his hands towards the altar. Placing the heart on the altar, he beseeches "whatever powers that be" to protect the shrine from monsters. A peal of thunder echoes throughout the shrine, even though the weather is sunny. Before her eyes, the man undergoes a painful transformation into a grizzly bear. The transformed man howls in fear and anguish and hurriedly lumbers out of the shrine. Before rushing out after the bear, she sees drops of blood leading to a side room. Following the blood, she comes across a grisly sight: a grizzly bear is chained spread-eagle on the floor, it's heart hurriedly cut out. Then she wakes...
She doesn't have time to ponder the dream as the bandits are coming. Anyways, with some good planning and several lucky rolls, the Levetons manage to take out Happ and his cohorts. (I used the stats for the storekeeper in the GMG for both of them) She really proved herself to be adept with the bow, knocking Happ out with two shots in a single round. Oleg was knocked unconscious, but Sasha and Svetlana were uninjured.
Two days later, Kesten Garess and Jhod Kavken arrive. I describe Kesten as a young man in his 20s, dressed in chainmail and carrying a lance (cavalier 1). I played up his aristocratic bearing and portrayed him as confident and intense. He's leading three other armed soldiers on horseback (warrior 1). Jhod brings up the rear. I portrayed him as a man of strong convictions (insisting on leading everyone in prayer before eating), who is extremely friendly to people who share the same faith. He and Sasha hit it off really well.
The game ended there.
Some notes:
- I decided that Kesten and Jhod will be accompanying her throughout her adventures instead of the pregens. Thus, I bumped them all down to level 1.
- I may have her meet Lini, the gnome druid who is in the Greenbelt searching for her wayward brother, join them. ("I'm looking for my brother...it's a long story, but he's a purple-skinned kobold.")
- My wife mentioned that Kesten might be a potential love interest. We'll see how this pans out.
- So far, she really seems to like and trust Jhod. I wonder how she'll react when she learns about why he *really* came to her home.
- I decided that her paladinhood will activate when she finds and lifts the curse on the Shrine to Erastil. I'm deciding whether I should have her do some more tasks to prove her faith. Any ideas? Maybe something to do with redeeming Akiros?
- Akiros could become the potential party member as well as another potential romance option. Thoughts?
- She really wants a stag mount eventually. Any idea how and when I could work this in?
More to come...
Really solid start so far. You could probably find a way to have Akrios a figure from her past. I'm jealous about the solo campaign idea, always wanted to try one and it seems that Kingmaker would be a perfect place for it with some "helper" npcs in the background. Goodluck to you and let us know how it all turns out!
- I may have her meet Lini, the gnome druid who is in the Greenbelt searching for her wayward brother, join them. ("I'm looking for my brother...it's a long story, but he's a purple-skinned kobold.")
Good idea - but seriously refrain from giving Lini knowledge that her brother's a purple kobold. It will sort of ruin all of the potential for suspense for you should you happen across the kobolds before the mites.
I'm deciding whether I should have her do some more tasks to prove her faith. Any ideas? Maybe something to do with redeeming Akiros?
I don't think you should have her do anything more. I do think, however, you should reward her if she does, perhaps by giving her a few special abilities she normally wouldn't have access to. (One good one I can think of off the top of my head - for "taming" the wild within Akiros, your wife's character gains the ability for her Channel Energy to harm fey creatures, much like Aligned Channel would allow her to harm outsiders.)
The beautiful part of a solo campaign is that you really don't have to worry about game balance.
Absolutely wonderful :)
After the frenetic preparations leading up to the ambush, Sasha is greeted with a foe she is ill-prepared to deal with: downtime. Interrogating the bandit Happ Bydon was a productive use of time, but otherwise, there really has not been much to do after the ambush. Idleness and indolence are abhorrent to her; she copes by helping her parents with chores around the house and pondering the meaning of her strange dream.
At a loss, she approaches Father Jhod Kavkin. He is more than happy to speak to her about spiritual matters and listens intently as she tells him of her dream. Jhod tells her that Father Deadeye sometimes shows his favor to certain individuals by appearing to them in dreams. Looking at her in a new light, he claims that Sasha has a "great destiny" and that it is his duty to help her achieve it. Neither of them are able to piece together the meaning of the dream, but Jhod speculates that it is a parable of sorts: the priest was cursed for his lack of faith and weak moral character. Life is never easy, and Father Deadeye frequently tests the resolve of his followers. He rewards those who remain firm and resolute, while punishing those who display weakness and cowardice.
Sasha promises to continue this discussion before leaving to prepare for a retaliatory strike against the bandits at Thorn River Ford.
Great stuff
BTW, as a DM, I love paladin PCs, they practically write their own campaigns!
This is some truth. While a great player can certainly have the same effect for any character class, the Paladin comes ready built with its own concept and arc, such that even a mediocre player will have some great stuff to play with.
I mean, it's the stuff that tales and legends have been written about throughout human history: Biblical heroes, King Arthur and the Grail quests, El Cid, the knight Roland, Luke Skywalker... you could even draw paladinlike inspiration in more odd places: Boondock Saints is practically about a pair of modern-day paladins (except, arguably, chaotic, instead of lawful); Buffy (as in, the Vampire Slayer) is certainly a Lawful Good character with a chosen destiny, and many of her trials and tribulations are the same ones that a "real" paladin would likely go through; Don Quixote lampoons and lamp shades the paladinly concept while at the same time giving you a character that is, in essence, a paladin...
And that doesn't even begin to cover the fallen paladin/redemptive quest arc.
All in all, good stuff.
Paladins are awesome, you can do alot with Druids and Clerics in a similar vein too if done right :)
wow... a dashing and charismatic Lord Kesten Garess, huh? first thing that lech did in our campaign was ask my cleric to drink with him because she was female and had the appropriate secondary sex characteristics. Currently the NPC spymaster's job is to keep track of how many of the castle maids he's entertaining, and how often.
jeez, paizo, can't even use pg-13 words in posts, hmm?
Not only is he dashing and handsome, he is a knight in shining chainmail. He comes off as intelligent and well-spoken -- both products of his genteel upbringing. His biggest flaw is his arrogance and elitist mentality. Sure, his little episode with the commoner's daughter knocked him down a few pegs, but he passionately believes that he did nothing wrong. He let his sexism briefly slip out when Sasha declared that she would accompany them ("The woods are a very dangerous place, ma'am. Shouldn't you be at home helping your mother with the chores?"). Though he apologized when Sasha called him out on it, he still believes that she - a country bumpkin from the middle of nowhere - has no idea what she is talking about. He tolerates the Levetons because he sees them as a ticket to reclaim his lost reputation. Once he sees the potential inherent in building a kingdom in the Stolen Lands, he will aggressively campaign to become the king.
Kesten Garess (LN Human Cavalier 1)
S 17
D 10
C 14
I 12
W 8
Ch 13
Dashing and Daring a drink he was shareing with wicked falisha the girl that I loved....
wow, he is a great charakter.... this sounds like a lot of fun :)
I don't really want to digress too much, but my wife's character actually got into a romantic relationship with Avner. She essentially mentored and rehabilitated him into an upstanding man throughout the course of our Savage Tide campaign.
Sasha, Kestan, and Jhod struck at night, while the bandits were asleep. If it were not for the element of surprise in the midst of a thick fog at night, they would have all perished under the weight of the bandits' superior numbers.
Kressle lived up to her reputation as a fearsome foe. The she-devil quickly dispatched Father Jhod with two well-placed blows with her cold iron hatchets. She would have done the same to Sasha, but our protagonist's well-honed reflexes carried the day. Barely avoiding the bite of those two vicious axes, she let loose two arrows in rapid succession. The arrows found their mark in Kressle's throat and left lung, killing her instantly.
Kestan and his trusty steed Maxima faced off against the remaining bandits at the campsite. The young knight valiantly held his own, dispatching two before himself falling under a veritable storm of swords. A timely intervention by a crazed old hermit saved Kestan and his steed from almost certain death; Bokken made his presence known by putting all of Kestan's assailants to sleep.
It was deathly close, but our heroes were the victors of the Battle of Thorn River.
Kesten fills a role in our campaign, essentially. He's the warden, and no one much talks to him. Corax (our Royal Assassin) is my cleric's Avner, the bane of her existence. He's racist (she's Qadiran), hates aristocrats (she dresses in silks, bathes regularly, and uses flowery language), and loves violence (she's a pacifist whose concentration is healing and conjuration). He LOVES to tell her about all the people he's been killing, how he feeds them to his pet monsters so there's no trace left, dragging people through the streets behind his horse, and hanging cultists of Gyronna in the forest. I tried to get that guy on my side once, but botched the diplomacy, and haven't tried since. Now I just tell him that I hold him in my prayers.
In another pre-kingmaker campaign, my bard priestess of Calistria, despite being the exact same alignment LOVES Corax. Just goes to show how different faiths can affect the play of the very same alignment.
I think that the NPCs that were meant to be antagonistic in this AP are some of the best.
New Developments: Sasha and Bokken negotiate with kobolds; Sasha absolutely despises Kestan for his sexism and racism; Sasha's faith in Erastil begin to waver as her relationship with Father Jhod becomes strainedd; the group hires twelve mercenaries (lvl 1 warriors) from Restov to protect the outpost and lay siege to the Stag Lord; more details to follow.
In the meantime, does anyone have a link to a good Golarion calendar? Also, what is the default start date for this campaign? Thanks!
And then what happened :)
And then what happened :)
After talking it over with my wife, we reset the campaign.
- She didn't like the intraparty conflict with certain NPCs (Kesten) as it stressed her out.
- She wanted to play a paladin right off the bat (Archmage was right :))
- She felt that it was unrealistic for a peasant girl to be included in the charter and eventually become ruler of the land (even though it is a recurring theme in many fantasy novels).
In the reboot, she is a scion of House Medvyed traveling with other minor nobles and knights from allied houses. Amidst the backdrop of impending civil war in Brevoy, she leads an expedition to stake a claim on the Stolen Lands. More details to follow.
This is good stuff, I hope you get around to telling us more :)