Firstly I like the idea that Bloodveil is basically some type of undead fungal infection (an idea I got from these forums). On that basis I dont want to use silver coins as the carrier (undead dont like silver). Happy to use copper or gold - although this tends to lead away from Abadar bank as the second point of infection.
I get that the Direption is meant to be a red herring planted by the bad guys but to me it seems like a lame attempt at a red herring and a lame attempt at infection.
My variation that I am considering is
1- Direption arrives and is full of zombies infected the bloodveil- they start to swim across to Korvosa (northside and old korvosa) and the Direption is spotted- trebuchet activates
2- The living crew (1 or a few- not sure which) of the Direption plans to escape by heading towards the varisian camp on the opposite shore but it is hit amidships and starts to sink
3- some of the living crew stagger ashore into the camp and die?
I am considering having the bloodveil possibly animate some of those who die making the plague a bit like a toned down 28 days later- though I am aware this will prevent some of the encounters (Rackham alley) and might 'cheapen' the realism of the plague.
Thoughts?
I like the plague infested zombie crewed ship idea. Hell drop the costal artillery action and just have it crash into the docks and zombies go overboard. Now that's a distraction!! Give it a generic pirate flag and you're golden.
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I do hope you are planning on using Plague Zombies
I like this idea a lot btw and wish I had used it for one or two of my games of CotCT.
Some additional ideas regarding this...
Actually If you replace the cargo with plague Zombies then you probably wouldn't have to change much of anything. Have the ship take fire, crash into the docks and then get cut loose and drift out to the center of the river where it then sinks.
Rolth then ties into the whole thing even more, as his goal is to create Plague Zombies...I would also replace the zombies in Carowyn Manor with Plague Zombies then.
As for Rakham Alley, I doubt that it would even be a problem. Some people are going to die and yet not rise as Zombies. Some people are going to die from other things. I doubt your party will do anything, other than maybe insure none of the corpses do rise, about it and may not even notice any Inconsistency.
I do hope you are planning on using Plague Zombies
I like this idea a lot btw and wish I had used it for one or two of my games of CotCT.
Some additional ideas regarding this...** spoiler omitted **
Thanks for the redirect, plague zombies seem perfect. Plus it does make Carrowyn manor a bit more of a 'Rolths Experiment'
Keep in mind that landing a ship full of zombies draws everyone's attention to the wreck straight away. That might make it more difficult to hide any decent clues on the ship.
Also, a zombie can't just walk the streets without being noticed, so the Korvosan Guard, Sable Company, maybe even the Hellknights and others (like the PCs) would be sent out to take care of the undead threat. And they would be set out immediately, which gives the zombies a very small window of opportunity to infect people, unless you plan on turning the whole city into zombieland.
So, although the idea of plague zombies is nice, using them changes some hooks in the adventure and might make running it quite a bit harder.
Then again, I was never too fond of the idea of the infected coins, so I'm planning on using rats. Having read Albert Camus' 'The Plague' some 20 years ago, I have always wanted to use a plague that was started by rats. 'Seven days to the grave' gives me that option.
Keep in mind that landing a ship full of zombies draws everyone's attention to the wreck straight away. That might make it more difficult to hide any decent clues on the ship.
Also, a zombie can't just walk the streets without being noticed, so the Korvosan Guard, Sable Company, maybe even the Hellknights and others (like the PCs) would be sent out to take care of the undead threat. And they would be set out immediately, which gives the zombies a very small window of opportunity to infect people, unless you plan on turning the whole city into zombieland.
So, although the idea of plague zombies is nice, using them changes some hooks in the adventure and might make running it quite a bit harder.
Then again, I was never too fond of the idea of the infected coins, so I'm planning on using rats. Having read Albert Camus' 'The Plague' some 20 years ago, I have always wanted to use a plague that was started by rats. 'Seven days to the grave' gives me that option.
Sure,
But frankly everyone seems to know that a ship bearing the signs of plague was sunk in the river- then a plague starts...and the little girl gets it from something she found floating in the river.... I reckon the sunk ship is pretty strongly highlighted anyway. I cant really imagine why a group wouldnt investigate it sooner.
My plan is
a- boat arrives dumps zombies, tries to flee to no city side gets sunk
b- zombies (yes they are obvious) run amok, get killed (the pcs should get involved)
c- after invading zombies are destroyed plague starts as per book, I dont think I will have the plague dead rise again they will just be the initial carrirers - rackers alley, false cure, wererats, spooky doctors, old korvosa quarantined etc
d- the doctors will re-infect and there will be another secret vector for the disease ( I dont like coins either- not sure what yet)
e- if someone pokes around the Hospice too much they will be told to search the wreck to see if there are any clues as to the source of the plague
f- on the wreck will be a deliberate red herring (I mean why have such an obvious source of the plague and not have it lead the investigators on a merry chase--in my game this will lead them to a bay south of Korvosa for an out of town adventure)
g- the real clue about the hospice will come from visiting the carrowyn party and the bad guys there
Keep in mind that landing a ship full of zombies draws everyone's attention to the wreck straight away. That might make it more difficult to hide any decent clues on the ship.
Also, a zombie can't just walk the streets without being noticed, so the Korvosan Guard, Sable Company, maybe even the Hellknights and others (like the PCs) would be sent out to take care of the undead threat. And they would be set out immediately, which gives the zombies a very small window of opportunity to infect people, unless you plan on turning the whole city into zombieland.
So, although the idea of plague zombies is nice, using them changes some hooks in the adventure and might make running it quite a bit harder.
Then again, I was never too fond of the idea of the infected coins, so I'm planning on using rats. Having read Albert Camus' 'The Plague' some 20 years ago, I have always wanted to use a plague that was started by rats. 'Seven days to the grave' gives me that option.
Sure,
But frankly everyone seems to know that a ship bearing the signs of plague was sunk in the river- then a plague starts...and the little girl gets it from something she found floating in the river.... I reckon the sunk ship is pretty strongly highlighted anyway. I cant really imagine why a group wouldnt investigate it sooner.
My plan is
a- boat arrives dumps zombies, tries to flee to no city side gets sunk
b- zombies (yes they are obvious) run amok, get killed (the pcs should get involved)
c- after invading zombies are destroyed plague starts as per book, I dont think I will have the plague dead rise again they will just be the initial carrirers - rackers alley, false cure, wererats, spooky doctors, old korvosa quarantined etc
d- the doctors will re-infect and there will be another secret vector for the disease ( I dont like coins either- not sure what yet)
e- if someone pokes around the Hospice too much they will be told to search the wreck to see if there are any clues as to the source of the plague
...
Actually that's the key. I wouldn't use the plague zombies unless it is going to be the primary means of infection. If it is a distraction, then while the entire world responds to the distraction, the infested coins are snuck into the bank of abadar, the infected boxes are cut loose etc. Keep the PC's out of the mix. The Sable company and Guard can easily handle it, then scuttle the ship in a deep part of the bay. And I certainly like being able to tie Rolth more into the AP.
huh?
The point of the zombie infection/distraction (from the bad guys pov)is to get the whole world to respond to it and not to look for the actual cause of the infection. IMO the zombie plage vector works best as a distraction. (is this what you meant?)
you are right - the sable marines and korvosan guard deal with the zombies all right- and as a result many of them get sick (contact plague) so the PC's are called upon to help.
this also plays into the bad guy plans to establish the new healthy Grey Maidens.
It seemed to me in 7dttg no-one really discovered the bank of abadar source of infection. To me if the PC's never know (or have a chance to know) about something it should probably be changed. I like the idea of all things being done to contain & treat the plague (quarantine, body burning etc) and the Players feeling they have got it contained... but it keeps popping up elsewhere. The PC's should be able to follow this 'non red herring' infection back to the Hospice somehow.
I am still trying to think of an interesting secondary vector (apart from the doctors & jolistina).
I love the zombie angle.
In my campaign, the Vault of Abadar was a much bigger deal. I set the events one week after Taxfest, so there was lots of fiscal activity. In the various mini-quests, I planted evidence leading the PCs back to the temple/bank, where they found Death's Head Coffers had been inserted into the Vault itself. I can try to recall the details if you're interested.
Even though I'd done all the Direption-related stuff with them (ie. Brienna and the coffers), they never followed up on the ship. I bet a zombie shipwreck would be a bigger lure, and thus the Vault discovery more dramatic.