So, in our Kingmaker game we just crossed swords with the reincarnated barbarian warlord Armag. After the battle my character (a Cavalier/Court Bard, Edmond Surtova) picked up Armag's greatsword and has taken his place as the leader of the Tiger Lord barbarian tribes. Which is amusing because he is the face of the party and in combat favors the rapier. He is also wrestling with the Chaotic Neutral barbarian ego wrestling with his own.
What I want to know is: Who has made it this far and are there any PC's out there wrestling, or enjoying the presence of Armag's ego in his weapon?
I know I need to get rid of this weapon, but I'm having a blast roleplaying this out. Any adventure that ends in a barbarian orgy is one I'm proud to be a part of.
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Party fighter picked up the sword. +4 to his will save. Needless to say the sword had taken his mind over in short order and over the next month convinced him that as leader of the Tiger Lords he had to stomp out their most dangerous enemies... his own party. He killed his queen and her cohort in the middle of the night.
He joined his party members and the rest of the ruling council the next morning when both body's were discovered. When the party's inquisitor attempted to do a blood read on the queen, the new Armag attacked. He killed the inquisitor and the party's cavalier before being brought down by the remaining PC and the NPCs on the council. Needless to say only one PC was left and the kingdom's ruling government was in shambles.
We're starting Crypt of the Everflame this week......
Party fighter picked up the sword. +4 to his will save. Needless to say the sword had taken his mind over in short order and over the next month convinced him that as leader of the Tiger Lords he had to stomp out their most dangerous enemies... his own party. He killed his queen and her cohort in the middle of the night.
He joined his party members and the rest of the ruling council the next morning when both body's were discovered. When the party's inquisitor attempted to do a blood read on the queen, the new Armag attacked. He killed the inquisitor and the party's cavalier before being brought down by the remaining PC and the NPCs on the council. Needless to say only one PC was left and the kingdom's ruling government was in shambles.
We're starting Crypt of the Everflame this week......
Harsh. Yeah, that favored Will save from the bard levels really helped out.
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Party fighter picked up the sword. +4 to his will save. ......Dude, I'm sorry you lost your campaign. But my initial reaction is, "That is too kewl!"
With the party's fighter wielding a great sword as his favored weapon I had foreseen how things would play out considering his very low will save.
No worries about the campaign. Thanks to Paizo there will always be a new one to start. My group's very excited to start the Price of Immortality campaign and you just never know, they might end up in Pitax at some point in their adventuring careers ;-).
Party fighter picked up the sword. +4 to his will save. ......Dude, I'm sorry you lost your campaign. But my initial reaction is, "That is too kewl!"With the party's fighter wielding a great sword as his favored weapon I had foreseen how things would play out considering his very low will save.
No worries about the campaign. Thanks to Paizo there will always be a new one to start. My group's very excited to start the Price of Immortality campaign and you just never know, they might end up in Pitax at some point in their adventuring careers ;-).
I know my players love hearing references to their previous exploits at the table.
In your case ... "Whaddya MEAN the Stolen Lands and all of Brevoy are ruled with an iron fist by Armag?!"
Hah! This thread made my day. :-D
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in two weeks, I expect my group to run this fight.
the party's barbarian has a will save of about 6? maybe slightly higher, but certainly nothing to write home about.
rage>power attack>dead sorcerer/wizard/druid before any one of them could counterattack.
sure, they may be able to stop her, but at what cost? either way, I win!
in two weeks, I expect my group to run this fight.
the party's barbarian has a will save of about 6? maybe slightly higher, but certainly nothing to write home about.
rage>power attack>dead sorcerer/wizard/druid before any one of them could counterattack.
sure, they may be able to stop her, but at what cost? either way, I win!
I think your barbarian is pretty much screwed. My Will save's sitting at a +12 and I'm barely holding Armag's ego at bay.
Although we are powerful builds so I wouldn't be surprised if our DM upped the DC a bit.
in two weeks, I expect my group to run this fight.
the party's barbarian has a will save of about 6? maybe slightly higher, but certainly nothing to write home about.
rage>power attack>dead sorcerer/wizard/druid before any one of them could counterattack.
sure, they may be able to stop her, but at what cost? either way, I win!
I think your barbarian is pretty much screwed. My Will save's sitting at a +12 and I'm barely holding Armag's ego at bay.
Although we are powerful builds so I wouldn't be surprised if our DM upped the DC a bit.
As-written the DC is pleasantly high...
IF you're a DM who doesn't want PvP setting on his campaign, I suggest an omen, a bad feeling, a chance to do research or a call for a knowledge check at the appropriate time. Either that or a Staff of Enchantment or something to let the party take advantage of that low save too.
IF you're a DM who doesn't want PvP setting on his campaign, I suggest an omen, a bad feeling, a chance to do research or a call for a knowledge check at the appropriate time. Either that or a Staff of Enchantment or something to let the party take advantage of that low save too.
Armag does not approve! Armag will return!
::anger/rage rising::
There will be BLOOD!
;-)
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IF you're a DM who doesn't want PvP setting on his campaign, I suggest an omen, a bad feeling, a chance to do research or a call for a knowledge check at the appropriate time. Either that or a Staff of Enchantment or something to let the party take advantage of that low save too.Armag does not approve! Armag will return!
::anger/rage rising::
There will be BLOOD!
;-)
yup.
this.
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Party fighter picked up the sword. +4 to his will save. Needless to say the sword had taken his mind over in short order and over the next month convinced him that as leader of the Tiger Lords he had to stomp out their most dangerous enemies... his own party. He killed his queen and her cohort in the middle of the night.
He joined his party members and the rest of the ruling council the next morning when both body's were discovered. When the party's inquisitor attempted to do a blood read on the queen, the new Armag attacked. He killed the inquisitor and the party's cavalier before being brought down by the remaining PC and the NPCs on the council. Needless to say only one PC was left and the kingdom's ruling government was in shambles.
We're starting Crypt of the Everflame this week......
You could have EASILY avoided the campaign collapse. The way I saw the sword when I read about it, is that the wielder of the sword doesn't just want to win he wants a challenge. Gorum is all about conflict. Actions the reduce the threat of conflict in order to win don't sound like his style. If the sword takes control of anyone in my group I am running I will have them seek out the PCs in a way that ensures a challenging fight (plus more dramatic). It strikes me that the sword would drive the wielder to be more like Vegeta from Dragonball Z. The cursed sword wielder would want to not just win, but want to know he defeated his opponnent when his opponnet was at his strongest and most prepared. He wants total victory and humilation of his opponents. Now I could see the cursed sword wielder using deception to lure party members away for one-on-one fights, but murdering the party in their sleep and while confused? Seems like the method of a sneaky weaking and not an unstoppable warrior.
He didn't kill them in their sleep. I didn't go into all the details because I didn't feel like boring everyone. Needless to say he confronted everyone head on. No one was confused. He didn't hide his intent. I explained to him what the sword was made for and what it's purpose was. Things went from there. The final fight against most of the whole party and the council member NPCs was dramatic. The country was literally two rounds away from being ruled by the Tiger Lords.
The country was literally two rounds away from being ruled by the Tiger Lords.
Here's an idea for you guys (which I really wished I'd had more room to play up and explore in the actual adventure):
Imagine, if you will, that one of the PCs falls under the thrall of the spirit of Armag within Ovinrbaane. Under that circumstance, the PC could well become not only a uniting force for the Tiger Lords...but, they could merge those barbarian tribes into their nascent kingdom...thereby, strengthening their hold on the Stolen Lands that much more. By establishing peace between their settlers and the Tiger Lords, they'd have the means of forging a larger army to take on Pitax in War of the River Kings.
In addition, the original Armag once waged war in the modern-day territory of Brevoy and, further afield, Casmaron. With the PCs' kingdom in the Stolen Lands steadily growing in power, it is assumed in the Kingmaker campaign that the nation of Brevoy (fractured, as it is in terms of separate factions), will come to fear the PCs as much as the bandits who once plagued them. As a result, Brevoy steadily withdraws its support from the PCs. And, those who actually rule that country will come down hard on the swordlords who sponsored their charter. In fact, should it become evident that the "traitors" in Restov were in league with this growing power in the Stolen Lands, war may well develop between the PCs and Brevoy...which easily plays into what the spirit of Armag would direct a dominated PC to pursue...i.e., waging war against any and all enemies...which, to Armag, means anyone who challenges his supremacy.
Now, complications could easily arise if the PC who succumbs to Ovinrbaane isn't the designated king of Kingmaker. If someone else in the party holds that title, the Armag-influenced PC could well lead a revolt to seize power, feeling rightfully entitled to it. If such a martial PC happens to be in charge of the army, he could easily persuade them to execute a coup d'etat with his almost-mesmerizing charisma, "natural" leadership qualities, and his burgeoning Tiger Lord allies.
If, on the other hand, the PC who carries Ovinrbaane happens to be the actual king of the Stolen Lands, he'll be all the better positioned for this kind of development. His own friends among the other PCs might observe some changes in his behavior...i.e., he's under the influence of a CN greatsword devoted to Gorum and would start to act accordingly. An otherwise peaceful king might start developing his forces into more of an offensive unit and not just a defensive militia. And, in the course of the overall campaign and the looming war that plays out in Chapter 5, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. In fact, his friends among the other PCs might welcome those developments anyway. Somewhere down the line, however, this martial-minded king will soon develop ideas of conquest, either turning his attention to Brevoy or the rest of the River Kingdoms.
So, bottom line, there's a lot of really useful storytelling and character development potential in letting the influence of Armag play out with a little more subtlety over the course of the remaining campaign...and beyond.
Just my two cents,
--Neil
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The country was literally two rounds away from being ruled by the Tiger Lords.Here's an idea for you guys (which I really wished I'd had more room to play up and explore in the actual adventure):
** spoiler omitted **...
Interestingly enough...
Interestingly enough...
** spoiler omitted **
Heh...
The Armag-influenced PC should have totally proclaimed himself king after that by revealing to the people some charlatan had done away with their true queen and used illusion to deceive them. And, obviously, by rooting out the deception and slaying the traitor, he himself would rule in her place. He also should have asked the gnome if anyone else knew of his deception...and, if so, they would have become Armag's next target to further consolidate his claim...i.e., eliminate anyone who could refute his claim. :->
The country was literally two rounds away from being ruled by the Tiger Lords.Here's an idea for you guys (which I really wished I'd had more room to play up and explore in the actual adventure):
** spoiler omitted **...
Here's my plan...
My hope is that I can reason with the ego of Armag and make him into an ally (I am quite the diplomat) and allow him trade with our nation and an eventual kingdom in the south. If he can be made into an ally then I will pass the blade to a worthy champion. If not, the blade will have to be destroyed. Though even still I hope I can keep the support of the Tiger Lords, or I will have to wipe them out.
It's a dangerous game, but worse case I get taken out by my party, raised, and then take the curse away.
I am so looking forward having the paladin of Iomedae in my group fall for the sword - although chances are low, due to his save.
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Interestingly enough...
** spoiler omitted **
Heh...
** spoiler omitted **
Double heh...
This thread = awesome. :)
That is all.
+1
Our party fighter completely wiped the floor with Armeg in less than a round, after the entire party struggled to bring down the chicken suited cleric of Gorum in the hall. Silly chicken suit guy had some awesome tactics, though, and anti-life shell, which no adventuring cleric could ever really prepare, but neither here nor there.
Anyhoot, before we went in, party wizard had made his knowledge check about Armag, and learned that the sword had sentience, so when it came time to weild that sucker, there were only two choices, my cleric with +16 to her will save. She picks it up, I roll the bones, natural 3 I believe it was. Failed the will save, immediately attack party. Lucky for the party, she has the combat prowess of a domestic cat (can kill a commoner in short order, but stands to hurt NO ONE in the party) and they easily subdued her. Her paladin cohort steps up, picks up the sword and deposits it in the tomb.
I have a history of failing will saves in this campaign. It is rather embarrassing.
Our party fighter completely wiped the floor with Armeg in less than a round, after the entire party struggled to bring down the chicken suited cleric of Gorum in the hall. Silly chicken suit guy had some awesome tactics, though, and anti-life shell, which no adventuring cleric could ever really prepare, but neither here nor there.
Anyhoot, before we went in, party wizard had made his knowledge check about Armag, and learned that the sword had sentience, so when it came time to weild that sucker, there were only two choices, my cleric with +16 to her will save. She picks it up, I roll the bones, natural 3 I believe it was. Failed the will save, immediately attack party. Lucky for the party, she has the combat prowess of a domestic cat (can kill a commoner in short order, but stands to hurt NO ONE in the party) and they easily subdued her. Her paladin cohort steps up, picks up the sword and deposits it in the tomb.
I have a history of failing will saves in this campaign. It is rather embarrassing.
CQTF. Excellent!
The awesome thing about our party is that no one is lawful and my character already had Armag's ring so the temple's guardian just let us pass. We never fought him and he's still there.
This is going to be very interesting. Both the Paladin and the LG Ranger use two handed weapons.
Now the Paladin *should* make his save, but the Ranger is +6 (4+2Wis) and would need a 19 every day.
*ouch*
-- david
Papa.DRB
This is going to be very interesting. Both the Paladin and the LG Ranger use two handed weapons.
Now the Paladin *should* make his save, but the Ranger is +6 (4+2Wis) and would need a 19 every day.
*ouch*
-- david
Papa.DRB
So the Will DC is 25?
So the Will DC is 25?
Yup....
-- david
Papa.DRB
Alternate Armag rules:
I was talking to my DM about his ruling of Armag and it seems more interesting and less likely to end the game. When you do something that the spirit doesn't agree with you roll a Will save. If you win you do what you want and if you lose you take whatever action Armag would have taken. After the first failed save you have to make a second save or the sword will re-write one of your class levels with barbarian using the Rewrite Memory spell. If all of your levels are replaced by barbarian you loose yourself and become the ancient warlord.
Harsh. Yeah, that favored Will save from the bard levels really helped out.Party fighter picked up the sword. +4 to his will save. Needless to say the sword had taken his mind over in short order and over the next month convinced him that as leader of the Tiger Lords he had to stomp out their most dangerous enemies... his own party. He killed his queen and her cohort in the middle of the night.
He joined his party members and the rest of the ruling council the next morning when both body's were discovered. When the party's inquisitor attempted to do a blood read on the queen, the new Armag attacked. He killed the inquisitor and the party's cavalier before being brought down by the remaining PC and the NPCs on the council. Needless to say only one PC was left and the kingdom's ruling government was in shambles.
We're starting Crypt of the Everflame this week......
Really nice... But why quit the campaign? The kingdom is still running, so plenty of plot hooks arrive to continue, no?
Alternate Armag rules:...After the first failed save you have to make a second save or the sword will re-write one of your class levels with barbarian...
In life, Armag was much more than just a barbarian. It's true his life began among the barbaric nomads known as the Tiger Lords. In time, however, Armag became a true master of Gorum's favored weapon...the greatsword...and, with it, he became a great fighter, as well. Thus did Armag craft and train with the heavy blade. And he spit all his enemies on it until Pharasma intervened. In short, it took a god to end Armag's reign. But the Lord in Iron preserved him so he could live again through Ovinrbaane.
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Really nice... But why quit the campaign? The kingdom is still running, so plenty of plot hooks arrive to continue, no?Harsh. Yeah, that favored Will save from the bard levels really helped out.Party fighter picked up the sword. +4 to his will save. Needless to say the sword had taken his mind over in short order and over the next month convinced him that as leader of the Tiger Lords he had to stomp out their most dangerous enemies... his own party. He killed his queen and her cohort in the middle of the night.
He joined his party members and the rest of the ruling council the next morning when both body's were discovered. When the party's inquisitor attempted to do a blood read on the queen, the new Armag attacked. He killed the inquisitor and the party's cavalier before being brought down by the remaining PC and the NPCs on the council. Needless to say only one PC was left and the kingdom's ruling government was in shambles.
We're starting Crypt of the Everflame this week......
Well the party's fighter and inquisitor were the only two original PCs left from the beginning of the camapign. The group felt it was best to start a new one. I was willing to keep going but the group was more interested in starting a new campaign which was cool too.
Contributor, RPG Superstar 2008 Top 4, Legendary Games
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We just did the Armag fight last session, and while he dealt out some big piles of damage there were no party deaths, in part because we were using the critical hit deck and one of the PCs hit him with a "severed hand" crit... which is kind of a problem when you are a super-specialist with TWO-HANDED WEAPONS!!! :)
Alternate Armag rules:...After the first failed save you have to make a second save or the sword will re-write one of your class levels with barbarian...In life, Armag was much more than just a barbarian. It's true his life began among the barbaric nomads known as the Tiger Lords. In time, however, Armag became a true master of Gorum's favored weapon...the greatsword...and, with it, he became a great fighter, as well. Thus did Armag craft and train with the heavy blade. And he spit all his enemies on it until Pharasma intervened. In short, it took a god to end Armag's reign. But the Lord in Iron preserved him so he could live again through Ovinrbaane.
Damnit Armag, get out of my head!
Damnit Armag, get out of my head!
You don't understand. But soon you will. I'm not the one in your head. In time, it will be you inside mine!
Hey Armag,
Your pig-sticker's Ego score is a smidge low (by 2 points). ^_^
Damnit Armag, get out of my head!You don't understand. But soon you will. I'm not the one in your head. In time, it will be you inside mine!
I'm gonna be inside Armag. That's hot.
And this is why we built a secure vault under our castle to store all the dodgy artefacts we have been collecting. For some reason half the party were against building it on Candlemere...
O.o ... at least my players were smart and filled the place in with concrete ...
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And this is why we built a secure vault under our castle to store all the dodgy artefacts we have been collecting. For some reason half the party were against building it on Candlemere...O.o ... at least my players were smart and filled the place in with concrete ...
If I had played in your version of Candlemere, I would have found something a little more toxic & durable than concrete.
Uranium laced cyanide flavored solid steel plug, maybe?
Possibly a nuke / thor's hammer from orbit, just to make sure.
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My group took on Armeg a couple sessions ago. I (invulnerable rager) had just picked up the greater beast totem rage power and nearly dropped Armeg on a raging charge (pounce + rhino hide is painful). Stupid ranger finished him off with a poisoned arrow though. gr. I was the only one who knew anything about Armeg or his sword, but didn't mention anything about him being inside said sword now and what happens when using it. After the combat, I picked up the sword, failed my will save miserably and was told to kill everyone. Forgot how they managed to subdue me that time.
Between sessions I found out more about the sword in the form of a vision of me either using the sword and having to fight with it until it eventually overcame me and turned me into Armeg or give it back to the Tiger Lords to form a sort of non-aggression pact with them. I didn't tell the party about this either because I wanted to see what the sword did in combat. And to test this we went to take on the naga outside of Fort Drelev. After convincing the party of my plan and buffing (flight on everyone but me, haste, protection from chaos on me and a couple other things) I drew the sword, didn't have to make the will save thanks to PFC and went looking for the naga. After a few rounds, PFC got dispelled, not sure who by though. As soon as I got close to the naga, so used dominate person or whatever (SLA, so the sword didn't get to dispell it) on me and I failed. I quickly dropped the summoner's eidolon and then waited around while the naga used dispell magic on the closest person, the cleric, to get rid of flight. She eventually did and I dropped the cleric to something in the range of -46... whops...
The remaining party members (ranger and summoner) eventually killed the naga and me. After rezzes, the party (especially the LG cleric) was VERY against giving the sword back to the Tiger Lords until they found out that they'd keep attacking us if we didn't and couldn't figure out how to destroy it.
Was good times.
My group took on Armeg a couple sessions ago. I (invulnerable rager) had just picked up the greater beast totem rage power and nearly dropped Armeg on a raging charge (pounce + rhino hide is painful). Stupid ranger finished him off with a poisoned arrow though. gr. I was the only one who knew anything about Armeg or his sword, but didn't mention anything about him being inside said sword now and what happens when using it. After the combat, I picked up the sword, failed my will save miserably and was told to kill everyone. Forgot how they managed to subdue me that time.
Between sessions I found out more about the sword in the form of a vision of me either using the sword and having to fight with it until it eventually overcame me and turned me into Armeg or give it back to the Tiger Lords to form a sort of non-aggression pact with them. I didn't tell the party about this either because I wanted to see what the sword did in combat. And to test this we went to take on the naga outside of Fort Drelev. After convincing the party of my plan and buffing (flight on everyone but me, haste, protection from chaos on me and a couple other things) I drew the sword, didn't have to make the will save thanks to PFC and went looking for the naga. After a few rounds, PFC got dispelled, not sure who by though. As soon as I got close to the naga, so used dominate person or whatever (SLA, so the sword didn't get to dispell it) on me and I failed. I quickly dropped the summoner's eidolon and then waited around while the naga used dispell magic on the closest person, the cleric, to get rid of flight. She eventually did and I dropped the cleric to something in the range of -46... whops...
The remaining party members (ranger and summoner) eventually killed the naga and me. After rezzes, the party (especially the LG cleric) was VERY against giving the sword back to the Tiger Lords until they found out that they'd keep attacking us if we didn't and couldn't figure out how to destroy it.
Was good times.
Spell-like abilities in almost all ways count as spells (mostly 'excepting' the whole 'components' line from the spell description) - Ovirnbaane should have been able to counter it too. It would very likely have viewed protection from chaos as a hostile spell (since it would prevent the sword from keeping you in line) and acted accordingly.
Glad you had fun! :)
And this is why we built a secure vault under our castle to store all the dodgy artefacts we have been collecting. For some reason half the party were against building it on Candlemere...O.o ... at least my players were smart and filled the place in with concrete ...If I had played in your version of Candlemere, I would have found something a little more toxic & durable than concrete.
Uranium laced cyanide flavored solid steel plug, maybe?
Possibly a nuke / thor's hammer from orbit, just to make sure.
Erect meteor-attracting stele ? ^_^
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Erect meteor-attracting stele ? ^_^And this is why we built a secure vault under our castle to store all the dodgy artefacts we have been collecting. For some reason half the party were against building it on Candlemere...O.o ... at least my players were smart and filled the place in with concrete ...If I had played in your version of Candlemere, I would have found something a little more toxic & durable than concrete.
Uranium laced cyanide flavored solid steel plug, maybe?
Possibly a nuke / thor's hammer from orbit, just to make sure.
Yep.
Maybe with some corresponding glowing runes written in Undercommon/Elven?
From This....------->To This!
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Erect meteor-attracting stele ? ^_^And this is why we built a secure vault under our castle to store all the dodgy artefacts we have been collecting. For some reason half the party were against building it on Candlemere...O.o ... at least my players were smart and filled the place in with concrete ...If I had played in your version of Candlemere, I would have found something a little more toxic & durable than concrete.
Uranium laced cyanide flavored solid steel plug, maybe?
Possibly a nuke / thor's hammer from orbit, just to make sure.
Yep.
Maybe with some corresponding glowing runes written in Undercommon/Elven?
From This....------->To This!
Can't wait to see how my group handles him.
i think he is going to die meekly
his 2d6+21 damage is the same as a 4th level PFS fighter one of our group has!!
will find out in 3 days time!!
i think he is going to die meekly
his 2d6+21 damage is the same as a 4th level PFS fighter one of our group has!!
will find out in 3 days time!!
hmm. if i give him furious focus, and make him a 2 hander from APG he does like ~+25 to hit, and 6d6+31 damage on a single hit (i think)