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About two months ago, I started a game of Kingmaker and watched as my players went about their duty of clearing out the Green Belt of bandits and other undesirables. At first things looked to be going great, my players got along, most of them formed immediate connections with Oleg and his wife, and they wanted to defend the fort and turn it one day into a shining example of frontier colonial power.
The third session changed that. They TPK against the Bandit camp at the Thorns river. The reasons are varied, most of the blame can be set towards not splitting up enough and too much. Two characters went forward to scout, the others went away and found a safe place to hide a mile away.
The bandits captured their still beating bodies and a player (that hadn't yet been knocked out) rolled a natural 20 on a diplomacy check to convince Kressle to let them go. Feeling sorry for what happened, I had the bandit woman let the party sans the character that rolled the diplomacy to go back to Restov to heal and train and get a new character for the one player. Under the orders that Kressle wants them to come back and assassinate the Stag Lord.
I started the game in the middle of the summer season, it wasn't until the spring that the party returned to the Green Belt to see just how much it changed.
Now this is one of the hard parts, just what would change during that eight month gap? Well, future predicting isn't my strong suit, but here's what I had happen.
1. At player request, I had an Orc tribe move in and inhabit the Narlmarches. Forcing Kressle and her bandits to move... The orcs launch raids against everyone near them, but leave the fey and frog man whose name I can't recall alone.
2. Kressle turned traitor to the Stag Lord openly. As I have it, she took nearly a quarter of the Stag Lord's collection of bandits and captured Oleg's outpost. She now "rules" over the plains north of the Strike and Thorn rivers with an even larger force then what she had before the orcs ousted her from her old camp.
3. The Mites won their little war with the Kobolds and captured the former Gnome, feeding him to one of their pets.
4. The Stag Lord woke up one day and got attacked by Dovan, thinking that he could led the Tuskwater bandits better then the more experienced Ranger. Dovan was forced back by the hungover Stag Lord and then killed by Akiros, who used Lay on Hands on the injured bandit lord. Which was much a surprise to both of them.
With the betrayal of two of his best lieutenants and the attack, the alcoholic Stag Lord*1 started to reform himself with help from the now Paladin 2/Barbarian 2 Akiros*2.
*1. Alignment shifted to Lawful Evil by the time the PCs got to the keep. Advanced Template now permanently part of his stat block as he gave up alcohol, and a level in Druid as he tried to understand and learn from his father so he doesn't make the same mistakes. Thinking of having his alignment switch over to Lawful Neutral after the PCs help him with Good-leaning as the party is Good aligned.
*2. Alignment shifting to Chaotic Good, and with help from the PCs, may one day be Lawful Good again and allowing a complete switch over to pure Paladin
Hmm, I think that's all I've really changed so far. Last session the PCs finally arrived at the Stag Lord's keep and after some silly RP and good rolls, the PCs are currently allied with the Stag Lord to kill Kressle by bringing in the 'dead bodies' of the Stag Lord and his closest allies and then to kill the foul orcs.
Two of my players have expressed interest in turning the bandits, making them citizens of their future nation and in the case of Akiros and Stag Lord, parts of the ruling council.
Oh, and the PCs have only found the Gold deposit, the rickety old bridge, Thorns River camp, an orc camp, and the Stag Lord's fort. They haven't been anywhere else, pretty much a straight line from Oleg's to the fort.
Any suggestions for what else I should change or improve on?
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About two months ago, I started a game of Kingmaker and watched as my players went about their duty of clearing out the Green Belt of bandits and other undesirables. At first things looked to be going great, my players got along, most of them formed immediate connections with Oleg and his wife, and they wanted to defend the fort and turn it one day into a shining example of frontier colonial power.
The third session changed that. They TPK against the Bandit camp at the Thorns river. The reasons are varied, most of the blame can be set towards not splitting up enough and too much. Two characters went forward to scout, the others went away and found a safe place to hide a mile away.
The bandits captured their still beating bodies and a player (that hadn't yet been knocked out) rolled a natural 20 on a diplomacy check to convince Kressle to let them go. Feeling sorry for what happened, I had the bandit woman let the party sans the character that rolled the diplomacy to go back to Restov to heal and train and get a new character for the one player. Under the orders that Kressle wants them to come back and assassinate the Stag Lord.
I started the game in the middle of the summer season, it wasn't until the spring that the party returned to the Green Belt to see just how much it changed.
Now this is one of the hard parts, just what would change during that eight month gap? Well, future predicting isn't my strong suit, but here's what I had happen.
** spoiler omitted **...
Well, that is a heck of a turn of events. So, what your saying is that the Stag Lord couldn't shake himself from his downward spiral to take care of Kressle? How powerful are the orcs? They should be able to lay siege to Olegs pretty easily. Unless they are a very small tribe.
As I have it right now, the Stag Lord was on his downward spiral and didn't care that Kressle betrayed him when she did. Alcohol and the orcs seemed more important.
Kressle took over and fortified Oleg's old outpost. Setting up a second wall around it and putting archers on both of them, fixing the catapults too. Pretty much a fort that no side can take without a lot of death. And well, the orcs don't care for the fort, seeing it as something to play with until other tribes arrive.
As for the orcs, I'm thinking of a tribe at two hundred or so. Spread throughout the Narlmarches. Numerous enough that neither bandit camp wants to risk losing their numbers trying to wipe them out (well, Kressle is raiding them back with the former PC character and a few of her more worthless men in her eyes).
Maybe there is more to your alternate story, but I can't understand why the Stag Lord would give up his position of power. Afterall he got where he is after years of senseless beatings and torture from his father.
No offense, but you totally changed an incredibly unique and tragic character without any reason. Sure, Dovan gave him a beating but obviously the SL won the fight. This would reassure his arrogance and probably inadvertently make him drink more.
I hope Kressle's backstory is as equally amazing in your game as SLs is in the AP.
How the heck did the mites, as statted, kill a coward who can cast invisibility 4/day? That's about the only thing I would change is have Tartuk still kicking around somewhere. (Though to be fair, Tartuk is one of my favorite villains in Stolen Lands and has become a recurring villain in one of my games.)
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Maybe there is more to your alternate story, but I can't understand why the Stag Lord would give up his position of power. Afterall he got where he is after years of senseless beatings and torture from his father.
No offense, but you totally changed an incredibly unique and tragic character without any reason. Sure, Dovan gave him a beating but obviously the SL won the fight. This would reassure his arrogance and probably inadvertently make him drink more.
I hope Kressle's backstory is as equally amazing in your game as SLs is in the AP.
You definitely made Kressle more of a threat than I thought she was. My peeps charmed Happs after capturing him and the bandits attacked Olegs. He told them where the camp was and passwords. The peeps promised ta not kill Kressle so he told them the camp lay out. The peeps acted as they belonged with Happs leading them into the camp. Mage cast color spray into group-- failed saves-- easy encounter. They did eventually kill her as she didn't want to 'toe the line'. She manipulated the guard 'things' got out of hand. The party then hung her as an example not to waste their second chance.
My group actually took their sweet time getting there. The three of them were all level two by the time the battle took place.
They took no quarter with any of them.
I always like seeing how GMs have their takes on NPCs and how their world grows and changes over time. Well done! I bet your players are having a blast.
This is a very interesting plot line you have going here. But, it seems to me that you have changed *so much* that you might want to trash the Stolen Lands module and continue on the homebrew path you've created.
Yeah no doubt.
I'm not knocking it, I'm just curious how things will still wrap up at fourth level.
Archmage made a good point about Tartuk, so the Gnome turned Kobold is still alive and causing havoc somewhere.
The PCs have Kressle captured and secured a more fortified Oleg's Outpost for their own use. Currently they seem to be leaning more towards a more Suikoden approach to how they want things organized as they debate what to do with all the bandits they captured.
Oh, why is Kressle captured and not killed? The Stag Lord rolled extremely well for Init, beating everyone else. And against a flat footed Kressle no more then ten feet away from him, he rolled a Natural 1 on his attack. The PCs and Akiros then tried to capture and disarm her after that with mixed success, the dice didn't like anything but spells that session.
The Cleric used Command to successfully disarm her as all the other PCs around the woman tried to trip and grapple her. Failing miserable. Perlivash the Faerie Dragon cast Sleep on Kressle and knocked her out while she was running away from the PCs. Yes, everyone at the table and Perlivash in character was in shock over this working.
Yes, the PCs got Perlivash as an ally/mascot sessions before they reached the Stag Lord.