|
Alright so there are apparently some people on these boards who say that Savinth Yhi is "bland" and "boring". We'll they're absolutely right! That's why there a tons of threads dedicated to changing the city and what-not, however, I'm going to start a new board with a slightly different approach. I
'll post in here as often as possible about the changes I have made; but only after they have been played out in game. Why? Well for one my players lurk through these boards and I don't want them reading about future plans and two because I want to describe what happens with these plans and ideas in full detail. That way if other DMs enjoy the idea they can know how it played out and what kind of an impact it made on the game.
So essentially if something is a huge flop they'll know before hand or at least know how to fix it for their group.
By the way, don't be shy to post your own stories here as well. I feel that instead of just writing our ideas out that if we instead tell a tale we can better form our ideas and have much more to work with.
|
|
So the first major change I've made to the campaign was add a major story villain. Siry Derindi, Jask's son. Basically, one of the character's on the shiv was a bounty hunter and she was escorting Jask back to Sargava for his prison sentence. Along the way on the island her and Jask became friends and she found the documents proving his innocence, However, he met a heroic and bloody end when he sacrificed himself for the party when they went to go save the other castaways from the cannibals. Upon escaping the Shiv she went to the government office to prove his innocence but upon arriving there she was apprehended by Siry. I made him a high ranking government official who was on the verge of proving his fathers innocence. But instead of being able to greet his father off the boat he found that not only did the bounty hunter "that led him to that Gods forsaken island had let him die, but to add insult to injury proved his innocence" something he had been striving all of his life to do. Now he want her and most of the party dead.
This has worked out well. It's taken the players away from the whole Serpent Folk plot and has made them focus on their rival and his faction. Which of course is the Sargavan government. They've had numerous encounters with the guy but I've been doing well to make sure the party can't get their hands on him. He's even gone so far as to killing off the wife of a player character (who lived in Eldar). It's really added an extra layer of realism to the game and has been an awesome way to spruce up some of the rival factio n conflicts.
|
|
Alright, well to continue from where I left off. In the instances I have used Siry it's worked out well mainly because although he was involved he wasn't really there. The best example was in "Racing to Ruin" during the ambush in Kalabuto. After the party subdued their attackers, hired thugs from the area, they realized one of them had a bloody sack... inside it was the severed head of the Sargavan PC's wife. With a note from Siry attached to it stating that, "if he didn't turn in the bounty hunter and the map to Tazion the government would kill his children as well."
Right now you're either thinking that's an awesome plot hook or just way too brutal. Well it works for our games. We're no party poopers when it comes to realism and and how something should and shouldn't work. However, we tend to stay on the realistic side when it comes to RP and other things of the like.
I can understand how this wouldn't work out with some groups. There are a lot of players out there that don't like things happening to their character that they can't control. However, if your players aren't like that exploit their weaknesses this is the lost city of gold and treasure. Make their rival faction try to stop them at any cost. Work within the confines of that faction sure (I doubt the Pathfinders would go around and kill defenseless women and children).
And above all add someone the players can really hate. Later on it'll take a lot of the stress away from modding Savinth Yhi. Since they'll be too worried focusing on revenge to notice some of the obvious faults with the city. And you don't even have to make anyone up. The AP provides an excellent amount of NPCs to choose from to spark the ire. There are any of the castaways to use (even if they never became friends with the PCs they may still no a lot about what they're capable of) any of the faction leaders.
|
|
So if you play up the antagonizism between factions, then the players are more forgiving of the discovered city?
Yeah, at least my players have been. Regardless if you play up the antagonism between the faction you're still going to need to spruce stuff up in certain areas. Or just good old fashion improvisation if you're good at that kinda thing.
One thing my group has taken to doing is trying to find ways to hinder the other factions or at least trying to instigate them all into killing each other. They go out and explore the city a little then come back to base camp and try to intact some of their plans. Their last idea was to capture/trick some Pathfinders and taking them to the Troglodytes as sacrifices to secure a truce and blaming it on the Consortium.
Then again, this is a world where with enough money one can buy a ress spell
Exactly! In fact he's already got her back. But this was such a plot hook for his character (and for the party members who cared) that they've almost all forgotten about the Serpent Folk. All they want now is gold and Siry's head.
|
|
... and speaking of realism and the factions.
Make them realistic; don't just have them as stationary statistics like the AP has them!
http://paizo.com/forums/dmtz3s7l?Lets-flesh-out-SaventhYhi
This thread had a lot of great ideas for factions. Tacticslion went so far to post exact numbers for each faction and Okra.King posted a timeline
Both of these have helped out a lot in my game and can easily be modded for play styles; both enriched my player's experiences. For started when our party's Summoner sent in her summon (a little imp built around stealth and use magic device) I was able to give detailed numbers and even build up the camp by how their points were divided.
The timeline has helped make the factions feel more real as well here's mine if you're curious.
Day 2 -Sargarvian Government leads an attack on military district.
-Aspis Consortium infiltrates the baggords district
Day 3 -The pirates infiltrate the Farming District.
Day 4 -Sargavian attack is finally repulsed by Olujimi. Zakiyya and 5 other fighters are captured and sent to the arena to fight.
-Pathfinders take residents in the Artisan district.
Day 5-The pirates move into the Farming district.
Day 6 -Sargarvians and Olujimi fall into a standstill.
-Pirates, AP, and Boggards form a truce of convenience.
Day 7– Olujimi activates spear to gain advantage.
Day 8 -Sargaravian Government will attempt to recruit the help of the PC’s faction.
-Aspis Consortium begins exploring the merchant district while pirates set up supply lines with Boggards. -Pathfinders gain the trust of the humans and begin exploring the district and send out units led by Gelik to the Residential District. They set up an exploration camp in the long tan building just southwest of G1.
Day 10 -Aspis Consortium explores E3 and is driven off by the chimeras. Ishirou is captured and they "play" with him. They figure out how to activate Merchant districts spear.
Day 15 -Gelick and other Pathfinder’s are captured by Egzimora.
Day 16 -Pirates activate Farming spear. They keep reactivating it daily.
Day21 -If the Aspis Consortium and the Sargavan Government form a secret pact to assassinate Pathfinder Leaders and the Mantis Leaders.
Day 22 -Pathfinders activate the Artisans spear. Unless hindered, they will do this each night
Day 25 – If they ally with AP, the Sargaravian Government regroups and attacks the Pathfinders while the AP attacks the Assassins. –The captured government officials finally die in combat. Zakiyya escapes to the Government District.
Day 30 –Pirates assume secondary control of the district. (Boggards are now always hostile towards PCs.) – Zakiyya and Akarundo meet and form a “truce” and a plot to destroy the PCs.
Day 31 -Ishirou is finally killed by the goat head of the main chimera as it played too rough.
Day 35 -Pirates launch an attack with boggards on the Assassins. Pirates have D check of 12 with Boaggards. If pirates win they’ll attack the next day. If they lose the Assassins capture Arys and pirates flee.
Day 40 –The remaining Pathfinders that are still in the residential district, and if Egzimora is still alive, fall under her charm and fight for her, until she is defeated.
Day 45-Gelick succumbs to the torture and becomes a vegetable man.
Day 60– Zakiyya seeks out the PCs if they have not made it to the Government district yet.
Day 100- The Pathfinders go to the residential district on a search and rescue.
Day 120- If the Pathfinders are still in the residential district, and if Egzimora is still alive, they are all turned into advanced vegetable people.
I gave the tribe of the Sacred Serpent a hangout. As written, the nearly three hundred humans more or less squat in their dorm all day, even when they're not dying of plague. I said that the open fields south of their section of the city are used for growing rice, so that's their primary food supply. There are hunters who supplement that, but they're fewer.
The hangout is just west of where there river that circles their territory forks. I established some docks there, where the humans have about half a dozen rowboats, though they're sufficiently afraid of the mokele-mbembe that they rarely take them out into Lake Hirilaka.
The hangout ("Wharfside") will get more and more business as the expeditions hear about it, though of course it's a long way from any of the encampments.
The government faction is the degenerate serpentfolk, right? Is that who made the proclamations?
Sloanzilla,
That's an excellent idea. I don't think I'll have the Saragovans be quite so hapless but I will have them post proclamations along the waterfront claiming that all of Savanth Yhi is under their dominion .
Thanks.