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Starting Council of Thieves tomorrow, have the party made up and we are ready to meet at Vizio's Tavern. One thing I wanted to change is the downtime section (after Arael's rescue, before the Bastards' hideout). Instead of just having Thesing and the PC's lying low, I wanted to give them some side quests to get a feel for Westcrown, get to know the other Children of Westcrown, and set up the Bastards. Here's what I have so far:
-The elven alchemist PC loses contact with her mentor. Upon investigation, she finds that he's being killed by the Alchemical Ooze Swarm (Haunting of Harrowstone bestiary) he's been working on. Kill the ooze swarms, save the mentor, get fame points, gp, and gold.
-Fiosa has found out through her halfling friends that some slaves have found a ship that will take them out of Westcrown to Andoran. Problem is, they need help getting out of the villa and to the docks. PC's will be left to come up with their own solution to this problem, but it will likely involve distracting nobles, eluding Hellknights, etc. Would get fame points, but no gp.
-A demonic cleric has been kidnapping children for sacrifice. To save them, the PC's must ally with an Asmodean inquisitor! Puts them in an awkward position, and I intend to have the inquisitor be a recurring character.
-Bandits in Rego Dospera (ruined slums in the northern city) are having a turf war! Help the civilians get out of the crossfire while fending off gangs and opportunists. Clues leading to the Bastards of Erebus will show up, including the location of their hideout.
What do you think? Any ideas on what I can throw in?
Oh, also going to throw in the hunt for a shadow monster, though I'm just going to have it commissioned by Sandor the Strange instead of "Bluehood" (though Sandor does, ironically, wear a blue hood). Find a shadow-garm, kill it, bring the body to Sandor, get gp and xp.
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Goblin Hunting. We did a side mission where a member of the Dottari went with the pcs to clear out goblins from a ruiend manor. Goblins,Troblins,Goblin dogs all over the place. The Pcs can rescue a haberdasher(Designer of fine clothes) who can make the PCs outfits for any parties they go to.
Protect the orphans! Our group was caught in the north end near sundown and were invited into a hidden basment by some street kids. The party needs to secure the basement so Shadowbeats don't get in and fend off a minor devil that has been stalking the children.
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I worked in the first parts of the Mad God's Key (Dungeon #114, the break-in and the dock-side chase). The heroes are sent to a local fish market to pick up supplies for a cioppino that Fiosa is making to celebrate Arael's safe return when they notice a few thugs turning over a locksmith's shop. The heroes intervene, the shop's owner notices a missing key. Thugs say a half-orc is the real thief. Heroes track down the half-orc, and a chase ensues. See Dungeon #114 for the details--I recommend buying the PDF as it's really quite good. If the PCs don't kill the half-orc, he says he sold the stolen key to "those damned Bastards" before an assassin's poisoned bolt puts an end to the half-orc.
A map in the half-orc's possession leads to an "abandoned" temple to Erastil in the ruins of the city. The PCs return to the locksmith and say that the key couldn't be recovered and he tells them of the key's magical properties and that in the wrong hands, it would be a very dangerous thing.
-Fiosa has found out through her halfling friends that some slaves have found a ship that will take them out of Westcrown to Andoran. Problem is, they need help getting out of the villa and to the docks. PC's will be left to come up with their own solution to this problem, but it will likely involve distracting nobles, eluding Hellknights, etc. Would get fame points, but no gp.
Would they get fame points for this?
Would they get fame points for this?
Most people in Westcrown are completely okay with halfling slavery. They won't necessarily see helping the halflings escape as a "good thing."
The other thing is that actualy helping Andorans could easily be seen as treason. Andoran and Cheliax are in a state of "cold war" and quite a lot of violence occures along the boarder areas.
The fame points would DEFINITELY work with halflings, but that's a good point. The Andoran aspect would probably be unknown to the PC's and definitely to the general public.
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Actually just finished this book, about half way thru the next. I added a few side quests, mostly saving citizens and helping the oppressed.
Just before the end of the book I did a full thing with the Goblins (I love the little guys). I started by having the players stop a fire that the goblins had set (saving people from burning buildings, stopping a nearby alchemist shop from exploding, etc) after which they learned that the goblins had been provided with a map leading them to where they had started the blaze. Also made it apparent that they were now in possession of a large amount of Alchemist Fire. The party needed no other motivation to hunt the creatures back to their lair and battle it out with Chief Whitechin the Wererat. I also made sure to drop a few hints about the Council providing them with the Alchemist Fires.
The players seemed to really enjoy it! Hope this helps. Happy gaming!
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I have been writing a side quest for a goblin hideout where the party find an advert for goblin warriors on the body of a goblin they kill in the sewers during the first part.
Using pictograms? You could even draw it in crayon and give it as a handout.
Alright had a great session where I got to use one of these!
The player of our elven alchemist wasn't able to make the first session, so I had it be a "security threat" for the Children of Westcrown. The players new the elf was on the level, but they kept the meta-gaming down and I'm proud of them for that. Anyway, they tracked down the elf to her master's lab where they were being attacked by Sanguine Alchemical Ooze Swarms (from the Haunting of Harrowstone bestiary). They did very well against the ooze (not that its hard) and had a fun time squashing the little jelly-blobs.
After that they planned the rescue of Arael (ended up ambushing the carriage in the forest). With Arael rescued and the Children back in the Shrine of Aroden, they all began to celebrate with a (relatively) elaborate dinner. Arael gave a speech thanking them all for saving him from the Order of the Rack and explained that now they could begin the real work of saving Westcrown. The session ended with him saying "...and I have some ideas on how we could do this."
Think I'll have Arael recommend fighting the bandit problem, then "open the floor" to other suggestions. Fiosa will talk about the halflings, Tarvi will say she might not be able to stay in the group because of her parents' setting her up with an Asmodean inquisitor, and Gorvio will later discover evidence of the demonic cultist. Janiven will talk about the goblins, which will likely bring in some of the other children.
Kinda going for an Edge of Anarchy feel. I think its a good way to introduce NPCs, showcase the city, and set the themes of the adventure.
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Alright, so had 3 events happen in tonight's game.
Second, they returned the horses to Gorvio's uncle and met Thesing. The rogue horribly insulted Thesing, so Thesing challenged the rogue to a duel the following day at high noon on a dueling-barge in the Miratanza. As they were getting ready for the duel, the alchemist and witch saw Tarvi (child of Westcrown) talking with her parents... and an Asmodean inquisitor. The inquisitor was Korad Imvius, recently returned from Korvosa. Tarvi's parents have been trying to set her up with noble boys and Imvius is looking for a wife. He does genuinely like Tarvi, but the PC's don't know that yet. It turns out that Korad will be judging the duel between Thesing and the rogue, since he and Thesing already knew each other.
The duel was over very quickly, as it was just until first blood (we were running out of time and I hate ending in the middle of fights). Korad declared Thesing the victor, but the tenor wanted the rogue's blood and continued to attack. The Asmodean inquisitor then walked up to Thesing and hit him with an Agonize spell, apologized for Thesing's violation of the dueling rules, and declared the rogue victorious.
Actually just finished this book, about half way thru the next. I added a few side quests, mostly saving citizens and helping the oppressed.
Just before the end of the book I did a full thing with the Goblins (I love the little guys). I started by having the players stop a fire that the goblins had set (saving people from burning buildings, stopping a nearby alchemist shop from exploding, etc) after which they learned that the goblins had been provided with a map leading them to where they had started the blaze. Also made it apparent that they were now in possession of a large amount of Alchemist Fire. The party needed no other motivation to hunt the creatures back to their lair and battle it out with Chief Whitechin the Wererat. I also made sure to drop a few hints about the Council providing them with the Alchemist Fires.
The players seemed to really enjoy it! Hope this helps. Happy gaming!
In my friend's Council of Thieves run, Whitechin was a Werebat.
He managed to bite our Paladin, but she managed to make it with a Cure Disease spell provided by a local Cleric of Abadar.