Hello, paizonians! I'm working on a homebrew game to be set in and around Vigil after getting my mitts on the campaign setting book, and I'm finding myself fairly short of ideas, encounters and setpieces to weave into my sessions.
My lurking tells me a few GMs have ran games in Lastwall (Mikaze, ferinstance) and I'd love to gather up some ideas. I'm basing it loosely off of Red Hand of Doom. I plan on having the orcs of Belkzen ally with Zedoran the Ancient Green Dragon and his progeny, as well as his three hag lieutenants. The bridge and ambush encounters I want to rip wholesale (replacing the hobgoblins with orcs). I also want to have the PCs act as emissaries to nearby Dwarf and Elf kingdoms, ALA Red Hand. Beyond that though I'm still not sure where I want to go to it.
I want to include a variety of encounters and I'm scouring the books for ideas but I'm struggling with a few major hitches.
The first of which is... how to make orcs, well, interesting. Both from a statistical and story standpoint, I'm wondering how to make the orcs engaging.
I'm also trying to come up with a compelling villain (or rival) to place within the walls of Vigil.
The third is coming up with different encounters/setpieces to squeeze into the game. I already plan on a cavalry charge encounter against routed orcs to start it off (skewed in the PCs favour to let them feel powerful and knightly), a horse-race, a seige, a fight with morlocks underground (I've recently discovered them and just plain want to squeeze them in somewhere) and several run ins with the Ancient Green Dragon, despite him being well beyond their capability to fight (I plan on having the PCs hinder him by causing a cave-in and earn his ire at say, level 8 or 9, before an encounter with him closer to his actual CR, around level 12 or so (decked out in dragon-bane gear of course). Where else can I go with this?
Perhaps we could swap ideas and chat a while?
I have an off-the-cuff idea for a villain: Perhaps Zedoran and/or his hags have a certain necromantic bauble created by Tar-Baphon. This is in turn smuggled into Vigil and results in a recently-deceased 'elite' knight as a graveknight.
Or he could have been a bit too bold for his own good in life and took part in an ill-advised attack and felt so utterly betrayed by a perceived lack of support he came back with a burning desire to tear down all that he once held dear?
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
For cool orcs, you should get Orcs of Golarion. It has lots of cool info and some fun crunch that makes groups of orc barbarians devastating. Combine with an Orc Witch who uses Con for casting.
Red Hand of Doom has a whole appendix of NPC stats. With that, you should be able to convert pretty easily hobgoblin to Orc. You would probably want some Barbarians though, as orcs are more chaotic than hobs.
There are a lot of giants around Belkzen. Have the orcs use them as artillery, weapon platforms, battering rams.
There is a lot of room in Lastwall for conflict between factions who are on the same side. Clerics of Gorum are more militant than Clerics of Iomedae. You could always go with the idea that the pc's discover the massing orcs, but authorities don't believe they could be that organized.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
1. Definitely get Orcs of Golarion. The Hold is a major part of the book, particularly from a culture standpoint. It will help you a great deal.
2. Look into the Orc section of Advanced Race Guide and The Hold's section of the ISWG. Again, more source material.
3. Lastwall has a number of factions. Work with that. ISWG will help with this.
4. Once you get to the part where the Orcs are massing, remember that some Orcs ride megafauna. Use it. It's fun.
A couple spitball ideas that might last a session or 3:
-Disturbing the peace: The players sneak into Belzken and plant evidence of betrayal between cooperative Orc tribes (best done at lower levels).
-Release the hounds: some tribes of Orcs pride themselves on riding. Many of them ride Wargs or similar critters. Take them from their owners. (again, lower level)
-Defense!: Lastwall is under threat of a massive assault. Prepare the defenses and prevent the city's destruction. (mid-high level, probably a good level 9-10 scenario)
Some orcs ride specially bred, magically enhanced owlbears.
As far as a villain, how about a spy/sleeper agent? I would make it someone the PCs rely on quite frequently, like a shopkeeper that they go to for all their supplies. The shock of his "turning" will enhance the campaign. I had a DM back in the day who really amplified the role of Gremag and Rannos Davl, the shopkeepers in Hommlet, as agents of the Temple (unbeknownst to us). They were our "go to" guys for buying and selling equipment. The anger and hurt we all felt when they turned on us was not only personal to our characters, but to us as players as well. A bonus for this construct is that your bad guys can learn about the PCs abilities before they fight them. This is especially beneficial when you need a legitimate reason for a bad guy having the perfect defense against a character who has some phenomenal ability that has spoiled more than a few of your best laid encounters.
Or you could go with the narrow-minded captain of the guard. She constantly offers the opposite opinion of how to handle a situation. The players say one thing--she says the other. She is basically good at heart and has the best interest of her town in mind, but she is skeptical and cautious. Traits that have served her well in times of peace, but these same traits need to adjusted now that the times have changed. In this capacity, the villain/rival is more of a foil to the characters. It would also add a roleplaying aspect to the campaign--perhaps the players need to change her attitude in order to succeed.
Or you could have both.
A long time ago, I jotted down a few notes for Belkzen/Lastwall adventures. Among them was:
A plea from a small village of peaceful half-orc farmer families living well within the border of Belkzen. The PC's are sent as part of an expedition to either protect the NPCs' village (effectively extending Lastwall's borders, putting them on a warfare setting with Belkzen), or relocating them to fallow farmlands near Vigil (creating resentment and suspicion among many orc-prejudiced citizens).
Not sure if this is helpful or not.
Hmmm, I'm also in the process of planning a Lastwall/Hold of Belkzen campaign. However, mine's more a travelogue, so I don't know how useful my ideas would be.
If you haven't got it already, Cities of Golarion has great info about Vigil.
Thanks for all the ideas!
I'd love to hear about some other GM's games in Lastwall, planned or otherwise, Tadpole. And the Vigil book is actually what inspired me. It's fantastic. The use of the Marks of Justice, the beacons, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela-esque pilgramage site... it all really struck a chord with me and I think my players are going to love it (and so much for me running a non-Golarion game some time in the next several year...)
Or he could have been a bit too bold for his own good in life and took part in an ill-advised attack and felt so utterly betrayed by a perceived lack of support he came back with a burning desire to tear down all that he once held dear?
I really love this. I might make him a vampire to bring a bit of Ustalav down into the region (I plan on running it mostly on the border of Fangwood and up north in Vigil). I'll also find a way to establish him as an NPC early so I can kill him offscreen and bring him back later. Thanks for a great idea!
Some orcs ride specially bred, magically enhanced owlbears.
Yes. Yes. Yes. I've statted up my orc adepts so I know what spells the orcs have at their disposal (their leaders notwithstanding) and they have the full line of "Bulls Strength" spells. I can either buff one up in combat or apply the advanced template and fluff it as been drowned in these magics from an egg.
4. Once you get to the part where the Orcs are massing, remember that some Orcs ride megafauna. Use it. It's fun.
I just looked into it. I dont think I've ever encountered a trample attack in my half-a-dozen years of roleplaying. I definately need some armoured elephants. I also like the idea of a sabotage operation, though I dont think I'd send my PCs too far behind the lines.
I'll continue to update this thread as my ideas develop, so please keep the ideas coming! :D
Paths of prestige has mammoth rider prestige class. Belkzen borders Realm of the Mammoth Lords, so no reason not to have a Huge animal companion stomping on their puny horses.
Maybe for the behind the lines mission they could hear that orcs are digging at a ruin from the time of Tar Baphon, searching for an orcish power booster.
Also, Oni disguised as really big orcs.
Fangwood you say?
What if this rash knight was from Molthune (and may or may not have had a reputation gained in the frequent battles with a certain country) and the Nirmathi skirmishers attached to his unit found out?
|
My lurking tells me a few GMs have ran games in Lastwall (Mikaze, ferinstance) and I'd love to gather up some ideas.
The stuff I've worked up around that area actually feeds more into the Nirmathas/Molthrune conflict and complicating the Lastwall/Balkzen conflict by splitting up and fleshing out orc culture, so that stuff may not be of much use if you'd prefer to run Belkzen orcs as straight bad guys(then again, I still haven't had a chance to get and read Red Hand of Doom, so I'm just assuming that's how it goes there).
Stuff like emphasizing the schism between monstrous Rovagugi orc tribes and the more "worthy opponent" Gorumite tribes(who frequently pick out and clash with the Gorumites found on parts of the Lastwall side of the wall).
On that green dragon...
Then again, there was been mention here and there that Kazavon had a green mate at one point or that a green had claimed some of his remains. I can't recall for certain which at the moment.
Either way, that could provide a figure that could become a focal point of worry for Lastwall if such a dragon decided to try and bring back the Bad Old Days of Kazavon.
I've begun this morning to work on an NPC roster like the appendix of Red Hand of Doom has. I'm challenging myself by using only NPC classes (save for my orcish big bads and tribal leaders. That made the adept an interesting predicament. After all, with the basic array and a -2 penalty to all casting stats, he's going to be starting with 11 wis. I managed to pull something together, however!
This decrepit orc wears a wicked barbed crown that pierces the flesh of his forehead.
Orc Adept/8 (old)
CE medium humanoid (orc);
Init+3; Senses Perception +6, darkvision 60ft., light sensitivity
DEFENSE
AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 14
hp 32 (8 HD; 8d6+8)
Fort +2,Ref +2,Will +10;
Defensive Abilities
mirror image 1d4+2 (8 minutes), ferocity
OFFENSE
Speed30 ft.
Melee heavy mace +4 (1d8), dagger +4 (1d4/19-20) touch +4 (as spell)
Ranged touch +3 (as spell)
Spells Prepared (CL 8, Concentration +11):
3 - blood rage, orcs of golarion p28
2 - mirror image, scorching ray (2)
1 - cure light wounds (3), shield of faith
0 - touch of fatigue DC 14 (3)
STATISTICS
Str 11, Dex 9, Con 10, Int 10. Wis 18, Cha 7
Base Atk +4; CMB +4CMD 13
Feats Alertness, Brew Potion, Improved Initiative, Light Armour Proficiency, Toughness
Skills Appraise +3, Heal +13, Knowledge (arcana) +5, Knowledge (geography) +5, Knowledge (planes) +5, Knowledge (religion) +5, Perception +6, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +7
LanguagesOrcish, Common
SQsummon familiar (crow), weapon familiarity (greataxe, falchion)
Combat gear potion of cure serious wounds and scroll case withscroll of scorching ray (CL 7), scroll of bull's strength, scroll of cat's grace, scroll of bear's endurance
other gear headband of inspired wisdom, amulet of natural armour +1, chain shirt, healers kit, silver unholy symbol, spell component pouch, 69gp
TACTICS
Before CombatBefore combat, the Shaman casts mirror image and prepares the components for his blood rage spell.
During Combat The Shaman prefers to survey the battlefield from a place of safety, casting blood rage using his crow familiar's ability to deliver touch spells to deliver healing where needed. He'll use scorching ray andtouch of fatigue(via his familiar) to debilitate any particularly dangerous foes.
FAMILIAR
Crow
Size Tiny; Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (average);AC 18;hp 16Attack bite +8 (1d3-4), touch +8 Ability Scores Str 2, Dex 15, Con 8, Int 9, Wis 15, Cha 7; Special Qualities low-light vision. improved evasion, share spells, empathic link (1 mile), speak with master, speak with others of its kind
He'd be encountered with four 4th level Orc Warriors (with Toughness and Power Attack) as his vanguard, making him a neat CR 8 (and he can affect all of them with his Blood Rage spell, which will make them all kinds of deadly unless they take him out first. These orcs will get deadlier as they're beaten down unless they're killed in a focused attack, and the orc ferocity ability synergises perfectly. Basically the spell (which targets one target every two levels) acts as rage, but grants +2 to Str and Con and -1 to AC for every 5 hp missing, stacking up to 10. It's definately on par with Haste. Maybe even above and beyond... I'm a little worried about a TPK. I keep having to remind myself he's supposed to be almost as challenging as a Bulette or a Remorhaz.
Some notes on the build:
I'll be returning tommorow (most likely) with some sort of story outline, but I'm still on the hunt for stories, suggestions and other ideas. One statblock does not an adventure make, as the saying goes. Thanks for all the help thus far!
Crimsone Throne Spoilers and Gorumite Orcs
I somehow had no idea Paizo had an adventure in Belkzen on the market. None whatsoever. It's a bit high leveled for me but the AP has an article on Belkzen I can use! Thanks!
As for the Gorumite tribes (and factions within Lastwall) I'll probably downplay them a bit unless I have a Gorumite PC. As a god he... just doesn't do it for me.
|
|
I somehow had no idea Paizo had an adventure in Belkzen on the market. None whatsoever. It's a bit high leveled for me but the AP has an article on Belkzen I can use! Thanks!
As for the Gorumite tribes (and factions within Lastwall) I'll probably downplay them a bit unless I have a Gorumite PC. As a god he... just doesn't do it for me.
To be specific, it's going to be Pathfinder #11: Skeletons of Scarwall that you'll probably want to check out. It has some of the history I was talking about in the main adventure, but the big thing that might be helpful to you is the full article on the Hold of Belkzen itself. It's a small gazzeteer like those for Varisia in the early Rise of the Runelords volumes.
The Gorumite connection I latch on to mainly because it gives a foot in the door for orc cultures that aren't monstrously evil 24/7. :)