Just started a blog for my upcoming campaign - Campaign Blog.
Right now I'm focused on getting things off to a good start when we begin, prob in June. You're welcome to take a look and let me know what you think, and hopefully something here might be helpful to other GMs too.
I was wondering if other GMs have played up the Gotham angle, with the PCs as Batman-to-be? How did it go? Pitfalls to watch for?
One thing I was wondering about was the casual murder ethos assumed by D&D adventures. If the PCs are in the Batman mindset, will they even want to murder Gaedren Lamm? Perhaps they'll take him in for a fair trial?(!) I'm definitely thinking that in their first fight I'll ask them "do you really want to kill this guy? It's a terrible thing to kill a man (or gnome)..."
I think after the PCs find out what he's been doing to the children, they might not be so lenient... My party wasn't. He's a crimelord and a terrible man. But he's also quite frail. He died by accident when the Paladin got a critical hit and impaled him. The paladin felt bad that he died but couldn't forgive him for his crimes against all those children. And Zellara.
Yeah, Gaedren certainly deseves to die (IMO)! It might be a bigger issue with his lackeys, and certainly the PCs shouldn't be using lethal force vs the children. As I'll be running it in 4e D&D, I'm thinking that in most cases I'll ask the players if they are using deadly force, or just trying to KO the target. I'm also thinking of tracking when NPCs die, rather than just assume they die when dropped.
My PCs sneaked in at night, so the children were all freaking out and not fighting the PCs. Some PCs calmed down the children with Diplomacy checks/magic while the other PCs fought the minions. The minions gave up at low HP and so the PCs tied them up. The children had fun poking the minions with brooms and taunting them. With Gaedren, his death was sort of on accident/purpose. One character is chaotic neutral and wanted revenge.
I thought about giving a character dying words instead of just knocking out. I find this more exciting to give that bad guy a final dying "curse you" before knocking out.
I thought about giving a character dying words instead of just knocking out. I find this more exciting to give that bad guy a final dying "curse you" before knocking out.
Yeah, that sounds like a great idea, thanks! :)
One thing I want to take the opportunity to do is to play up the humanity of (most) human opponents. Gaedren is utterly vile, but I can also see him whining and pleading for his life even while his croc is digesting some unfortunate 'orphan' (I might mention the real-world fact that most 'orphans' are actually the unwanted children of illicit liaisons, playing up the Victorian theme. Historically, until Charles Dickens, orphanages were pretty much death camps, where very few survived to adulthood).
I also had an idea for the first meeting with the Gray Maidens in book 2, taking advantage of the fact that players are often more likely to empathise with female NPCs. I'm portraying them as skilled warriors, initially arrogant with their heavy armour and intense training, but as soon as one goes down, another tears off her helm, revealing a frightened-looking and teary-eyed young woman:
"What are you doing?! She's dying! We've got to save her!"
>:)
I'm taking some inspiration from old WW2 movies (ca '60s-'70s) and Sven Hassel books, with the portrayal of the Gray Maidens influenced by the Hitler Youth. Hand-picked and heavily indoctrinated, but still human, and initially with little real combat experience.
Yeah most of the humans will give up if dropped to low health. You can also talk to PCs as free actions. It's a good way to show the personality of the NPC villains.
A lot of the orphans who grow up in Korvosa become part of the military, so I believe they take care of them well (Korovsa is big on the military). The church of Abadar and Saranrae usually check up on orphanages. But you can play the darkness up however you want.
I suggest you read the Guide to Korvosa if you want to add more things to the city. Your players will only have read the Players Guide (if even that; mine didn't). So it's up to you to introduce the city. I learned the hard way not to give history lessons all at once (its boring to them if its not relevant). Just think about things you want your PCs to know without giving them huge history lessons at the last second.
Here's an example: when the PCs saved a child that Gaedren captured and returned her to her home at Trail's End, all her brothers and sisters were happy and said the players were like Black Jack the hero. So, I had a subtle way to introduce who Black Jack was before the end of Chapter 1. And the PCs pay more attention to random things when they are in a good mood (after having saved the kids, they were in a GREAT mood).
Another example: in one of the mob encounters, I added more lines to the people who were in the mob. They talked about their views on Korvosa (i.e. about the Seneschal, about the king, etc). I wrote up some ideas for other encounters and how to add info about Korvosa.
I felt I had to add more riots/mobs. Even if the PCs don't get involved in them, they at least overhear people arguing/ feel the craziness. Maybe one day the PCs overhear a guard complaining about how people need to stop making a big deal about stuff. The reason for this is because, if you just let the PCs shop and relax, the city doesn't seem in peril. You should describe the city even in off days.
Again, I don't know how your players are. I just noticed this helps if you want to make Korovsa seem more alive.
Thanks Alexis, lots of good ideas! I especially like the idea of having NPCs compare the PCs to Blackjack early on.
I'm not planning to use the Guide to Korvosa though, I find I can improvise stuff easier than remembering it, and I want the players to take part in creating bits of the city.
I was wondering if anyone else tried tying PCs' backstory in to the major NPCs prior to the start of the campaign, as I am planning to do? I thought that for a 'noir' feel it would work better to have pre-established connections in many cases - old friends, lovers and enemies - rather than the usual 'blank slate' approach. My thinking is this would ensure the AP felt like it centred on the PCs' story, and strong connections would help avoid it seeming artificial.
If you tried this, how did it go? Pitfalls to watch out for?