Changes to the Stag Lord

[Tauric]

Hello all,

So, I had this idea about the Stag Lord being a recurring character, and so I wanted to change his background a bit. Instead of being a stone drunk, he is sober, and has aspirations to rule the Stolen Lands as true bandit lord, as so many others in the River Kingdoms do. To further this goal, he made a pact with an otherworldly source (the big N) for the powers to persuade or force others to do his bidding.

Things will go well for him at first, until the PCs arrive and start killing his people, ending with a showdown that he will flee from. He will find some sacred spot where he can contact N, and rail against her for not giving him enough power, at which point she gives him an upgrade: she turns him from a man into a man/elk monster, basically like a minotaur but replace bull with elk.

That way he can come back at the PCs for revenge, possible as part of Hargulka's band, or as a replacement for Hargulka. Or maybe the transformation drives him mad, and he rages through the forest, and becomes something they have to take time out of kingdom building to deal with, I don't know.

What do you guys think? Any ideas on how to improve this plot? Any problems you foresee?

[Louis Lyons]

Personally? I think this is a fantastic idea.

I think the Stag Lord, as Kingmaker sets him up, does a great job with the buildup but little in the way of payoff. I mean, he is a high level ranger after all, but it turns out that he is a complete drunk who relies on his reputation more than he does his skill to inspire fear. I think that plotline should be ditched and that he should be a more challenging menace against the heroes. Your idea sounds like a excellent route for the adventure to take in order to bring that challenge.

In addition, I think you should use his ranger abilities to the furthest degree. He shouldn't be cooped up in his Fort: He should be a ruthless guerrilla fighter who sets up ambushes for the heroes in the forest, or performs hit-and-run tactics against them. Maybe it is his goal to kill off one PC or tag-along NPC/cohort at a time each night to ruin the party's morale.

I mean, how frightening would it be for the PCs to be attacked by the Stag Lord in the middle of the night while they are camping in the woods? It goes from being a run-of-the-mill boss encounter to being a desperate struggle for survival. And if you make him some form of Fey-touched magical creature? Wow. You've got one of the most memorable boss fights in the making.

[Orthos]

+1. Wish I'd thought of it.

I'm doing something similar though, by having a high-level Necromancer enemy of the party bringing back Staggy as an Elk-Centaur undead thing, Like So. He'll be doing similar with some other early-game enemies of the party (Kressle, Dovan, Rigg Gargadilly, etc.).

[tonyz]

Have Nyrissa reincarnate him on a regular bais. He's the guy who wakes up the giant owl bears, and arouses Vordakai, and.leads the Tiger Lords on their first attack... until the PCs find a way to keep him from being reincarnated.

Though I do like the idea of a stag-headed Minotaur...

[Tauric]

Thanks for the encouragement and ideas.

My group has cleared the Thorn River camp, but a few bandits escaped. If the party ever goes back to the camp, they are going to find one of the bandits (one they had charmed, so they interacted with him quite a bit) blood eagled in the middle of the camp, with a blood head of a stag nailed to a tree nearby, just so they know that the Stag Lord is aware of what's going on.

That way his reputation will be fact, not just words.

[pennywit]

Oooo. I like this. My own group soundly defeated Haps, then hatted up and decided it was Kressle-stompin' time. This party is a bit tougher than I anticipated so your idea has merit for my group ... AND I kind of like the thematic parallels between the wannabe bandit king the Stag Lord and the PCs themselves.

[pennywit]

A couple more thoughts that I might play with for my game. We've already seen that Erastil is a rather grumpy deity who likes to transform folks who offend him. What if Erastil is peeved that the Stag Lord has appropriated the image of a stag ... and transforms the Lord as punishment?

I could see Staggie rebelling even more, and perhaps replacing the giant owlbear at the end of RRR. (I'm not a fan of the giant owlbear).

[Tauric]

I like that idea od Erastil changing the stag lord for blasphemy. My players are already suspicious of anything looking like a elk-they can across a herd while exploring and were almost killed them all, just in case old staggy was a shape changer (the druid talked them out of it).

I also like the idea of him replacing the owlbear, I think my players will be tired of owlbears by then (they've already killed one and seen another, then ther's the one in the fort to deal with)

[pennywit]

I kind of like your idea of an active Stag Lord, too. Although I'm thinking about using Hargulka's Monster Kingdom (TM Dudemeister), so having two aspiring megalomaniacial lords in a row might be repetitive. Besides, Staggy gives of a very "Achilles in his tent" vibe.

In my case, I'm thinking of introducing Akiros early on, maybe praying at that statue of Erastil that's in the woods. I'd play up the idea that Akiros is rather conflicted about the whole banditry idea, something that they might play on later when they invade the fortress.

But since I like the idea of bringing him back, I'm thinking of either:

a) giving Staggy a potion of gaseous form so he can escape; or,
b) having Erastil punish Staggy in some way. He attempts to flee the fortress when the PCs are clearly winning, only to be confronted by a stag larger than anything the PCs have ever seen. It drags Staggy away ... if the PCs investigate (which I expect them to), they'll follow a trail of blood to the clearing with Erastil's statue. Staggy's gear will be there, but the body will be nowhere to be found.

But if they just kill Staggy, I've still got options ... particularly if they dump his body in the river.

[tonyz]

I don't think Erastil would rescue Staggy -- the Big E is more likely to transform him into something useful like a larg pig or a apple tree. And I don't think Staggy is the sort to run (thoughifhedoeshes got a high Stealth and might make it through an escape tunnel.) If you want to bring him back, having Nyrissa raise or reincarnate him might work. Or having him come back as a vengeful undead....

[pennywit]

I thought about it, and the scenario I see works out something more like this: The PCs defeat Staggy and take his body to the river, satisfying the ghost there ... and then as the body rides away on the river ... an elk with glowing eyes grabs the body in its teeth, then drags it into the forest ...

[tonyz]

That would work.

[Tauric]

The group found the bandit's body, and as it turns out it was the charmed bandit. The look of near-horror on the cleric's face was priceless.

Next session I am having the Stag Lord hit some merchants traveling between Oleg's and Restov, people that the players know and like.