Letters from the main villain

[scadgrad]

Sorry, but the holiday break took me away from the forums quite a bit and I missed these posts.

I'll do letters 4 and 5 the next time I'm in the office as I have the files there and don't have the font here on my Mac. If memory serves, it's Albemarle Pro from P22 foundry, but I'll confirm later.

[GeeSeeBee]

I've never posted to forums before, but I wanted to share this letter I had my players find at the end of the 2nd module.

End of Book 2:

To the most brilliant and insightful detectives yet seen in Lepidstadt,
My most sincere congratulations on your conquest of natural limitations to achieve some moderate awareness of events around you. Your tenacity and directness in this matter is to be admired.

In the interest of continuing your education about the world, I believe you ought now to be advised that you are all, among your other qualities, extraordinarily fortunate individuals. The dangers which have, as yet, failed to injure or deter you have been the merest of those undirected and ordinary hazards any inquisitive individual ought to anticipate stumbling into while advancing his woefully inadequate store of information.

Should you, however, wish to continue prying into those matters which you have now perceived only barest whispers of, it seems only fair to inform you that the forces resisting you will become more organized, more aggressive, and less susceptible to the vagaries of that apparent fondness which Desna holds for you, and which is the only sufficient explanation for the mildness of the consequences of your continued blundering.

Perhaps, though, some of you may survive your coming difficulties
undeterred and wiser by observing the deaths of your fellows. In that case, it is barely possible that utterly eradicating you from this or any other plane, as castigation for your impudent and uniformed meddling, could provide the least amusing of challenges for the few days required, and I most eagerly await this tedious exercise.

[Helaman]

Very very nice. I'll alter it a bit but the over all tone is perfect.

[Ben the Red]

Love these letters, Loki_Thief. I've been using them for my CC game and my players eat them up. Looking forward to any more.

[Garm Sumner]

I agree with Bed the Red! Handouts and Letters always enhance the gameplay experience!

[warpi9]

I love the notes and plan on fully implementing them into my campaign. But I'm going to take it a step further. I am going to have AA. Visit Kendra and give his condolences then drop off the letter to the sherriff on the way out of town to be given to the PC's "if they defeated the harrowstone ghosts"

I am fairly certain the group will ask the sherriff where he got the letter and he will describe the man that stopped by.

Also is there gonna be another letter?

[Screenmonkey2099]

I was going to have all correspondence from AA signed with a sigil instead of his name/initials.

I made his sigil a web like design that is actually an AA. Crude paint version:

http://imgur.com/7skadMK

[Bryan Stiltz]

Yossarin wrote:

"When first I embarked upon this mission of mercy for mankind, I was simply doing it by rote. Going through the motions as I had designed them with little to no variation. Your intervention has sparked a sensation I have not felt in my work for years - passion. And for that, I am eternally grateful, no matter which of us succeeds in our ambitions. All of my work and all of the sacrifices I have made are justified by your valiant pursuit. Know that, should I best you, I will not let your sacrifices be in vain. You are all hereby guaranteed a place in a newer, quieter, more peaceful world, one where death can never touch you. Should you best me, know that I will die content in the knowledge that I have already made my mark upon the world. Through you."

I particularly enjoy your characterization and have blatantly stolen your words above for my personal campaign.

I would be honored if you would post other letters for me to blatantly steal and enable my laziness.

[Bryan Stiltz]

GeeSeeBee wrote:

I've never posted to forums before, but I wanted to share this letter I had my players find at the end of the 2nd module.

** spoiler omitted **

I wil be blatantly stealing much of this letter as well.

Do you or Yossarin have more letters to share? The snarky, arrogant, but almost enamored of his enemies tone entrances me.

[GermanyDM]

scadgrad, I don't wish to impose, but I'd love to see a workup of Letter 4 if you find the time to post it!
Loki_, the letters are wonderful. The tone superb!

[Loki_Thief]

Thanks for all the kind words, folks; they're very much appreciated. Sorry it's been taking so long, my group's had to miss a couple of sessions due to various thing (and we only play this campaign every other week to begin with). But, the fifth letter is here, intended for the end of Book 5. I recommend the PCs find it in a certain nobleman's chambers when they find him missing.

Fifth Letter, end of Book 5:

You know who you are,

I find myself bemused at your actions in Caliphas. I realize that you seem to have fixated yourselves on exterminating my agents wherever you find them, but... you do realize that they were destroying vampires, do you not? I would never have thought that ridding the city of such abominations would draw any protest from you. But what's done is done. To be honest, the entirety of the operation in Caliphas was little more than a diversion, a way for me to occupy my mind while waiting for my other plans to bear fruit. If I have to wait a little longer to exterminate the traitorous vampires, it's of little consequence.
The one task of importance in Caliphas was securing Count Galdana, which of course I made sure to accomplish while you were busy disposing of Radvir and the Witches of Barstoi. The loss of those minions is more than made up for by acquiring the final piece of my grand design.
There's still a chance for you, of course. I'm sure you know by now that my plans for Galdana don't involve anything so prosaic as simply killing him. He's being prepared as we speak for his role in the events to come, at a location which I'm sure you have already deduced. You should certainly come and attempt to retrieve him-- it will save me the trouble of tracking you down to kill you once I've finished with the Count. If you want to maintain your delusions of victory, though, you must hurry, for the hour of my triumph is fast approaching. I look forward to our meeting.
Sincerely,

A

Note that this assumes that the PCs either cooperated with the vampires, or at least failed to destroy them all. If the PCs went to the trouble of tracking down and finishing the vamps, a slight revision is in order:

Fifth letter, alternate version:

You know who you are,

I find myself bemused at your actions in Caliphas. While you did succeed in exterminating my agents, you also finished most of their job for them by destroying the vampires. The few survivors will be easily dealt with in due time. To be honest, the entirety of the operation in Caliphas was little more than a diversion, a way for me to occupy my mind while waiting for my other plans to bear fruit. If I have to wait a little longer to exterminate the traitorous vampires, it's of little consequence.
The one task of importance in Caliphas was securing Count Galdana, which of course I made sure to accomplish while you were busy disposing of Radvir and the Witches of Barstoi. The loss of those minions is more than made up for by acquiring the final piece of my grand design.
There's still a chance for you, of course. I'm sure you know by now that my plans for Galdana don't involve anything so prosaic as simply killing him. He's being prepared as we speak for his role in the events to come, at a location which I'm sure you have already deduced. You should certainly come and attempt to retrieve him-- it will save me the trouble of tracking you down to kill you once I've finished with the Count. If you want to maintain your delusions of victory, though, you must hurry, for the hour of my triumph is fast approaching. I look forward to our meeting.
Sincerely,

A

Note that whether they left the vamps alive or destroyed them, A is going to mock them for it. There may be a final letter at some point in Book 6, probably at some point after the rescue at Renchurch. I'll also post about what happens when the PCs and A finally come face to face. Until then.

A

[Loki_Thief]

Also, GeeSeeBee's letter is pretty cool, too. It's nice seeing other people's takes on A's interactions with the players.

[artguy]

so does mister A have anything to say about the werewolves or no?

[Bryan Stiltz]

@LokiThief - I love it! I'll be adapting these as well!

I'm making a few changes based on advice here, so some adaptation is necessary, but the tone of that final Book 5 letter is perfect!

[Loki_Thief]

Honestly, the werewolves are fairly inconsequential to A. He could care less about the power dynamics of the Shudderwood-- the lycans are only important because he needs the Packlord's Heart to achieve his goals. He might find the resulting turmoil among the tribes (and the PCs' entanglement in the mess) to be a source of mild amusement, but that's about the extent of it. Ultimately, A has bigger fish to fry.
Plus, he's trying to take a deliberately disinterested tone in these letters, to give the impression that he's not particularly worried by the heroes' successes. Glossing over the details of what they've encountered is one way he does this. (In the beginning, this disinterested tone is pretty genuine. As the campaign progresses, particularly once Vrood is dead, it becomes a facade, as A tries to mask his rising concern from both the PCs and himself.)
This is, of course, all based on my interpretation of A, which is ultimately subjective. Your mileage may vary.

A

[scadgrad]

A few more of the letters finished...

Book 4 Sending

Letter 4 v2

[scadgrad]

And book 5 letters...

Letter 5, end of Book 5

Letter 5, end of Book 5 Alt Version

Enjoy and sorry for the delay.

@ Loki_Thief,

Please drop me a PM so I can give you my personal email. That way, I'll be more likely to finish this little project up as soon as you complete your work for Book 6.

[Blackbot]

Mister Game Person Fellow wrote:

Yes, I agree, thanks for posting them--but I have one (fairly basic) question: how does Adivian get these letters to the players without them being able to trace the letters back to the big evil villain?

I assume I can just kind of hand wave the details of the letter origin--after all, it's not like there's an official, standardized Ustalav postal service which requires a return address. (At least, I would assume so. I am unfortunately not that well versed in the pathfinder universe)

But, hand-waving aside, I'd like to know what you guys did to get the letters to the PCs consistently and mysteriously. Is there... is there a spell, like sending, that will do the trick? This will be my first time running a game in several years, and I am ashamed to admit I need to review the core rulebook first.

I thought about the very same problem and came to a very simple conclusion:

Feather Token - Bird. The price is a joke for a man in his position (300 gp) and it creates this nice little "Suddenly a bird lands in front of you, a letter attached to its claw. Before you can react the it turns into a feather, leaving only the letter behind."-effect.

[Loki_Thief]

@ scadgrad: I just sent you the PM.

For everyone: My campaign has been slowed down lately due to player absences, but it is progressing. My group is just now heading down to the lower levels of Renchurch, and I intend the next letter to show up somewhere in there. It'll probably be before the 'rescue' encounter, as opposed to what I thought previously. Expect it soon. Sorry for the delays, and as always, thanks for all the kind words.

A

[Redneckdevil]

Dotting and i hope its ok i steal these ideas and letters for my future campaign

[Hedgehog]

I was late to discover these awesome letters (book 4), but I have been using A as an NPC friend of the Professor from as early as Lepidstadt. A has developed an interest in the Professors daughter, placing him in mild competition with one of the PCs.

The group is currently about to enter the Vampire Undergroud, having captured (good job!) Merrick Sais. A has remained undiscovered as a villain, but it is now time to show his hand. Letter 4 will be waiting for the group at their lodgings when they return from the Underground to rest.

I will use letter 5 before beginning Shadows. Also, I'll need to modify them to incorporate our campaign quirks (for example A's cold-hearted, calculating, but intellectually stimulating plan to make a devoted bride out of Kendra Lorrimor).

Thanks much for these Loki_Thief!
And thanks Scadgrad for the genuine appearance.

[MaxAstro]

I did a similar thing with A.A. when I ran Carrion Crown. It's definitely a great way to play up the villain.

I also went with the angle of A.A. being grateful to the PCs - he would have been sorely disappointed if he had achieved world domination as easily as everything else. In fact, he ended up offering the PCs indirect advice a time or two - nothing to do with his own plans, of course, that would spoil the game, but it wouldn't due to have them dying to fish-cultists, you know?

[Screenmonkey2099]

I swapped the Count for Kendra (who moved to Caliphas with AA after book 1, as he was a family friend and colleague of the Prof.), because I made the Raven's Head mace important due to the fact that it once struck the Whispering Tyrant, and has his blood permanently stained upon it. Since the PC's have the mace, AA needed some other source of the blood, and he discovered that Lorrimor's daughter was actually a direct descendant of the Tyrant. Now, in my game, I have a changeling priestess that Lorrimor adopted and sent to her clerical monastery before the "call" that changelings get was received, allowing her to resist becoming a hag. This is the daughter that has the blood of the tyrant, and not Kendra, but AA doesn't know that. He thought that the favored daughter (Kendra) was the chosen one, and kidnapped her for her relation. That critical flaw is what will make the CC reagent not perfect and his resulting transformation going nuts at the end of the Adventure.

Still hashing out details, but it helped me tie the adventures together some more.

[Blackbot]

Just throwing this in for thought:

At some point during the campaign (I think it will be after they defeat Vrood who will have letter from AA) the letter will contain more than just the usual politeness.
Explosive Runes.
Just as a quick reminder that the world the PCs live in can be quite dangerous and that it's not smart to just grab everything a bad guy had on himself.

[Bragol]

These letter look like a great idea. I will definitely use them in my upcoming campaign.

[Feindevil]

I just wanted to post a thank you to everyone for these great letters and campaign ideas.
My players are so frustrated and angry at "AA" for taunting them they have taken to paying town criers to paste their response about town that they will hunt him down. I will post the exact text soon, but this has been a great boon to my campaign and I wanted to say thanks.

[Redneckdevil]

dot

[dinketry]

Simply awesome.

[Elorebaen]

These are awesome, thank you so much for sharing Loki and scadgrad! I am nearing the end of Bk 1, so I will finally get a chance to use the first one. Looking forward to it!!

[scadgrad]

Y'all are very much welcome and I'm looking forward to actually using them in my own CC campaign which I finally get to start this Friday (yay!).

[fatbaldbloke]

Just want to add another thank you for Loki and Scadgrad.

My players are about ready to start into Harrowstone itself and after messing around with some very ominous dreams and other spooky happenings they are convinced that there's someone in the vicinity actually orchestrating events, not just a horribly haunted prison.

I can't wait to drop the first letter on them and watch them concoct theory after theory about it....

[Blackbot]

The sorcerer of my group got Circle of Death'd and only saved himself by burning 2 hero points. Luckily they patched him up before reading the letter because it blew up in their faces for 6d6 of force damage which would've killed him for good this time.
They are a bit pissed now. ;)

[fatbaldbloke]

Dropped the first letter on my party at our last session. I actually had it slipped into the backpack of the party's druid while they were all enjoying a fare-thee-well party held in their honour on their last night in Ravengro.

They didn't discover it until they were a long way down the road and had encountered the 'Crooked Kin'. They're theorising like mad but at least one of the party was so impressed with the politeness of the letter he wants to become penpals.

Think I'll alter Loki's second letter slightly, remove any mention of Vrood by name. I'm hoping that my players might for a while take Vrood to be the author of these missives.

[Bellona]

Taking notes for a future run of the CC adventure path.

Many thanks to everyone who's added these wonderful letters. :)

[Feindevil]

Feindevil wrote:

I just wanted to post a thank you to everyone for these great letters and campaign ideas.

My players are so frustrated and angry at "AA" for taunting them they have taken to paying town criers to paste their response about town that they will hunt him down. I will post the exact text soon, but this has been a great boon to my campaign and I wanted to say thanks.

I am about to start the fifth book and I have yet to find the letter the party wrote back so I will paraphrase, needless to say the party cleric has taken it as a personal mission to destroy AA and his " smug arrogant *&T*^* self"

Dear AA,
We regret to inform you that with the social season upon us our current dance card is full, however please be aware that once our schedule loosens a bit we will be coming for you and nothing will save you from us.
Sincerely,
Those pesky adventurers and their nosy dog

[Sub-Creator]

Dot!

[Copernicus Mandrake I]

These are amazing. I hope we get to see the Renchurch letter you mentioned Loki_Thief.

[mourge40k]

Ah, I feel quite successful today! My home group for Pathfinder came over last night, and we went through Carrion Crown. After the slog in Illmarsh, they're glad to finally be in a place where they can actually spend their metric shit-ton of cash. Even better, despite being a group of nothing but casters, they still love traveling by cart, because otherwise they'd have to use more spells than they think it's worth to carry all the crap they got. Also, they get to bunk with their dear friend Kendra, and her lovely fiance Adivion Adrissant.

However, best of all was the cliffhanger I was able to leave them on. I've been using the wonderful letters that the forum provided throughout the campaign, to the point that every single character loathes the person writing them. Each one was signed by someone calling themselves the Whispering Herald, and most were left on the persons of the people they had to kill on their way.

Also, my players thought that Adivion was the main villain from the get-go, due to their cumulative story and trope knowledge. Somewhat creepy detached dude arriving late to the funeral, engaged to Kendra, from a position of authority.... Yeah, no real reason for them to not leap to immediate "evil" label. (Not wholly sure if I'm being sarcastic here or not) Naturally, I had to subvert this, if for no other reason than to prove them wrong.

So, last night they found the letter in the abandoned Whispering Way hideout in Caliphas. However, unlike every other time they've had a letter from this guy, this one had an actual name on the bottom. And that name? That name was Petros Lorrimor.

My players instantly started putting things together, without any work on my part. Sudden realizations about how hard it can be to properly identify a body that's had its head crush, the potential capabilities of necromancers to alter a dead body so that it looks like someone else... Yep, they leaped onto it hook, line, and sinker. Even better, they realized why Petros had them come to his funeral: the original party members who have died in pursuit of the Whispering Way have had their bodies mysteriously disappear, with one even being stolen from a vault in Caliphas where it was being kept for safekeeping while raising him was arranged. They know for a fact that one of them has been raised as an undead already, and have suspicions that the other has as well. In short, Petros is turning them into a sort of undead collection.

On that note, I ended the session, and told them I'd see them next year. And I have to say, they loved it. It wouldn't have been nearly as effective a twist without these letters, so to that end... Thank you.

[Hellwolve]

Based on Loki_Thief's excellent work, I've made my own letters, as ultimately, I believed this letter sending is the best idea to increase the Big Bad's presence in the campaign. Loki_Thief, and/or anyone else, interested in what I've made out of it? I promise it differs enough that it's potentially interesting ;-)

[Kelarith]

I'm using the letters idea, but also adding another element. I'm using Obsidian Portal to do upkeep on the campaign, listing npcs, items, a wiki, maps and an adventure log. I started writing the log in the style of an observer that was following the PCs exploits and had some insight into what they did almost day to day. I really started with no intent to havec it be anyone in the game, but switched the idea when one of my players asked me "Do we know who the creepy author of the logs is, how do they know so much?"

Suddenly, I have something completely out of game that can get under the PCs skin so when I send them the letters they'll really be freaked out.

[Hellwolve]

My BB is staying in Ravengro, in the Laughing Demon, observing the proceedings quietly. Given he's actually present, I gave my PC's a small chance of running into him.

Of course they did; they talked to him on a info hunt. I'm sure they have no idea who he really is, so he just presented himself as a well-to-do historian, in Ravengro by chance.

My question to my fellow GM's is this; would he refer to this conversation in letters? I'm on the fence about this. At one hand, I read him as not being able to resist gloating a bit, at the other hand, he might think it's too big a hint they've already seen him face-to-face.

What are your thoughts?

[Helaman]

dotting again

[Hellwolve]

Recently finished book one and 'master' Elkarid presented the first letter to the party. They loved to hate it :-D Quite a fun moment.

[dmatos]

Thread necro warning!

My party, too, recently finished The Haunting of Harrowstone. They found their first letter from A sitting in the middle of the desk in Petros Lorrimor's study. I actually printed up the letter (using a script font), rolled it up, and sealed it with wax. I handed this prop to them "in the morning," noting that Kendra found it addressed to them when she went into the study.

I'm about to run the Carrion Hill module as an interlude before the second book, and also because one of our players has dropped out and been replaced. I've been running the missing player's character as a GMPC, but it's a lot of work, so I intend to kill them off during the events to Carrion Hill. At the conclusion of that module, they will receive another letter from A:

Carrion Hill success letter:

My friends:

I feel it important that I extend to you some thanks, given your recent activities. Crowe has always been a bit of a rogue element within my organization, and I was saddened to see that he had influence enough over others to draw them into his ill-conceived plans. I must apologize for the grief that he has caused you, and once again aver that it was not my intention to bring those events upon you, but that of a disobedient underling defying orders. While I lament the loss of a skilled minion, it is with relief that I note I no longer need devote any resources to containing his misguided exuberance.

I must applaud you on your skill in dealing with the Spawn of Yog-Sothoth, even with the losses that your tribulations caused you. While Crowe was indubitably correct in his conclusions that the Outer Gods can confer immense power, their ultimate goal is, sadly, distinctly incompatible with my own. Consequently, I must express my appreciation that you have disposed of this aberrant monstrosity, obviating my involvement.

How strange, I find, that your paths should cross mine again so soon after your adventures in Ravengro. Though, given the magnitude and extensiveness of my machinations, I suppose my mystification is somewhat gratuitous. It is said that coincidences are spiritual puns, so I respond with good humour to this one. At any rate, I again conclude that you are not working at cross-purposes to my plans, so I hear of your exploits with amusement, rather than wrath.

Please, extend my greetings to the lovely Ms. Lorrimor as well. I am inordinately pleased that she has chosen to pursue a life of knowledge, especially given the tragic ending to her father’s tale. I hope that the font which is the University of Lepidstat can slake her thirst, but should she desire to explore topics of less sanction than can be found in those musty tomes, inform her that she need only inquire, and I can provide many fascinating avenues of research. There is always room for skilled and intelligent operatives within my organization.

I’m afraid that I have other pressing matters to attend to, so I must cut this missive short. Thus, until I hear more of your escapades, I remain yours,

A.A.

[mightyjules]

Loki_Thief wrote:

So, in the intro to book 6, F. Wes Schneider suggests amping up the main bad guy's presence throughout the campaign. When I started running Carrion Crown, I decided to run with this idea, and had the villain correspond with the PCs via magically delivered letters. When I mentioned this on Twitter, Mr. Schneider himself expressed interest in them, so I'm posting them here for him, and anyone else who's interested.

** spoiler omitted **...

Jolly good ideas! :) Thanks so much for the idea:)

[Tacticslion]

Helaman wrote:

dotting again

For great Justice!

[Kileanna]

There are some great ideas here. I'm planning on GMing CC in a near future and I'm definitely going to use a lot of this.

[baron arem heshvaun]

I am Necro’ing this thread.

[EstabanDeLaFerroVenté]

necro/dot

[ghettowedge]

Triple necro dotted