| DrakeCross |
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So after over a month of planning and reviewing I've made a quite reworked story on the overall Kingmaker campaign. I've taken many elements of the base books still but changed the overall end game goal of the true villain and other villains of the adventure.
Anyway post what you think of my ideas and changes to the adventure!
WARNING SPOILER BELOW!!!
Pre-AdventureStory Changes
This one is changed to be more involving throughout the story since Nyrissa plays a part in it. The main point still goes with the nobles of Brevoy going against the Swordlords of Rostland, following with the south fighting to separate from the overall kingdom. However when the current king and last known heir to the throne is suddenly assassinated, leading to Noble Houses to blame the south as the start of their revolution while the Rostlanders blame the nobles as a grab for greater power. In the end it was a Fey assassin Nyrissa sent to cause chaos, part of a long term plan she has with the king of Pitax and for her own goals. In the end mattering if the players are supports of the Nobles or Rosland, they are sent to the Stolen Lands by the group they support which in turn will effect the up coming war.
Some of Bevoy's main noble houses know that civil war will break out, but know that the when it happens the other nobles, military leaders and other influenacal people of the kingdom will be too divided or infighting over the throne to quickly unite against Rostland. So the few noble houses form an alliance and make a plans to create colonies and outposts south of Rostland in the Stolen Lands. This way they can get a southern position and have a major source of resources as well. However problems come when their largest expedition group is captured by the Staglord, but that will be detailed next.
There is a plenty history with the Stolen Lands, considering the many ruins of past empires, kingdoms and so on that have oddly failed or been destroyed. Much of this is related with that of the First World, the world of the Fey. This point becomes the main focus of Nyrissa's plans.
In First World and the Stolen Lands share a unique connection. The First World has a exactly if still otherworldly version of the Material Plane, which is unlike the rest of the ever changing world of the Fey. Because of this there are many portals to the first world, mainly mushroom rings. The energy of the First World seeps out from these portals, leaking in and affected the area slightly but overall not changing the world dramatically. Still it explains the many magical creatures, plants and Fey in the Stolen Lands. Overall the reality changing powers of the First World are exposed to the Material Plane which plays a unique role for the players and grand plan of Nyrissa.
Because of the close connection between the Stolen Lands and the First World there are many portals between them in the from of Fairy Rings, mushroom circles that are hidden around the land. These portals seep out First World energy, raw magical power that changes reality around it. While the energy from these portals creates havens of beautiful nature around them they also affect the area by creating magical creatures, allowing Fey to enter the Material World and affect nature as well. However, this does not affect the overall region too majorly that it causes too much attention.
At one point the players will discover one of these Fairy Rings, either by through quests or exploring. When one or more nears the ring they will be zapped by the energies of the power, which cause minor pain at first before suddenly having a healthy feeling to them. For older characters they feel strong and young again for a brief moment but it does not make any benefits. However this energy can now be tapped by the players allowing them to do the amazing and impossible, changing reality itself!
Now such a thing sounds much too powerful to hand the players, but First World energy works as a unique hero point. Using a point they can reroll, gain a bonus to the roll, cheat death and so on. However certain classes have other uses for it such as allowing a Paladin to gain a extra Smite or a Wizard to use spell they know but had not prepared. Although based on how powerful the ability or spell they wish to use, the higher the amount of energy is needed to do so. Also if the players collect the energy that can spend it to change the world or themselves in greater manners, such as granting them more permanent powers.
There are some affects that will come into play as energy collected will also change them, giving some characters more Fey like or other worldly looks. Also the portals and energy play as a danger to the later stages of the adventure and key to Nyrissa's plan.
Now for the deadly Fey Sorceress. Back story wise she is very much the same, being powerful member of the Summer Court. Falling in love with Eldest, Count Ranalc, who gave her greater magic the with her confident in her grand powers and even claiming to me as mighty as the Eldest, rulers of the First World. However she was quickly punished for her claims and stripped of emotion to love along with some of her power, along with banishing the Count into the Plane of Shadow. With her love formed into Briar and tossed into the Material World, the void in Nyrissa fills with pure hate to toward the other Eldest who quickly forget about her.
In anger, she gathers her followers and moves through the First World gathering other Fey, forming her own unofficial court, the Court of Entropy. Using her great powers, she is able to create her own realm of Thousand Breaths to protect herself from the sight of the Eldest while she planned to find a way to defeat them all and free Count Ranalc. She soon learns of the unique connection between the First World and the Stolen Lands, along with the pure energy that is created between both dimensions. She learns that if this energy can be tapped in correctly, she could truly gain the power of the Eldest but also gain full access to the Material World as well. She planned fuse her new demi-plane and the Stolen Lands, an invasion either Court or Eldest had ever done.
To do this though she needed help from the Material World. She creates allies with many beings such as King Irovetti of Pitax and the Stag Lord. Gifting them magic items and First World energy, she instructs them to gain control of Fairy Portals and use special rituals to empower them. This process would take many years in the Material World, maybe even decades or centuries if the powers charge naturally. Once enough power is built she would be able to begin her invasion as detailed in the final book, bringing Thousand Breaths and a portion of the First World into the Material World. From there she gain the full power of the First World energy, enough to outmatch the Eldest and even gods. With this power she war against the Eldest and also have her armies conquer the rest of Golarion. Of course the players prove to be a threat to her plans.
| DrakeCross |
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Book One Changes
From the original book I never liked how the Stag Lord was set up. He was not that involving of a villain, being lazy and a drunk, someone who does not interact with the players that much until later in the book and mainly in a fight. In book even encourages that he is assassinated instead of directly fought, which makes him seem easy to throw aside and not that big of a villain despite how strong he is. Now lets get to the changes I made.
From the start the Staglord is less of a lazy drunk and more of militaristic bandit leader. I've set him up for controlling the region for more then a year, having even partly rebuilt the fortress his bandits live in as part of his grander plans to rule the Stolen Lands and even the River Kingdoms. However I've added more bits to involve Nyrissa with him, much more then what the book offers. She does appear to him, giving promises of real power if she serves him along with even saying she become his queen as long as he does as she asks. Giving him the his magic helmet along with empowering him with Fey energy (Another plot point I will discus).
After a year in the Stolen Lands, he continues to gain more powers from Nyrissa along with knowing more of her grand plans involving the hidden power of the Stolen Lands.(Which will be detailed next)She gives him the Ring of Beastfriendship, an item which plays a role in the 2nd book, but this version works as it should, giving the Staglord control over creatures and making him seem more powerful to his bandits along with anyone going against him. A few months before the players are involved, Guildweave is captured to stop the colony plan and because of his personal interests in the hidden powers of the land. This in turn brings the characters into play.
As they explore and handle the bandits, they will know more of the Staglords supernatural powers. If they cause too much trouble for the bandits, he may even ride out to search for them and possibly lead to a fight or the players forced to run away. This is not meant to kill them but show just how dangerous he is. However if the players going with a friendly approach with the bandits they can have a less hostile meeting with him, but he be set on ruling the Stolen Lands and will be difficult to convince to join as an ally.
As for the final conflict with him, it matters if he is captured, killed or escapes. If he escapes though I plan for him to go to a place of Fey power to ask more power from Nyrssia. As punishment for failure, he would be changed into a monstrous stag creature but he retains his intelligence. If the players chase after him they can face him in this new form but its expected to be too much to handle or a difficult second phase of fighting him. If he escapes again he can continue to play as a recurring villain into the second book and beyond even.
The bandits of the Stag Lord in the book were an interesting bunch having many unique characters in it, but they were not used until the final parts of the book. Overall they also were very generic with how they acted and such, which made them less interesting to me. So with the stronger leadership involved with the Stag Lord they have changed as well.
Having a more organized set up with rebuilding the Stag Fortress and doing more then just raiding traders and Oleg's Outpost, the bandits prove to be a more dangerous threat. They continue to bother the Oleg's Outpost demanding 'taxes' for living in the Stolen Lands, which if not paid lead to them raiding the outpost. However the group does after a split in it with some bandits wanting to break away from being outlaws and also being superstitious of the Stag Lord's powers. Mattering if the players use a more diplomatic approach they can be convinced to join the players and go against the Stag Lord like in the book, but a small yet strong amount will be loyal to him. Overall the real change is how they act towards others and their habits through the area.
Being the first place the players will go to, Oleg's Outpost is a key location throughout the first book and maybe even farther on if made into a city. A few changes are made such as making the outpost a bit bigger to be more of a village, having a dozen so workers and simple guards there but no enough to face against the Stag Lord's bandits. As for Oleg and the many characters living there they're basically the same as they are in the book.
For me I changed the bandit encounter with them breaking in to steal horse to them arriving and demanding 'taxes' to be paid. Oleg serves to point out areas where the bandits maybe hiding out, but does not know of their fortress. He will point out of Old Temple and the Sootscales, who he believes may know the location of the bandits while also stating the trouble the kobolds are causing.
Now this character is not at all related to the original book and is one of my personal creation. Guildweave is a gnome noble of Brevoy of the House Orlovsky. His family use to be a minor merchant noble family before being absorbed into to greater Orlovsky family. Because of his adventurous nature he was very eager to accept the offer to lead the expedition south to the Stolen Lands, but also because he was interested by Stolen Lands themselves. Studying their history and past expeditions, he is curious to understand the land and also because of a calling feeling that the First World connection to it.
Being sent out to the Stolen Lands, he spends a good amount of time researching the Fairy Rings and the past civilizations that lived in the area. However his group gets attacked by the Stag Lord and his men, leading to his capture as he talks them out of killing him. Once saved, he serves as the players guide to understanding the First World and the energy they had discovered. He also aids in kingdom building and a informant for the rest of the books. There are a few plot ideas in mind, maybe with him finding ways to harness First World energy or maybe having his own hidden plans in using it.
Overall with the encounters in the Stolen Lands, most of them are unchanged. However I focus on putting more Fey and magical creatures in random encounters. The Fey serve more of a social aspect and magical creatures more as threats or an oddity.
One major change is to the Sootscale kobolds. Overall I've made them more of a peaceful group who show their more aggressive side if threatened. They can be quite bloodthirsty but quick to befriend. Their shaman however is not a kobold but unlike his back story of being a evil gnome reincarnated he is in fact a minion of Nyrissa. He's a gnome sorcerer called the Madhatter, which is easy to guess what he referances. His signature look is his big colorful hat which is a Hat of Disguises that allows him to change his shape and form, giving him a spy role. Overall his goal is to control the kobolds while empowering the nearby Fairy Rings as part of Nyrissa's plan.
Chief Sootscale will suspect that the shaman is hiding something, so when the statue ploy that the gnome used gets stolen by the wild mites the chief deeply doubts it's 'powers'. If the players help get the statue back, he confronts the kobold impostor who then tries to kill the chief, although the players will most likely defend him. When defeated he uses First World energy to cheat death before teleporting away, promising revenge and also warning of the dangers messing with the Court of Entropy. Overall this is meant to foreshadow the Court and to create him as a recurring villain since he can easy disguise himself and cause all sorts of trouble within and out of the kingdom.
<Will add and rework post!>
| DrakeCross |
Book Two Changes
Another game aspect I haven't changed from the book are the recommended city locations. Oleg's location offers more builds at the start with a few houses and offering two low cost buildings. Guildweave serves as kingdom building adviser and he will always recommend Olegs to be the spot of the first town. He will pressure to build the captial at the Stag Lord's Fortress since the half rebuilt castle can be fully fixed and the access to the river ways into the River Kingdoms. Right now nothing more to really add on this topic.
This focuses on the story based kingdom events detailed early on in the second book. Overall there are little changes needed to his section, but Grigori and the Gyronna Cult can play more of a foreshadowing role for the events of later books. Grigori will follow his spy role, trying to turn the subjects against the leadership if there are major problems or issues around, such as taxes or increased monster attacks. If no such problems exist he should remain hidden until such events happen or he can secretly go about causing problems in the current city.
One idea can also involve him being an ally for the Gyronna Cult since after all Pitax does work together with them and the barbarians that appear in book four. He could give them information to avoid being caught while using the disappearances or cult actions to aggravate the people. In the end he and the cult will be exposed although for him he will calm to have diplomatic immunity or at least stand a fair trial. It could lead to him serving as a double agent for the players for the right price or using a geass on him if they are capable.
Here comes my first major change to book two. With the Stag Lord's death or defeat, Nyrissa now needs a new champion within the Stolen Lands to continue empowering the Fairy Rings along with forcing away the Players who meddle in her plans. Scraying the southern area she would discover the trolls and Hargulka, a troll who has a greater intelligence and cunning...at least compared to other trolls. Seeing potential in him, she sends the Mad Hatter offering gifts and First World energy to him.
There are many gifts, one being a crown which functions as a headband of intelligence, along with First World energy to make the enhancement permanent. Next is the powerful thundering mace and then his necklace of fireballs, both so he can set his dominating role over the rowdy trolls. With greater understanding and ambition, Hargulka sets about using his new powers and gifts to form his own kingdom of monsters. With his vast swamp and woodland area, Nyrissa has her Fey go about empowering the Fairy Rings while the Hatter stays as a spy and adviser for the troll.
The troll king sets his sights on recruiting the lizardfolk into his kingdom, but they are quite hesitant because of their past warring with the nearby trolls. The Hatter however uses powers and contacts to find a will-o-wisp to work with him, but that will be detailed later on. However the troll king will also be set on getting the kobolds into his kingdom next, sending a Fey ambassador to them. Mattering if the kobolds were killed, left alone or recruited into the Player kingdom, it can lead to all sorts of situations.
If the kobolds are allies or in the kingdom, they will be quick to tell the Players of the ambassador and about Hargulka. While they don't agree to his offer, they are fearful of his wrath and will ask for the Players protection or to solve this problem. In the end he will be forming an army to invade the Players kingdom and enslave the kobolds if they refused to join him. This is to set up two options, the players must build a small army to face against Hargulka's small troll army or slip through his territory to kill the troll king in his lair.
As for his lair and the fight with him, very little his changed besides his new abilities with First World energy. However if he is badly wounded he will try to flee through the Fairy Ring in his throne room, but he will face horrible punishment for his cowardliness. Nyrissa will torture and mutate the troll with her powers, making him a possible returning enemy in future books.
The Lizardfolk have kept an eye on the Players Kingdom but chosen not to get involved unless they intrude more into the swamp lands. However with the Trolls being organized by Hargulka they now have a more defensive stance to them. While they don't agree to join with the trolls because of past conflicts, they do have fears of the Players who they don't know their intentions along with the fact the unified trolls can easily defeat the tribe.
However the Mad Hatter takes matters into his own hands by recruiting a will-o-wisp. Using the wisp to murder the lizardfolk chieftain who goes out hunting, he uses his magic hat to change into him and take his place. With the wisp, he then uses it as a cover as being the spirit of the last great chief, while encouraging the capture and sacrifice of outsiders to feed the wisp. As he gains control with fear and his own powers, he plans to have the tribe join with Hargulka and war against the Players kingdom.
That does change however when the Players encounter the tribe itself, either from the rumors or the disappearance of the boy. Unlike the wandering villagers or travelers, the lizardfolk would not go against the Players but the guards can be convinced that the mean no harm and wish to discus peace with the tribe. Of course attacking the tribe will be a more simple if blood solution. Meeting the fake chief, he will be very hostile to the Players (Since they ruined his plans with the kobolds) and constantly say any talk for peace are lies. Many of the tribe will be divided by loyalty to the chief and the Players promises based on diplomacy.
In the end the fake chief will attack the Players with the help of the wisp and any lizardfolk willing to fight for him. If defeated, the Hatter's true form his shown and using First World energy will most likely escape again. With the truth shown, the tribe will now appoint a new chief but will be thankful to the Players. If convinced, they can help in fighting the troll army of assaulting their lair. However to have them join the kingdom will be a tougher choice since they prefer independence, but that can be a separate goal later on for the Players.
This ring which plays a role in some trouble in book two plays a part in the first one now since I found it's whole apperance in the next book very odd. One aspect about the Stag Lord is how he seems able to control animals and beasts. This is done because of the ring which was gifted from him by Nyrissa for his good work controlling the Stolen Lands. He does show off it's power to his bandits or guests to.
While he does not use the ring for combat uses, he keeps on him at all times. What happens is during the fight with the players, he loses the ring when he runs or it gets knocked aside in the fight. At that point the new user will steal it away but the ring becomes cursed afterward. Its use and fate return in the next book.
| DrakeCross |
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Book Six Changes
While the other book changes are not completely sorted out, there are a few details I have in mind for the final book.
As explained in the pre-adventure section, Nyrissa plans to merge her own demi-realm of the First World into the Stolen Lands after the Fairy Rings are fully empowered. Once that happens it follows the same system of the month long invasion style were the players need to repel the many odd and dangerous creatures that appear in the kingdom, along with the alien world fusion the Material World and First World.
If the players fail to force back the merging, Thousand Breaths and a large portion of the First World merges into the Material World, creating a devastating blast of reality altering energy that will kill, mutate or just mess up the inhabitants of the land. Mattering if the players survive they get a final chance to face against Nyrissa but it's set up as a doomed battle since already she is absorbing the full powers of the merged planes. Still, Brair maybe a last hope, so perhaps if it is empowered enough it can at least slay her even if she has reached need godhood although it would not reverse the merging.
After the merge she will be quick to decree her rule over all, promising protection for those her serve and suffering for resisting. Mattering on how the players react and interact her she maybe willing to spare them to serve her maybe even offering a king player to 'rule' beside her. Overall its still considered a game over but if eager players deciding to serve her could continue the whole adventure...focusing on conquering the surrounding countries and kingdoms!
Overall there is little changes to the ending from the book. Either killed by normal means or Briar, she dies in the same way detailed in the book, although if killed by the sword I thought of adding more to it. Perhaps new powers can be unlocked for it, although I'll detail that in it's own section. Also with her death there will be a massive reward of First World energy as well.
In the end mattering if The House at the Edge of Time is forced prematurely into the Material World or not, it could lead to some powerful Fey being thrown into the normal world. If it is not forced into the Material Plane, the demi-plane she created will start to fade apart as her created world starts to rejoin the overall First World plane. After that it's fate is in the hands of the Eldest.
As for the Fairy Rings their power will remain but be greatly drained after all these events. While First World energy can be absorbed and they still can work as portals, they take more time to recharge. The players can still use the Rings but they also must remember the danger they can pose with the creatures that can escape from them or the merging plan happening once more from another ambitious Fey.
After this everything is up to the DM and Players. The set up extra adventures and ideas are perfect to use, the First World adventure being a perfect choice.
| Orthos |
Looks interesting, well done =)
Just a note, you won't be able to edit your posts - Paizo's forums only allow a one-hour window for edits. You'll have to make new posts as you come up with new ideas or as you reach that point in your alterations.
(This is a test about a day later)