Founder Raccona (mini-campaign idea)

[reefwood]

I am working on putting together 4 (or 3 or 5) loosely connected one-session adventures and would like to share my ideas here for others' comments or suggestions and perhaps to ask questions too. Hopefully, this is the correct forum for this sort of thing.

The first spoiler is an explanation as to why I am putting together the campaign this way. The other spoilers present the overarching background stories connecting the adventures.

Campaign Structure:

Part of the reason I want these adventures to be only loosely connected is that players in our gaming group have much less time to game these days, so I expect that each session may have some different players at the table (and even some of the same players might play a different character each time). Therefore, I don't want players to need to know all the details of adventure #1 to play or enjoy adventure #3. Each adventure should be able to stand alone well enough.

I decided that the "hook" for the players will be that they are part of the Pathfinder Society (either members or somehow connected). That way the adventures don't require continuity. The players will just go on whatever mission is given by their venture captain. This will be nice because I can send them to completely different parts of the world each time without there being a direct connection (at least not obvious to the players) in the story, and I know they will enjoy sampling the diversity of the Inner Sea region in terms of different cultures, creatures, environment, etc.

Another aspect of this mini-campaign is that months (or even years) will pass between adventures. Players might get the chance to level up during a session, but they will definitely gain multiple levels in between adventures. The first adventure might be Level 2 or 3, followed by Level 5 or 6, followed by level 8 or 9. Also, as I mentioned above, players can play different characters in each adventure. Maybe someone has never played a Bard and wants to try that for the first adventure, but maybe that same someone has played a Druid but never a Level 9 Druid and creates a new Druid character for the last adventure.

The Bones of Founder Raccona, Osirian Spirit Jars, and Talisman of the Orc Mother's Fury presented in the back of Pathfinder 27 (What Lies In Dust) sparked the overarching story connecting these adventures. The super short story of this mini-campaign is that a half-orc venture captain named Haav'ork wishes to regain his prominence in the Hold of Belkzen and reestablish a long lost Pathfinder Lodge that once existed there in secret. His plan is to bring together the scattered bones of an orc hero...to call forth her spirit...to learn the location of the secret lodge...then, he will return the bones for a proper burial in the Hold of Belkzen in order to be welcomed back into the fold, and thus, gain permission to establish a lodge (which really means finding the long lost lodge). Also, his initial fall from grace debilitated him physically, so that is why he needs others (Pathfinder agents) to do the legwork.

Founder Raconna:

In this campaign, Founder Raccona was an orc in the Hold of Belkzen who gained much notoriety at a young age. She fought for her beliefs/tribe/?? but was more of a loner and didn't want to be a leader, so when things died down, she went off on her own into the wild. It was here that she came across the secret Pathfinder Lodge, which had just been established. The Pathfinders knew her of her fame and convinced her to keep their secret and assist their mission of discovery. She agreed to help as long any orc relics were kept in this lodge and not sent to Absalom. Over the next two or three decades, Raconna finally grew into a leader and took charge of the lodge. She filled it with agents loyal to her and did all that she could to keep the lodge location secret (including the destruction and/or altering of records in Absalom and noting which people not under her sway knew its location). During this time, she also became a fervent follower of Aroden (perhaps due to the discovery of a relic) and eventually went to Cheliax to await his return. She left her second-in-command in charge of the lodge with secret orders to remove and hide all the orc relics until she returned. This was done, but without her strong leadership, the lodge eventually fell to in-fighting and most/all members went back to their tribes when hostilities between orcs broke out once again (perhaps when Aroden dies and the Inner Sea region is wracked with turmoil) and none returned, so the lodge was effectively lost since so much work was done to keep secret its location. Meanwhile, in Cheliax - as detailed in the Bones of Founder Raconna entry - Raconna dies as a famous martyr battling the might of Hell.

Venture Captain Haav'ork:

This half-orc will be the NPC guiding the PCs. He is a venture captain who wants to find the lost Pathfinder lodge (and its treasures) in the Hold of Belkzen for both personal and professional reasons.

Haav'ork belonged to one of the most prominent warbands in Belkzen but joined what became the losing side during a power struggle within it. His own prominence meant that humiliation and exile served as better bargaining chip and punishment than execution. He brokered a deal that would allow the most powerful warriors on his losing side to be taken back into the fold in exchange for serving as a living example of shame to detract others from rising up. In a play on words of the phrase "Might makes right," his punishment was the loss of his right eye, right ear, right hand, and right foot, and this was done in public display.

Years later, Haav'ork is a member of the Pathfinder Society, learns of the lost lodge in Belkzen, sees its rediscovery as a way to return home, and through much study, devises a plan.

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Most of the Bones of Founder Raconna have already been found (probably by previous missions created by Haav'ork as well as other venture captains). The few remaining ones are thought to be in Cheliax, which is not friendly to true Pathfinders, especially not to those looking to uncover links to Aroden. However, the disturbance in Westcrown (Council of Thieves) provides a good distraction to send in agents.

Missions:

The first mission will be to investigate maybe 3 locations in Cheliax but probably not all will have bones. Also, these might not even be the last of the bones.

Another mission will be to locate the Osirian Spirit Jars - this might be dungeon delving in a pyramid.

Once all the bones are collected (perhaps by the PCs as a side story but not another actual mission, or perhaps by other agents) and jars obtained, Haav'ork will combine the bones to release the spirit of Raconna, but use the spirit jars (which I may tweak to just do what is needed for this campaign) to temporarily capture her soul and transfer it into another body for communication - to learn the location of the Belkzen lodge and hidden away orc relics.

The next mission will be much more on the diplomatic side with Haav'ork bringing the PCs to Belkzen to present the bones of the orc hero Raconna to the warband leaders and use them as leverage for Haav'ork to return from exile and possibly establish a Pathfinder lodge.

The last mission will be locating the lodge and/or hidden away orc relics. This may be more difficult if Haav'ork and the PCs are able to end his exile but don't do well enough with diplomacy to allow the establishment of a Pathfinder lodge, so they may have to search for it in secret, or with less help from the orcs, or with more resistance from the orcs.

One other thing to note is the Haav'ork will only provide the PCs with the info they need for each specific mission. He won't divulge his master plan or even the connections between missions - unless he is somehow convinced to do so or sees it necessary for the success of a mission, but even then, he will say as little as possible. Though, he may warm up more to orcish PCs.

This seems like plenty of info to start. Thoughts? Questions? Advice? Ideas on other missions? I will present the specific mission details in future posts.

[reefwood]

ADVENTURE #1

This is still very much in the early stages, but the basic premise is that the PCs go to multiple locations in Cheliax to locate Bones of the Founder Raconna. This happens during the uprising in Westcrown (Council of Thieves) in part as a shout out to our previous (incomplete) campaign but also serves as a good backdrop for why the authorities (Egorian, Chelish navy, Hellknights) are somewhat distracted. Might even have Andoran ships sailing to supply the rebels in Westcrown, which brings up the tense possibility of international war.

On another note, I may tweak the power of the magic bones. Rib bones will still provide 1 temporary hit point each, but a leg bone may provide a bonus to speed (+5 ft?), and maybe the skull is a +1 bonus to Knowledge checks. Any other variant ideas?

I currently have two ideas for locations of bones. The first is the Arch of Aroden in Corentyn. The second in the Barrowood.

Corentyn:

The Arch of Aroden is a 15 mile long bridge, so I imagine there were compartments inside the bridge to store supplies for maintenance & repair, living quarters for workers or slaves, and maybe even shrines for prayer or housing relics that blessed the bridge. I can also imagine a follower of Aroden placing the remains (even just a bone or two) of a Founder in the Arch of Aroden.

The bridge is broken, so it no longer requires too much official attention in terms of upkeep or security, but there are still many followers of Aroden in Corentyn. Perhaps there are still daily pilgrimages to the bridge. The PCs could pose as pilgrims to gain access to the bridge without drawing suspicion. They might have to convince other pilgrims that they are devout followers of Aroden to join a group that is allowed, and then sneak away from the group (or any guards that keep a lookout) to conduct their mission. Also, they may need to sneak back to the group or sneak off the bridge on their own, depending on how long the mission takes.

Alternatively, the PCs could pose as Chelish Pathfinder agents of House Thrune with false documents - a dangerous deception but one that has a better chance of passing, at least temporarily, with so much focus on Westcrown. They would have to make their way through official channels (perhaps requiring Bluff checks) that are probably harder to fool than pilgrims, but once they gain access to the bridge, they will have free reign to conduct their business as agents of Thrune. Though, they will have to pass through official channels on their way out if they wish to maintain their cover.

Another option would be to pose as slavers, but I don't know how this would provide easy access to the bridge - the only thing that comes to mind is that they seek out a slave who had been a criminal (perhaps a thief who was caught trespassing on the bridge without permission one too many times) and could provide insight on how to reach the bridge unseen.

I'm not sure if I should provide the players will all 3 options, or just the first 2 options, or just 1 option? Providing more than 1 option means more work on my part, but I do like providing my players more freedom than not.

The next step is what to do once the PCs are on the bridge. The bone(s) will be hidden somewhere inside the bridge, but I don't have a solid idea for that or how the PCs will know where to look. Finding the bone(s) could require Knowledge (religion) to follow clues written in scripture on the walls, or Knowledge (architecture) checks to determine where compartments would be hidden in a bridge. A creature to fight could be some minor devil tasked with patrolling the inner compartments. Maybe this devil also has some sort of monster minions (that perhaps see him as a deity) that help him patrol the compartments - or do it for him - while he focuses his attention on some other interest.

What do you think so far? One other thing to possibly consider is that the Hellknight Order of the Chain has a citadel nearby.

Barrowood:

This forest is thought to be where Abrogail I made an infernal pact with Asmodeus. Perhaps a follower of Aroden came here to search for that sight with the hope of somehow finding a way to break the pact. Maybe she was part of a church that had some of the Bones of the Founder Raconna and she brought them with her on this journey for protection. Unfortunately, whether she found the site or not, she never returned. Some time later, an ogre (or some other monstrous person of sorts) found the bones. Over time, his obsession with finding the other bones warped his already fragile mind and he thought the bones were talking to him, which meant he was special, and eventually he considered this specialness a sign that he was a king of sorts in his small piece of the forest. He fashioned the rib bones into a crown that he wears upon his head (and gains temp hp from them). He has no true servants, but there may be other creatures which play at being his servants - like a will-o-wisp or some evil fey.

The PCs will have to obtain the crown of bones. Perhaps through battle but maybe they can think of a trade or other means to obtain them. I do want this king to be rather formidable, at least enough that a fight doesn't seem like the first choice, but I still need to determine the creature, its abilities, its motivations & desires, and any servants. Also, I don't know what clue will bring them here. Something provided by Haav'ork but don't know what yet.

Finally, I don't have any other idea jumping out at me for a 3rd site to investigate, but it might be that all this is more than enough for a 6-hr session. Though, I am open to having a second short session to finish this first adventure, if schedules allow.