I've brainstormed some alternate ideas for Varnhold Vanishing in the past. I'm starting to develop those ideas in earnest. I'm going to post these ideas to the message boards over the next few weeks for criticism and ideas.
Some Background:
I'm running a modified version of Kingmaker in a few respects:
First, I am running a mythic game. My players are at Tier 3 and level 6/7 as they finish out RRR. I've made a point of beefing up monsters here and there to give the campaign an epic feel.
Second, I've tried to turn the Kingmaker adversaries into Active Bad Guys. This means that villains don't sit in their stronghold and wait for the players to come kill them. Instead, I try to make my villains pursue their own agenda -- an agenda that often includes killing the players!! This doesn't mean that Nyrissa is going to come and kill them at level 1, but it does mean that entities like Hargulka, the Dancing Lady, and others have done their best to antagonize the players over time.
Third, I've incorporated Dudemeister's excellent Hargulka's Monster Kingdom. This has given my players one hell of a political headache. They've already defeated Hargulka at parlay, but they're leery of attacking a village full of trolls and goblinoids. It also means my players already have a couple armies protecting their kingdom.
Fourth, in addition to the "main characters," my players are running secondary PCs. Those secondary PCs are having their own adventures, often working for the kingdom. In the long term, I'm encouraging my players to use the secondary PCs for hexploration and some of the sidequests.
Finally, the faeries are a very real and very strong presence in the game. At various points, my players have dealt with tooth fairies, skin-stealers, redcaps, and other fey critters. My players consider tooth fairies a highly malevolent pest, and they heave a healthy respect for and fear of redcaps.
I'm keeping all of this in mind as my players (currently playing their secondary characters) slowly transition into Varnhold Vanishing. I should start by saying that I love the framework set up. Vordakai is one hell of an adversary, and a great way to initiate players into the big leagues. I especially appreciate that Vordakai is a more active bad guy than some, what with the kidnapping, the sendings, and so forth.
But I'd like to tie things together a little bit. In these revisions and expansions, I have several goals:
Goals:
Create mythic-level foes that will challenge players.
Strengthen political element of module.
Create opportunities for mass combat.
Tie Vordakai into the fey/Nyrissa myth arc
Threaten not just the players, but the kingdom.
Experiment with simultaneous events at different locations.
In the thread below, I'm going to post ways that I'm going to adapt VV. For the most part, I'm going light on the stats in this thread. That will make things a bit more manageable. I welcome feedback, commentary and ideas.
I like your adaptations, Dudemeister, although I haven't run the Fellnight Queen. I actually have another villain who's going to sub in for the Spriggans.
I'll be placing a lot more than spriggans in VV - I want to amp up the fey
aspect of the AP, & VV will get a portion of that with Shadow Fey additions.
The big V is going to be a schock to my PCs who most likely will not be
expecting what they find, as the fey will only be taking advantage of the
situation, rather than causing it. (After all, nature abhors a vaccuum...)
In general, I'd like Vordakai to challenge both my players and their kingdom. I would also like to throw suspicion on the centaurs at the very beginning. To set the stage for this, I'm making several changes. I want to start with changes to some of the factions.
Vordakai:
IMC, Vordakai is going to be a mythic cyclops lich wizard. I'm still vacillating between making him an atrophied mythic lich, making him an archmage, or simply giving him a simple mythic template. Right now, I'm leaning toward archmage or making him a mythic lich, but gimping his mythic lich powers slightly.
As in vanilla VV, Vordakai is very much interested in conquering the Stolen Lands and creating a new cyclops kingdom with him as its undead lord. Vordakai's going to go about this a little differently, though.
In addition to his existing resources, Vordakai will have access to the Scarlet Tree, which grows within the Valley of the Dead and is connected mystically to the Eye of Abaddon. This malevolent plant can cause an undead uprising when bodies are buried around it. Additionally, cuttings from the Scarlet Tree can be planted elsewhere. When they grow sufficiently, they, in turn, can cause undead uprisings.
Vordakai plans to conquer the Stolen Lands by planting Scarlet Trees in its major communities, then shaping the resulting undead into his own armies.
[b]GM Note:[/b) I haven't worked out the particulars of the Scarlet Trees yet.
Until the Scarlet Trees reach full bloom, Vordakai plans to use a combination of necromancy, illusions, and his own champions to foster infighting among the various factions of the Stolen Lands.
Vordakai will have between one and three champions -- undead creatures who answer to him and help carry out his will in the Stolen Lands. Tentatively, they are going to be analogous to the Horsemen Vordakai worships, with Vordakai himself representing death. At least one of these champions will himself be an undead centaur.
Faeries of the Tors:
I've decided to swap out the Spriggans in favor of a group of evil and debased fey led by Sagroc the Ugly. Sagroc is a bogeyman introduced earlier in my campaign. He feeds on fear, and his minions (mainly redcaps and debased sprites) enjoy inculcating fear in their victims. Sagroc and his opportunistic lackeys will show up in the wake of Varnhold's vanishing. These fairies will have no particular awareness of Vordakai. They simply enjoy misery.
Nomen Centaurs:
In this campaign, the Nomen centaurs will number closer to 400-500, rather than the 200 presented in vanilla Varnhold Vanishing. They are actually in a protracted war with Varnhold over Varnhold's treatment of them and use of the land east of the Tors. A very proud people, although they have forgotten much of their heritage and their sacred charge to await Vordakai's return. As VV opens, Varnhold has had to deal with several centaur raids on outlying farms and even on the town itself. The centaurs will be highly suspicious of two-legged outsiders.
Varnhold:
Maegar Varn got his charter at the same time the players did. I want to play him up as something of a failed lord. He's established his capital (such as it is) and a few hexes of farms around his capital, but he hasn't expanded to the lengths the PCs have. He's very much under siege. The centaurs are constantly harrying him, and he's under pressure from Restov to pacify the centaurs somehow. He's already implied that he would like to have his 14-year-old son marry the PCs' baroness (a 19-year-old woman). (Yes, the kid is young, but I'm taking a cue from Game of Thrones).
Sootscale:
The Kobold Kingdom of Sootscale has been something interesting so far. They are in a sort of cold peace with my players. They've worked with and aided King Sootscale a few times, but they don't trust him very much. They think that Sootscale, with his four-hex kingdom and continually expanding population, is ambitious and scheming. Sootscale, in turn, is (well), ambitious and scheming. But he's also careful. He considers the players useful tools and occasional allies (and he's used these powerful "Big People" to help him with internal politics on occasion. Sootscale occasionally tests the players, but he never goes over the line and outright attacks them.
In VV, Sootscale is going to be something of a wildcard player. As the players look toward the Tors, so will Sootscale. In particular, the Sootscales are going to try to claim the Shrike River as their own. Meanwhile, Vordakai, as part of his campaign, will try to sow seeds of discord between kobold and human.
The Cult of Razmir:
The Cult of Razmir is a minor faction within the kingdom, but still a potentially important one. The players' alternate characters flushed them out of the capital in Masks of the Living God, and I am tentatively planning to place the eponymous City of Golden Death at the center of Lake Silverstep. The Cult of Razmir is likely to be a minor thorn in the side of the players' kingdom -- not truly powerful enough to be a threat, but a large enough faction to cause Unrest. In particular (and despite the cult's exposure), I'm expecting them to come into play if the players start neglecting the kingdom or its needs.
Swordlords of Restov:
The Swordlords of Restov are starting to focus on issues to their north. They're looking to make their move in Brevic politics, but they're frustrated that they can't do so because their border is still not secure from the Nomen Centaurs. The Swordlords will be (at most) at the periphery of the module, occasionally sending demands via their really annoying ambassador, Craster Feksyev.
So much for the factions at play. Coming next: Locations.
How are you planning on throwing suspicion on the Nomens at the start? The module as written attempts to do so, but doesn't do a very convincing job...
Good question, and I was going to post that later after I flesh things out more. But here's what I'm thinking about:
Varnhold isn't truly going to be a vanishing in my campaign. A bunch of the citizens will be vanished, more (presumably who made their saving throw against the Eye) will be killed, and a very few will survive.
But how do we throw suspicion on the centuars?
My plan:
1) Maegar Varn has already told the PCs he's having problems with the Nomen Centaurs. Soon, he's going to ask the players to send help -- either BP or a military unit -- to help him hold off the centaurs.
2) When Restov sends the "get the centaurs under control" quest, I'm going to reword the quest slightly so that it de-emphasizes diplomacy.
3) Vordakai will have some supplemental resources. First, I'm using the "Vordakai's Champion" idea from the boards, but the champion isn't going to be a cyclops. He'll be a centaur. Second, Vordakai himself is going to have access to the spell Disguise Self. When he and his champion raid Varnhold, anybody who saw it would see two dark centaur champions.
4) There will be at least a few survivors from Varnhold or the outlying farms to report what they saw.
3) Witnesses (and there will be a few -- a few humans, and a couple of very frightened brownies) left alive in Varnhold will report what they saw.
For my own personal reasons, I've been considering swapping Vordakai and The Wriggling Man, so that Vordakai is now a cyclopean worm that walks and Nyrissa now has an 'ally' who is a Kuthite lich. (Worships Zon Kuthon, still experiences pain as a lich by intentional exposure to positive energy and the like. Is working for Zon Kuthon in attempting to bend Nyrissa towards his master... who is interested in the faerie queen because of her ties to Count Ranalc, who Zon Kuthon had been personally trying to corrupt until Nex threw a monkey wrench into his plans. Also, he'd be all too happy (if a lich could be said to be happy) to turn Ilthuliak into a ravener.)
The reason behind all of this is because I wanted to tie Vordakai in with Candlemere Tower (Which is now a wizard's tower built centuries ago by a mage who discovered an artifact built by Vordakai, thus foreshadowing Vordakai in RRR.) and because I like the idea that the ancient centaurs sealed him away by separating his component worms into a dozen or more sealed canopic jars, rather than with some seal that a powerful lich couldn't figure out how to break after centuries of focused research.
How he ties in with Nyrissa is through the artifact underneath Candlemere Tower. A massive mirror over fourteen feet tall, it can be turned into a portal to other worlds, and Vordakai had been using it to make a survey of the other planets in Golarion's system. Nyrissa, however, could attune the portal to point not just to other worlds but other planes of existence, for multiple purposes, such as transforming it into a faerie gate to easily pass from her realm to the material plane and back... or to go in search of Count Ranalc... or to bypass being banned from the First World by the Eldest. Vordakai has no reason to help her, but defeating him will give the players the only object with which one can easily control the gate: the Eye of Abaddon.
As for the centaurs... Vordakai has every reason to foment war between his foes to keep them weak, and all it would take to frame the centaurs is numerous fake centaur tracks all through the town. The players might not buy it, or might at least attempt a diplomatic solution despite all the evidence, but Restov would be howling for centaur blood if they learned what had 'happened'.
There are SO many things here I wish I had thought of... but the cool thing is, the people who did think of them posted the details so others can use those ideas and even build upon them! I'm sure we'd all love to be awesomely imaginative and come up with awesome stories all on our own, but stories get better when we build upon already existing stories. So always share your ideas, because it means others can use them and come up with better ideas... just like you got better ideas simply by reading through the AP!
Oh, yeah. I find brainstorming one of the great joys on this board. Folks here were really helpful when I asked for ideas for the Spring Feast, a custom faerie encounter.
Here's a question ... I ran a modified version of Hargulka's Monster Kingdom. My players short-circuited the plotline by slaying Hargulka during a parlay on Candlemere Island. (Hargulka brought along the bones of their favorite NPC and taunted them).
My players have placated the remaining troll/goblin city through diplomacy, but things are going to come to a head soon.
I'm toying with one possible resolution to this plot thread. What if the residents of the remaining troll/goblin settlement vanish? I'm not thinking a "get sucked into the soul gems" a la Varnhold in vanilla VV, but more "slaughtered by a disease that swept the settlement" (said disease courtesy of Vordakai or a lieutenant). I'm thinking the last remnants of the settlement would be some very frightened trolls and goblins holed up in the fort.
I'd play up the complete eeriness -- dead bodies of trolls and goblins everywhere, maybe a few trollhounds and goblin dogs fighting over scraps in the streets.
I'm trying to decide whether this would be a cheat -- my players may want a confrontation with trolls -- or if it would be effective foreshadowing for the upcoming VV. I'm also undecided whether the final confrontation will be with Nagrundi (now the hapless "king" of this tribe) or with a rather powerful minion of Vordakai's (probably a nasty undead goblin or troll of some sort). What do you think?
I'm also undecided whether the final confrontation will be with Nagrundi (now the hapless "king" of this tribe) or with a rather powerful minion of Vordakai's
Does it have to be one way or another?
With Hargulka dead, Nagrundi found himself terribly in need of any support he could get.
Maybe Vordakai proposed him power in exchange for his service in destroying the newly-arrived humans claiming the Stolen Lands?
The last remnants of Hargulka's band would now be serving a new 'god' promising to send plagues on the realms of men, if Nagrundi shows enough dedication.
A dedication that could take the form of dozens of live sacrifices of trolls and goblins.
I'm also undecided whether the final confrontation will be with Nagrundi (now the hapless "king" of this tribe) or with a rather powerful minion of Vordakai's
Does it have to be one way or another?
With Hargulka dead, Nagrundi found himself terribly in need of any support he could get.
Maybe Vordakai proposed him power in exchange for his service in destroying the newly-arrived humans claiming the Stolen Lands?
The last remnants of Hargulka's band would now be serving a new 'god' promising to send plagues on the realms of men, if Nagrundi shows enough dedication.
A dedication that could take the form of dozens of live sacrifices of trolls and goblins.
Oooo .... I like this. I think it would also tie into my idea for the Scarlet Trees, above. The sacrificed goblins and trolls could come back as an undead army later if the PCs go to war, opening a potential flank in their conflict with Vordakai.
Nag & Grundi
CR 12
Two-Headed Troll Wizard 8
CE Large Humanoid (Giant)
[b]Initiative +1
Senses Darkvision 90, Low-lightvision, Scent, Perception +18
AC 21, touch 11, flat-footed 20
(+10 natural, -1 size, +1 dex, +1 deflection)
HP 243 (9d8+8d6+153) [using 75%]
Fort +14
Ref +6
Will +13
Special Regeneration 5 (acid/fire)
Speed 30
2x bite +17 (1d8+8)
2x claw +17 (1d6+8)
Reach 10'
Special Independent Actions (Each head controls an arm and may take a full round of actions), Rend (2 claws, 1d6+12)
Str 27
Dex 13
Con 29
Int 14/16 (18/20, fox's cunning)
Wis 12/10
Cha 4/6
Gear
Preklikin's Book of Cults (+1 resistance Will)
Wand of Fox's Cunning (13 charges)
Gossamer Amberstone (1/day:Cure Light Wounds 1d8+3, summon swarm - advanced spider or young mosquito)
Orbicular Sac (Create a web 5'x20'x20', DC 13)
Greater Goblin Fire Drum (+1/die fire damage, pyrotechnics 1/day)
Ring of Counterspells [dispel magic]
Ring of Protection +1
Class Abilities
Bonded Object - Ring (+1 spell per day)
Arcane School - Conjuration (Teleportation)/Divination and Necromancy banned
+4 rounds for Conjuration (summoning) spells
Shift: swift action Dimension Door - 20', 5/day
Dimension Steps: Standard action, 240'/day
Spells 4/7/6/5/3, +1 of any
4th -
Black Tentacles (CMB +13, 1d6+4)
Wall of Fire (2d6+8/2d4/1d4, 20-r/160-l)
Detonate (8d8 15'/4d8 30', Ref DC 18-19)
3rd -
Aqueous Orb [Persistent] (Ref DC 21-22, 9 rnds)
Aqueous Orb [Persistent] (Ref DC 21-22, 9 rnds)
Draconic Resevoir (48 pts)
Draconic Resevoir (48 pts)
Hideous Laughter, Bouncing (8 rnds, Will DC 18-19)
2nd -
Create Pit (11 rnds, 50'D, Ref DC 18-19)
Flaming Sphere (8 rnds, 3d6, Ref DC 16-17)
Hideous Laughter (8 rnds, Will DC 18-19)
Mirror Image (1d4+2)
Pyrotechnics (DC 16-17: Will blind 1d4+1 rnds in 120'/Fort -4 str/con in 20'-r cloud + 1d4+1 rnd out)
Web (Ref DC 18-19 grpld, diff terrain, +2d4 fire)
I'm also undecided whether the final confrontation will be with Nagrundi (now the hapless "king" of this tribe) or with a rather powerful minion of Vordakai's
Does it have to be one way or another?
With Hargulka dead, Nagrundi found himself terribly in need of any support he could get.
Maybe Vordakai proposed him power in exchange for his service in destroying the newly-arrived humans claiming the Stolen Lands?
The last remnants of Hargulka's band would now be serving a new 'god' promising to send plagues on the realms of men, if Nagrundi shows enough dedication.
A dedication that could take the form of dozens of live sacrifices of trolls and goblins.
I'm running with this, I think. I'm running a modified Fangwood keep with my players' secondary characters right now. I decided (on the fly, too!) that hobgoblins at the keep fled from Nagrundi's city because they were terrified of the "Cult of the Red Eye." One of my players did a Knowledge (religion) roll, so I said, "Well, as far as you can recall, it was a centaur deity of some sort." (Keying off a couple of the red herrings from the Varnhold Vanishing book).
Interestingly, my players are now talking about an alliance with Maegar Varn. A couple sessions ago, he tried to convince the PC baroness to marry his 14-year-old son. The baroness played it like a woman humoring a teen-ager's crush. But now, they're actively considering a betrothal with marriage after the kid reaches "a certain age," with an eye toward using their combined might to take out trolls and centaurs.
To continue brainstorming. I've turned my attention to the Ghost Stone. I've been reading and rereading material about the Ghost Stone, and I think it would be interesting if I phase out (heh) the phase spiders and xill, and replace the hex's contents with Realm of the Fellnight Queen (which I have not yet bought and downloaded). My current thought is that Realm of the Fellnight Queen could be used as a way to tie Varnhold closer to my players, BEFORE the Vanishing occurs. Thoughts?
My current thought is that Realm of the Fellnight Queen could be used as a way to tie Varnhold closer to my players, BEFORE the Vanishing occurs. Thoughts?
I've already done so (although in a different hex - which is neither
here nor there) with the trigger being the marriage of Varn to a new
wife.
Tenzikil crashes that, one of the party members outbid him for his
chosen's cakes (I think) & we went from there...
It worked really well, although I made Rhoswen a princess, rather than
queen... You'll never guess who her mummy is! ;-p
By the sound of your campaign, you'll really need to bump up the threat
of the fellnight spriggans. My group chewed through them, & they are not
an optimized group really at all... Also - we're not doing the whole
mythic thing...a ruleset to far... :)
I haven't picked up Fellnight yet, but do you think there's a good way to fit Sagroc in there? He's a pretty good villain, and I kind of like the idea of the players dealing with him once (when he's working for/with Rhoswyn) and again when he's leading faeries in picking over Varnhold.
BTW: A couple ideas I've had for Varnhold encounters after the revised Vanishing:
* Maestro Reginald, a debased satyr piper, is having a few remaining living Varnholders audition to be dancers for him. He's backed up by a pair of burly redcaps ordering people to wait in line, dance, etc. People who don't make the audition get sliced open by the Redcaps.
* In one crafter's store, a pair of brownies run away from the players. They're absolutely terrified because they think the players kill all faeries.
* A pack of irritable twigjacks have taken over a house.
* In an outlying farm, a pair of tombstone faeries are running a macabre game. They've corraled a couple fighters resurrected two murderers, and have the murderers chasing innocent farmers through a cornfield while they watch and take bets on which murderer will catch more innocent farmers.
* A wailing huldra. Sobbing, she attacks the PCs -- sort of. She is upset her lover has vanished, and when she sees the players, she rushes at them, then beats on one of then ineffectively with her fists.
* Sagroc the Ugly himself, with a couple Will o' Wisp lackeys. Sagroc's willing to cut a deal with the PCs for information about what happened in Varnhold, but he wants to be able to maintain Varnhold as his own fey dominion, with license to kidnap any who trespass in his lands. (He saw a centaur (actually a disguised Vordakai) bewitch the town).
Loving the encounter ideas. Especially the return of the Maestro - seeing him return to horrify and disgust PCs again brings a tear to my eye.
Actually (assuming my players don't attack him on sight), I'm planning to resurrect a Plot Twist card one of my players played. The player passed it to me with a note that started, "The Maestro, impressed with (the barbarian's) manly physique ... " I think it might take on the right hint of eeriness if Maestro Reginald greets my players like they're old friends.
BTW, my players still remember that party. Using alternate, low-level, non-mythic characters, they recently rousted out some Razmir cultists who'd taken up residence in the Keep. They started talking about making the keep a base of operations for their alternate characters. Just for fun, I said, "And in the top tower room, you find a tiny bit of graffiti: 'The Dancing Lady Shall Return.'"
I've been playing with mythic Vordakai off an on for a while now, and I think I finally hit on a concept I like. Rather than build Vordakai as a mythic lich, I'm going to make him a cyclops lich wizard (level 11) with six archmage tiers; I think that by the time my players get to seriously confronting the big V, they'll be at level 8 or 9 and have (maybe) four mythic tiers.
For Big V, I'm particularly entranced with the Sensory Link mythic power, as it solves something that had bugged me for a while:
Quote:
Sensory Link (Su): As a standard action, you can see and hear through your familiar's eyes and ears. While using this ability, you can't see or hear using your normal senses. You can speak through your familiar using any language you know, even if the familiar can't normally speak. You may end the link and restore your own senses as a standard action. While linked, you can expend one use of mythic power to cast a spell and have it originate from your familiar instead of you. You must have a familiar to select this ability.
With this power, Vordakai can effectively use his familiar to channel his power around the Stolen Lands. If I'm reading the description correctly, Vordakai could even channel mythic-level spells through it.
I had thought to design a number of agents -- "Horsemen" -- that Vordakai might use in his extended schemes, but I like this better. Rather than giving the players a rather straightforward set of baddies to "defeat," it puts them in a bit more nebulous territory and cuts down on the number of Little Bads.
I'm also refining Vordakai's goals a little bit. I'm going to introduce to my players the idea of places of power -- areas in the Stolen Lands that have power unto themselves, and can lend strength to those who claim them. Areas like this include the Ruined Temple, the Forgotten Keep, Candlemere Island, Vordakai's Tomb, and the Valley of the Dead.
In my campaign, Vordakai's going to be treated as a mostly fully powered lich -- with the working phylactery and whatnot -- but a lich who has lost a great deal of his power. Vordakai hopes to gain control of the places of power in the Greenbelt, corrupt them, and turn them to increasing his own power (bringing him back up to full mythic lich status).
Now, how does this feed back into actual plans? As detailed above, my players face a rather complex little political mess in their corner of the Stolen Lands. A new faction, the Cult of the Crimson Eye, is arising among the goblin allies of the trolls. This cult (surprise surprise) worships Vordakai, although they're going to call him the (surprise, surprise) Crimson Eye.
I've done similar with the "places of power" idea - I explained them as nexuses for Ley Lines, which powerful casters or groups of casters can use or exploit with rituals.
After some side adventures, things are moving forward in my campaign. My players are just starting to explore things to the west of the mountains (their side of the Tors), and things with the goblin/troll kingdom are getting interesting. Some things I've set up:
A Dark Warrior:
Riffing off the Vordakai's Champion idea in the 6-player conversion, I've introduced Kerezar, a centaur graveknight fighter/guardian (mythic tier 3). Imagewise, he's a centaur clad in black full plate, and he speaks in a menacing whisper. Kerezar's going to be Vordakai's face man for much of VV, I think. As the adventure proceeds, he's wandering the Greenbelt looking for the bodies of powerful monsters so the big V can turn them into an army.
He met my players at the shores of Lake Silverstep, demanding to know where the silver dragon's body is. After some verbal sparring, there was a scrap, and my players discovered just how many resistances a graveknight has. And, during a trip to Restov to Raise Dead the poor druid, they also discovered what happens when you don't destroy a gaveknight's armor.
The barbarian's player is excited to have a new archenemy.
Kerezar's background: Also known as the Last Watchman, Kerezar was once a mighty centaur warrior. The duty bequeathed to him (and his heirs) was to keep watch over Vordakai's resting place, should he ever rise again. Kerezar kept to his post, but one evening (nobody knows why) he slew his family in a great bonfire, then gave himself over to the flame. What really happened, of course, that staying for so long close to Vordakai's tomb eventually drove Kerezar mad. In the last year, since Willas Gunderson started exploring the valley where Vordakai's tomb lies, Kerezar's spirit stirred. He returned to his legendary armor, and as he did so swore allegiance to Vordakai, his new master.
Eventually, Kerezar will stand at the head of Vordakai's armies, leading them as the sweep across the Greenbelt, and eventually across the world!!!
The Cult of the Red Eye:
My players have been dilly-dallying about finishing off the trolls and goblins to their Southwest (the sad remnants of Hargulka's Monster Kingdom), so a new force has moved in on them. This is the Cult of the Red Eye. The Cult of the Red Eye worships Vordakai as a god, although they don't know the name Vordakai, and they have received only visions of a great red eye. With no territory left to them and no hope, many of the trolls and goblinoids have willingly submitted to dark rituals in which the Red Eye grants them a second life -- a second life as an undead creature, bound to serve the Red Eye.
Already, hobgoblin dissidents have fled the Monster Kingdom, settling in Fangwood Keep, at the border with Mivon. These hobgoblins have averred they only wish to be left alone. Truth is, they're completely frightened of the Cult of the Red Eye, and they hope that the cult passes them by.
The cult has two leaders -- a troll warlord who calls himself the "Servant of the Eye," and a goblin witch named Brocatta. They're slowly turning the remaining living residents of Urgleton (the troll city) into undead to be added to Vordakai's armies. In Vordakai's master plan, they're also a way to distract the player characters long enough for an adventurer to (eventually) release him, and for him to foment complete war between the Nomen Centaurs and Varnhold.
Can you share with us the Stats of your Monsters?
I'm still at the end of part 1, but I like to have some good plans about what to do in the next modules.
Well, mine party is over the typical level of power for the AP too:
- According to our gaming group tradition of high power ability stats they rolled for their PCs with the "4d6, drop the lowest, reroll all the natural 1" rule.
- Hit dice after the first are rolled, but with the reroll all natural 1 rule too.
- They were 3 PCs until the last month, so they divided the total XP for encounters and exploration by 3 and not by 4.
But with another player coming in I found myself with a party of 4 level 4 PCs all with Mythic tier 1... and they still haven't attacked the Staglord fort. This means that when they will found their kindgom they will probably be Level 5/Mithic 2.
Well, mine party is over the typical level of power for the AP too:
- According to our gaming group tradition of high power ability stats they rolled for their PCs with the "4d6, drop the lowest, reroll all the natural 1" rule.
- Hit dice after the first are rolled, but with the reroll all natural 1 rule too.
- They were 3 PCs until the last month, so they divided the total XP for encounters and exploration by 3 and not by 4.
But with another player coming in I found myself with a party of 4 level 4 PCs all with Mythic tier 1... and they still haven't attacked the Staglord fort. This means that when they will found their kindgom they will probably be Level 5/Mithic 2.
Mine are 20 point buy, and they went mythic after redeeming the Temple of the Elk, then defeating a powered-up Tartuk in SL. I customized the hell out of RRR. Between Dudemeister's Monster Kingdom, my Spring Feast, and the improved Talonquake, my group gained a lot of XP. Right now, I'm scaling up VV. I'm actually thinking about combining the politics of WotRK and Blood for Blood into one module, then letting my players' secondary characters handle some of the exploration and such across those two modules.
Kerezar CR 10
XP 9,600
Centaur graveknight fighter 4/Guardian 3 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 42, Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3 138)
NE Large undead (monstrous humanoid)
Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +24
Aura sacriligious aura (DC 18)
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Defense
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AC 28, touch 11, flat-footed 26 (+12 armor, +2 Dex, +5 natural, -1 size)
hp 129 (8d10+71)
Fort +10, Ref +9, Will +10 (+1 vs. fear); +4 bonus vs. channeled energy
Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, hard to kill, rejuvenation; DR 10/magic; Immune cold, electricity, fire, undead traits; SR 21
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Offense
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Speed 50 ft. (35 ft. in armor)
Melee +2 greatsword +18/+13 (2d6+15/19-20) or
2 hooves +11 (1d6+4), slam +11 (1d6+4)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks channel destruction - fire, devastating blast - fire, mythic power (9/day, surge +1d6)
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Statistics
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Str 28, Dex 14, Con —, Int 15, Wis 20, Cha 20
Base Atk +8; CMB +18; CMD 30 (34 vs. trip)
Feats Cleave, Furious Focus[APG], Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Mounted Combat, Power Attack[M], Ride-by Attack, Run, Toughness[M]
Skills Acrobatics -2 (+2 to jump with a running start), Diplomacy +9, Intimidate +24, Knowledge (nature) +10, Perception +24, Ride +6, Sense Motive +13, Survival +16
Languages Common, Elven, Sylvan
SQ amazing initiative, armor training 1, graveknight armor, legendary fortification, legendary power, legendary surge, mythic bond, phantom mount, recuperation, undead mastery, unyielding
Other Gear +2 legendary full plate, +2 greatsword
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Special Abilities
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Absorb Blow (15 damage) (Su) As an imm action, use 1 power when dam to absorb listed amount to gain epic DR and Resist.
Amazing Initiative (1/round) (Ex) As a free action, use 1 power to gain an extra standard action (can't be used to cast a spell).
Channel Destruction - Fire (+2d6) (Su) Add 2 d6fire damage to all weapon attacks.
Channel Resistance +4 +4 bonus to save vs. Channel Energy.
Cleave If you hit a foe, attack an adjacent target at the same attack bonus but take -2 AC.
Damage Reduction (10/magic) You have Damage Reduction against all except Magic attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Devastating Blast - Fire (4d6 fire, 3/day, DC 18) (Su) 30' cone deals 4d6 fire damage.
Furious Focus If you are wielding a weapon in two hands, ignore the penalty for your first attack of each turn.
Graveknight Armor Armor acts as phylactery and must destroy utterly to kill a graveknight.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Automatically stabilize when dying, and only die at neg Con x 2.
Immunity to Ability Drain Immunity to ability drain
Immunity to Bleeds You are immune to bleeds.
Immunity to Cold You are immune to cold damage.
Immunity to Death Effects You are immune to death effects.
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Immunity to Electricity You are immune to electricity damage.
Immunity to Energy Drain Immune to energy drain
Immunity to Exhausted You are immune to the exhausted condition.
Immunity to Fatigue You are immune to the fatigued condition.
Immunity to Fire You are immune to fire damage.
Immunity to Mind-Affecting effects You are immune to Mind-Affecting effects.
Immunity to Nonlethal Damage You are immune to Nonlethal Damage
Immunity to Paralysis You are immune to paralysis.
Immunity to Physical Ability Damage Immune to ability damage to your physical abilities.
Immunity to Poison You are immune to poison.
Immunity to Sleep You are immune to sleep effects.
Immunity to Stunning You are immune to being stunned.
Legendary Fortification When a critical hit or sneak attack is scored against a creature wearing an item with this ability, the wearer can expend one use of legendary power to negate the critical hit or sneak attack and instead take normal damage.
Only armor, shields, an
Legendary Power (4/day) All legendary items contain a pool of power - at least two uses that recharge each day. This power is called legendary power, and it works differently than mythic power. Any creature bearing the item can expend the items uses of legendary power, whet
Legendary Surge (+1d6 to Saving Throws - All) All legendary items have a legendary surge ability, similar to a mythic character's surge ability (see page 170). It can be used only on specific rolls or checks based on the nature or purpose of the legendary item - see the Legendary Surge sidebar o
Mounted Combat (1/round) Once per round you can attempt to negate a hit to your mount in combat.
Mythic Bond A legendary item is typically bonded to a single mythic creature. Others can pick up and use a legendary item for its basic functions (like hitting a foe with a legendary mace), but only the creature bonded to the item can utilize it fully.
A myth
Mythic Power (9/day, Surge +1d6) Use this power to perform your mythic abilities.
Phantom Mount (1/hour) (Su) 1/hour, summon a phantom mount using your HD as caster level.
Power Attack [Mythic] Use 1 power to eliminate attack penalties of Power attack for 1 min.
Recuperation (Ex) Fully heal after 8 hrs rest, use 1 power and 1 hr to heal half and restore all non-mythic abilities.
Rejuvenation (Su) Return 1d10 days after being destroyed
Ride-By Attack You can move - attack - move when charging mounted.
Run Run 5x your speed in light/medium armor or 4x speed in heavy armor and keep Dex when running.
Sacriligious Aura (DC 18) (Su) Desecrate in 30 ft, using positive energy in area requires a concentration check.
Spell Resistance (21) You have Spell Resistance.
Surge (1d6) (Su) Use 1 power to increase any d20 roll by the listed amount.
Toughness [Mythic] Gain DR 10/epic when below 0 hit points.
Undead Mastery (40 HD, DC 18) (Su) Control undead within 50'
Undead Traits Undead have many immunities and use Cha in place of a Con for all effects.
Unyielding A legendary item with this ability has double the hardness of a typical item of its type and triple the hit points. Furthermore, it's immune to all attempts to sunder it made by non-mythic creatures. This is a persistent ability.
Note that Kerezar took the Legendary Item ability twice and applied it to his armor. That means he is essentially indrestructible. I have not yet decided how it can be destroyed, but I am leaning toward being crushed by the hoof of a dead centaur.
I've spent a couple sessions playing up tensions between Varnhold and centaurs, complete with Varn screaming for an alliance. My players, understandably concerned with the undead/troll/goblin menace at their own borders, have rebuffed him. So ... now there's Kerezar.
Given his undead control abilities, I think he ought to be accompanied by undead versions of critters native to the Greenbelt. When my players encountered him, he had a single cyclops skeleton and a few hobgoblin skeletons with him. Next time, it might be troll or worg skeletons, and so forth. I'm also planning for Kerezar to "level up" over the course of VV, with the idea that at the same time PCs are having adventures, he's doing the same as he gathers undead.
I ended up running Realm of the Fellnight Queen in the Nothern Greenbelt in one player's settlement, built around two prominent NPCs' wedding. My players, tasked by the Swordlords to reach some arrangement with the centaurs, headed to the Dunsward, only to find a vanished Varnhold along the way.
I ended up running most of Varnhold (so far) with the normal encounters. I added the encounter with Maestro Reginald and two redcap guards on the village green. That went interestingly. The Baroness bluffed and negotiated to get his victims away, then the group moved into combat.
I've decided that in this version of VV, Vordakai lured the villagers to the edge of town, soul gemmed them, then left behind a little bit of evidence to indicate that the centaurs had something to do with the vanishing. I decided not to go with the "whole city has fallen under mythic sleep" plot line. That really has a faerie vibe to it, which doesn't go well with Vordakai's undead motif.
They're about to head for the stockade where the spriggans are holed up.
I think I'm going to run it as a sort of siege scenario. The spriggans are stragglers from the Fellnight Queen's realm, and they're not eager to give up this new home. At the center of this (in Maegar's old room), Sagroc's going to hang out. After bouncing things around, I decided he's not going to be in cahoots with Vordakai. Rather, Sagroc, a boogeyman, is trying to build his own power base. From his perspective, it's all about fear. Whether it's the players causing fear among the fey, or mortals cowering in their homes, he doesn't care -- he's all about the fear.
I was going to play him as a secondary villain, but I think he works better as a manipulator, a somewhat mysterious figure who takes great delight in others' suffering.
When they enter the stockade, the players will find it's been painted with (quite nice) depictions of their greatest triumphs.
My players will be able to bargain with him, or fight him, as they so choose. If they fight with him, he won't give them info on where to look in town for some clues (tanner's hut, where they'll see a partially tanned "horse" hide, and graveyard, where a Scarlet Tree is just beginning to grow).
As far as next steps ...
Meanwhile, Back at the Kingdom:
I'm planning to shift focus back to my players' alternate, non-mythic, non-ruler characters, who are going to be tasked with dealing with a couple problems. First, undead from Hargulka's old kingdom will assault a watchtower. The alternate characters will need to take it back. I'm also going to leave signs of plague zombies (as opposed to normal zombies). Second, they'll be sent to investigate a plague near the border with the kobold kingdom of Sootscale ... and they'll learn that the disease apparently originated with a sick kobold.
In the slightly longer term, I have to figure out how to bring this to a boil. I want distrust flowing back and forth between kobolds, centaurs, my players, and some hobgoblins down near the Mivonese border.
I haven't been able to get the plague plot going, but I'm playing around with Vordakai's story and stats a little bit. Per above, Vordakai is a non-atrophied lich wizard with some archmage tiers (as my players are mythic themselves). I'm thinking of changing out his prohibited schools slightly to give him transumatation magic. I like the idea that in the past, he was a smith for the fey.
Meanwhile, I think that as a story element, it would make sense for Kerezar's magic armor (a minor artifact in its own right) be Vordakai's phylactery. That is, Kerezar's armor holds both the soul of the Kerezar and the soul of the lich.
In terms of the story, via interactions with Oreius, a centaur in my players' kingdom (and part of Realm of the Fellnight Queen) that Kerezar is called The Dark Watchman, and it is said that he claims the souls of some centaurs when they die. My players will have to do more to uncover the legend of Kerezar, obviously.
Here is what I'm thinking:
The Legend of Kerezar:
Vordakai was bound within his tomb umpty-ump years ago, and Kerezar and a small band of centaurs were set to watch it. Vordakai himself drifted in and out of torpor, watching his powers slowly drain away, and realizing he had little hope of immediate escape. Nevertheless, Vordakai formed a plan. Using an unspecified ritual, the ancient necromancer transferred his soul from its phylactery, and into Kerezar's armor. Over the the space of a mere few years, Vordakai's soul drove Kerezar into madness. The centaur slew others under his command, then he threw himself into a fire.
Days later, Kerezar arose, born of fire, and his soul committed to darkness. He drove the remaining Nomen centaurs into the Dunsward, and Kerezar himself remained near Vordakai's tomb, still keeping watch. Both grave knight and lich awoke at times during their torpor. Vordakai would remain imprisoned, while Kerezar himself would roam the area around the Tors ... but inevitably, both would fall into torpor again.
Kerezar awakened recently, sensing something fundamental had changed. He found settlers -- human settlers -- in the Stolen Lands for the first time in centuries. Seeking out those who might make cause with him, Kerezar found willing pawns in the dispirited remnants of Hargulka's Monster Kingdom ... and rumors of curious humans who, if the right clues were dropped in their way, might awaken Vordakai and enable him to leave his tomb. Thus did certain persons from Varnhold create all this trouble.
We've got a few McGuffins in play now that Kerezar and Vordakai are active and Varnhold has vanished:
The Armor of the Watchman. This centaur armor is the repository of the souls of both Vordakai and Kerezar. If Kerezar's armor is captured, Vordakai will see to it that the armor is taken back from the players' clutches. The armor, a minor artifact, can only be destroyed if it is crushed under Kerezar's hooves. Accomplishing this will take some doing. The players must first learn the story behind Kerezar, then they need to speak to the undead creature and somehow get him to turn away from his nihilistic course and his role as a general in Vordakai's army.
The Oculus of Abbadon. Vordakai's eye.
The Crystal Trees. These scarlet crystals, planted in a city or in a graveyard, will over time turn it into a necropolis (per the Gamemastery Guide). I'm trying to devise a way to destroy them, preferably one that links them with the Oculus of Abbadon.
My players defeated Kerezar. I ended up not putting Vordakai's soul in Kerezar's armor (long story there).
Kerezar had been a reliable villain, starting as a menace when I first introduced him, but my players reached a point where they could reliably defeat him in combat (only they saw the futility of this when he'd come back every time).
Kerezar's Last Stand:
Last session, the group's rogue/ruler took all of the information she'd gathered on Kerezar, and she decided to talk to him. I ran it as a skill challenge (like 4E). The players used a combo of Diplomacy and Knowledge (history) to remind Kerezar that he was once an honorable centaur and telling him his people still needed him -- getting him to stand down. He said that Vordakai was still in his mind, still compelling him ... so my players convinced Kerezar to stand still while the party's wizard cast Break Enchantment, and the druid had Atonement ready in case that didn't help.
Thanks to the combo of Break Enchantment and the Power of Friendship, the players broke Vordakai's hold over the Last Watchman. After the wizard broke the enchantment, Kerezar removed the armor, showing a once-handsome face and body criss-crossed with scars. He thanked the players for releasing him, then crushed the armor under his own hooves ... and his body withered away.
