Kaer Maga in CoTCT

[S'mon]

My CoTCT campaign (now on Book 5) has gone quite a lot differently, partly because the PCs have been making good use of Kaer Maga as an obvious resource - a city beyond the control of Ileosa, and handily between Korvosa & Scarwall. They've already had several adventures there on the way out, and have just returned there from Scarwall to get a comrade Raised.

I was wondering if Kaer Maga has come up in other GMs' CotCT games, and if so what sort of stuff did you do there?

[Puna'chong]

My players had a brief stint there in my last run-through. They used it as a stop to sell some items, stock up for the Cinderlands, and then head out. Since we had a Teleportation wizard in the party, they also shacked up and used it as a base of operations of sorts, and it was part of the impetus to get the characters into the Cinderlands: they joined on a Shoanti hunt in an effort to track down Thousand Bones and any other information they could glean from Shoanti and the folk tracking Shoanti.

[Kelleris]

As I mentioned over here, I've also had it serve as a sort of neutral ground in my campaign, particularly since I decided that the giant hexagon wards against divinations - so it's a good place for plotters. Right now they're about to do a cat-and-mouse thing with the Red Mantis over some NPCs that were taken as hostages, and I'd like to throw in a few of the more interesting factions to deal with along the way.

It kind of goes against the "hive of scum and villainy" vibe, but since my players are 12th level now, I want to give them a chance to throw their weight around in the process. With the Queen in charge of Korvosa and needing to make nice with the Shoanti, they haven't really gotten to experience the joys of being big shots in this campaign, and Kaer Maga seems like the best place for them to do that.

[S'mon]

Matthew Kelsey wrote:

As I mentioned over here, I've also had it serve as a sort of neutral ground in my campaign, particularly since I decided that the giant hexagon wards against divinations - so it's a good place for plotters.

Yep, I did that too - did we just make it up, or is it official somewhere? :)

Factions - on their first visit my PCs got in with the Duskwardens and helped them deal with a Gray Render in the prison levels, then took out a renegade Zon-Kuthonite dark naga in the Undercity that had been using cloakers etc to raid the Dusklight Path. This time they're meeting the Pharasma clerics at the Godsmouth Ossuary getting a PC raised, and one has been invited to dinner with the Freemen - he has a rep as a 'people's champion' back in Korvosa.

[Kelleris]

S'mon wrote:

Matthew Kelsey wrote:

As I mentioned over here, I've also had it serve as a sort of neutral ground in my campaign, particularly since I decided that the giant hexagon wards against divinations - so it's a good place for plotters.

Yep, I did that too - did we just make it up, or is it official somewhere? :)

Factions - on their first visit my PCs got in with the Duskwardens and helped them deal with a Gray Render in the prison levels, then took out a renegade Zon-Kuthonite dark naga in the Undercity that had been using cloakers etc to raid the Dusklight Path. This time they're meeting the Pharasma clerics at the Godsmouth Ossuary getting a PC raised, and one has been invited to dinner with the Freemen - he has a rep as a 'people's champion' back in Korvosa.

You know, I was rereading City of Strangers the other day, and I couldn't find it. So I guess I made it up on the spot? Who knows, right? I always like to have places of magic like that have some sort of really obvious effect that influences day-to-day life in the city, though. Good for the flavor and such.

At any rate, it sounds like you've got a lot going on in Kaer Maga. It's mostly just been background for me, up to this point, and I'm not sure how many sessions it would take to build up that much of a repertoire. I'm currently trying to decide if there's a good way to at least name-check all the cool bits. I figure a bunch of Red Mantis showing up and a foreign queen fomenting war with the Shoanti would bring all manner of things out of the woodwork, at least.

I'm staying away from the deep spaces, though, so it might be hard to include the Duskwardens. I'm thinking along the lines of extensive polarization between the different factions about how to respond to Ileosa and the Shoanti problem. Then it's a matter of figuring out who wants what...

[Kitsune_Aoi]

I was able to plug the Seven Swords of Sin module into my CotCC campaign pretty seamlessly. The players were familiar with RotRL, and had been hearing rumors of the turmoil out west (Sandpoint, Magnimar, etc), so being able to tackle a rogue enchantress channeling power from the Runelords really appealed to them, especially since they had a decent relationship with the Church of Abadar after Seven Days to the Grave.

The module itself is really interesting with some neat encounters and puzzles for the players to work out, especially if they're at the right level as they hit the Storval Plain, and you need to get them some extra xp or loot. Especially after tangling with all the DR mobs in the Vivified Labyrinth at the tail end of Escape, being able to lay waste to the creatures in the enchantress' den was especially appealing!

[Tels]

My PCs used Kaer Maga as a 'supply point' but they didn't get overly familiar with the place as they felt they were on a time crunch. However, they did get side-tracked into the Seven Swords of Sin module due to needing a player resurrected and not having the cash at the time. This was, oddly enough, because they manage to stumble through House Arkona without getting any of the loot.

Seven Swords, was, for my party, a harrowing and rewarding experience. I try to play my enemies as logically as I can reasonable get away with, so one aspect of Seven Swords that made me think, "Oh, god this is broken as hell!" was the 'Vanishing Stones'.

Seven Swords of Sin:

A magical rock that absorbs any spell cast within it's area and stores it indefintely with, apparently, no limit. It also lets those 'in the know' be able to draw the spells out and cast them herself, similar to a ring of spell storing. I had Tirana fill this rock ahead of time with a bunch of spells she would find useful to defend her ritual.

After the PCs defeated Tirana (narrowly, mind you), the decided to take over the complex as their own little fortress (the Mystic Theurge especially was delighted to take control of the Vanishing Stones).

My party is in the middle of Scarwall, at the moment, and they haven't left the Scarwall area since they arrived. With spells like [i]teleport[i] now being online, it wouldn't surprise me to see Kaer Maga become a base of operations or fall back location for their return to Korvosa.

[Tels]

Matthew Kelsey wrote:

As I mentioned over here, I've also had it serve as a sort of neutral ground in my campaign, particularly since I decided that the giant hexagon wards against divinations - so it's a good place for plotters. Right now they're about to do a cat-and-mouse thing with the Red Mantis over some NPCs that were taken as hostages, and I'd like to throw in a few of the more interesting factions to deal with along the way.

It kind of goes against the "hive of scum and villainy" vibe, but since my players are 12th level now, I want to give them a chance to throw their weight around in the process. With the Queen in charge of Korvosa and needing to make nice with the Shoanti, they haven't really gotten to experience the joys of being big shots in this campaign, and Kaer Maga seems like the best place for them to do that.

Your party might have more difficulty doing this than one would think. There is a family in Kaer Maga that is quite powerful and influential. I can't remember the name, but the family makes it's wealth by constructing and selling golems. One such member appears in the City of Strangers PFS scenario and he, more or less, casually strolls around the city doing his errands while being guarded by six iron golems!

Any family who can afford to build and use iron golems as bodyguards for their family members (especially so many of them) is one to worry about.

[Andrea1]

Ardocs. Sexist crime family.