Small size magical child vigilante + pyrausta mauler familiar = 3rd level dragon riding. Good fun.
So, I had a rather interesting encounter introducing the group to the fairy dragon Vendalfek. First, I had a player in the previous game want to listen to rumors. Rather than just rolling on the list, I decided to use one of the other rumors in the back of the book - talking about seeing the outline of a dragon. When he asked where it was seen, the person said "Clenchjaw's." This got the interest of the Skald and the Magus, who then convinced the others to come along. Further, the Skald rolled a natural 20 and realized a lot of interesting things were going down at Clenchjaw's of late
The group showed up, with the Magus disguised in her persona of "Menthe" (basically she's doing the "magical girl" routine but using an Eldritch Scion Magus) and the Skald wearing a half-mask (and Nox Rosalia is always wearing a mask so...) so the group already looked "interesting" to a bored Faerie Dragon. And that must explain how the Faerie Dragon rolled a modified 20 for Stealth... and Menthe rolled a 22 for Perception and noticed the wee dragon.
He promptly went invisible and hid, and after realizing it was a faerie dragon, she put out some mead for him. And they stayed there. Finally a fight started to break out, and that's when the fifth player showed up, saw one teammate on the back of some woman, two more teammates facing down a goblin and a teenager defending his buddy the goblin, and fired a blank shot to shut the fight down.
I didn't bother with Diplomacy checks or the like. The Silver Ravens were definitely far more interesting than Clenchjaw's. They were willing to let Vendalfek be with them, so he's joined the Ravens through force of roleplaying. And we had a grand old time. :)
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I'm also taking time to flesh out the teams. The teams have team names, each member of the team will have their own names and backgrounds and quirks, and I may very well shape events around the teams themselves rather than doing random encounters. This will help these people go from statistics and abilities to being people with roleplaying aspects to bring them alive. One thing I'll do is come up with two positive and one negative personality element as a baseline for the characters - for instance, the head of the Bright Falcons (the Street Performers who just got upgraded to Rumormongers) is likely bombastic and over-the-top, speaking in grandiose language. The head of the new peddler teams is a Varisian herbalist named Adria, while the "face" of the group is a Catfolk merchant who does the primary "selling" of stuff.
Also with the creation of the Peddler Team, when the group said they wanted to recruit people from among the workers at Clenchjaw's, I used some of those characters to describe and depict the Rag and Bone peddler team.
For instance, an old woman who was there and talked to Jimmy (the crazy halfling grey paladin/rogue who calls himself "King Under the Mountain") became Adria, a Varisian Herbalist who makes tonics and the like. Eventually she may end up taking a level or two of Alchemist and be able to make actual potions and the like.
The Goblin who confronted the half-orc Skald? She became Calvin, a rogue who is good friends with the teenage artist and keeps an eye on things to make sure no one is trying to pick the pockets of her friends. She also lures people over to Adria and the peddler who does the primary selling of stuff.
The teenage boy who defended the goblin? Civian. He's a street artist who does sketches and sells them. Not only does the group have plans to eventually have him do illicit paintings of the Queen of Cheliax for merchants (that look a tad off and menacing, sort of as a way of thumbing their noses at the Queen) but they'll also have him draw sketches of the dottari and keep notes of such things as patrols and the like - in short, he is an intelligence operative of sorts.
The woman who had Jimmy jump on her back? She becomes Cleo, a human fighter who will not only be used to bring in people ("Look at how our elixirs have helped this woman become so healthy and muscular!") but also to chase down and catch any shoplifters and the like, and protect the others when needed.
Two people who were not in Clenchjaw's but who were "known" by the others recruited include Hobbs, a Catfolk merchant who is the "face" of the group and does the primary selling (and yes, I may have been strongly influenced by the khajiit from Skyrim with wares for sale for discerning customers), and Civilious, a Tiefling craftsman who makes some of the knick-knacks that are offered for sale by Hobbs.
We spent around 10 to 15 minutes fleshing them out, coming up with races and names and what they were doing. The group is invested in them. In comparison, the Fushi Sisters? The "Entertainment Team"? They were ciphers. They just existed to do things.
I've taken to writing out the names of each of the sisters. I'm going to include basic personalities for them (Korva for instance is overprotective of her sisters and have a strong sense of responsibility for what they have gotten into... and loyalty toward the Silver Ravens who are allowing them to stay at the Wasp's Nest) to differentiate each of them. Different sisters will deliver messages and yes, at times I'll have the Ravens have troubles identifying them apart so one sister shows up and "no, I'm Maggie. She is Treep!" and the like. (And if the party takes care to look for markings and the like they'll not make that sort of mistake.)
Similarly, the "Entertainment Team" is now the Bright Falcons. Seeing the Bright Falcons were Nox Rosalia's team, I'm going to work with the player to come up with names, races, and histories for the characters. In the future they'll be the Bright Falcons and under Vendelfek's tutelage are learning how to spread disinformation. Eventually they'll have other talents as well.
Further, they will have their own stories. Rather than rolling randomly for Events, I may very well choose an event. For instance, the head of the Bright Falcons could end up snagged by the Dottari and the Ravens need to spring them. If they don't, the head is released but the second-in-command of the Bright Falcons might be quiet and withdrawn... because she's been subverted and is forced to spy on the group and in exchange her lover was released from prison. There will be consequences for things and it won't just be random die rolls that have no real meaning.
I know some folk didn't like the Rebellion outline (and to be honest I'm still trying to wrap my head around how a group of freedom fighters suddenly become clerics and wizards that can cast up to level 3 spells when you spend 1,250 gold to upgrade them twice) but as a foundation from which to build a growing family of resistance fighters who seek a better Kintargo? It creates countless roleplaying opportunities.
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It sounds interesting! I'd be worried about the lack of healing, but your NPC Paladin should be able to help in that regard.
To get your players even more invested, I'd suggest looking at my posts about fleshing out the Silver Ravens teams - have them be people with their own concerns, beliefs, and the like. Have some of them become friends with the core party. Let them have internal conflicts among themselves that the party has to work around.
Heck, you can even have the teams recommend other people to form new teams. Create a sense of family there so that there is a bond between these characters and your players. You can take your time in going through the adventures... as the game is supposed to be fun and roleplaying is an important part of this :)
Good luck! :)
I'll look into it. The group is currently undecided if we're going to implement the Rebellion system at all. I think we'll try it out, and if it doesn't mesh with the group, I'll just cast it aside and assume the Rebellion automatically succeeds in its checks.It sounds interesting! I'd be worried about the lack of healing, but your NPC Paladin should be able to help in that regard.
To get your players even more invested, I'd suggest looking at my posts about fleshing out the Silver Ravens teams - have them be people with their own concerns, beliefs, and the like. Have some of them become friends with the core party. Let them have internal conflicts among themselves that the party has to work around.
Heck, you can even have the teams recommend other people to form new teams. Create a sense of family there so that there is a bond between these characters and your players. You can take your time in going through the adventures... as the game is supposed to be fun and roleplaying is an important part of this :)
Good luck! :)
As I said, it helps if the Rebellion isn't just a bunch of die rolls but instead are people. If they're characters in their own right that the group interacts with and who are a part of their growing "family" of friends and contacts, then it actually starts to mean something.
The rebellion rules are clunky, complex, and poorly balanced. If you keep them I suggest doing some tweaking.
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The rebellion rules are thematic and give the framework for fleshing out both the supporting cast and events in which the PCs are not personally involved. However, I also recommend tweaking the mechanics, specifically to eliminate the bonus feats and skill points. Not because they're terribly unbalancing, but because they serve to set the PCs on a pedestal above everyone else, which is counter to the theme.
I've had nothing but good luck with the rebellion rules. The bonus feats are fine, although removing Improved Initiative as an option would be a good idea. As noted, this is a mechanic that foregrounds that revolutions aren't won by a few Founding Fathers, but rather by collective effort and sacrifice. The rules do mandate that the extra skill ranks not go into skills that have max ranks already, so it's more likely to go into stuff like disguise or, say, Perform dance or song.
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They're a bit like the kingdom building rules from Kingmaker. Some players (particularly the spreadsheet management types) love them, and for pretty much everyone else they're a millstone around the neck. Streamlining them, tying them into the narrative, and not getting hung up on spending entire sessions trying to navigate them is pretty much essential. Even then, some groups will disengage all but maybe one player. The concept is good, but the execution questionable. I've read a lot of complaints on the forums and experienced more than a few in my games.
For instance, at a certain level the math breaks and success on certain checks is guaranteed. Other checks (like secure cache) can have ridiculously high DCs despite in some cases in the narrative they describe Hetamon Haace just giving you stuff. Or the way teams upgrade is silly (freedom fighters > infiltrators > cabalists or spellcasters).
I don't at all want to say that my experience with the AP is at all representative for most groups. And if Zimmerwald ran the AP it would be very different than written. Also, having read RogueRouge's campaign journal they've done a wonderful job of customizing the AP to their particular table. I'd love to play at either of their tables, mind you, but please take all of our advice with a grain of salt.
Regarding Rebellion Rules:
I removed them completely but had consistent, not main NPCs that would react to actions the group took. When the group wanted to get their allies to help with something I'd use the rebellion rules as a guideline. It allowed me to have the NPCs refuse if they didn't like what the leaders were trying to get them to do without having the players assume they could do a thing because the rules said so. This helped the players to keep their actions a little in check and not run around causing chaos. It also made it so that interacting with the NPCs was something they had to keep in mind. Some were more chaotic/violence minded, others were peaceful. It was the player's choices as to which ones they wanted to appeal to more.
I would love to comment on stuff I've planned, but I learned from my previous campaign that one of my players will log into the Paizo forums to see what I'm posting so he can be "prepared" for my plans. Ah well, after I'm done inflicting the evil on the players in two weeks, I'll share the encounter with you all on here. :)
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I would love to comment on stuff I've planned, but I learned from my previous campaign that one of my players will log into the Paizo forums to see what I'm posting so he can be "prepared" for my plans. Ah well, after I'm done inflicting the evil on the players in two weeks, I'll share the encounter with you all on here. :)
Players can't spy on PMs. . .
I would love to comment on stuff I've planned, but I learned from my previous campaign that one of my players will log into the Paizo forums to see what I'm posting so he can be "prepared" for my plans. Ah well, after I'm done inflicting the evil on the players in two weeks, I'll share the encounter with you all on here. :)
I would definitely not trust a player like that to not read the AP or cheat in any other fashion. That's pretty heinous.
I would love to comment on stuff I've planned, but I learned from my previous campaign that one of my players will log into the Paizo forums to see what I'm posting so he can be "prepared" for my plans. Ah well, after I'm done inflicting the evil on the players in two weeks, I'll share the encounter with you all on here. :)I would definitely not trust a player like that to not read the AP or cheat in any other fashion. That's pretty heinous.
Oh, he has. With Rise of the Runelords at least with stuff he could just Google online. But he's also the type who'd not spend money to get his own PDFs of the APs so he probably doesn't have the AP itself. Also, just because you know what's in an encounter doesn't mean the dice on Roll20 won't start critting against him or the like.
He's a fun and interesting roleplayer so his tendency to cheat doesn't lessen the game that much due to the vagaries of random chance. Mostly? It annoys me, and it means when I create my own content I need to be tight-lipped about it until it's come to pass. And it's one of the reasons why I don't do campaign journals for this game. I mean, I still remember the time he saw a forum post that said a character in Reign of Winter was only unconscious so he made sure in the next game to coup de grace him so he'd not come back. (Ah, the irony...)
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I would love to comment on stuff I've planned, but I learned from my previous campaign that one of my players will log into the Paizo forums to see what I'm posting so he can be "prepared" for my plans. Ah well, after I'm done inflicting the evil on the players in two weeks, I'll share the encounter with you all on here. :)I would definitely not trust a player like that to not read the AP or cheat in any other fashion. That's pretty heinous.Oh, he has. With Rise of the Runelords at least with stuff he could just Google online. But he's also the type who'd not spend money to get his own PDFs of the APs so he probably doesn't have the AP itself. Also, just because you know what's in an encounter doesn't mean the dice on Roll20 won't start critting against him or the like.
He's a fun and interesting roleplayer so his tendency to cheat doesn't lessen the game that much due to the vagaries of random chance. Mostly? It annoys me, and it means when I create my own content I need to be tight-lipped about it until it's come to pass. And it's one of the reasons why I don't do campaign journals for this game. I mean, I still remember the time he saw a forum post that said a character in Reign of Winter was only unconscious so he made sure in the next game to coup de grace him so he'd not come back. (Ah, the irony...)
Irony? Did he coup de grace a friendly npc or something? :p
Irony? Did he coup de grace a friendly npc or something? :pI would love to comment on stuff I've planned, but I learned from my previous campaign that one of my players will log into the Paizo forums to see what I'm posting so he can be "prepared" for my plans. Ah well, after I'm done inflicting the evil on the players in two weeks, I'll share the encounter with you all on here. :)I would definitely not trust a player like that to not read the AP or cheat in any other fashion. That's pretty heinous.Oh, he has. With Rise of the Runelords at least with stuff he could just Google online. But he's also the type who'd not spend money to get his own PDFs of the APs so he probably doesn't have the AP itself. Also, just because you know what's in an encounter doesn't mean the dice on Roll20 won't start critting against him or the like.
He's a fun and interesting roleplayer so his tendency to cheat doesn't lessen the game that much due to the vagaries of random chance. Mostly? It annoys me, and it means when I create my own content I need to be tight-lipped about it until it's come to pass. And it's one of the reasons why I don't do campaign journals for this game. I mean, I still remember the time he saw a forum post that said a character in Reign of Winter was only unconscious so he made sure in the next game to coup de grace him so he'd not come back. (Ah, the irony...)
Noped. Coup de graced a Mythic spellcaster who had automatically stabilized after they brought him to negative hit points despite in the previous game not showing any interest in him once he was down. Waste of a perfectly good recurring villain that was.
Okay. With the latest game under my belt I can reveal PART of my evil evil plan involving Kossrani and the Salt Works.
Probably a week ago in-game, the group went and freed the prisoners at the Salt Works. They waited until dark, attacked the guards, knocked out some and got the others to surrender, and stole the money. But they never bothered to go after Kossrani who was asleep in the barracks. He's still alive and quite angry. Given there was a supply of salt on hand which wasn't stolen, he was able to make a few deliveries but he needed new "employees."
So he took a page out of the British Empire and send out three press gangs. They put up fliers, put out coins, and capture the tieflings in the Devil's Nursery who pick up the coins. The fliers basically state that anyone taking up the coin has volunteered their services at the Salt Works to pay off their debt, however long it takes. Food and shelter expenses will be taken out of the debtors - essentially it is snagging over a dozen Tieflings to be slaves (well, indentured servants but it's slavery).
One of the Silver Ravens was on hand to see what happens. The group learned that Kossrani set this up. And they are fairly certain it's a trap. Naturally it's a trap. ;) Kossrani actually set up two guards by the front door that the Ravens saw. What was waiting on the inside, they have no idea.
That said, they were fairly sneaky. First, they recruited Vendelfek by indulging in his ego and curiosity. Next, they returned to the Salt Works and entered through the back, and had Vendelfek scout out the barracks - he indulged in some mischief, but his breath weapon failed and his attempt to Sleep them had three saving throws (seriously, the lowest roll was a 12, and one guard rolled a natural 20). As the guards were getting ready to bed and didn't see anything, they assumed he'd just passed out. (These are also the four guards who had previously faced the Ravens and surrendered so their morale isn't the greatest and they don't care as much).
They broke in through the back after the guards closed the door to the barracks for the night and broke the lock to the barracks. And that's where we ended. What they'll face next? Well, I need to keep SOME secrets close to my chest as one of the players DOES sneak onto the forums to find out what will happen. But we'll see in two weeks. ;)
How do your players feel about seemingly being upstaged by a faerie dragon? Or at least having an NPC make the challenges drastically easier
He is not actually supposed to go with the group in theory as that would require some kind of improved familiar feat (officially)
His benefit to the rebellion is limited to a small boost to the rebellion mechanic
I had to clamp down on my players trying to do things like getting the fushis to reduce the salt work prisoners for them. In hind sight just having them killed would have been a brutal early lesson
The AP is not really written to assume the faeries dragon goes with the group . At the very least you should buff the combats (especially given almost everything in part one has a pathetic will save)
Of course if your players don’t mind then there is no issue
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Of course if your players don’t mind then there is no issue
Not only is there no issue, it sounds like his players (and yours, before you put your foot down) were getting into the spirit of the AP; it is or ought to be as much or more about building the SRs and letting them act as it is about feeding the players' power fantasies through their PCs. If that means sometimes the PCs' allies get them through fights, that's a good thing! It goes to show the players that not everything is about them 100 per cent of the time.
Of course if your players don’t mind then there is no issueNot only is there no issue, it sounds like his players (and yours, before you put your foot down) were getting into the spirit of the AP; it is or ought to be as much or more about building the SRs and letting them act as it is about feeding the players' power fantasies through their PCs. If that means sometimes the PCs' allies get them through fights, that's a good thing! It goes to show the players that not everything is about them 100 per cent of the time.
I don’t think i clarified or was misunderstood - my players wanted the teams to do entire missions for them. Not help them, not do reconnaissance - I mean send 4 tengu to go and try and rescue prisoners from the salt works whilst they rested
And I have a different idea about “getting them through fights” vs “winning the fights for them”. But it is all subjective clearly
The thing with Vendalfek is that my players know that while he shines right now, his effectiveness will decrease the more levels they gain. However, they seek to make Vendalfek Ceil's familiar. Ceil will take the Familiar Vigilante Talent when she gets to lvl.6. Then, at lvl.7, she'll take the Improved Familiar feat so that Vendalfek can start using her spell list and caster level in combat.
They REALLY love Vendalfek. They're mainly using him for scouting purposes at the moment. Indeed, as the AP proceeds, that'll all he'll really be good for until he becomes Ciel's familiar at lvl.7. I just need to get them as invested with the Fushi sisters, but they haven't had a chance to shine yet.
While the Fushi sisters won't join the party, I've come up with something that'll get the PCs invested in them. Rexus has tasked the PCs with investigating Hocum's Fantasmagorium, and the Fushi Sisters have volunteered to set any traps if the PCs need it. Hopefully the PCs will start using the Fushi Sisters to set more traps as they start to investigate more serious dungeons.
My players love Vendalfek as well but that is because he turns people’s hair pink and makes their tea cold.
I think for some reason I had witch hex version of sleep on the mind when thinking about his power
How does he become better as a familiar at level 7? To the best I can tell improved familiars don’t advance in HD which as always put me off them but I imagine I am completely misreading the rules
The problems I find with team mechanics is the rebellion rules place limits on who can do what and letting people like fushis and vendelfek act as “spies” effectively really early on smashes those rules to pieces
Are you using them? I liked them at the start but they are limiting for things like that but they become tiresome if the players aren’t invested. And they come around too rarely so everyone forgets how they work!
My players LOVED Vendalfeck! I don't remember which missions the little dragon helped with, but I'm petty sure that the Salt Works was one of them and Grease was used very effectively during that fight.
They didn't do it often, I think mostly because the players assumed that the NPCs weren't supposed to come along on adventures, but very nearly every time they asked someone to help the NPC was usually right there with them being as effective as possible. (Unless it was an NPC that didn't really like them yet or I decided wasn't something the NPC would want to help with.)
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How does he become better as a familiar at level 7? To the best I can tell improved familiars don’t advance in HD which as always put me off them but I imagine I am completely misreading the rules
In 1E, familiars never advance in HD, though they use their masters' HD total for the purpose of effects that care about that (such as susceptibility to the sleep spell). Improved familiars gain the same benefits as any other familiars according to the familiar advancement table attached to the Wizard class, with two exceptions: they don't gain the "speak with animals of its kind" ability because most improved familiars can already speak; and they don't provide their master with a +3 bonus to a skill, which is offset by being better in other ways.
The problems I find with team mechanics is the rebellion rules place limits on who can do what
Rather, they place limits on who can benefit from the highly-abstracted and rules-smashing nature of the rebellion mechanics. Consider an example that Raynulf has raised:
Everyone else operates by the normal rules all of the time, and within those rules, some characters are more powerful than others. But here's the rub: even if you as a GM allow NPCs to gain XP, even if the PCs use them a lot they are unlikely to gain enough to level up. Meanwhile, the rebellion's teams advance simply by pumping gold into them. Effectively, NPCs will find it difficult to continue replacing the rebellion teams as time goes on - at least with the exception of very powerful NPCs like Manticce Kaleeki. She's a veritable Elminster Problem within the context of the AP.
EDIT: as for Vendalfek specifically, remember that faerie dragons actually cast spells as well as use spell-like abilities. That means that a character with Scribe Scroll and a spellbook (such as a Warlock Vigilante) can learn his grease and sleep spells for herself.
What I'm going to do with Vendalfek is have him get distracted. For instance, I have a firm idea of what spells and spell-like abilities he'll use when the party ambushes Kossrani's ambush (they already broke into the loading dock area, jammed the lock for the barracks (and thus locked four guards in it), and are about to enter the Salt Works from the rear. (I figure a modified 28 for Disable Device would be sufficient to unlock the back portcullis area.) After all, Vendalfek is there to be amused and because he was provided with flattery as to his skills and ability. He wants to show of! And just spamming certain spells would be boring.
That's the thing to remember about NPCs. You can have them cast spells as they (you) feel fit. And Vendalfek may very well get bored just doing what the PCs ask. Don't forget... he's fae AND a dragon. If the party isn't giving him a significant share of the treasure then he'll soon feel like he's being taken advantage of. Further, he may end up wanting the PCs to do favors for him. They should be outrageous ones. ;)
Well. The fight against Nox went quite well for the PCs. Part of this is because I modified the Archives - another poster here had suggested this was originally built by priests of Nethys and had each door be a teleport portal, and I so enjoyed the idea that I ran with that. The problem was that after the group took out the monks in the chain room, the archivist room was alerted (I had the walls be 18 inches thick and even with a +15 penalty to perception checks the monks heard fighting and then had a couple monks listen in at the portal leading to the chain room and realized there were intruders and alerted Nox).
Several monks, the Lout, and Nox entered into the corridor leading to the Chain Room, but they got boxed in and the remainder of the monks could not make their way through the portal doors (as I figure the doors would have safeguards to prevent people piling up in the doorway). One Murderous Command sent the Lout attacking Nox and after his critical failure to bite Nox resulted in a Critical Failure card draw of "knocked unconscious for 4 rounds"... well, Nox was soon surrounded and in trouble. The PCs burned a Hero Point to have Daze work on Nox and then a trip attack allowed three PCs to get hits on Nox and reduce her to 12 HPs. After that a lucky strike from the Skald brought her to negative hit points and they pounded on Nox until she was a smear of flesh and finally I alerted the PCs that their Magus had Celestial Arcana and could use good-aligned attacks. (Seriously, players NEED to keep an eye on what they can do!)
Nox still did a number on the PCs. Her problem was she rolled low with damage and never critted. If she had, she'd have one-shotted pretty much anyone in the group.
Amusingly enough, I warned everyone the kid gloves were coming off for this fight and that their characters could very well die in the fight. They took me at my word. I even had logical reasons why Nox shifted from hitting the swashbuckler to hitting the skald - the skald was doing a lot more damage and fighting with a greatsword, while the swashbuckler was nickel-and-diming her. And if she had critted, that would have taken out the skald in one shot in all likelihood. The dice were just against her (and again, being tripped with Blade Lash proved quite detrimental to Nox).
I do find it a bit amusing though that compared to most other APs, there was not a huge amount of treasure at the end of this book. Instead, the primary rewards are items the PCs would likely keep - the Soul Journals, for example, while worth a bit of money, are not something the PCs would sell off unless they're fairly heartless.
Since we use milestones I think of just dropping it, but does it effect the next parts of the adventure?
It doesn't.
I have a question regarding the whole Red Jills mission. I don't really like it, to be honest, and I think it's the weakest mission out of the 7.
Since we use milestones I think of just dropping it, but does it effect the next parts of the adventure? I glanced at The Kintargo Contract, but didn't see Scarplume's name anywhere.
There's vague connections to book 5, but really nothing to worry about. Personally, I like Scarplume and gang but they're very poorly fleshed out.
Other than it being one of the only encounters featuring arcanists in quite some time, it's not strictly necessary.
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I have a question regarding the whole Red Jills mission. I don't really like it, to be honest, and I think it's the weakest mission out of the 7.
Since we use milestones I think of just dropping it, but does it effect the next parts of the adventure? I glanced at The Kintargo Contract, but didn't see Scarplume's name anywhere.
Not really. The connection between that mission and The Kintargo Contract is that fighting Scarplume has given the PCs an indication what a strix is. If they capture her and interrogate her she might drop some dialogue about her tribe specifically. If they were to banish her from Kintargo she might go back to them and the PCs could encounter her again in Book 5 (and either make the encounter with her tribe more interesting by having her be a spoiler or smooth a rocky introduction if they somehow made a good impression on her).
But she is in no way crucial or indeed interesting as written.
I personally don't like cutting content, so if I were rewriting the encounter, I'd play up the conflict between the organizations over potential members and supporters, and have it play out like you'd imagine a "leftist circular firing squad." Makes it a whole lot more interesting than another minor criminal gang that's dispatched in a single night of the long knives, and goes to show that the SRs can't simply have every dissident under the sun fall into their laps like ripe fruit on the basis of lowest-common-denominator politics (even if that's how the AP mostly plays out).
The tiefling rogue in my group particularly liked Scarplume and the Red Jills. Scarplume seemed like an ally at first but was too much of an extremist for the groups liking and had to eventually get rid of her. Some of the Red Jills stayed with the Silver Ravens (one became a fairly consistent NPC) and some of the Jills fractured off and continued on as Scarplume had operated.
Did Scarplume survive for anyone? My group let her go are now in Book 5
I wonder if she would come back? It doesn't seem like the tribe in Book 5 would want her
I guess I could just level her up and keep her in the pocket in case any forest encounters go bad (almost no chance as written)
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It's there. You need to look on the PDF of the AP, on page 38.
There's a glitch with the interactive PDFs where a number of doors vanished for some reason. When uploading the maps to Roll20, I just added white boxes where the doors would have been to compensate.
There are no windows shown on the map, so I figure the window in question would be in the door itself.
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Greetings all,
Been running Hell's Bright Shadows for a couple of sessions and the group has just reformed the Silver Ravens. Which brings me to a couple of questions around Allies/Members, Teams, and Supporters. I've read through as much of this thread as I could for the answers, but here is what I have that is outstanding. As I understand it:
1) "Supporters", as someone stated up-thread, are like XP for the rebellion; You don't know them, they aren't NPCs, they don't "do" anything other than define the level and strength of the rebellion.
2) Teams, aside from Specialized Teams, like the Tengu sisters, are also not NPCs, nameless, and only serve to perform and open up new Actions that can be done during the Activity Phase of the weekly Rebellion round.
3) Allies/Members: Now this is where I am confused. From the way it is written, Allies/Members are actual named NPCs that may or may not be part of the party, such as Laria and Rex. Aside from these two, how do you "recruit" allies?? For Example, Morgar: even though he is written into the mod to be the victim of Blosodriette's charms, how does the group "recruit" him? There doesn't seem to be any mechanism to bring new NPCs, either written into the mod or introduced by the GM, into the group as formal "Allies/Members" for the purposes of filling Offices or applying boons.
Do I, as the GM, just take a "Supporter" that's been recruited, flesh them out, and make them an "Ally/Member"?
Or am I overlooking something from the Mod.
Thanks for any help!