I'm starting a new KM PbP. I know that at least one player has played part of the AP before, and I always like new things. So ... I'm thinking of reflavoring Staggy a little bit. I think I'd like to adapt the Bloody Huntsman scenario, but with the power scaled down a bit and a couple things shifted around:
The Scenario:
In this version, the Stag Lord isn't a long abused alcoholic hunter acting out his daddy issues. Rather, he's the former lover/boy toy of nymph named Kareen. In this scenario, he was (for a while, at least), a bandit lord. But like most fey, Kareen eventually tired of him and discarded him. When he finally attacked her out of frustration, she slew him.
But in a rather macabre twist of fate, Urgathoa sent a bevy of crows to retrieve his body. She then returned the Stag Lord to life as a bloody skeletal champion, promising that she would grant him vengeance against Kareen. In the nonce, an oracle who worships Urgathoa has arrived at the Stag Lord's castle, taking up residence there as Staggy's "personal confessor."
The Stag Lord maintains the pretense that he is alive through an Amulet of Life-Seeming, which makes him appear as the man he used to be.
If the Amulet of Life-Seeming does not exist already, I hereby declare that it exists in my new campaign. It clothes an undead creature in the illusion it is alive.
The Stag Lord's men still raid the countryside as bandits typically do -- Staggy is under strict instruction not to reveal (yet) that he has changed. However, he and his "personal confessor" are slowly spreading an undead rot through the Stolen Lands. The "personal confessor" seeks to expand Urgathoa's influence at the expense of Erastil. Meanwhile, Staggy wants to gain enough power to confront Kareen again and overthrow her.
Story Effects:
There's going to be something of a time clock on the scenario. If the PCs don't confront Staggy within about a year of the adventure's beginning, then Urgathoa's influence will start to expand. Gradually, his men will be replaced by bloody skeletons, then he will begin replacing his immediate officers.
Anybody slain within the Stag Lord's hex will be buried in the unholy ground there, and will join the zombie horde currently entombed in the hill around his castle.
Over time, the Stag Lord's influence will reach across the Greenbelt. His confessor's eventual goal is to conquer the hidden temple to Erastil, then profane it. After that happens, Urgathoa will grant Staggy more power (possibly making him an Undead Lord) and he will assault Kareen in earnest.
Location changes:
A few things will change.
First, the statue of Erastil will be replaced with a statue of Urgathoa. There will be no living animal life in that hex -- all of it will be skeletons, per the original "Bloody Huntsman" scenario. Unless this place is Hallowed, the rot will eventually spread.
Similarly, the land under the Stag Lord's castle will need to be hallowed before it can be settled. This will add 2 BP to the cost of building the first improvement, or founding a settlement, in this hex.
Third, Davik Nettles will be replaced by Kareen. She lives in a small house on the river. She considers that piece of the river her particular charge, although she is open to letting people come through it. Drawing the Stag Lord's story out of her will take extended diplomacy rolls, however.
Additionally, Kareen is a great-great-great (many times great) granddaughter of Nyrissa. She may become important later in the AP.
The whole time I'm reading this, there's a little voice in the back of my head repeating, "you should ask him how this changes Nettles" over and over. And then you answer the question. So good job.
But this also feels like an opportunity to do something interesting with the dead unicorn.
My only thing is that Staggy doesn't have his Weaksauce Weakness any more; a bloody skeleton doesn't give a damn about alcohol. I might cook something up ... or I might not have that weakness at all.
I figure I'll plant a couple clues that Staggy's a bit more than human ... maybe they can coax his tale out of Kareen, and/or the Urgathoa monument.
I'm also thinking about the Temple of Erastil. What if some of the Stag Lord's forces have already discovered it?
This changes the encounter a bit.
Revised Temple of the Elk:
In this reading, the bear remains a reluctant transformed priest. But he's dedicated himself to defending the temple because he really has nothing left. Of late, he has faced a particularly implacable foe: Bloody skeletons, minions of the Stag Lord's "confessor," who stumbled on the temple.
The bear has been repelling the skeletons repeatedly, but because he has no source of positive energy or holy water, he can't finish them off. He's been fighting off the skeletons for several days. While as a grizzly bear, he can dispatch them without too much trouble, their rapid regeneration has left him in a battle of attrition ... one that he will eventually lose.
When the players find the temple, the fountain will be surrounded by the bones of dead warriors. These bones are actually bloody skeletons in the process of regenerating.
If the players do not approach the temple carefully, the bear will storm out of its cave, roar, and come at the players. Two rounds into combat, the bones (actually bloody skeletons) will start rising and fight the players. There will be multiple bloody skeletons -- perhaps 10 or 12 of them. They will actually rise with 1 HP each, but thanks to their fast healing, they will recover HP quickly unless the PCs put them down.
One of the bloody skeletons will still have a Stag Lord pendant.
But What About Jhod?:
Jhod Kavken takes on a special role in this version of the Stolen Lands. He will relate to the players early his dreams regarding a lost temple to Erastil in the wilderness. After he arrives at Oleg's, he will wait to see if he learns anything more of the temple. He is hoping the players will find it.
If the players have not found the temple within a month of Jhod's arrival, he will set out to find the temple along with a group of pilgrims. He may or may not find the temple -- roll Jhod's Survival score to see if he does.
If Jhod finds the temple before the players do, he and his pilgrims will manage to defeat the skeletons (as Jhod can provide positive energy) and the guardian, and Jhod will set about revitalizing the temple.
If the players find the temple first, Jhod is willing to take over as its guardian. He will attract a few pilgrims (adepts and warriors) who will join him there and help him guard the temple.
In either case, Jhod will become a Hero of Another Story as he holds the temple against mischievous fey, voracious undead, and the trolls and other beasties that wander the Greenbelt.
At the start of Rivers Run Red, players will have the option to start their kingdom at the temple to Erastil. If they do, then Jhod will happily become high priest, or the mayor of whatever settlement players establish there. If players have not claimed the Temple's hex within six months of receiving their charter to settle the Stolen Lands, then the temple will become a Free City with whatever buildings the GM deems appropriate. Over time, this Free City will gain more residents and perhaps even an order of paladins, and it may start to claim territory within the forest to support the burgeoning community.
I never did get a chance to run this in PbP. But I am now in a new group that wants to rotate GMing responsibilities. And hoo-boy, this could be creepy as hell.
I like the general idea of re-flavoring the Stag Lord, but I am slightly concerned about what this does to the overall plot of the adventure. Nyrissa already comes out of deep enough in left field in book 6. How is this going to tie into the overall plot?
Hmm.... what if the Stag Lord is a minion of Vordakai (instead of Urgathoa directly, or maybe with Urgathoa backing Vordakai)? That would at least tie in further towards Book 3, but you might have to figure out Nyrissa's role in all of this.
Fey vs. undead, with the players caught in the middle...
