Preparing for a Showdown: LG Iomedaens vs. LE Asmodeans

[Madokar Valortouched]

I've been working on my GM skills for about the past year. Really got a good idea for a first campaign. I'm incorporating three Pathfinder Adventure Paths into the backstory. Namely: Wrath of the Righteous, Hell's Rebels, and Hell's Vengeance. The way it works is that the WotR and HR APs succeeded, with HV failing. Now, Cheliax is in a state of civil war, with the Glorious Reclamation of Iomedae preparing to launch a full military campaign with allies from various nations.

But when putting an LG church against an LE church in open warfare, things can gut muddied if people focus too much on their Lawful components of their alignment. Obviously, the LG combatants will try to have due process so they can retain some sense of order.

The average Chelish citizen pays lip service to Asmodeus because they don't want to cross House Thrune. But with the Church of Iomedae officially coming in to remove House Thrune from power, I would imagine a noticeable amount of the citizenry would back the Reclamation.

Following that logic, I see the Iomedaens aiming to remove the Thrune Loyalists that head the various government offices across the nation from power. By the blade or by making arrests. Ideally, I would have any captured leaders and officials shipped off to Andoran for incarceration and trial, in a society that they have no influence over.

But in an LE kingdom, with LE courts, the entire rulebook has to be thrown out the window in order to bring about the necessary changes to improve the lives of the citizens. Which begs the question: How do you bring about LG reforms in an LE society?

[Lady-J]

no idea but i would also say pull from way of the wicked succeeding in their campaign so the LE kingdom can have support from elsewhere

[The Mad Comrade]

Using Hell's Rebels as an example, LG would eliminate the onerous elements of the bureaucracy, it could remove the One State Religion - which won't go over nearly so well if the Church of Iomedae merely replaces the Church of Asmodeus - and especially remove the petty vindictive ordinances (q.v. Barzilai Thrune's proclamations).

Thrune is in deep trouble if HR succeeded in liberating all of Rouvenal from their clutches and they lost everything the Glorious Reclamation grabbed hold of. How badly HV failed is key. If they grabbed Westcrown the country has losses both north and south. Westcrown is a major city that blocks naval access to Egorian.

Her Infernal Majestrix is not going to simply let Westcrown remain in Iomedaen hands.

Reforming from LE to LG should be less stressful than reforming from LE to CG. It depends on the city. Kintargo is basically CG and has been since its earliest days. You'll need to check each city for specifics to get an idea of how well the populace is going to embrace angelic sword-waving zealots replacing infernal mace-waving zealots.

Slips (halflings) will be making a break for it, acting as saboteurs and all kinds of mayhem if the Iomedeans are smart about it. However, they seem to be a bit too stuffed-shirt for some folk's liking.

Also, what are the saviors of Kintargo doing during all of this? Mostly they're busy with shoring up defenses and otherwise getting their newly independent country up on its feet so famine doesn't set in.

How did Skull and Shackles go? This AP is tied to Cheliax as well - depending on the campaign's outcome regarding S&S, Westcrown might have some friendly privateers available to help fight off depredations of the Chelish Navy. Depending on how exactly that went in combination with the losses inflicted by the GR, there may not be much of a Chelish Navy left afloat...

[Madokar Valortouched]

Currently, the Bellflower Network is working with the Eagle Knights on a plan to take Ostenso, so the Andoran Navy can freely patrol the Inner Sea up to the Arch of Aroden. This is where the campaign will begin.

Kintargo managed to secure the Archduchy of Ravounel. They then made allies with Pezzack and the giants of Thuryan, proceeding to take the Archduchy of Hellcoast too. So pretty much everything west of the Menador Mountains has effectively seceded.

Haven't really considered Skull and Shackles and how it plays into the campaign. I'll look into it. Because as it stands, the Glorious Reclamation has a lot more allies than House Thrune.

[The Mad Comrade]

Thrune is in a bad way right now from the sound of things. They've lost at least half the country already with no significant geopolitical allies that I can see. Military losses on land and at sea are probably quite significant with the failure to retake Westcrown. The loss of Ostenso will seal their fate on the seas for all practical purposes.

Having said all of that, having as allies/servants entities that can assume human guise and teleport virtually anywhere on the planet make for some brutally nasty assassins. Thrune coffers may be deep, but war is very expensive.

My guess right now is that the lower rungs of the chain of command of their foes is a ripe target for a swath of infernal assassinations. Take out the NCOs/middle management, most organizations cannot function well, if at all. This depends upon what steps the good guys have taken to protect against Thrune's infernal mini-onions.

Tricky part depends on the specific terms of the treaty between the Archduchy of Ravounel and Cheliax - specifically, the mutual defense clause. HV begins 'side by side' with HR, so there's presumably no just claim on that clause by Thrune against the GR. Against Shackles pirates and Andoran, however, is another matter.

House Thrune seems to be rapidly making the trip to Desperation...

[Madokar Valortouched]

Been working on how to work the Devils into the campaign narrative. Thanks for the idea.

As it stands, the only real allies Thrune has right now are some Shadowdancers from Nidal and the remaining Hellknight Citadels.

The GR, on the other hand, has a growing army of Iomedaens from Andoran, Lastwall, and Mendev. What with the Worldwound being closed by the end of Wrath of the Righteous, the Iomedaens can now focus their efforts on freeing the nation of Iomedae's birth from Asmodeus' yoke.

Then there is the Cult of Milani the Everbloom, the Mystery Cult of Ragathiel from Magnimar, The Eagle Knights, the Bellflower Network, the Giant Tribes of Thuryan, and the Pure Legion of Rahadoum. Though the Pure Legion is only taking advantage of the war to reclaim the port city of Khari on Garund's northern shore. They are not "official" allies of the GR.

That's not counting any other religions that throw in the gauntlet, like Caydenites or Sarenites.

[The Mad Comrade]

There is also the possibility that Asmodeus lets Thrune hang itself by its own petard.

My thinking is that the entire thrust of the campaign, especially at the high-level play you're undertaking, has to answer the fundamental question of "What does Asmodeus et al gain from continuing to support Thrune's rule of Cheliax?"

How much more are they willing and able to commit to support? Or have they been biding their time to sweep the tables in an Infernal Night of Long Knives when they discern that the bulk of the enemy leadership is in a position to be massacred?

From the Infernal point of view, summoned hit squads are ideal. Sure, protection from evil and protection from law thwarts natural weapons ... but most of the devils wield manufactured weapons, to devastating effect when working in small squads.

I don't think Andoran is going to risk too much crossing the river as they have geopolitical concerns back home. A particular family or organization is another matter. 'Plausible deniability' comes to mind.

Kintargo/Rouvenal has contractual obligations per Hell's Rebels. Be sure to review them before they breach an Infernal Contract as a nation, as the consequences for such are notoriously severe.

[Madokar Valortouched]

Truth be told, this is all the backdrop for the campaign. As the campaign progresses, strange things start to pop up in the field reports. Entire research facilities disappearing in a flash. Strange aberrations wandering the countryside. And entire settlements disappear overnight. Almost as if... a third faction is taking advantage of the chaotic war to fulfil its own ends. Prolonging the war so that the "project" can proceed. That taking on the faithful of Asmodeus and Iomedae simultaneously is to their benefit.

In the end, though, there can be only one victor. It's up to the PCs to determine what happens to Cheliax. Does House Thrune reassert control? Does the Glorious Reclamation retake Cheliax for Iomedae? Or does the mystery group bring abject ruin to the nation?

The way to deliver the campaign is an LG v. LE conflict. As such, I must be prepared for the players to debate on what the "Lawful" thing to do is until the mystery group becomes a public concern.