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What the Senate is voting on is to replace *Agnatic* primogeniture (only male children count' for succession) with Cognatic primogeniture, that women inherit on an equal basis.
I would even use Salic primogeniture (I know really France-centric) since it seems under no circumstances woman is allowed. (But adopted sons can - which is totally from other political realms, huh).
Still we could have - semi-Salic - Eutropia as pragmatic sanction and after that return to new male lineage of her husband like in Burbon-Spain or male-preference inheritance - daughter after sons but before patrilineal uncles - like in England till modern times, or pre-Burbon Spain.
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What the Senate is voting on is to replace *Agnatic* primogeniture (only male children count' for succession) with Cognatic primogeniture, that women inherit on an equal basis.I would even use Salic primogeniture (I know really France-centric) since it seems under no circumstances woman is allowed. (But adopted sons can - which is totally from other political realms, huh).
Still we could have - semi-Salic - Eutropia as pragmatic sanction and after that return to new male lineage of her husband like in Burbon-Spain or male-preference inheritance - daughter after sons but before patrilineal uncles - like in England till modern times, or pre-Burbon Spain.
Heh, you've got more knowledge of the topic than me, clearly. Mine is drawn almost entirely from CK2, which uses Agnatic as 'Men-Only, period', Agnatic-Cognatic as 'Women *can* inherit, but only if there's not a legitimate male heir', and Cognatic for 'women inherit on completely equal grounds.' I presume Eutropia's goal would be nothing less than the last option!
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Is anyone else doing a 'session zero' to introduce the PCs to each other before the AP starts. It feels like this chapter could use one as the group may not know each other and may be split apart for a good section of part 1.
If anyone is having that extra session, what kind of adventure are you doing? I'm looking for extra ideas.
I was thinking of either running one of the Pathfinder Society scenario that's supposed to tie into WftC, "Birthright Betrayed".
Alternatively I'd run some introductory missions for the PC's where they have to help out Lady Lotheed in the week before the events of Crownfall take off. I'd do them as solo-missions that focus on each PC's strengths, like a social encounter for the bard and a short fight for the monk, then maybe one encounter for them to solve together. Toss in one of the Senators to help set the stage.
I'm also planning on doing this. My advice, especially if you're looking at PFS content, is the "Quest pack" called Honor's Echo. It introduces the PCs to Taldan concepts of honor and nobility, lets them meet Eutropia in person, and as it's written specifically for level 1 characters in six 30-60 minute long adventures, lets the PCs get to know each other while also letting the players fine-tune their party's mechanics under a suite of different challenges.
I'm thinking of doing a little editing (namely changing the rewards the PCs get at the very end from Eutropia herself) but doing this for Session 0 on my end!
(That said, Birthright Betrayed is a great PFS scenario that I've GM'd a couple of times, too. If your players are into Organized Play, I also cannot recommend The Lion's Justice enough. It is, far and away, my favorite scenario of the current season!)
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Seeking a little advice from the worthies and GMs present here.
When I started to prep The Lion's Justice to GM in PFS play, I began to look through Crownfall for things I could use to add to the ambiance of the scenario. I quickly found myself drawn in by the compelling story of War for the Crown...and before I knew it, I was into the early stages of preparing to run this Adventure Path in its entirety!
Since making that known, I've had almost 15 friends ask to be a part of the campaign...and herein lies my problem!
I've been able to run two concurrent groups through the same AP before (I'm doing it right now, in fact - two groups currently ~1/3 through Book 6 of Iron Gods), but I don't think I can split myself enough ways to do three or more groups (just scheduling alone would be impossible unless my players started paying me a salary or something).
Before I just end up whittling down to two groups, I wanted to explore another possibility and get thoughts from my fellow GMs - would War for the Crown work in a "guild game" sort of fashion? One campaign but with 10+ characters who go out on "missions" in smaller teams of 4-6 and then share intel and such with each other?
The main concern I see with that idea is PCs might miss parts of the story for things their characters don't interact with directly. That said, I'm also writing this at 5am, so rather than continue to ramble, I'll just stop there and see what your collective thoughts are?
Thanks for reading!
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Yea...the more I review and reread (especially as I'm skimming book 2), the more I'm thinking that idea won't really work too well for the full AP experience. Thanks for helping me see that.
That said, since a few of the interested players might not be able to play due to scheduling issues - maybe I can run some sort of "side campaign" for them...especially in light of book 2, let other players run the "agents" of the PCs...hmm... *goes off to ponder this for a bit*
Heh, you've got more knowledge of the topic than me, clearly. Mine is drawn almost entirely from CK2, which uses Agnatic as 'Men-Only, period', Agnatic-Cognatic as 'Women *can* inherit, but only if there's not a legitimate male heir', and Cognatic for 'women inherit on completely equal grounds.' I presume Eutropia's goal would be nothing less than the last option!
I must say it's bit simplistic, and my friends really praised CK2.
I hope at least Slavic nations have this mad seniorate rules, rather than primogeniture ;)Also: there are nations with full Cognate? Weird.
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Skills used in Crownfall to pass challenges/influence/etc.
These are ones that are explicitly listed in the text, PCs of course will find more use for many of these skills. I use this to nudge players into smart(er) choices.
15+ times: Diplomacy, Sense Motive, Knowledge (nobility)
12 times: Knowledge (local)
5-9 times: Bluff, Disable Device, Intimidate
2-4 times: Appraise, Climb, Disguise, Handle Animal, Knowledge (engineering, geography, history, nature, religion), Linguistics, Sleight of Hand, Spellcraft, Stealth, Profession (innkeeper, cook, butcher, baker, clerk, scribe, soldier), Perform (all), Craft (alchemy)
1 time: Acrobatics, Escape Artist, Knowledge (arcana), Ride, Survival, Swim, Use Magic Device, Craft (carpentry, jewelry, sculpture, stonemason)
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Heh, you've got more knowledge of the topic than me, clearly. Mine is drawn almost entirely from CK2, which uses Agnatic as 'Men-Only, period', Agnatic-Cognatic as 'Women *can* inherit, but only if there's not a legitimate male heir', and Cognatic for 'women inherit on completely equal grounds.' I presume Eutropia's goal would be nothing less than the last option!I must say it's bit simplistic, and my friends really praised CK2.
I hope at least Slavic nations have this mad seniorate rules, rather than primogeniture ;)Also: there are nations with full Cognate? Weird.
Agnatic/Agnatic-Cognatic/Cognatic is just one axis. On the other axis, you have options like Primogeniture, Ultimogeniture, Elective, Tanistry for Celtic cultures, Seniority, and so on.
Agnatic/Agnatic-Cognatic/Cognatic is just one axis. On the other axis, you have options like Primogeniture, Ultimogeniture, Elective, Tanistry for Celtic cultures, Seniority, and so on.
And don't forget the dreaded gavelkind!
According to the gazetteer, Oppara has Law +7 and Society +5. Law gives a bonus to diplomacy to influence gov't officials, while Society gives a bonus to influence non-gov't officials. Would you consider the senators gov't officials?
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According to the gazetteer, Oppara has Law +7 and Society +5. Law gives a bonus to diplomacy to influence gov't officials, while Society gives a bonus to influence non-gov't officials. Would you consider the senators gov't officials?
I would explicitly ignore those modifiers for the AP. Those are meant to be for very quick, hand-wavey interactions, not for central gameplay
Awesome Crystal! I was just about to ask the same. I'll say these mods are for background activities i.e. anything that's done off-screen like PCs haggling over the price of a day at the spa would be fair game for this +5 bonus.
By the way, this AP is awesome. I hope I do a good job when I present this adventure to the players, as the prepping of it brings great joy to this reader! :)
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First off, I'll just say that I'm extremely excited to run this! I had been planning to run Hell's Rebels (with some heavy modifications to emphasize it as a semi-linear sandbox-style game), but this AP takes all my favourite parts of that AP and condenses them!
Someone asked about session 0s and leading into the AP. I have been cooking up a bit of a plan in that regard. My players have a habit of really enjoying making different characters but then having trouble picking which one to play, and I have a compulsive need to cram way more content into my adventures, so I’m trying something out to fit both our needs. The party will have two sets of characters: one main party and a secondary party.
The main group I'm calling "Eutropia's Favoured". They’re the PCs who are going to run through the AP as usual. I’m going to have them meet with Martella during a session 0 at the Porthmos Club (no way I couldn’t use it after reading Inner Sea Taverns, and the fact that it comes back in the next book just solidifies the choice), then start the campaign normally.
The secondary group is "Society Agents". Those agents will be running through several Society Scenarios I picked with the intention of developing a longer prequel narrative that then continues into and runs concurrently with the AP.
Scenarios being run pre-campaign:
-PSS 1-55 The Infernal Vault (to allow a callback in Lion’s Justice)
-PSS 2-21 The Dalsine Affair (to lead into introducing Lady Morilla)
-PSS 5-11 Library of the Lion (to allow a callback in Lion’s Justice)
-PSS 9-08 Birthright Betrayed
-PSS 9-11 The Jarlsblood Witch Saga (I’ll likely let players use a third PC for this one if they want)
-PSS 9-13 The Lion’s Justice
The idea is that this will let the players have something to do while we wait for the rest of the books to come out, and serve to contextualize the increasingly dire state of Taldan politics. But what I’m most eager for is doing cuts between The Lion’s Justice and Crownfall. As the Society characters reach the Senate, I’ll cut to the start of Crownfall, and once the players are attacked and everything goes black, I’ll switch back to how the Society characters are dealing with things topside. These are likely going to be my end of session moments, to really amp up the suspense and throw them off for the next session. >: )
Once the AP starts in earnest, I plan on keeping the Society group around as essentially aides to Martella, Morilla (honestly I’m tempted to just merge these two characters, but they’re both so well defined I likely won’t), and the AP PCs. In moments where I want to toss in some nobles that need influencing via side quests (ie: a bunch of modules and encounters I have prepped and level-adjusted for just such occasions), I can have the PCs simply send out the society agents to do the dirty work. This way I can satisfy their occasional cravings for higher level combat, and I have non-campaign-critical stuff for players to do in the event that not everyone is available for that session (which is sadly a frequent problem with my player’s schedules). It also gives the players a backup PC that is already up to speed with the events of the campaign in case their main PCs ever die or the players find they want to switch later on.
It’s definitely a great deal more stuff to keep track of, but my group and I are big on expanding the lore outside the bounds of the AP proper. I have no idea how it will actually pan out but I’m definitely excited to give it a try!
(Apologies that was probably a bit verbose. I write a lot when I’m excited! My commendations to you Crystal and all the writers for what's looking to be my favourite AP yet!)
As a GM who is a bit torn between this and Hell's Rebels for the next campaign, what are the rough comparisons looking like? What is the scope? Just national or does it spread over a wider area? Does it have a clear menace? I'm coming off Reign of Winter and one of the things I like about Hell's Rebels is a clear and present villain. If there is a campaign outline in the back, what sort of spoilers does it have to offer?
Please, tempt me into another set of purchases!
As someone who ran HR, I can definitely say it's a great AP. I can't speak for the entirety of WftC yet, but if the first two books are any indication it's definitely the campaign to pick if you want to run something much more socially focused, whereas HR is more of a split between social, covert, and traditional combat.
As for your specific questions...
Scope: HR is contextualized to a very specific region of Cheliax and doesn't tread outside of those borders. You spend almost the entire campaign in one moderately sized city. WftC meanwhile is definitely national in scope, but also doesn't seem like it will push much beyond that. Both campaigns do also feature fairly major planar excursions, but I don't know if you'd count that.
Clear Menace: You're right that HR definitely has a very clear villain in the form of Barzillai. WftC isn't quite built the same way. It seems more like there are multiple major opponents across the game and that each one will be largely contained to one or two books (though their schemes play out over the course of more books). And as a matter of fact perhaps the most significant adversary you don't even know about until at least book 3 (maybe even later). It's more about having a consistent ally across the campaign in the form of Princess Eutropia. That said, I'm about 4 sessions from finishing up Reign of Winter myself and just from the first two books I can definitely say this campaign seems to put your adversaries more in your face than that AP did (less "regular but brief appearances to goad you then disappear" and more "You are at the same event with this person throughout entire parts of the AP and can interact with them frequently during that time").
Outline: Crownfall most definitely does have an outline, and it suggests that some pretty significant stuff is going to transpire! Plus there are some mentions of how a major villain of book 1 serves to foreshadow one of the more significant groups and their plots throughout the campaign.
I hope that answers your questions a bit. I tried to keep things at least a little vague so that you can read and be surprised by it yourself. : )
As a good reference point though (I'm assuming you already have and have looked at Hell's Rebels a bit), I'll say that the first two books of WftC so far have read like a more fleshed out version of Book 3 of HR, so if you like the look of Dance of the Damned, this is like that but pushed to 11!
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...my group and I are big on expanding the lore outside the bounds of the AP proper.
...That sure is an understatement...
Serious note: Trichotome's got it right regarding WftC comparisons to HR. As a player of the latter I'd say WftC definitely seems to adhere more to that skill and narrative focus than some areas of Hell's Rebels, which dances a bit from one extreme to the next depending on player approach. At the very least, WftC seems to know where it stands in that regard: and it isn't with people brazenly opposing a tyrannical government so much as methodically seizing control (if not certainly Influence!) of an otherwise increasingly volatile one.
Of course I can only comment on what Trichotome's previously illustrated to me regarding WftC (for contextual purposes)—and he could be lying to me so your mileage will vary.
...but you wouldn't do that to your players, now would you?
Hnn. On second thought, maybe don't answer that.
*Scurries off with her "let's shoehorn in six scenarios and a special into Wrath of the Righteous Book 2" toybox before the spoileriffic paps begin in earnest*
According to the gazetteer, Oppara has Law +7 and Society +5. Law gives a bonus to diplomacy to influence gov't officials, while Society gives a bonus to influence non-gov't officials. Would you consider the senators gov't officials?I would explicitly ignore those modifiers for the AP. Those are meant to be for very quick, hand-wavey interactions, not for central gameplay
Cool, thanks!
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Wyssilka the Fantabulous stands out a bit in the list of major NPCs you can influence: the rest are nobles of rank (Kalbio notwithstanding, as he's about to become a noble anyways), and Wyssilka is...the children's entertainment?
In order to integrate her more easily into the list, I'll probably have Martella note her as a person of interest: "She's new, and she's popular. A combination which is interesting to me, and should be interesting to you. Knowing the cause of her popularity could prove useful. If anything, she might possess knowledge about the other guests. Entertainers are excellent informants."
Anyone have any other ideas?
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Shes a clown, she stands out even without Martella noting her if you ask me :D Though yeah, Martella could point out the "children know surprisingly lot of their parents' secrets" thing if you want to encourage them trying to influence the clown, otherwise I think its okay for GM to be just like "You also notice this clown entertaining children of nobles" and then players themselves decide whether its worth it to trying to talk to the clown and then feel smart for realizing purpose for it themselves
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On page 42, it references a guttersnipe from (Pathfinder RPG Villain Codex 238). Now, either my google-fu is failing me, or the PRD hasn't been updated with the Villain Codex yet. Is this statblock available anywhere else?
Edit: Now that I've noticed this, I checked for more references. Page 47 calls for a wiseguy statblock from (Pathfinder RPG Villain Codex 239), and page 81 in the Bestiary section references a couple of statblocks for the Zimar Opportunists random encounter.
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Eh, that also applies to Bestiary 6 monsters referenced in AP since PRD is currently missing Bestiary 6, Ultimate Intrigue, Horror Adventures, Ultimate Wilderness and Adventurer's Guide as well.
If getting Villain Codex isn't an option(its great book though), I'd just recommend using NPC codex for similar replacements.
(if you plan to run game on roll20, might be worth it to get roll20 module since part of having everything already prepped for you does include the statblocks)
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Interestingly, the Villain Codex isn't on the Archives of Nethys or d20psrd.com either. So here's the NPC statblocks for you:
Guttersnipe:
GUTTERSNIPE CR 2
XP 600
Halfling rogue (cutpurse) 3 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player’s Guide 133)
N Small humanoid (halfling)
Init +3; Senses Perception +9
DEFENSE
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 15 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +1 size)
[b[hp[/b] 17 (3d8)
Fort +2, Ref +7, Will +3; +2 vs. fear
Defensive Abilities evasion
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk rapier +7 (1d4+3/18–20)
Special Attacks sneak attack +2d6, stab and grab
TACTICS
Morale The guttersnipe avoids combat unless there is no choice, preferring to run away and hide or use a potion of gaseous form to escape.
STATISTICS
Str 6, Dex 17, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 13, Cha 14
Base Atk +2; CMB –1; CMD 12
Feats Fencing Grace UI , Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (rapier)
Skills Acrobatics +3, Bluff +8, Climb +3, Diplomacy +8, Disguise +8, Escape Artist +9, Knowledge (local) +8, Perception +9, Perform (act) +8, Perform (comedy) +8, Sense Motive +7, Sleight of Hand +9, Stealth +13; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Elven, Gnome, Halfling
SQ measure the mark, rogue talent (finesse rogue)
Combat Gear potion of gaseous form; Other Gear mwk rapier, mithral chain shirt
Wiseguy:
WISEGUY CR 2
XP 600
Human fighter 3
NE Medium humanoid (human)
Init –1; Senses Perception +0
DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 9, flat-footed 13 (+6 armor, –1 Dex)
hp 30 (3d10+9)
Fort +5, Ref +1, Will +2 (+1 vs. fear)
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk greatclub +9 (1d10+7) or
TACTICS
Before Combat The wiseguy drinks a potion of bull’s strength.
During Combat The wiseguy seeks the strongest melee foe among any enemies to battle.
Base Statistics Without the potion, the wiseguy’s base statistics are Melee mwk greatclub +7 (1d6+4) or mwk brass knuckles +7 (1d3+3); Str 17; CMB +6; CMD 15; Skills Intimidate +13.
STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 8, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +3; CMB +8; CMD 17
Feats Bludgeoner UC , Catch Off-Guard, Intimidating Prowess, Persuasive, Power Attack
Skills Bluff +5, Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +15, Sense Motive +3
Languages Common, Halfling
SQ armor training 1
Combat Gear potion of bull’s strength; Other Gear mwk breastplate, mwk greatclub, mwk brass knuckles UE , cloak of resistance +1, 4 gp
And for the Zimar opportunists:
Merry Minstrel:
MERRY MINSTREL CR 1
XP 400
Half-elf bard 2
N Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +0; Senses low-light vision; Perception +8
DEFENSE
AC 13, touch 10, flat-footed 13 (+2 armor, +1 shield)
hp 12 (2d8)
Fort –1, Ref +3, Will +4; +2 vs. enchantments, +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic
Immune sleep
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee mwk rapier +5 (1d6+2/18–20)
Ranged shortbow +1 (1d6/×3)
Special Attacks bardic performance 9 rounds/day (countersong, distraction, fascinate [DC 14], inspire courage +1)
Bard Spells Known (CL 2nd; concentration +5)
1st (3/day)—grease, hideous laughter (DC 14), sleep (DC 14)
0 (at will)—daze (DC 13), light, mage hand, message, sift APG
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 10, Con 8, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 17
Base Atk +1; CMB +3; CMD 13
Feats Skill Focus (Perform [sing]), Weapon Focus (rapier)
Skills Acrobatics +4, Diplomacy +8, Disguise +8, Knowledge (history) +6, Knowledge (local, nobility) +7, Perception +8, Perform (sing) +11; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven
SQ bardic knowledge +1, elf blood, versatile performance (sing)
Combat Gear scroll of cure light wounds; Other Gear mwk leather armor, mwk buckler, mwk rapier, shortbow with 20 arrows, backpack, belt pouch, hemp rope (50 ft.), ink, inkpen, journal UE , mirror, pot, 55 gp
Common Swindler:
COMMON SWINDLER CR 1
XP 400
Human rogue 2
NE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +6
DEFENSE
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 12 (2d8)
Fort +0, Ref +5, Will +1
Defensive Abilities[/b] evasion
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee +1 dagger +1 (1d4/19–20)
Special Attacks sneak attack +1d6
TACTICS
Before Combat The common swindler drinks her potion of mage armor and applies her oil of magic weapon to her dagger.
STATISTICS
Str 8, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 17, Wis 12, Cha 13
Base Atk +1; CMB +0; CMD 12
Feats Deceitful, Extra Rogue Talent APG
Skills Appraise +8, Bluff +8, Climb +4, Diplomacy +6, Disable Device +8, Disguise +8, Escape Artist +7, Intimidate +6, Linguistics +8, Perception +6, Profession (merchant) +6, Sense Motive +6, Sleight of Hand +7
Languages Common, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Halfling, Orc
SQ rogue talents (convincing lie UC , honeyed words APG 1/day), trapfinding +1
Combat Gear oil of magic weapon, potion of cure light wounds, potion of invisibility, potion of mage armor; Other Gear mwk dagger, thieves’ tools
Thanks Zaister! All formatted up and everything. What a legend.
I'm betting I'll pick up the Villain Codex at some point (the NPC Codex is fantastic), just figured I should call out the absence of those stat blocks in case anyone else runs into the same issue.
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Is anyone else thinking of limiting races for the campaign? I like to keep my campaign to thematic races, and the players guide is very liberal about this. My concern is that is a mostly human campaign where there are legit advantages to being human, I’ll have very few human or even core race PCs.
Part of me is like, “Don’t be a monster. Let the players do what they want!” And while that won’t spoil the campaign for me, it will make me sigh heavily.
Part of me is like, “Wait and see what the players want to do before assuming a party of tengu,” but if I wait that long, people will already be invested in their characters.
So any thoughts on what races you’re limiting it to will be helpful.
@Crystal: does success on discovery gives the PC 'one random' influence skills, or all of them?
Either way, the Society’s efforts reduce the number of Brotherhood of Silence agents present in areas D1, D2, and D3 by two each (down to two, two, and six, respectively).
However, the D2 encounter (page 45) is already listed as only having two Silent Initiates, plus Fair-Minded Efarni. Should this be 4 Initiates (and a CR4 encounter) and go down to 2, or 2 Initiates and go down to 0?
Either way, the Society’s efforts reduce the number of Brotherhood of Silence agents present in areas D1, D2, and D3 by two each (down to two, two, and six, respectively).However, the D2 encounter (page 45) is already listed as only having two Silent Initiates, plus Fair-Minded Efarni. Should this be 4 Initiates (and a CR4 encounter) and go down to 2, or 2 Initiates and go down to 0?
Down to 0, per this post from previous page.
Down to 0, per this post from previous page.
Well don't I look foolish now. Not sure how I missed that. Thanks!
I'll just sub in from NPC Codex or the Inner Sea NPC Codex where I have to.
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@Crystal: does success on discovery gives the PC 'one random' influence skills, or all of them?
Note to everyone: upon successful Discovery Check, I granted the group knowledge of only ONE skill that can be used to influence an NPC, and that 'action economy' has worked well so far in the game. We're right before Event 5 and they've influenced most NPCs thus far. I have not added additional Senators to the mix, by the way (ran it just with the NPCs listed in Part 1).
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...upon successful Discovery Check, I granted the group knowledge of only ONE skill that can be used to influence an NPC...
I allotted them a single skill on a success as well, but if they beat the DC by 10 or more I gave them two skills
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This is from Ultimate Intrigue pg 102: succeeding at a discovery check lets you learn one of the skills to influence the NPC(starting with the skill with the lowest DC), one of their strengths or one of their weaknesses. For every 5 you beat the DC by the PC learns one additional skill, strength or weakness.
Based on my experience thus far: only give out one skill regardless of discovery result. We're right before Malphene/Event 5 and they've already influenced all NPCs... If your party needs help though, consider using the UI rule quoted by Seannoss.
What weaknesses and discovery skills did you use with the extra Senators? did you grant XPs for those? did you invent boons or in-game effects to go along with them?
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Is anyone else thinking of limiting races for the campaign? I like to keep my campaign to thematic races, and the players guide is very liberal about this. My concern is that is a mostly human campaign where there are legit advantages to being human, I’ll have very few human or even core race PCs.
Part of me is like, “Don’t be a monster. Let the players do what they want!” And while that won’t spoil the campaign for me, it will make me sigh heavily.
Part of me is like, “Wait and see what the players want to do before assuming a party of tengu,” but if I wait that long, people will already be invested in their characters.
So any thoughts on what races you’re limiting it to will be helpful.
having read the Players guide for this and the books on the setting, I think limited the character choices to core with no Half-elf or Orc's would work well if your trying to avoid any social issues, but for the most part it seems Taldorians tend to look down on pretty much any race, half-breeds more so, almost as much as they look down on random Sorcerer's whom cannot trace there bloodline of power through the family tree
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I'm very excited to start running this in 2 weeks. I'm sincerly grateful to The Rising Phoenix's for cutting my prep work down a couple of hours XD
Sweet! I'm glad you found it useful, I certainly did. Best of luck in your game!
I was just wondering if people thought it fair to ask the players not to play high damage output characters. I was hoping to keep characters combat potential more measured this ap. Last ap he played a 2 weapon kukri fighter.
Be careful what you wish for, I was very much in the same boat. My players tend to make powerful, min/max characters because that's what they enjoy! So when I explained to them that while there is definately a share of combat in this book that we'll be making use of much more social skills and aspects than we typically do in our games. As a result of that conversation I now have a group of social killers instead of monster killers! :)
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I'm very excited to start running this in 2 weeks. I'm sincerly grateful to The Rising Phoenix's for cutting my prep work down a couple of hours XD
But I need some advice. A player of mine is dead set on playing a Blood Kineticists for this campaign. I'm worried that this wouldn't fit thematically. The player intends to round his character with high int, traits and even a feat so that's good.
I was just wondering if people thought it fair to ask the players not to play high damage output characters. I was hoping to keep characters combat potential more measured this ap. Last ap he played a 2 weapon kukri fighter.
Let me be more clear with my conundrum. I'm always very lenient with what my players play. I want to let players have fun with there own designs. Do you think I'm using my desire to have players fit into the theme of this ap as an excuse to shoot down a character build I'm worried about over-shadowing the other players? Was that a run on sentence? And can you start a sentence with and?
I find in my games my Kineticists don't tend to last long, as players in my group change them when they keep missing magical items against those that can detect magic and identify them. Granted it also doesn't help that most of my group generally think like a typical Taldo- er there characters more often than others in the group. (Some even go so far as to Metagame in revenge against such actions) which is why I pre-make handouts of magical loot and cards that say if they detect magic or not. It gets amusing sometimes to see how much they trust one another.
As for character creation, It should be fine to allow them to play as they want, but it is a social campaign and there lack of social tact will hurt the rest of the group if they fail such checks too often.
Just make sure they roll their stats with you watching.
Starting the AP and one of the players asks a legit question: What happens if the vote does not pass? Who inherits the throne afterwards?
The success (or lack thereof) of the players in Part 1 has zero effect on Event 8 or Event 10, so the vote failing is off-script, and requires GM improv.
If you want to go that far, have Event 10 happen pretty much as it does in the adventure and change Stavian’s speech to something about how close things came to the disastrous consequence of the vote passing, and that he is taking steps to ensure the senate can’t come so close to disaster again.
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Starting the AP and one of the players asks a legit question: What happens if the vote does not pass? Who inherits the throne afterwards?Neither the AP nor the Taldor book talk about what the laws are in Taldor governing succession beyond saying that women may not inherit. This is a pretty baffling omission given the AP is, ostensibly, about a succession crisis.
The option used by modern US law is that you may select your inheritors however you like in by writing a will. If you don't write a will, there is a statute that determines who your property goes to. A spouse if you have one, else equally among your children if you have any, else to your parents if they still live, and so on, moving it's way through your family tree in a specific order until it finds a living relative to inherit.
The not at all modern method involves the quote "You and what army?" Which is more or less how this one settles out as well.
So here is my take: the answer is there is no clear answer. Different factions have spent the last twenty years arguing over who is the nearest cousin using various precedents, many of which conflict with each other and some are straight up fabricated. Eutropia has gotten so close to overturning a thousand year tradition because she's a compromise candidate that is the best shot to avoid a civil war. Even people that might not be on board with her particular reforms might support her because they know she can unify the country and its nobility behind her, with a bit of help from the senate. And then, well, Stavian happened. That Eutropia wound up provoking the very war she and her supporters sought to avoid is one of the great ironies of the War for the Crown storyline.
I'm not sure where the phase door is in B3. Senator’s Chamber. Description states a phase door is on the floor and then it says the coin-sized niche is on 'this' wall. What wall? Is B5 bisected by the passage between B2 and B3?
Forgot. Player also wanted to know why there isn't a mission for the Child of Oppara campaign trait.