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I read Geb as having major social cleavage between the quick and the dead. As such, they're not likely to frequent the same restaurants, especially when the former are preyed upon by the latter.
Presumably that extends to shops. I may buy Grand Bazaar and reskin some of the merchants so that they're Geb-appropriate, or I may handwave the whole thing.
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I read Geb as having major social cleavage between the quick and the dead. As such, they're not likely to frequent the same restaurants, especially when the former are preyed upon by the latter.
Presumably that extends to shops. I may buy Grand Bazaar and reskin some of the merchants so that they're Geb-appropriate, or I may handwave the whole thing.
That sounds right to me. There are probably some corner cases, perhaps in Bonescrape, or with those rare undead who empathize with the quick.
Shortly after posting this I realized there is also an example of a tavern in chapter 3 - the Crooked Coffin - which I hadn't read yet. Regardless, I'm very interested in hearing of any embellishments others have made to Graydirge...
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Should each phalanx of phalanges occupy a 4x1 space? Or 2x2?
They're large. So 2x2.
I finished this AP tonight.
Butcher's bill:
At least 1 character got dropped to dying almost everywhere except the Bone Shards hideout
1 character petrified (but thankfully they hadn't touched anywhere else except the farm and bank, so we just waited it out for 8 days...thankfully they didn't crit fail or else it would have been an even bigger cluster****)
The haunt and witch at the end were pretty tough but once they got the cauldron knocked over things improved dramatically.
The cow was the only challenging part of the farm
The bank was a trap-filled Hell that the group was ready to gtfo of as fast as possible
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inhabit vessel on the granite vultures is missing the following strike (probably supposed to be the Jaws attack), and the jaws attack is missing an attack bonus!
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It's possible it's just me... But I totally get a vibe from Berline - she reminds me of Jo Bennett from The Office, as played by Kathy Bates. Anyone else see it?I'm trying to find the right voice for Berline... the way her boxed text is scripted, I keep hearing the voice of Pinkie Pie from MLP... not quite the gravitas I think she should have :) I'll have to reacquaint myself with Jo Bennett...
just to add. Soothe should definitely work on a non-mindless undead. based on the next it's not positive energy but fortifying the mind
"You grace the target's mind, boosting its mental defenses and healing its wounds. The target regains 1d10+4 Hit Points when you Cast the Spell and gains a +2 status bonus to saves against mental effects for the duration."
edit: DUH reply above the post not below.. i ment to reply to the comments about bard using soothe. not sure how to fix it. oh well
They accommodate unique pallets
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Palates. Jeez, that was embarrassing.
In the second book it seems like vampires enjoy the blood currently suffering from a high alcohol content. The chefs of Geb research these things so essences of fear, or anger might be available for ghosts as well.
Anyone cobble together any side quests in Greydirge yet?
Just ran session 1 and I can tell the city really interested them so I can bet after they get their new digs cleared out they will go explore and seek in town stuff to do, and I'm drawing a blank at the moment for anything fun, interesting and storyline related side quests :(
Thanks
Tom
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Thanks Traum13
I need another session or two with the players to see what might interest them, and somehow hook up some of their backstories into the city and surrounding areas I think.
I'll let ya know what i come up with when I do bud!!
Tom
I’m curious how other GMs are utilizing the reputation system. My group has just started book 2, and so far I’ve ran it rules as written: only adjusting reputation if the text says so.
Are you allowing or even encouraging your players to earn or lose reputation with side favours/disservices? Are you having NPCs react based on the reputation the party has with their faction? Any other creative reputation uses?
If any developers could chime in and give their opinion as well, I’d appreciate it! Is it expected for GMs to play around with the reputation system or will gaining/losing extra reputation cause problems in later books?
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Also has anyone used the Cobbleswarm or the Charghar for any side quests?
This question really got me thinking. I don't typically read at the adventure toolbox monsters that aren't in the adventure, but this got me to look, and the ones here are really well suited to Graydirge/the story. I've got a party of 5, so to increase my XP budget, I'm experimenting by adding some of these creatures.
In the Bone Shard's hideout, my plan is to have a cobblestone swarm emerge near The Leftovers - with the violence and malevolence of Kepgeda's actions in this room awakening the swarm.
I think I'm going to give Pesgahi the Poisoner a Necromunculus sidekick. They'll hate each other.
And for the Charghar, my thought is to have one inhabiting but suppressed within Kepgeda's cauldron. Once the PCs deactivate the cauldron hazard, two things happen: both the heads and hands emerge to torment/desecrate Kepgeda; and the Charghar emerges, angry and ready for vengeance against the living in the room. That could include Kepgeda if she still survives at that point.
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Long post ahead. I'm prepping for the encounter with the Bone Shards. I found it challenging to piece together their story when reviewing the text, so tried putting all the bits and pieces together as kind of a script/interactive boxed text for the encounter.
I'm sharing this in case this is useful for others - and in case anyone notices any logic/continuity flaws in what I've put together.
WHAT THE BONE SHARDS KNOW:
About the Bone Shards
• Our gang was known as the Bone Shards - we did jobs for hire here in Graydirge. For aristocrats and merchants. They’re always scheming against each other.
• Lots of peoples don’t like us. They say we “play both sides”. But we just follow the gold. Nothing personal. Business is business.
• We had a good thing going. People thought we was fetchlings. And once we puts on the makeup, who’s to know the difference.
• We put rumours out that our hideout was warded with powerful shadow magic – but that didn’t help us when Kepgeda showed up.
About Kepgeda/the gang’s new leader
• Kepgeda (Sahreg/the head Bone Shard member spits). Kepgeda the Hag-Nailed. You could say she’s became the new leader of the Bone Shards – at least those who survived.
• She barged in here with members of her own gang – the Three-Fingered Hand. She came with a bunch of quick wearing red cloaks, some zombies, a few ghouls.
• She knew exactly what she wanted - a key we got as payment for a job some time back.
• There was no way we were giving that up without a fight – but they were too strong for us.
• Even after they had us on our knees, I held my ground. But Kepgeda wasn’t leaving without that key.
• First she raised the Bone Shards who died in the fight as zombies.
• Then she and her ghouls took three of our group back there (points – area C4) and cooked them alive. Their screams filled this whole place.
• Kepgeda called them “the leftovers”. I didn’t want anyone else getting left over – so I gave her want she wanted.
• Then once she had the key, she said she had an offer for us. She wanted to recruit us into The Three-Fingered Hand.
How the Bone Shards got recruited
• None of us were too keen on that – but she was very persuasive. Painfully persuasive. So persuasive that even the Kuthites member screaming for mercy.
• We had no choice. She told us she’d recruit us dead or alive – and that she liked to put her enemies to good use – either by cooking them or turning them into zombies.
• With an offer like that, how could we say no. But she wasn’t done yet.
• Kepgeda told us that before she could accept us into her gang, some punishment was in order.
• She didn’t like us pretending to be fetchlings – not at all. She told us Shadow magic “wasn’t a thing for playing pretend with”. So she lined us all up, and selected three of my Bone Shards to stand forward to “be initiated”.
• She holds up one of her hands and shows us she has a missing finger and says, “Let’s see if you’ve got what it takes to be like me.” She brings out this dagger, and one by one she cuts a finger off from each of their hands.
• I guess that was all for show, ‘cause then she says they aren’t up to her standards, so she has her minions pin them down. She cuts off both their hands entirely – and lets them bleed out.
• Then – as soon as they was dead, she turns ‘em into zombies and says to all of us. “Now your initiated.”
• The death magic she used must have gone into their hands as well, ‘cause they started floppin’ about here.
• Then Kepgeda told us to get moving. She was taking us to her hideout. But me and some others here – we made a break for it before we got to the surface. With all the confusion and undead shambling about, no one noticed.
• That was maybe 4 weeks ago? We laid low for a while – and now we’ve crawled back to lick our wounds here, but those damned hands have been a real problem.
About Kepgeda/The Three-Finger Hand’s hideout
• Sorry – can’t help you there. We got away before we saw that little hideout of horrors. Don’t even know if it’s in Graydirge. No idea where it is and no interest in seeing it
About the Key
• Kepgeda said the key was for Graydirge bank. Who knows if that’s true. It was made of granite, with a shaft carved to look like a spine.
• I don’t even know who gave us the key in the first place. The member that handled that contact is long dead.
About Zon-Kuthon
• A few of our members worshiped Zon-Kuthon
• Dakramat was one of them. He survived Kepgeda’s purge. If he’s still alive, he’s probably working for her. Unless he got some smarts.
About the corpse in Qhallagh Manor
• Whoever that was, he wasn’t one of ours.
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I LOVE the NCPs in Zombie Feast. They are a ton of fun and they make me want to create new scenes where they can be involved.
I’m playing Berline with the buoyant, sugary enthusiasm of Pinkie Pie from My Little Pony. Berline's major-domo (who in my game has been doing this same job for hundreds of years, Blood Lord after Blood Lord – the ultimate dead-end job) takes a page from Marvin the android from the BBC version of Hitchhiker’s Guide The moral greyness of Ortagar is inspired by Garak from Deep Space 9. And I don’t know who I’m channeling with Arghun the Annihilator, but he has an outrageous accent and is part imperious, part enthusiastic lapdog.
Glorinsa, Berline’s corpse tender in training, appears once in the first scene of the AP. The scene suggests that Glorinsa is a bit challenged in her new roll aa corpse tender. Then at the start of Graveclaw, Glorinsa shows up again as a zombie, a nod to Berline’s reputation as being generous with friends, but with little patience or tolerance for failure and mediocrity.
One thing I’m doing in my game is making Glorinsa’s story a bit less subtle:
When Berline arrived at Qhallaqh Manor for the housewarming, Glorinsa and the major-domo arrived with her. After the dinner the zombie horses were tangled up in their harnesses and Berline had to step in and get this sorted out before returning to Graydirge
Upon visiting Berline to report on what was discovered from the Bone Shards & at Graydirge Bank, Glorinsa is in the garden, struggling with two zombies, one trying to get at a bit of brain that has popped out of a crack in the skull of the other. Glorinsa looks at the characters and tells them “I got this – don’t tell Berline”
At the end of Zombie Feast (or at the start of Graveclaw) I’m thinking that Berline will invite the PCs to a party she’s having for Glorinsa. When they arrive they discover it’s a rebirthday party. There is music, entertainers making balloon skeletons & corpses. Then the main event: Berline animating Glorinsa as a zombie. Berline serves deserts as well as confections for the undead and everyone celebrates. She tells the PCs, “She wasn’t that great a corpse tender, so I terminated her. Let’s have some cake!”
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Hey Ch3ddar - Wow. I see your dilemma. You’ve done a lot to foreshadow what’s coming, but your PCs seem to have a deathwish.
I also have 5 PCs in Zombie Feast. Except for a very close call against the Skull Fairy, they’ve done well, approaching things cautiously. They’re currently on the lower level of the bank after retreating twice themselves (and fortunately they found the blade traps). However, I also have an Agents of Edgewatch campaign. That group is bolder, and some nights they throw caution to the wind. They’re new to PF2e and still haven’t quite figured out that adventure path can very easily throw you in over your head, and not all encounters might be considered ‘fair’ if your objective is simply defeating everything. So I may have the same dilemma as you soon.
At any rate, you sound like a great GM. You put the writing on the wall in big, bold, block text letters… but sometimes you can’t protect a PC from their own stubbornness or impulsivity. And you want to run your game ‘straight’, with integrity. All stuff I admire in a GM.
I think Berline would be up for animating the wizard. Perhaps it’s her/your choice what the wizard comes back as, with one of her ever-so-cheery reprimands. We know that her corpse tender Glorinsa is zombified by the start of the next book. Maybe they both get reanimated at the same time.
Taking the others prisoner is also a good option. Perhaps to be questioned (who is behind this assault!?!), or to be tested on with brain grit and tremor paste, or even as new recruits since Kepgeda has now lost some of her reinforcements. We know that Kepgeda and Pesgahi are fond of fingers, so perhaps the ‘punishment’ for the captives rash behavior is to each lose a finger. If no one has Message in the party, perhaps Berline can inform the prisoners of what’s coming (or persuade Otagar to use a scroll of Dream Message) so they can kind of be tipped off to create some diversion to allow the surviving PCs to enter. That’s all I’ve got for now.
By the way, I would love to know what you’ve done to tie in the background lore to character arcs regarding future books – always looking to steal ideas!
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Another thought for a rescue mission. How did your group manage with the Bone Shards? Are Sahreg and her toughs still alive? Perhaps now that they’ve had a chance to lick their wounds, they’d be up for joining your rogue and aiding in a rescue mission – and an opportunity to ‘stick it to’ the Three Fingered Hand.
Another possibility is Dakramat, the Empty Threshold congregant that provided Ortagar the information about the Bone Shards lair. To me there’s a possible continuity error with Dakramat’s information. He knew about the poisoning plot, which suggests that he went with Kepgeda to join the Three-Fingered Hand at the brewery, but he gives Ortagar’s interrogators the location of the Bone Shards lair instead of the brewery. In my game I’ve rationalized this that the torturing process made him somewhat incoherent and in his fog of sublime pain provided the location for the Bone Shards.
At any rate, for the purposes of your story, Dakramat could have now recovered enough to realize that he gave Ortagar and the acolytes the wrong location. He might even know the basic layout of Kepgeda’s lair and where prisoners might be located. If recovered enough, he might also volunteer for the rescue mission (as part of his painful absolution) – presenting other rescuers as new recruits to get deeper into the facility and break the other PCs free.
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Hey folks! So i am running the adventure via Foundry vtt, and the players are just about to complete mansion
The book then mentions there will be some down time if you wish, and that haves put me on a bit of a spot
Now i may just be blind, but i cant find any downtime activies to do in Graydirge in the book, have anyone run into the same problem?
And if you have, any ideas to some fun downtime activies the players can do? We have a rouge in the party, so trying to steal some stuff is properly one of the options im going to add
For downtime, I've been giving the PCs the opportunity to do the typical stuff: Earn Income, Craft Items, Retrain, etc.
After the mansion, my PCs also used downtime to clean and personalize the manor(with the 'encouragement' of Arghun the Annihilator). Our alchemist did more research into the powder and paste discovered at the farm. He's also been working to create an alchemical formula for Elixir of Unlife. Others spent time in Graydirge Gathering Information on the key and the three-fingered hand logo. I used the 'Graydirge Rumours' at the start of Chapter 2 to riff off of. A critical failure led them to believe this was all being caused by an underground cult of Pharasmans :)
I'm sure there are far more creative side missions that could be concocted, but I wanted downtime to take no more than a half-hour or so in game so we could push on with the story. No rogues in our group, but everyone is fearful of the law in Geb/Graydirge, so they even got written permission from Berline before entering the bank later on.
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Hey ch3ddar – top notch GMing. That was a fine line to balance – staying true to the world you’re creating with an appropriate downside for failure, while providing a credible out for the players. Well played. And thank you for sharing the rationale behind your thinking. This helps me to visualize the world you are creating for your players (and gives me ideas for mine).
Your Berline sounds very similar. I picture my Mhyurk as having been in the same job for centuries, serving various Blood Lords along the way, resigned to an existence of being stuck in the same role for centuries more. I think a bit of sarcasm at the players expense would suit his personality in my world as well.
I particularly like the Gravebound subplot you’ve integrated into your game. It has the wheels turning in my head. There’s that unopened vault in the northeast corner of the bank. Could something be hidden in there that relates to my PCs past. Hmmmm.
My group should enter the bar this week. This has all been good preparation on my end.