This is a spoiler-filled resource thread for the third volume of the Blood Lords AP, Field of Maidens by Jenny Jarzabski.
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I think this is my favorite volume of the AP so far. Chapter 1 is a series of mini-dungeons with good potential for RP in between. Seldeg Bhedlis as a traveling companion is very fun. I love the way chapter 2 is written with the multitude of approaches that players can take, and the back matter on Holomog is captivating. Not sure how I feel about the dollhouse dungeon in chapter 3 yet, but either way it’s a quick detour and doesn’t take up the bulk of the chapter.
I find it very interesting that the PCs find out who the ultimate villain of the AP is at the end of this book but can’t do anything about it. I hope book 4 gives solid guidance on what to do if the PCs try ratting Kemnebi out to Geb.
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It escalates by having the PCs personally approached by Seldeg Bhedlis, Geb’s head graveknight, to go after Iron Taviah, so there’s some extra responsibility being thrown their way. But I’d say the biggest change is that it sees the PCs interacting with people outside of Geb for the first time, and they have more autonomy than ever in how they approach it. They could be diplomatic with the factions in Holomog, they could turn them against each other, or just kill them all.
Oh, and at the very end of the adventure, Geb asks the PCs to stand in front of him personally.
This AP seems interesting but I am just on the cusp on being fully sold.
Do we know of there are any uses or ties for Reputation in this book? I was hoping the AP would have more political intrigue but even the reputation system has had little impact in the AP so far.
I think I would be sorely disappointed if that system didnt get used for 50% of the story.
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This AP seems interesting but I am just on the cusp on being fully sold.
Do we know of there are any uses or ties for Reputation in this book? I was hoping the AP would have more political intrigue but even the reputation system has had little impact in the AP so far.
I think I would be sorely disappointed if that system didnt get used for 50% of the story.
I would expect that to come into play more fully once the players become Blood Lords themselves.
Um... who is Aeolaeka
Page 83, also known as "stone azatas."
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In Chapter 2, Lasheeli Aminda has come to the Field of Maidens to retrieve the statues that were once her aunt and grandmother, whom her profile on page 90 says she barely knew.
"Barely" being the keyword that confuses the hell out of me. Lasheeli is stated on page 41 to be in her early 20s. Geb created the Field of Maidens nearly 400 years before the events of the Adventure Path.
Putting aside the question of how long-lived Lasheeli's mother must have been when it's clearly implied she and her sister are the first aasimar in many generations, how does Lasheeli "barely" remember family members that died nearly 400 years before she was concieved?
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I made some adjustments to the set-up of Chapter 1 for roleplaying and continuity reasons.
First, instead of separate conversations with both Berline and Ortagar, I had Berline send Mhyurk with a dinner invitation. Mhyurk arrived within minutes of Seldeg leaving the party’s manor, and the invitation stated the theme of the dinner party was “Gossip!” In addition to the PCs, Ortagar was another guest for dinner. Ortagar and Berline divided up the content that Berline was to share.
For gossip, Berline shared the story about the woman pledging servitude to the reanimators; Ortagar shared a story about how he and Berline played a joke on Governor Seven-Stomachs by inviting him to a dinner party, while both of them wore clown suits, telling the governor this fashion is all the rage in Yled right now – and that Seven-Stomach’s hosted his latest council meeting in his own clown suit. Then they asked the party for their gossip (Berline being quite interested in what’s up with Seldeg).
I removed all of the content from the dinner party where Ortagar spoke about Taviah’s cottage and the shadows. From a continuity perspective, that didn’t make sense to me. The cottage is at least two-days travel from Graydirge. Before the PCs visited the cottage, none of Berline’s sources knew exactly where it was. And the forest itself is portrayed as being threatening and dangerous. So it was a stretch for me for Ortagar to have a contact who glimpsed Taviah at her cottage (or for that matter, have such informed knowledge about Taviah’s shadowy fate).
Instead I created a new scene to share this information. Since Seldeg’s latest information placed Taviah in Thornhearth, the fastest and most direct route would involve taking a trail that cut through the Axan Wood. While on the trail, the party once again encountered Drusilla (the fey/huldra from Graydirge), along with her new house spirit, Smirtlbin (who Drusilla took in after the cottage turned carnivorous, recognizing that they had both been victims of Taviah). Drusilla thanked the party for avenging her true love Neboah, but then shared what the PCs already knew: that Iron Taviah has returned.
Then Smirtlbin, who still has a strong otherworldly connection with the cottage, says that the shadows that consumed Taviah when she was defeated have now returned her. Seldeg can then speculate that this could be the work of shadowcasters, or other specialists in shadow magic, and that a short detour to the cottage could well be worthwhile. If Smirtlbin did not survive the encounter with the PCs in Graveclaw, his information could alternately be provided by Drusilla.
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In Chapter 2, Lasheeli Aminda has come to the Field of Maidens to retrieve the statues that were once her aunt and grandmother, whom her profile on page 90 says she barely knew.
"Barely" being the keyword that confuses the hell out of me. Lasheeli is stated on page 41 to be in her early 20s. Geb created the Field of Maidens nearly 400 years before the events of the Adventure Path.
Putting aside the question of how long-lived Lasheeli's mother must have been when it's clearly implied she and her sister are the first aasimar in many generations, how does Lasheeli "barely" remember family members that died nearly 400 years before she was concieved?
Unfortunately book 3's main characters are underdeveloped and have plot holes. Kerinza, Lasheeli, and Rhino all have motivations that make little sense and needed a lot more development. Maybe victims of the page count? For Lasheeli, I'm running it like her aunt and grandmother were afflicted with the Curse of Stone from the Stone Sisters in the field of maidens instead of them being soldiers from ~400 years prior, which as you pointed out doesn't make any sense.
I'm still struggling to make Kerinza make sense.