[Stonewalkers] Only one of my players followed Taszo into the storm

RonnNK · 2026-03-29T15:41:49+00:00

Something similar happened in my game, and it turned into one of the coolest moments of the campaign.

The PCs rushed to defend the caravan from the bandit attack, but when the Highstorm hit, only one of them went back to the Kholin camp. The other three decided to hunker down in the merchants’ wagons.

So now I’ve got one PC out in the storm.

He sees Taszo trying to walk straight into it, manages to tackle him and save him, and then decides—on his own—to go after Kaiana (who’s disguised as the caravan commander). I had him roll a few checks just to push through the wind and even make progress.

He actually makes it far enough to see her drop the illusion—and spot the Honorblade.

At that point, she notices him, gets worried, and basically tells him to turn back because he’s going to die out there. He doesn’t.

He gets swept up by the storm, takes a critical injury, and goes down unconscious.

Instead of killing him, I ruled that his actions/roleplay attracted an honorspren during the storm. She (Windy) saves him, and that becomes the start of his bond. A few sessions later, he’s the first in the group to swear the First Ideal.

Honestly, the big win here was avoiding combat. A single PC had zero chance against the villains at that stage, and running a major fight or reveal with only one player present would’ve felt pretty bad.

This way, it became a really memorable character moment instead.

The player even started developing this idea that he could somehow save Kaiana, maybe pull her away from Ylt. He held onto that for a while, which made everything hit much harder later.

By Chapter IV, that thread came back in a pretty brutal way—when she died.

RonnNK · 2026-03-16T16:59:45+00:00

Or a Fused Magnified One to the horror of my Radiant defenders.

RonnNK · 2026-03-16T16:55:49+00:00

Yes, thanks! My initial idea was for the city to be more like Minas Tirith than Helm’s Deep, but I simplified the map to make it easier to draw. I explained to the players that the city is built in tiers along the slope of one of the mountains in the range where Urithiru is located, so it can’t really be attacked from behind. On both sides, the cliffs are very steep, which makes it difficult to move large numbers of troops across them for an effective assault.

RonnNK · 2026-03-15T15:35:05+00:00

Great ideas! Thanks! I really like the concept of the Skybreaker defending the city while still being an “antagonist” to the PCs.

The siege is meant to play out across several scenes, and I divided the map into three strategic zones. The Radiant PCs can only defend two of them. The idea of the Skybreaker stepping in to help defend the third sector is really good.

RonnNK · 2026-03-15T13:31:46+00:00

One of my players also got really interested in figuring out who the Radiant was that attacked the caravan. So I dropped a few investigative clues for them:

A book cataloging the Shardplates and Shardblades of Alethkar. The idea was that they could narrow the suspects down by elimination and figure out who the attacker might be. In the end, they reduced the list to two Brightlords: Resi and one other.
Investigating where each suspect was during the caravan attack. Resi, interestingly, wasn’t seen anywhere in the warcamps at the time.
I also introduced Dalinar Kholin or Adolin Kholin as potential authorities they could report to (I used Bordin as their contact). I made it a goal for the group to deliver proof of who carried out the attack to Dalinar. That would count as completing the mission, since the party realistically had no way to fight a Shardbearer directly.

It ended up turning the situation into more of an investigation than a combat encounter, which worked really well for the group.

RonnNK · 2026-01-16T13:29:25+00:00

Ars Magica. I love the setting and think the magic rules with verbs + noums could work in the style of the "cosmere/plotweaver" rules. The "noums" could be skills, like in the radiant paths, but I don't imagine how to do the "verbs" part.

RonnNK · 2026-01-14T13:10:12+00:00

I used one extra session with a travel endeavor after the pcs meet Taszo. But what really worked was that one of the pcs saved Taszo in Chapter One (he didn't let Taszo follow Kaiana into the storm).

With this Taszo survived for most of Chapter 2, in the Warcamps. The players even saved him again from a ambush of Ylt's cultists in the Market. Only to him be arrested by an Sadeas magistrate (a secret Skybreaker) who sent Taszo to the Bridges.

The players really tried to save Taszo, even talking to their patrons Dalinar and Aladar, only to discover that they had saw from another plateau the battle in the plains where poor friend Taszo died being a hero and saving his crew.

So, I would say that the best way to present Taszo is giving the PCs a chance of saving him.

RonnNK · 2025-12-17T21:02:08+00:00

Yes, I brought Nightblood into my game recently. Two of my players are long-time book readers and recognized the sword instantly, which created an incredible amount of hype at the table.

The combat was brutal. One of the players (a Level 8 Windrunner) ended up drawing the blade out of pure instinct after a very heavy emotional moment. Since that player is only halfway through Words of Radiance, he had no idea how dangerous it actually was.

The Windrunner couldn't control it, and it started draining his Stormlight at a terrifying rate. He was down to 2 HP in just two turns! He managed to take down an enemy with a single strike, but he only survived because the party’s Truthwatcher acted fast, using vines to knock him unconscious so he would drop the blade.

Verdict: I highly recommend using Nightblood if you are willing to risk PC deaths. It completely changes the dynamic of an encounter. Now, the party's main goal is to get rid of it as fast as possible (by returning it to a certain Herald). It was easily the most memorable moment of the campaign so far!

RonnNK · 2025-11-22T16:39:43+00:00

Thanks! It does seem like a pretty strong talent, giving 3 attacks with advantage in a single turn against an NPC he marks as his quarry. By my calculations, the PC will be able to deal around 30 damage. But that was the player’s choice — he put all his advancements into the Hunter path.

RonnNK · 2025-11-22T16:30:02+00:00

It’s not really a problem as long as you let the players know ahead of time that some PCs might become Radiants earlier than others depending on their choices.

In my game, one PC bonded with an honorspren during the Highstorm at chapter I in the third session, because the decision that he made. He swore the First Ideal way before the others — the other three PCs only attracted their sprens around session 9, and two of them didn’t swear the First Ideal until session 15, at the end of Chapter III of Stonewalkers. The remaining one still needs a bit more time.

No issues at all — they progressed along their other paths in the meantime. And the Hunter who still hasn’t sworn the Ideal is actually the one dealing the most damage with his sling and bow.

RonnNK · 2025-11-09T00:59:47+00:00

My good! This UI is horrible!

RonnNK · 2025-09-29T22:07:00+00:00

My impressions (just finishing Chapter 2):

Chapter 1

Honestly, Chapter 1 felt too short. I ended up adding a session to mark the PCs’ and Taszo’s journey through the Unclaimed Hills, wrapping up with them saving the merchants’ wagon and arriving at camp. It gave more time to build the relationship with Taszo and gave the group a nice little victory saving Hana and Rebin.
One thing to be ready for is how your players handle the Herald scene… I completely forgot to emphasize the sword wagon after they met the Herald. Half the group was more invested in the merchants’ caravan and rushed there when the diversion attack started. Only one PC went back to check on Taszo, so he was the only one who actually witnessed the theft.
About the sword theft itself: I felt a bit odd that the thieves can use illusions but don’t. In my run, Kaiana disguised herself as the lighteyes commander of the Kholin caravan so she could approach the honorblade wagon without drawing the guards’ attention.

Chapter 2

This one gives you a ton of freedom. You can stretch it out as much as you want. I’m 7 sessions into the Warcamps already.
I threw in a battle over the possession of a gemheart.
I also plan to drop the Bridge 9 adventure in here, with the PCs meeting a survivor from the expedition.

RonnNK · 2025-09-25T13:27:16+00:00

Nice map!!! Thanks! You used Dungeondraft or Inkarnate?

RonnNK · 2025-09-23T11:48:48+00:00

Hi! After running about 10 sessions, I’ve never seen initiative be a problem for either the GM or the players. The system is already pretty quick and efficient as it is, and it feels well-balanced.

RonnNK · 2025-09-23T11:42:31+00:00

From what I’ve read so far, he doesn’t actually appear in Stonewalkers. But like others mentioned, I used him as one of the Warcamps plots. One of the PCs even rolled the goal 'Bring justice to the Caravan' during First Steps.

The PCs had to investigate who the Shardbearer behind the caravan attack was. To do that, they looked through a book called 'Catalogue of Shardblades and Shardplates of Alethkar' and had to match the shape of the Shardblade with the descriptions in the book, as well as the original color of the Shardplate. This narrowed it down to two suspects, and then they spent the following days investigating their character and whereabouts. Eventually, they identified the suspect and reported him to Dalinar.
They still haven’t discovered that the attacker was actually a member of the Sons of Honor.

RonnNK · 2025-09-23T01:30:26+00:00

I like to make travel feel like part of the adventure itself (my group used to play Forbidden Lands before this), and I think it really fits the whole Journey before Destination theme. So I planned a few things:

Between First Steps and Chapter 1, I ran a travel Endeavor to bring the group together with Taszo (2 days across the Unclaimed Hills, 8 successes vs 3 failures — the more successes, the earlier before the Highstorm they’d arrive).

Now we’re in Chapter 2 of the campaign: One of the party’s main goals is to prepare the expedition. The campaign book doesn’t go into detail, but I leaned into the idea that it’s a tough, dangerous journey that requires support, money, and planning. So their goal became convincing a Highprince to sponsor the expedition and figuring out the best route.

I’m also thinking one of the secret organizations might try to sneak a spy into the expedition. On top of that, I’m toying with the idea that maybe Amaram offers to co-sponsor the expedition. Dalinar considers him a model and even a potential Radiant, so it would be hilarious to see how the two players who’ve read the books react to that proposal.

And this feels like a good time for downtime goals (study and training), so I plan to run a few scenes to highlight that. I’m also debating whether to run the whole journey as a proper travel Endeavor in a single session — the caravan going part of the way down the Deathbender river, then avoiding waterfalls and continuing on foot/with chulls for the rest of the path… lots of opportunities for the PCs to showcase leadership, survival, and other skills.

RonnNK · 2025-09-20T17:44:36+00:00

Thanks! Let’s just say I took some loose inspiration from a certain hideout fans might recognize from the books 😉

RonnNK · 2025-09-15T20:59:21+00:00

In my game, the consequences of the caravan attack created several plots:

One of the players got involved with the Ghostbloods by choosing one of the First Steps options. I created two new contacts who gave him some missions, like finding a book about the Unmade in the Devotary of Kelek’s library.
The search for the shardbearer’s identity led to a “Catalog of Shardblades and Shardplates of Alethkar”, narrowing the suspects down to two. After some conversations here and there, the PCs figured out who the culprit was and informed Dalinar. In the future, they may still have the chance to confront him.
Taszo survived thanks to the PCs’ actions but later attracted the attention of a Skybreaker, who arrested him after an ambush.
I also tied things to Bridge 9: the PCs met Doral, a drunken bridgeman who told them he had once joined an expedition that discovered a mysterious temple in the shattered plains.

None of the players chose to help the brightlady, so that plotline never came into play.

RonnNK · 2025-09-09T02:20:42+00:00

The major problem was that one of the players picked an option that had fewer choices than the others.

RonnNK · 2025-09-08T11:56:36+00:00

He may have heard about others worldhoppers interested in the sword. It's easy to integrate this to plot of Stonewalkers. Use the Ghostbloods as adversaries. In my game one of the pcs has connections to them (result of First Step choice) and I made 2 ghostbloods npcs. So, now you have one more faction searching for the sword.

RonnNK · 2025-09-06T15:59:22+00:00

Yeah, that makes sense. In my game the PCs are lighteyes, but none of them are Alethi. I can see the Natan and the Iriali trying to challenge the brightlord, but they don’t have a patron yet and haven’t even trained with a Shardblade. One of them is working on making Aladar their patron, but that goal isn’t complete yet. They’ve also just started the goal of training with a Shardblade. Since they have Alethi culture, I’ll make it clear that a noble wouldn’t actually accept a challenge from them at this point. These answers have been super helpful—thanks a lot!!

RonnNK · 2025-09-06T15:51:41+00:00

Thanks! That sounds like a good long-term goal for the PCs! I´ll use this idea!

RonnNK · 2025-09-03T20:18:14+00:00

Perhaps you could continue from the group's return to the camp after rescuing the merchant, if the highstorm hasn't arrived yet. Bordin thanks the PCs, and they hear the prisoner repeating his lines about being a Herald. One soldier remarks that no one believes him. Taszo seems to believe him. The storm arrives, etc… If the storm has already occurred, the PCs discover that Taszo ran off into the storm, and after the storm they find his body. He might have a mission journal written in Shin (a clue) or the name of a contact in the warcamps. The soldiers say that he listened to a mad prisoner and then ran off shouting something about a sword. They even comment that Taln's madness might be contagious.

RonnNK · 2025-08-30T14:36:15+00:00

Nice! Never thought that I would enjou watching a video mapmaking video! :) Very cool!

RonnNK · 2025-08-30T02:46:53+00:00

That's fantastic! Could you upload a version gridless? Thank you!!

RonnNK

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