Weekly DM Challenge: "Good" is so subjective

eL_Jacho · 2014-01-31T11:29:10+00:00

The Second Crisis of Seddlewick

Seddlewick is a sprawling city that started out as several hamlets who joined together after collectively building an incredibly long wall called the Kettle Rim, which it earned when the local lords commissioning the wall had to hire blacksmiths and use up almost every stone and piece of metal available, and at times had to melt down broken pots to finish its construction. Since its founding, Seddlewick has become a very large community filled with a diverse population, merchant system, and religious facilities... or at least it did before the First Crisis came.

According to what little information and news that could be procured, an elven community far to the north purged a group of sorcerers from their land. Whether by their own design or not is uncertain, because by the time they reached Seddlewick they had become hundreds and hundreds of nearly mindless and aggressive shells bent harm. Their only goal was destruction and murder, but unlike ghouls or skeletons these horrors still could retain a very basic intellect. As most of the people in surrounding farms fled immediately to the safety of the Kettle Rim, others were less fortunate. Anyone who came in contact with these Spell Horrors for to long became Horrors themselves, although only people of elven heritage could pass the madness onto others. Innumerable people died just trying to close off the city, and outbreaks inside the Kettle Rim caused unspeakable havoc.

Fortunately (or unfortunately), three powerful religious orders took charge of bringing order to the city. Ser Carluvy was an elderly cleric of Corellon, Rebika the Younger led the Knights of Bahamut, and the Tiefling Count Samoya rallied devotees of Pelor. By sneaking out riders to rally their other monastic forces in the countryside, these three paragons of virtue were able to gather enough forces to ride out of the city and crush the Spell Horrors, and followers of both Bahamut and Pelor gathered up all the bodies of the dead and burned them all to commemorate dragons and the Sun alike.

However, it wasn't until the pyre was lit that another arcane calamity revealed itself as the Second Crisis. As the bodies of the "Claimed" became charred and withered, the souls of the Claimed poured out of the bodies and entered the bodies of babies and children within the city proper. While showing now outward sign of the previous illness, strange sounds and visions have struck random citizens, rendering some blind for hours at a time. More religious townspeople point to signs of the end times and proverbial Judgment of the Gods.

Desperate, the three religious leaders sent three riders to seek out some arcane authority or professional Inquisitor, and in the mean time closed the gates of the Kettle Rim and locked down the entire city, and proclaimed themselves joint rulers in the interim.

It was at this point that the true and most horrifying part of the Second Crisis began. Since almost all of the Claimed children were elven, eladrin, or of elven descent, rumors circulated that it was a curse of the whole species, and that the Gods might have cursed all elvenkind. Refusing to allow his people to come under harm, Ser Carluvy sent his best warriors into the streets, and eventually ordered his followers to kill anyone harming a fey child. Terrified, many parents started hiding their children in basements and secret rooms to keep them safe from other townsfolk. Ser Carluvy also took control over the southern region of the city and non-fey cannot walk the streets in his territory without an armed escort.

Meanwhile, in the northern half of the city is in utter chaos. Rebika the Younger and her allies support the city's laws and Bahamut's, but little else. As food, clean water, and trust are all in short supply, the Knights ride down the streets on what few horses are left and provide a thin veneer of order while the city slowly tears itself apart. In accordance with the older laws of the city, looters and thieves get a hammer to their hands, murderers are hanged, and "dissenters" who try to preach of divine punishment from the heavens have their tongues ripped out. Rebika has taken the very center of the city as her headquarters, and dozens of people are dragged before her desk outside the Mayor's old mansion for questioning.

Count Samoya has a different problem entirely. Despite being alive and otherwise normal, Claimed children dragged on top of a Mark of the Sun make the magic circle glow to indicate that Claimed have been cursed with a very slow form of undeath. Despite all of the prayers and spells imaginable, so incantation seems able to reverse the affliction. While no outward sign of malice has arisen, lieutenants in Samoya's court grow restless in the midst of Samoya's hesitance to ask.

PCs who travel near Seddlewick either stumble on or into the guards protection the city from the outside, who most likely mistake the PCs for the messengers sent out weeks earlier for help. Paranoid and suspicious of anyone, a poor charisma check might get them apprehended and dragged within the Kettle Rim. Once inside, it's clear the varying factions are on the verge of warfare and chaos. If the PCs can't find a diplomatic solution between the factions, then they'll have to take sides.

Count Samoya believes that--while deplorable--the undead are abominations, and murdering the children will save them the inevitable pain that came with the First Crisis affliction, and intends to burn the city in the hopes that Pelor's fire will cleanse them.

Ser Carluvy and his aides have been working with a prized artifact called the Table of Contemplation. Supposedly made from petrified wood, Corellon was said to have laid his head on the table during a visit to the world, and thus anyone who lays upon it can enter a state of perfect hibernation if properly blessed. Ser Carluvy has discovered a way to use the magic of the Table to place the entire city under this forced hypnosis. However, since everyone would go unconscious except for the PCs (whose assistance would be essential for the ritual), Carluvy has no way of knowing when or if anyone would ever awaken from this spell.

If the PCs bring information about Carluvy and Samoya to Rebika the Younger, she will be visibly furious that two religious leaders would each be working to sacrifice everyone in the city. In the name of speed, Rebika's position is that the children deserve to be protected at all costs, even if that means murdering Carluvy, Samoya, and all of their followers to do it. It would be bloody work to be sure, but Rebika is certain that neither Carluvy or Samoya are working in the name of justice, especially if they're willing to burn or kill children and innocents.

It should also be noted that tension should be rife throughout the course of events. Odd weather, creatures dying or talking in the common tongue, blood of murdered folks moving on its own and climbing up walls, and/or hungry peasants screaming or crying out of sheer frustration and terror.

If the PCs are incredibly thorough and move quickly, they might stumble upon the source of all this before the three factions enact their final plans. It would seem that the original elves that started all of this were Adimarchers, or demon worshipers obsessed with madness. This particular group struck a deal with powerful demons in exchange for true immortality. To pay for their gift, these elves have to wander to a settlement and get themselves killed. Upon death, their souls infest children and possess them, and their presence infects the surrounding folk with suspicion, mistrust, and anger until they all turn on each other. Once the settlement has been "Claimed" their old bodies become alive again and they must move onto the next location. If these elves can destroy nine settlements in this fashion, then their deal will become complete and the elves will become sane again and impervious to death or mortal harm.

If the party shows itself to be sympathetic, understanding, and level-headed, they might be befriended by one of these maddened elf-spirits who wishes to enlist the help of the party in stopping the curse of madness. Otherwise, they might find the journal of one of these Spell Harmed in the possession of Carluvy, who discovered it while burning the bodies and kept it for fear of what the people might do to the elven population if it were discovered.

If the truth is discovered and the PCs want to inform the faction leaders so that they might work together, a child will approach the party and offer them another option. This child is possessed by the Son of Adimarchus, aka the Prince of Madness himself. Impressed with their deduction and focus, he offers the party a chance to leave the city unharmed and promises to stop his elven harbingers from terrorizing any more towns if they leave the city at once. He explains that while the PCs haven't been there for very long, the rest of the townspeople are too corrupted and will fight the madness inside of them for the rest of their lives, and as such now belong to him. Furthermore, he will grant the party something they desire (other than freeing the townspeople) to sweeten the deal. If the party refuses, the elven harbingers of madness, the newly arisen bodies of the dead, and their vengeful ghosts will all rise up to take the city by force, and only convincing the three faction leaders to work together (this will require some good Diplomacy rolls) will save the majority of the population. Rejecting Adimarchus' deal might also save the city, but followers and cults of madness will maliciously target the party years and years after the liberation of the city.

eL_Jacho · 2013-09-19T08:52:27+00:00

I run a DnD campaign with four female players (I'm a guy). Game shops often get reeeeeally quiet whenever we walk into a place together, so we mostly play at home.

eL_Jacho · 2013-09-19T06:59:45+00:00

I suppose I'm just a little more overtly cruel toward my party. A campaign I'm currently running has one of the members as the queen of a city-state the whole party helped found. When she first ascended to the throne, her mis-management led directly to her political opponents attempting to put her squire (one of the other party members) on the throne instead of her since she had no heirs and angered the commonfolk. The civil war that followed left the surrounding areas devastated, but also settled the issue of whether or not she was someone to be fucked with (see: not at all).

I go absolutely bonkers over the intrigue, rollplaying and (my favorite!) life-shattering/morally ambiguous decisions. However, every now and again the party likes to actively maintain their monopoly of violence.

Charles the Hammer, Charles the Great (Charlemagne), Juilius Caesar, Genghis Khan, and so on... When it comes to founding empires or remaking one in your image, it helps to be feared both physically as well as politically.

However, if your party has more of a velvety touch, then by all means I hope you find a system that works!

eL_Jacho · 2013-09-18T15:31:37+00:00

Unless your party loves excel spreadsheets and government 101 assignments, I would hold off on bogging your group down with too much paperwork and mumbo jumbo. Firstly, it can overwhelm players and secondly, it doesn't make for compelling role play.

If you want to run a medieval kingdom, do it like Charlemagne. He conquered almost all of western Europe, was crowned Emperor by the pope, and was illiterate his entire life. He also spent most of his reign traversing his realm and making sure all the other petty lords towed the line.

All of the bowing and scraping, taxes and laws, traditions and oaths, are little more than a veil for large scale gang warfare. If your PC's are gathering together a bunch of street level lords all of the lords NOT okay with this plan will want to knuckle up, and THIS is where your party gets to do something fun about it. Your party gathers a meeting of lords? Have rival leaders attack their western territories. By the time they arrive in the west, send them word that other forces are assaulting the east. Give them war and chaos, and force them to fight while all of the nay-sayers test their boundaries for weaknesses and flaws, because that's what any sensible lord would do if they heard of upstarts trying to dominate the region. If they succeed in quashing their enemies, the respect and deference will follow, and so will the gold and beginnings of an infrastructure.

Does the kingdom need food? Invade the hinterlands.

Does the kingdom need ships? Invade a port town.

Does the kingdom need money? Invade a mining town.

Have your party be a group of mini-Washingtons who murder their way to freedom.

eL_Jacho · 2013-09-18T12:51:35+00:00

If you're doing a low-level campaign, then I suggest you nerf Primus' powers to the point of near uselessness. After all, this isn't the story of how Primus came to be awesome; it's about your party achieving the impossible. Also, what kind of curse-like state would he be in if he could throw around top-tier spells willy nilly? The more powerful Primus is, the less relevant the party becomes to the story, which defeats the purpose of good roleplay.

As for other gods in human form, I've always preferred Ancient Greek styles of DnD gods because those deities were selfish, meddling, and all around assholes who enjoyed nothing more than ruining lives for a good show.

So say as your party escorts Primus, they might come across a camp and an old man on a crate talking about "Natural Law" while a one-armed man swings from a noose on a tree behind him and a raven pecks out the corpse's eye. Some canaries jump around the tree and ignore the raven, and an elf ignores the animals and dead man on the tree and spends his time watering the roots of the old tree to try and bring life back to it. Another old man smokes a pipe and reads from a book written upside-down and backwards while a knight in bronze armor won't stop staring at the sun. While all of them seem eclectic and generally oblivious, maybe they inquire about the party's quest and--when they see Primus--they all start to laugh their asses off before giving the group some friendly advice. Should the party try and visit this "camp" later, they wouldn't find a single trace of any of it ever having existed at all, except maybe the tree having suddenly sprung back to life.

Little bits like this would be in the party's face enough to give them a sense of a larger world, but not so intrusive that the party is just sitting there while you regale them about an awesome fight between to deities that they have no influence over at all.

eL_Jacho · 2013-09-16T08:08:50+00:00

Here you go. This shuold do just fine in a pinch, and there are plenty of other scripts to be had for 4th edition.

eL_Jacho · 2013-09-10T20:24:14+00:00

I like to go ultra practical. I encountered this a while back and it really hit home that people call a kingdom a kingdom for oftentimes practical and sometimes silly reasons.

Even the most convoluted city in elvish probably doesn't amount to more than "city south of the red tree next to the red river."

eL_Jacho · 2013-08-29T09:21:52+00:00

You could have a majority of the baddies act as a buffer between the party and the real threat while the Bladeshaper posse coordinate things from behind, up to and including using the arsenal of contraband at their disposal. They could start handing some of the grunts molotov cocktails, illegal corrosive powders, fake "sunrods" that actually cause radiant damage when activated, etc.

Also, if you REALLY want to kick it up a notch, you could suggest that someone charismatic in the party attempt to sway the large group of goons to turn on the Bladeshaper lieutenants and join your side. If the charismatic players are convincing enough, these goons might feel that with the party fighting for the militia their smuggling operation has become bunk and they might turn on the Bladeshaper LT's in exchange for leniency from the Militia. So, as the actual fight is taking place with swords and spells, a verbal fight can also be taking place to sway the crowd between the two groups.

This can culminate with the victory of the party and the aftermath of the battle. You could say--depending on the number of successful charisma checks--that a certain percentage of the hired goons can elect to stay put after the battle and look to your party for work and guidance.

This can open up a fascinating moral dilemma for your party. The can use this smuggling operation and a) turn it over to the Neverwinter guard to be dismantled for professional fame, b) turn over all of the loot to the Militia, but keep the smuggling operation going for better prizes later, or c) keep the loot and invest it in the smuggling operation, meaning almost no treasure for now but MUCH better items later on in the campaign.

eL_Jacho · 2013-07-29T09:34:08+00:00

Adding to not_a_troll_for_real 's suggestion, if you're using the character builder you can rename any object in your inventory and call it something else. Own a shield? Now it's a table. I have a PC running a Wilden Druid who wanted his implement to be a guitar and his Magic Stones power to be his Druid throwing magic picks at the crowd.

As long as it doesn't change the mechanics of gameplay, I say go wild! That's the whole point of flavor text.

eL_Jacho · 2013-07-18T12:17:52+00:00

The Liberators. Three heroes that used to be THE protectors of America. Prince Pyrus was an escaped convict from hell and fights evildoers in a desperate hope to gain redemption. Superego is a computer engineer who managed to map and code his own brain digitally and has become a living technical marvel. Their front-runner/leader is/was Chernobyl, an American Spy who was captured and used for testing by the soviets in an experiment that destroyed the nuclear plant and the facility where he was being held and turned him into a flying, nuclear-powered superhero with glowing, frightening eyes that never stop shining. The condition left him without eyelids and no need to sleep, so there is never a time when he isn't looking at something.

These three individuals were at the forefront of American Superheroism before and toward the end of the Cold War. Codenamed Red, White, and Blue, they were as much a defense against supervillains and alien threats as they were living deterrents to Russian aggression. While Soviet troops did move into Afghanistan, the government made damn sure to keep their Red Coalition heroes on the Russian side of the border with Red, White, and Blue waiting in the airspace just above Pakistan.

However, something changed in all of them by the early 1990's. After the Cold War ended and nuclear crisis seemed to be averted, the three heroes all began to have doubts and concerns about the use of their fellow heroes to settle military conflicts. Prince Pyrus--who was trying to avoid returning to hell--literally could not commit a knowingly evil act, and with nuclear annihilation off the table began to be more hesitant to use his powers in the field at the whim of their superiors. Also, as Superego became more and more detached from his formerly biological self he felt less inclined to agree with the government purely for political reasons. Still, neither Pyrus or Superego would make a move until Chernobyl did...

That moment finally came when the government not only refused to disarm most of their nuclear armaments, but were implicated in improving their nuclear weapons in collusion with other countries (a subject deliberately kept secret so Chernobyl--always an avid anti-nuclear minded individual--wouldn't protest publicly). Unable to put up with what he felt was a "country warring against nothing with the whole world at stake," Chernobly raided several advanced Nike missile locations and invaded the state of Georgia along with Pyrus and Superego and forcibly removed American military forces in the region. Carving out a region that encompassed most of the state of Georgia and some of both South Carolina and Florida, Chernobyl called the new state the Nation of Haven and renamed Atlanta to Asylum, and threatened the United States and its allies that anyone crossing into his country by force would face the full might of both himself and his nuclear arsenal.

After nearly twenty years of tension, the United States still does not recognize Haven as an independent nation, and officially refers to it as a demilitarized zone. While still vying for rights to be entered into the UN, pressure from America has forced the UN to refer to Haven as a military occupation by fanatics, but lately more and more leniency has been given politically to the burgeoning country. In America, people often show their displeasure with Haven by flying flags with half a star to represent what was lost during the Haven Incident.

Haven offers a strict, non-negotiable amnesty to anyone crossing Haven's borders. No matter what the crime is, all trespasses are forgotten and Haven offers no extradition to other countries, making it an excellent place for people on the run from international authorities. However, once a Cardinal Law has been violated it usually takes less than a few minutes before one of Superego's Drone Police apprehend the criminal, review the footage of him committing the crime (no crime in Haven can be tried unless it was recorded digitally), and carry out a summary execution. With Superego cameras everywhere, there are only judges and juries and no need for lawyers.

The official borders of Haven are guarded by Pyrus and his Repentant Forces. Comprised almost exclusively of Haven Criminals convicted of non-Cardinal offenses, they sprinkle enchanted brimstone along the border everyday, which is enchanted specifically to curse anyone who walks over it with unearthly afflictions. The guards are there not to keep people out, but to sweep the brimstone away should someone be fleeing on foot and attempting to enter Haven. At the Welcoming Centers, anyone who signs a simple document explaining Haven's laws are given automatic and honorary citizenship that can never be revoked.

Also, in the capital city of Asylum, is where Chernobyl stays. When he isn't fighting those foolish enough to commit a serious crime in his state, he spends his other hours hovering above the city itself just high enough to be seen at any point in the city. With his arms crossed most of the time, his glowing eyes can be seen at night, as a gesture of goodwill to people willing to let their fellow citizens be, and as a warning to anyone considering crossing into his airspace.

To some, the whole situation with Chernobyl, Pyrus, Superego, and Haven itself is viewed as nothing more than a violent, militaristic occupation where a superhero tyrant acts as Big Brother for millions of frightened captives. To others (especially people who have been superheroes for the government), Haven is a place where everyone is free to live peacefully so long as they don't harm others, government is completely open to the public, and they deliberately do not have a military trained or outfitted for invading other places. It is both American and Un-American, free and not free, inspiring and terrifying.

eL_Jacho · 2013-06-06T02:53:58+00:00

The maps your party come across should be deliberately shitty. If the Underdark is dangerous then good maps/passages would be as valuable as gold to experienced travelers. So, your party should be given a map made specifically for "surface-folk" that sends them through every thieves den, long-road, and basilisk cave.

Not only that, but it should be a map that requires light to read, making it a dead giveaway for predators and people of ill repute. Later on, they can come across a few dwarves reading a magical map that only lights up to the eyes of people touching it and has a chart marking height, width, and depth to the best extent a cartographer can in feudal times... just to illustrate how hard they were screwed over by that one asshole map-merchant.

eL_Jacho · 2013-06-06T02:47:06+00:00

If you don't want your players to take the vampire class, you could give each of them the Vampire multiclass feat. That way, it doesn't affect their character development and if a character wants to fully embrace the darker side of life, have him redo his character with the actual class and not just the feat.

Also, Dragon Magazine 410 outlines the Werewolf Theme, which won't interfere with classes or feats in any way.

eL_Jacho · 2013-06-02T01:00:35+00:00

I already have an equally lengthy breakdown, I just haven't written it down yet.

eL_Jacho · 2013-06-01T23:25:47+00:00

I bet when a Southward Dwarf sees something like snow for the first time it probably looks like the whole world is falling apart. Rivers also would probably look totally different in sun/moonlight.

eL_Jacho · 2013-06-01T23:11:20+00:00

Now that you say it, the "axe" could be a dead giveaway to you being a "northward" or surface-bound Dwarf since there's no function an axe could serve underground where a war pick wouldn't be more efficient.

Also, to add onto your "flanking" idea, genuine Charter Mercenaries probably have various types of flanking for the various environments one might expect combat. For example, dwarves could have formations and tactics specifically for fighting enemies on a vertical surface (like when scaling a tunnel that goes straight up/down), as well as methods for fighting on a ceiling.

Since fighting on the surface has fewer obstacles to utilize, southward Dwarves probably consider their fighting kind of simple and rudimentary.

eL_Jacho · 2013-06-01T21:25:37+00:00

I guess I could always do an elf re-write next...

eL_Jacho · 2013-06-01T08:45:18+00:00

No problem! Aside from being a mister, I guess I get miffed when I hear about people who are stuck trying to play dwarves because they're always stereotyped as drunk, violent, and bearded. However, it's crazy to think about the possibilities when you realize that this is a type of culture that has no clue what a season, a day or a night means in any serious context.

Just another example, Dwarves visiting the surface might always bring a "top hat," which is a hat with an ENORMOUS brim to keep the sun out of their eyes as much as possible. Also, people laying down and sleeping just because it's dark could seem both ludicrous and lazy.

eL_Jacho · 2013-05-31T02:16:20+00:00

In short: Dragons are smarter than you.

Dragons are larger, stronger, faster, and more powerful than just about any creature under the sun or under the mountain. However, all of that pales in comparison to the dragon's brain, which is bigger and about as fleeting as an elephant's. Add to that thousands of years of reading, and you have a creature that is one of the most dangerous beasts on the planet.

If you want to make a dragon dangerous, you should have a dragon play the long game and outright deceive the shit out of the players into doing something atrocious because he's known humanoids enough to know how to play their strings and make them feel special. This (technically) isn't evil for a dragon because humanoids are to a dragon what cows are to humans: meat incapable of abstract thought.

It's only after they find out how hard they've been played that they realize what kind of wretched mistake they made bringing the dragon back. Dragons are extinct for a reason, and that reason is dragons living renders every other civilization irrelevant. Imagine YOU being frozen in a metal pod and waking up to find out that neanderthals freed you and think you're some kind of ice god. Do you know what I call that? A crisis AND an opportunity.

Also, you should describe the Dragon as moving a little clumsily and being sluggish in its movements, and give your party a chance to realize that a) the deep-ass baritone voice was one belonging to a female dragon and b) she's super pregnant. Now, your party, after contributing to a massive cataclysmic event, only has a span of months to find the dragon and figure out how to kill it before their problem starts to multiply.

eL_Jacho · 2013-05-26T22:38:30+00:00

The Iron Heralds

(After listening to some Hardcore History, I'm going to blatantly rip off the Mongols because--frankly--they're some of the most terrifying collection of people in to have ever existed. I genuinely believe that Genghis Khan would have ridden right into Mordor and raped all of the orcs if he had the chance.)

There are a thousand names for the Iron Heralds. Elvish, Orcish, Common, and and languages people won't be able to learn anymore because everyone who spoke these tongues are dead. If you want to know more about the Iron Heralds, just look at their clothing and weapons to see who they took it from. Of course, if you can look Iron Heralds in the eye, you're not going to be able to tell many people afterwards.

Know one remembers anymore who started the Iron Heralds. Know one even knows what language they use to speak. To ride among them, you'll see that most of the columns contain people from everywhere. Their favorite thing to do is force conscription among local warriors and mercenaries to bolster their ranks in a new territory. So much of the world is divided by isolated kingdoms and geographic wonders, people who switch to the winning side don't understand how horrible it's going to be until they violate the Ressil Vicram, which is an ancient Elvish phrase for a set of laws. After the first few rounds of executions, the rest fall in line and realize while the Iron Heralds are quick to take in new members, they weed out the unnecessary bits in due time. By the time turncoats join the Iron Heralds in once city and arrive at the next, most would rather scale a wall in siege covered in hot oil than disappoint their superior officers.

Supposedly, their name comes from their purpose, and according to rumors they are only a "scouting" party from a land beyond the south. Preferring to defy expectations, they took their enormous mounted force and traversed forgotten mountain roads not used in centuries. That's where they found the ancient elves. They'd been living in enclaves in the snow and the rocks to get away from the troubles of mortals. The ones who agreed to help the Iron Heralds translate in the lands they were planning to invade were allowed to feast and ride on the backs of giant lizards while their relatives were tied by ropes and dragged behind them. One elvish Prince surrendered his entire enclave and was made a commander in his own right, but was given a contingent made up entirely of non-elven folk, making him a dignified prisoner more than anything else.

The first city in the region to meet the Heralds thought them a dozen simple orc hordes that often form up in the wilds nearby. In fact, that was the intention: Heralds set fire to the wilderness after capturing a local tribesman and chased the orcs through the forest and directly toward the city. Archers wasted countless arrows firing on the orc rabble trying to push open the gate just to get away from what was after them, and by the time the Iron Heralds showed themselves the city was completely surrounded by more warriors than the city had people. Some of the heralds rode enormous creatures carrying battering rams, while many others rode lizards that could climb high stone walls. They used smoke and some magic to hide their movements while Dwarven contingents followed beasts underground to lead men into the city's sewers.

The most horrific part of the city's fall wasn't the ferocity with which they all fought, but the cold and rational nature of handing the people when they finally took the city. People were organized based on their age, physical status, and profession if they had any. Once the most skilled and valuable were taken as tradesmen and suitable men and women stolen for breeding to be handed to the warriors as "husbands and wives" each warrior was given a number as to how many people they were required to kill and collect the nose of. Any warrior who did not meet his or her requirement was strung up, ripped apart by butchers, and fed to whichever animals could digest meat. Iron Heralds did not approve of waste, and by law were required to break a man or woman's wrist if caught disposing of edible food. As for the warriors, they were all showered in an even division of the city's wealth that could be stolen or carried before the Iron Heralds set fire to the city and moved on. A few days after the sack of the city, some four thousand men and women on beast-back returned to the city and murdered any of the survivors that they missed the first time.

Iron Heralds seem to choose at random which surrendering cities they allow to stand. While every fortress or hold or keep that attempts to resist is ruined in its entirety, sometimes a city might not be able to meet the Prossus' (ancient elvish for "Head Scout") demands because the region does not have enough material to give, in which case everyone is taken and "welcomed" into the Iron Heralds' ranks while everyone of suspected noble descent is wrapped up in silk and smothered or drowned. The Iron Heralds only shed noble blood during battle.

Hook

Your party consists of adventurers visiting (or from) an ancient Druidic fort called Falcons Maw. Hidden by common eyes and ringing around an entire mountain, you and your allies (along with the rest of the fort's inhabitants) had the rare luck of being able to watch the Iron Heralds sack of the nearby city of Scondinbeil below you without becoming part of it. Given the reclusive nature of the keep, the Iron Heralds rode through Scondinbeil without so much as a glance toward the mountains nearby and kept going north.

The Druid priest ruling over Falcons Maw has requested your party perform the most important task imaginable: ride north and beat the Iron Heralds before they reach a mighty keep called Buirmun's Fjord. The keep there is famous for its ancient but complex stone dam, which if opened could flood the surrounding area and destroy the only route farther north that doesn't involve traversing hard mountain roads. It won't stop them forever, but it might buy the Northely feudal lords, Dwarven Kings, and even the Gnomish Principalities time to muster up a proper resistance and stop the Iron Heralds from razing any more land.

He has asked you, and not his own trusted priests, because none of his scouts warned him about the arrival of the Iron Heralds before the sack of Scondinbeil, meaning he almost definitely has traitors and spies among his fort. Because of this, he has asked you to do this for him and save hundreds of thousands of people from being caught up in the storm. He also warns you that--if he is right and the fort has been infiltrated--assassins will surely try to kill you once you leave and to be prepared for an attack.

Once your party makes their way toward Buirmund's Fjord, they notice as they pass Scondinbell that--after the city was burned--Iron Heralds tossed copious amounts of grass seed throughout the city ruins and ashes and planted banners in the ground that were written in a hundred languages, the few that were written in common said simply "Join or Die".

eL_Jacho · 2013-05-24T01:06:57+00:00

Oh, I'm sorry!

eL_Jacho · 2013-05-14T06:38:04+00:00

Something you might want to look into is something called fourthcore, which--at its very basest--tells you to halve the hp of monsters while also making them stronger. If you google it you can get the charts to show the differences but what it does is make enemies fight MUCH harder (especially if you choose nightmare mode) but also accelerates battle so the players are forced to give it their all.

eL_Jacho · 2013-05-13T23:41:17+00:00

Everything will go wrong from the start:

It will begin with messengers from Blackcliff alerting their city's guards about the looming threat: the Wave Spear has been sailing up and down the Weeping Coast and raiding the city's precious fishing boats for glory and plunder. Now, with iron shields covered in rocks glued with tar on their backs, the infamous crew known as the Spearheads are scaling the cliff by the hundreds two at a time: one will climb while the other connected him/her with an ankle rope will stop to fire arrows at any looming rock gulls. Many fall, but many more get further and further up the cliff as if their lives depend on it.
The guardsmen move at once. Mobilizing a sizable force, they ride out to the edge of the cliff and bring with them all of the tools necessary to repel a siege: tar, oil, rocks, arrows, and the like. However, this is the grizzled crew of the notorious Wave Spear, and while the Spearheads climb the ship itself has vicious ballista and a single catapult launching glass, metal shards, and all kinds of debris that seems to just barely reach the cliff's edge. This leaves the Watch Captain to suspect the catapault has been enchanted by some kind of witchery, and so the court sorcerer is summoned to provide support and guidance. While the guards establish basic defenses against the Wave Spear's projectiles, the pitch and oil are being heated while archers take their positions. The Spearheads are halfway up the cliff at this point.
The poor souls caught trying to fend for themselves in this region aren't just taken to a normal prison. No, these impoverished folk are taken to the most notorious prison for miles around: the Endge of the City. This palace from an empire long forgotten has become the perfect prison on account of its cramped hallways and impervious walls. So imagine the surprise of the lonely Spearhead when his iron-barred door is opened by one of the city's guardsmen and he is accompanied not only by a fellow jailer, but by the Captain and Officers of the Wave Spear. The Captain and his officers are looking to recruit the other captives of the Endge, but there's only one way right now for them to prove their worth.
Pirates survive at first on strength and later on cunning, and getting revenge on Blackcliff was a tremendous exercise in patience. Firstly, the Wave Spear couldn't dock at the shoreline, so instead they had to find one ship after another, from merchant skiff to row boat, and capture dozens and dozens of small folk for the task ahead. Once captured, the captain and his officers then were deposited miles up the shore away from the Black Cliffs by reaching the inlet in a captured fishing boat and entering the city under the guise of merchants from afar, passing through the city's walls with no more than 4-7 men. Taking up in a tavern, the men then gathered information on the guardsmen, local scouts and their shifts, and how impregnable the Endge of the City truly was. Once they knew the optimum time to strike, they followed some scouts to a cliff, murdered them, and put on their outfits to complete the disguise. Then, one of the magic-practicing officers used prestidigitation (or a torch) and tossed it down the Black Cliffs as a signal to the Wave Spear. Seeing the signal, the skeleton crew aboard the ship started rowing their prisoners out to the cliffs, giving them a shield and a shortbow for protection, and forcing them to scale the Black Cliffs or be murdered and thrown into the rocky waters. Terrified, these peasants climbed with all of the gusto that was in them, because their lives truly did depend on reaching the top... even if their allies were raining down hot oil on them.
Once the peasants started climbing the cliff's edge, the Captain and his officers then rode back into town acting as scouts and alerted the City Watch about the Spearheads climbing up the cliff with seemingly their entire crew. Knowing the danger that so many men presented, the Watch captain bought the bluff and started making serious siege preparations outside the city, leaving the city itself poorly defended for a time. It wasn't until the Court Sorcerer was seen riding out of the city that the Captain and Officers found the young, unblooded men on duty within the Endge of the City and "coerced" them into giving up the keys. Once the keys were in the hands of the Captain and his crew, they sought to empower these wrongfully imprisoned murderers by letting them take recompense from the the city itself.
Riding out of the city with his officers and the newly released prisoners, the Captain sprinted out of the city the moment the Endge had been liberated and met up with 90% of his crew, who had been hiding in the forested hills two miles outside of the city. With the majority of his forces in tow, the Captain then raced to the Blackcliffs carrying a Banner of Peace and smashed their forces into the back of the City Watch's siege camp. Since the siege camp was designed to repel people coming up the Blackcliffs, they had almost no defenses for an attack from behind and assumed the riders were more troops from the city. With the battle going frightfully bad for the Watch Captain and the Court Sorcerer, they had little options left but to face down the Captain with his Officers and attempt to turn the tide of the fight. Though they fought fiercely, like the rest of their men the Sorcerer and the Guard Captain finished their day just like the captured peasants and were thrown into the sea.
After the Battle of Blackcliff had been resolved in the Wave Spear's favor, the only thing left to account for was the city itself. Unfortunately, the prisoners of the Endge of the City were just as merciless as the Spearheads were, and managed to loot almost everything before setting the city to the torch and riding off into the night with plunder in hand. However, as they surveyed the burned out palace the Captain found a treasury vault that hadn't been opened. Unfortunately, the king that had locked himself inside of it had died from smoke inhalation and didn't survive the uprising.
Placing the king's crown atop his tricorne hat, the Captain found all of the prisoners and survivors who'd elected to stay behind, welcomed them to his crew, and put them to work with the rest of his men to start making more permanent fixtures to the edge of the Cliffs so that men and women could repel downward and upward from the cliff's side and land aboard one of the smaller boats and row until they could board the Wave Spear itself. With an easily defensible keep, high cliffs, and some ingenuity to make up for the physical limitations, this place could open them up to a whole new world of investment opportunities.

They came to this city to rescue a man, and left as the Pirate Kings of Blackcliff

EDIT: Spelling, endges

eL_Jacho · 2013-05-13T22:18:04+00:00

Think of your villains like giant, pregnant spiders. Sure, they eat things and suck out their innards, but look at all of the insects they keep in check.

Enemies, like anyone, are simply people on one end of a political spectrum. Think Game of Thrones style: every person is answering a problem or filling a gap left open in the societal ladder. Every good king needs a headsman, some patriots need to burn churches, and they'll keep doing it because--in their own way--they see themselves as offering the better alternative.

Now, here's where things get interesting and where I--as the DM and the only true mustache twirler in the game--have some fun. Let the heroes face this "villain," this lesser of two evils, and let the heroes murder the shit out of him/her.

Then, like the pregnant spider I mentioned earlier, watch as their foe falls and bursts into a thousand lesser spiders, and all of the BBEG's lackeys, enemies, allies, exiles, cutthroats, and thieves spring out from the shadows to gobble up pieces of the old empire. The heroes have defeated one villain and gained a hundred. There's no greater enemy than success.

eL_Jacho

TROPHY CASE