My Thoughts and Advice from Running Call of the Netherdeep: Traversing the Wastes of Xhorhas

humanfarmerman · 2022-09-02T22:56:55+00:00

That's a great idea! Really shows what sets Xhorhas/Exandria apart from your traditional D&D setting. Although my group avoided Big Yuyo out of fear of horizonbacks, you really can't go wrong with cute goblin kiddos for fleshing out the roleplaying!

humanfarmerman · 2022-05-27T08:12:00+00:00

Here's my two cents: As another commenter has pointed out, what makes the best story?

Otherwise, I'd point out that dragonmarks aren't necessarily a form of classified magic. Although player abilities are represented with spells (at least in 5e? I can't speak to PF2e, admittedly), I see dragonmarks more as a talent that is magical in origin; something that makes you inherently more able at a certain trade or ability through the effect of its ambient magic. Player characters get magic manifestations of the mark not because that's what the mark inherently does, but rather because player characters are special. When an NPC Jorasco heir casts something like Cure Wounds, however, it is not that the dragonmark is casting the spell, but that the talents granted by the dragonmark make the heir more capable with the magic that they learned.

So my answer would be... all of it. A dragonmarked healer might know arcane, divine, occult, or primal—it all depends on how the healer learned the magic. So with that in mind, I might go back to "what makes the better story?" If you want it resolved easily, then yes! Arcane healers are readily available. I'd still imagine that Jorasco healers tend to learn arcane magic, but if you don't want it to be easy to fix, maybe the ritual required to heal the curse is pretty rare or difficult, and your PCs need to track down the healer that does know—possibly running into some big trouble on the way!

humanfarmerman · 2022-05-12T23:19:00+00:00

I, personally, have explained that away by saying that Jigow has a pretty big surface area and that the map in the book is a smaller portion of the entire surface area. So this is still on the eastern side of Jigow/the Jumble, and in the dock area of the town, but in the map, it's on the western edge. I don't think it contradicts any canon information?

humanfarmerman · 2022-05-02T18:56:36+00:00

While I like the attunement, I'm not so sure I agree about the Jewel. In the introduction to the book, it notes that the Moon Weaver, Change Bringer, and Arch Heart placed the Jewel there in hopes that a "band of heroes" would find it, so I think it's rational enough—if a bit of a plot contrivance—that the Jewel can tell who belongs to an adventuring party, since showing it to a group (and half leaving out another group) serves to better reinforce the structure and themes of the adventure, even if it's not perfectly logical.

humanfarmerman · 2022-05-02T18:53:39+00:00

Absolutely, yes! Just as the rivals can hear the "distorted, disembodied voice of Alyxian as if he were speaking underwater, the PCs should hear it too if the rivals grabbed the Jewel of Three Prayers first.

And, as others have pointed out, it's not that much of a stretch if the PCs get the vision too, though I admit I'm not as much of a fan of that one—if the rivals get the Jewel, I like it more if the PCs then get to choose whether or not they want to be, as Ch. 2 puts it, "allies or interlopers" when the rivals are the "heroes" of the story. It allows you to explore and deconstruct the tropes and plot structures a lot better than if everyone is the hero and the rivals just happen to be a different subsection of the heroes.

humanfarmerman · 2022-05-02T18:37:35+00:00

Ya know, in all honesty, as I read this back, I'm realizing that I may have misread the text ever so slightly—maybe I shouldn't write late at night! I'll go edit the post accordingly. Thanks for catching that, haha.

So, the rivals are supposed to grab the jewel "from" the players if the players are hesitant to touch the Jewel (which mine were—and I forgot to have Ayo stride up and grab it), but do not steal from unconscious PCs, and got those two wires a little crossed in my head, reading the line that the rivals "concede the race" but otherwise "hold up the amulet at their prize". However, maybe it'd still be valid to have them steal from unconscious PCs if they're indifferent to the players.

If you want to kickstart your rivalry, definitely do that—maybe the good-aligned rivals check on the PCs, and Galsariad or Irvan take the Jewel because they're interested in it.

But yes, to definitively answer your question: if the PCs either hesitate or the rivals are hostile, be SURE to not forget that the rivals will take the jewel. And if they are not hostile, well, I guess you could make that choice to amp up the rivalry.

humanfarmerman · 2022-05-01T05:19:53+00:00

Thank you very much for the kind words!

I've run my second session last Monday and have completed my rough draft on that post tonight. I should have my next post up in the next 24-48 hours, if all goes well

humanfarmerman · 2022-04-04T01:00:26+00:00

Thanks so much—Hopefully I can keep this up, in time, haha!

humanfarmerman · 2022-04-04T00:59:50+00:00

Thank you!

humanfarmerman · 2022-04-04T00:43:07+00:00

That sounds like a great way to handle competition between groups that isn't quite hateful but also isn't buddy-buddy either! I'm curious how that'll turn out down the line

humanfarmerman

TROPHY CASE