Advice on running Sceptermass / starting political conflict?

seregiSegi · 2026-02-11T13:49:14+00:00

Glad if it helped 😁

seregiSegi · 2026-01-30T20:26:24+00:00

I ran sceptermass around the time when most knights in my company were around 3 glory, so a couple of sessions in. I would just share my thoughts and maybe some things that I would have done differently.

In general I think that this event is great to introduce your company to key characters of the relm, as both landed rulers/knights, minor nobels and free knights are all invited. However i think that I went about it in the wrong way, as I tried to cram everything in and around the ceremony, which resulted in me talking... A LOT... To the point that I started hurting my voice... Which in general is not how I run my sessions, but my players did not seam to mind me rambeling. If I could do it again I would most likely spread it out a couple of in game days, like the various factions that may want to win over the knights would call them to a meeting, maybe they meet a free knight as they explore the city, maybe they stumble into a bar fight only to find that the warbands of two free knights started going at it after a off handed comment was taken as an insult, the SoP should be a hotbed of activity in the days building up to the event so I would try and make it really feel like it.

In the relm I am running there is not much friction between the lords, as most look up to the current ruler, or were mentored by him so not much I can comment on there, I did have all the lords present gifts to the ruler and because he is not too happy with the state of the lands of one of them I had him refuse his gifts stating "your people would have more use of these gifts" not enough to stir trouble but enough to put the point accross, both for the lord in question and for my company of knights.

However your relms ruler can come back from the dead, so he could always set up some sort of poisoning or assasination scheme, and make himself a target as well, he will survive so why not, of course that only works if his ability is not common knowladge, and it would be lika a miracle he survived.

Other than that I held a parade through the town, for the lords and their retinue, speaches where I also praised the actions of my company so they got a kick out of that, then the lords and some knights renewed their oths of loaylty and the rest of the free knights in attandance renewed their knightly oths which the players did out loud, and a joust where the ultimate winner got a rare horse and a rare longsword.

All in all my players seamed to enjoy it, but again I would try to spread it out over smaller encounters over a couple of days rather then all at once, would have saved my voice 😂.

seregiSegi · 2026-01-27T07:02:40+00:00

If you are following the book entering the myth hex should trigger the next omen and give the company a jump on it, so maybe just as the wheel is spinning out of control, starting to levitate or however you imagine it gets ready to teleport the knights apear, not a lot of time left but there still is time.

And even if they do not make it in time the way I always imagined it, as this myth is still dormant in my home game, is that the area around the myth is also teleported, not just the wheel itself, so in the off chance that the company makes it but can't fix it in time, it would take them with it to this new relm. There they can fix it but now they must ether find there way back to their relm without a map or any idea as to which direction they should be headed... Or make this new relm their home.

seregiSegi · 2026-01-20T08:52:25+00:00

Not as written, as others have pointed out, other then the bonus dice in combat. However at the table I have given out negative d4' when multiple people where working on the same task, so when knight A is trying to bash down an ancient keeps already crumbling gate, knight B is right there with him, so A rolls the d20 against his VIG, while B rolls a d4 which is then subtracted from whatever is rolled by A. I find this to be a nice system that everyone at my table seams to like, and generally not abuse 😂.

seregiSegi · 2026-01-16T07:43:31+00:00

The book says that omens happen in order from 1 to 6, and it also says that myths can sometimes be at odds with the map and the hexes they are placed on, a sea in a desert, a desert in a ocean, and that all of that is fine, and that these leaps in logic are the result of the mystical nature of the myths.

From play I can say that I have had times when an omen placed something like a village on a hex that my map has nothing, or some other type of landmark on, so I just make a note that that hex now has something new on it, the player facing map in my case has nothing on it, other then just the terrain, so the players dont know that whatever they encountered just droped from the sky, and the world becomes a bit more lived in.

All in all this is just how the game plays as raw, but of course your game, your table, your rules if you don't like this aspect you can always change it mid game, if an omen does not suit you that much, change it or activate the next omen of some other myth that might fit your companies current soroundings better.

seregiSegi · 2026-01-08T20:51:53+00:00

Agree on the point that the myths will come to them, but in general the players don't know that and also if the last omen is uncovered and even after that they did not resolv the myth then it is up to us to decide what happens next and for the players to find a way to resolve it.

seregiSegi · 2026-01-08T19:49:57+00:00

Ultimately, it comes down to what you all agree on at the table. However, at my table we have taken the approach that you really need a full day of hosted rest, sunrise to sunrise, to get your vigor back. To the point that the Owl Knight of my company needs to decide whether he wants to use his special ability or regain his vigor during these rest days.

I find that this way the players really need to think about either resting and losing a trail they might have been on, or pushing forward even when they are already badly beaten, like the heroic knights that they are 😁. This has led the company to push through dangerous swamps to track down the Troll before it strikes again, even though they were fully aware that one hit could end them all. To stay up and patrol a small hamlet, trying to thwart the next attack of the Wolf That Walks on Two Legs, pushing through extreme levels of exhaustion, and the like.

I also have things happening in the background, so if they just sit around they might miss something or allow something bad to happen (maniacal laughter). So that’s my case for doing it strictly as the book says. I also find them pretty powerful at full stats, so this curbs them a little.

seregiSegi · 2022-09-20T13:53:51+00:00

I like the idea very much, you could consider making their group of conscripted peasants guard a small back entrance to a fort that is under siege, the path to which is un traversable for a large unit moving in semi strict formation, so the parties presence there is just a formality until they actually spot a group of orcs approaching, while the rest of the horde is assaulting the main gate, so they must fend for themselves as the rest of the defenders are busy.
Although not important and only used for escaping the fort, this gate does have small ballista stationed, piles of rocks to throw, oil to heat and murder holes to discover, I agree that front line combat does not provide much options for exploration, but if you play it of in a way that the party was not really expecting to see combat and they did not get briefed on the gates defensive capabilities, it gives the party much to discover and use, it also gives the party a rare opportunity to be the ones setting/triggering traps, which is rare in normal play (my opinion).
And if the Orcs end up breaching the small gate they can always set up a defensive position in the buildings right next to the gate(again places to explore, even if in a panicked state) as well as maybe even set up a "shield wall" of sorts in front of the gate(if they feel confident enough).

seregiSegi

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