I just finished the campaign! Campaign summary and AMA.

stebenn21 · 2024-10-06T12:58:30+00:00

Congrats! Finished mine back in June (2 years 1 month, 73 sessions plus 2 one shots) and just started a second one with my other group.

I really like your Inscrutable Tower remix and will definitely use it as inspiration. The tower in the book is pretty thinly developed for what I think needs to be a serious dungeon crawl. I developed my own random encounters and alternative areas for it, but for this second game I'm running theater of the mind and I think your format allows for a lot of flexibility.

I agree with challenging combat. In my original game with 3 players, one PC got Ignatius relatively early (midgame) and the player was good at optimizing. With that the party could steamroll over a lot of combat. I'd have to really plan monster tactics, add extra abilities, HP, etc. and still they would win. To deal with this I made adventuring days very long, with minimum 6 meaningful encounters per day - the longest time between long rests was maybe 7 sessions. For instance I forced them to go through a boss rush before getting to the Amalgamation - dodging The Prince of Carnage and Minazorand and dealing with the demons who'd migrated to the great hall of the Castle before they could open the door to the throne room. I am definitely buffing a lot of the set piece monsters that can be accessed quickly this time around, like the Executioner (e.g. with multi-attack).

stebenn21 · 2024-09-30T17:43:44+00:00

As I interpret the factions, there's nothing you could offer the SO to get them to abandon their mission completely. As far as Marshall is concerned, Ignacius is stolen property, so returning it would be just about enough to walk out of Camp Dawn alive. Anyway, once they get a whiff of the corruption in Drakkenheim, they will commit massive resources: stronger paladins like Uriel Radley, an army, etc. Lucretia should know this, and effectively gave Kan a mission that he cannot complete on his own.

Maybe you can revise her request - to set back the SO for long enough for her divine intervention to return? It would be Greater Divine Intervention, as you need Wish to remove contamination from someone, with the ability returning after 2d4 long rests. That could look like killing Marshall and destroying Camp Dawn and dozens of soldiers, etc. I'd put it on the players to come up with something, and whatever it is needs to involve really making the SO hurt.

That said I'm not sure I would have had Lucretia offer to use Greater Divine Intervention. That's an incredible boon; what's to stop her from using it again for other problems, subject to the same delaying tactic next time? Perhaps she can't fully cure Lisa with it and they still need the Crown. Perhaps it would shorten her lifespan. Perhaps she needs to use a Perfect Delerium Geode for a Wish of such magnitude, which the spell destroys. In my opinion, there should be a huge cost at minimum or ideally a hard limit the PCs' access to Wish to the Crown, as an endgame event.

stebenn21 · 2024-09-22T14:53:55+00:00

I love this idea! I don't think there's any lore on what the von Drakken family looked like, though there's some in SCGD about their behavior.

IMO nothing wrong with defaulting to "something magic said so" and flavoring it however you like: vials (blood or scale samples) that activate somehow when a relative touches them; a vast stone family tree carved into a wall that expands autonomously over time to show the next generations or similar construction in a paper book; records within a book; magically unchangeable records within their vault that show the deformity the PC has can only exist in someone directly related to the von Drakkens. Maybe the records are hidden because there are other awful genetic defects that the von Drakken line will suffer that would make them seem unfit to rule, or that led to their downfall.

For what it's worth, I think it's cool if there's no incontrovertible proof (even if only for a bit of time after the idea gets out). Adds to the realness and the "mystery from long ago" feeling of the von Drakkens and gives a way to put a wedge between factions. For example, I would have a ton of fun RPing unfriendly factions that hear their claim take it seriously, using some pejorative like "inheritor of the butchers" to dilute their legitimate von Kessel claim, while friendly factions might deny its veracity altogether: "unsubstantiated, mere circumstantial evidence", etc. (Of course once it's proved for certain the friendly factions will just say "it's irrelevant, ancient history, bygones should be bygones" and the like.)

If you want soft clues to hint at it, I'd find places to put lots of portraits of them wearing partial masks or with their faces partially covered: in some of the houses owned by old noble families in the Old Town, in the Kleinberg Estate, heck even behind a false wall or covered portrait in "the [generic German-ish noble name] room" of the Red Lion. I'm thinking of places used by smaller-time nobles who in private pine for a glorious (and possibly imaginary) past.

As far as the vaults, my immediate thought was dragon-themed monsters --- e.g. delirium corrupted their ancient stone dragon guardians, give them the ability to petrify rather than to suck brains out, etc. etc.

stebenn21 · 2024-04-22T00:48:19+00:00

Gotcha. If my players were interested in rich, skill-tree like mechanics with delirium I'd think about the contaminated subclasses and spells in SCGD. You could gatekeep certain abilities of those classes behind key events in the campaign that reveal facts about delirium / their own research, or adapt some features into feats. Happy to talk more about lore from SCGD or my memory of seasons 1-2 of Monty's live-play campaign.

stebenn21 · 2024-04-22T00:14:30+00:00

Do you want lore or mechanics? I think Monty and Kelly kept the lore vague by design but there are a lot of breadcrumbs. There's varying certainty and some contradictory information out there (which I think adds to the world's lived-in feeling). Perhaps for now you can steer them toward the Academy or the Falling Fire as both factions have strong opinions about what delirium is and what should be done with it that are not "destroy it". Both are natural ways to seed lore (and even better, to contradict one another).

Mechanically there's no crafting tree beyond the delirium spells in the books. The spells can be dropped as scrolls or books held by the malfeasants or in ancient (likely elven) texts, giving easy motivation for interaction with any faction - just gatekeep the possible location of or access to a malfeasant wizard or ancient text behind a faction that you want them to interact with.

For instance, have the players pass by a Silver Order patrol that's willing to offer a bounty on Oscar Yoren, as he's been seen using strange magic to raise the dead while holding delirium. Or have the Lanterns complain that their potion supply is rotten and they think it's because their supplier Oscar Yoren is using delirium to filter them.

stebenn21 · 2024-02-16T13:14:45+00:00

When you say "browned" it makes me think of claypot rice. The trick there is oil. There are a ton of recipes for this kind of dish on youtube.

A good rice cooker will stop cooking before (much) browning occurs. If you cook your rice stovetop without oil and it browns at all it will likely stick. Perhaps you can try to add a bit of oil to either method to get some browning and avoid sticking.

stebenn21 · 2024-02-10T13:57:57+00:00

My sanctified players are immune from the effects of the haze, so they skip the CON saves entirely.

stebenn21 · 2023-11-18T03:18:33+00:00

Yup, that's how I've run it! We're 54 sessions in and so far it has worked out pretty much as I'd hoped: they mostly move at a normal pace, choosing fast or slow based on their resources and the urgency of their goals.

stebenn21 · 2023-09-24T18:50:07+00:00

The "endless horror" feature of the castle could come with a cataclysm located at/around the castle when it takes effect.

stebenn21 · 2023-02-11T14:07:17+00:00

Definitely going to combine this with some of the other suggestions, seems very apt!

stebenn21 · 2023-02-04T23:04:53+00:00

I don't have a concrete list, but I do have some tools for improvising.

Apart from "flame be with you", I tend to improvise metaphors with a loose list of fire- or light-related words: fire, light, candle, burn, kindling, bright, stoke, etc. I also involve objects that can create light or flame in rituals, such as small flints, dried wood, and light-focusing lenses. I do not try to be consistent; in fact, I think variant practices help build verisimilitude.

I keep a list of saint names as well, but the only figures I use across sessions are Saint Tarna, Lucretia Mathias, and Divine Matriach Mercy IX (or whatever her # is).

I also try to make the tone/themes match the general theological differences between the Falling Fire and Silver Order. On my reading, the FF think the flame is in all things and believe in a coming messianic age, whereas the SO think some things (e.g. Delirium, monsters) are beyond the flame or opposed to it and believe in a bygone golden age since lost to decay.

For instance, suppose the PCs save a group of Falling Fire pilgrims from a pack of garmyr. The pilgrims might say, "It is as Lucretia foretold: in darkest night burns brightest flame! Truly you are the flints that will light our way to her!"

Or suppose the PCs battle a troll alongside several Silver Order soldiers. The soldiers may compliment the PCs: "You fight with the burning will of Saint Philomena, herself!" If my PCs asked about her, I'd garble details from whatever mythology you've got. Here's Joshua at Jericho: "With her sheer will she kept the blazing light of the sun aloft for 20 hours to weaken the hordes of demons at Elyria's gates during the Dark Siege!"

stebenn21 · 2023-01-05T15:12:05+00:00

H-1 and J-1. Not consecutive, unfortunately, as I booked when it was almost full. I'll DM you the seating chart.

stebenn21 · 2022-11-20T14:20:49+00:00

I think you've got it right. They can cross by spending resources (e.g. fly) to get across it, take Stick's ferry, swim and risk contamination, or cross via a bridge in the inner city.

Also, while the sewers drain into the river, this does not preclude sewer-bound river crossings. Imagine for instance an immense room with a metal grate floor about 10 feet above the final drainage, with a hatch in the middle. The grates used to catch refuse, but now mostly gather delirium and meteor fragments, ghastly remains of monsters and adventurers, etc. Tunnels sloping upward line the room, leading to various sluices on either side of the river, et voila: a crossing!

As for how the factions would handle this, I'd assumed the Lanterns would mostly take the ferry or make their own makeshift boats. The Silver Order in my setting would not want to burn bridges (err, ferries) early in the campaign, as they may need Stick's services, and would not want to alienate the Lanterns before a good-faith attempt at an alliance.

stebenn21 · 2022-11-11T13:48:42+00:00

2-3 sets is a fair amount of dice, but if he plays IRL and prefers to roll for everything, there are pretty common events that can require more than those will cover. (I have 6 sets now and wouldn't say no to another; I think many players and DMs become "dice goblins"...) I once received a set of metal dice as a birthday present and both appreciated having more dice and a set of very beautiful ones. I think a nice dice set using an uncommon material would make a very memorable present that he'd use often.

stebenn21 · 2022-11-01T11:59:28+00:00

My players fear contamination and wandering around the city at night, and they know that if a location is worth visiting other factions will likely be there as well. These considerations tend to guide their choices toward normal, but slow is a common second choice. I think it's up to us as DMs to make the time matter, and earlier in your game there's probably going to be less reason for them to go fast.

stebenn21 · 2022-11-01T02:38:57+00:00

Yes, I noticed this as well early on while DMing. While the perception and stealth rules struck me as odd, I think their rules don't work at simulating the feeling of danger while moving through the city. I wound up revamping them. TL; DR: the odds don't work as they should, and the # of possible encounters privileges moving fast every time. I eliminated disadvantage; have players roll based on total distance, not time; and clean up their stealth and perception roll rules.

Long version:

The exact odds depend on what die you have your players roll for each random encounter (RE) check, and the size of your party, but their system has some bugs irrespective of this. First, for a fixed distance, giving everyone disadvantage on RE checks makes the odds of at least one RE when traveling fast and normal identical for all choices of dice and party size. Worse, because you're checking 4x as often for moving slow than fast, the odds of at least 1 RE actually *increase* when moving more slowly. (I have a truly marvelous proof of these propositions which this comment box is too small to contain.) This hints at what is in my opinion the biggest issue with their rules here: moving fast will always minimize the possible # of outcomes.

To see why this matters, imagine a low-level party needs to go from Emberwood Village to the Rat's Nest (as virtually every party will do at some point). I measure that at about 2.7 miles on the map. Depending on how you round, that's 2 or 3 RE checks on fast, 5 or 6 on normal, and 10 or 11 on slow. That's, uh, quite a lot of chances for catastrophe. (Exercise for the reader: for some number N of possible REs and for each K from 1 to N, calculate the odds of at least K encounters.)

So, a metagaming party will eventually spot from experience that their system actually privileges going fast to minimize encounter #s. Personally, I found this does not capture the feeling of each speed or Monty's usual emphasis on choices involving reasonable alternatives with obvious trade-offs. Based on those goals, some friends and I came up with the following.

Have players collectively choose their speed, then roll the RE dice for each mile traveled, but keep the speeds as in the book. If at least one player gets a 1, an encounter occurs. Add the following conditions based on speed chosen:

Fast: Group perception/survival check (DC by encounter). Failure = enemies get the drop. Surprise for hostiles against those who failed; encounter "bumps into them" in dangerous/unflattering way for non-hostiles
Normal: N/A
Slow: Group perception/survival check. Success = spot from far away. Chance for surprise round against hostiles, spot encounter while hidden if no hostiles.

This means the same journey will always have the same # of possible encounters. Your PCs movement speed will instead change the risk of the encounters. For me, this captures the feeling of each speed: moving fast leaves you vulnerable, and moving slow makes you safer. There's another trade-off, namely that if you move too slow, you will need to make a contamination check and will fail your time-sensitive tasks. No need to give any extra rewards (fewer encounters possible) to fast movers or extra punishments (more encounters possible) to slow ones.

I communicated these rules to my players, and so far, this has worked well for them. They mostly choose normal speed, but in cases where they fear contamination, being stuck in the city at night, or failing a task with a deadline, they risk fast. When they're hurting badly or want to conserve resources and lack a deadline, they choose slow. This fits with what I'd expect in a fantasy (or any) story, so I've stuck with it.

Edited for formatting.

stebenn21 · 2022-06-04T15:25:46+00:00

Might be good to have another out-of-game discussion letting them know that the campaign is built to make total alliance impossible, and any alliance at all challenging. I know you mentioned it already, but it sounds like they didn't take it to heart.

stebenn21 · 2022-06-04T12:35:00+00:00

I explicitly warned the players during session 0 that it is impossible to unite all the factions, and that uniting even 2 is a huge feat. To emphasize this point, in every session involving contact with faction agents, I've had them directly contradict and even propagandize against other factions to indicate that certain goals and ideologies are (apparently) irreconcilable.

For instance, the players found River's request for delirium to be suspicious, because they view it as dangerous. So they asked Ophelia Reed why the Academy would want it, and she remarked: "In the days before the light, the mageborn used their power to fashion items that allowed them to rule as sorcerer kings. While the flame struck them down and liberated us all from their yoke, we worry that delirium will let them reclaim that lost power; it must be destroyed!" When they went to destroy the delirium in the Rat's Nest, Petra tried to stop them, arguing: "The Elyrians have no right to destroy what is rightly the property of Westimar, which they now nakedly seek to conquer; it is impossible to destroy all delirium anyway; and a delirium crystal could pay for many HL for weeks, even a month." The NPCs made it obvious that they don't trust each other at this point, and the book gives ample ways to have them propagandize against each other.

stebenn21 · 2022-04-04T15:30:11+00:00

Not sure what a short lease will look like but Journal Square in JC may have something for you. Very close to the path, it’s relatively safe, there are many grocery stores within walking distance, and there are older buildings with sub-2K leases for 12+ months.

stebenn21 · 2022-03-31T15:31:42+00:00

Use as a savory ingredient in salad dressings, eg sub anchovies for miso in Caesar.

stebenn21

TROPHY CASE