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Thread: Introductory Adventures
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02-22-1999, 07:07 PM #1
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Introductory Adventures
Hello all!
I am asking for help, *BIG* time.
I have a group of players, (1 from each class) coming over to play some
Birthright this weekend.
Problem: I have no 1st level adventures and am totally dry on ideas!!!!
AAAAAHH!
Anyway, here's the situation:
1) The Cleric is from Proudglaive in Roesone, and the player is the
'primary' character. (IE. He's the only one of the 4 who do more than
roll dice and seek out treasure) so I want to curtail the adventure
around him, and throw in a few bones for the others.
2) I am setting the game just after Marlae's rise to power. As such,
she is still 'settling in', and all the neighbors are testing the waters
with her. (Incidentally, the cleric is a priest of Ruornil, the one
small temple in Caercas I believe).
3) I am ultimately planning to have Ghoere become very nasty, and want
to involve the MOC at some point as well. I will be using the Roesone
handbook.
4) I am trying to come up with ideas for a few very basic adventures to
serve as introductions to the larger (and more evil) plot, which
involves Ghoere, the MOC, the Spider, and the Tarkal Deeps.
Anyone have any ideas???
Morg
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02-22-1999, 08:19 PM #2Mark A VandermeulenGuest
Introductory Adventures
OK, Brainstorming proceeds below.
On Mon, 22 Feb 1999, Morg wrote:
> Hello all!
>
> I am asking for help, *BIG* time.
>
> I have a group of players, (1 from each class) coming over to play some
> Birthright this weekend.
> Problem: I have no 1st level adventures and am totally dry on ideas!!!!
>
> AAAAAHH!
>
> Anyway, here's the situation:
> 1) The Cleric is from Proudglaive in Roesone, and the player is the
> 'primary' character. (IE. He's the only one of the 4 who do more than
> roll dice and seek out treasure) so I want to curtail the adventure
> around him, and throw in a few bones for the others.
> 2) I am setting the game just after Marlae's rise to power. As such,
> she is still 'settling in', and all the neighbors are testing the waters
> with her. (Incidentally, the cleric is a priest of Ruornil, the one
> small temple in Caercas I believe).
> 3) I am ultimately planning to have Ghoere become very nasty, and want
> to involve the MOC at some point as well. I will be using the Roesone
> handbook.
> 4) I am trying to come up with ideas for a few very basic adventures to
> serve as introductions to the larger (and more evil) plot, which
> involves Ghoere, the MOC, the Spider, and the Tarkal Deeps.
OK, some speculations on topic. It always seemed to me that the
Impregnible Heart of Haelyn was important, if not integral to Marlae's
rise to the throne, so it has always struck me as interesting the she
didn't make the IHH the official temple of Roesone. Perhaps your PC's
could have something to do with that. As a priest of Ruornil, the PC
should be concerned about the possibility that his holding in Caercas
could be named outlaw and contested out of existence with the full support
of Marlae. Perhaps your PC is integral to making sure that this doesn't
happen. The PC might perform some service for Marlae, and a grateful
Marlae grants the PC a boon, which the PC askes for not making the IHH the
official temple. This can help set some things up for later on when you
want to bring the Militant Order into the picture.
However, now you need to design an adventure where a priest of Ruornil can
really shine, to impress Marlae. So, what are the strengths of Ruornil
priests in comparison to those of Haelyn. Well, for one, they're also
magicians, so get magician spells, although not until 2nd level if I
remember correctly. Their major drawback is that they cannot wear armour,
so a battle-heavy adventure is probably not going to be called for. I
would say that they are masters of subtlety, so some sort of intrigue or
espionage is called for.
First thing that springs to mind is an assasination attempt. That could
work, esp. if it is a magic-using assassin that is attempting to come
after the Duchess. Or perhaps something more subtle: an assassination
attempt where the blame is engineered to fall in a certain direction,
perhaps on Aerenwe, or on Medoere itself, straining the alliance between
the two and casting suspicion on the PC him/herself. The PC must then not
only find out who is really responsible in order to clear him/herself, but
also stop the second attempt from succeeding and throwing the two realms
into the chaos of war, to which they will be easy pickings for the real
enemy (probably Ghoere, but that's a little too obvious; perhaps Guilder
Kalien or Orthien Tane, eager to pick up the guild pieces after a war).
A variant sprang to my mind as I was writing above, so I'll share that as
well. Perhaps Marlae has been having bad dreams. In these dreams she dies
(sees her own dead body), and is concerned about them. She naturally
summons the diviners and priests of the realm, and asks them for an
interpretation. Priests of Haelyn, focused on Justice and Noble War may
not be able to give a very satisfactory answer to this, but this thing
should be right up Ruornil's alley. Clues could reveal, as the party
understands them, step by step, a plan to assissinate the Duchess, and by
the time the party finally puts all the pieces together, they have no time
to do anything but rush to where-ever Marlae is and foil the plan. I can
envision dark alleys in Proudglaive, secret catacombs under the city,
melees with poison smugglers in the dead of night, assassins scheduled
to arrive at the docks at a certain time, and then revealed to be red
herrings, chases through the city under the cover of night,
Marlae's brother kidnapped, oblique clues which first seem to lead one
way, and then another, trusted advisors proved to be false, and the final
desperate battle with the betrayer in a small side chapel in the
voluminous Cathedral of Haelyn, with the life of the Duchess on the line.
This scenario has a number of good points for it: the stakes are revealed
early on in the game, and the goal is uniquely Cerilian. What the players
"win" is not cheifly gold or magical items (although there may be one or
two of those) but influence and respect with important people, the favor
of a temporal ruler, and the appreciation of your superiors (i.e. in the
Church of Ruornil, who don't want to loose the holding).
Whew. I'm exhaused now. I hope there are some good ideas there. More than
happy to provide continuing advice as you shape your ideas into a workable
story.
Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu
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02-22-1999, 09:18 PM #3
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Introductory Adventures
AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! Mark, YOU DA MAN!
Mark A Vandermeulen wrote:
> A variant sprang to my mind as I was writing above, so I'll share that as
> well. Perhaps Marlae has been having bad dreams. In these dreams she dies
> (sees her own dead body), and is concerned about them. She naturally
> summons the diviners and priests of the realm, and asks them for an
> interpretation. Priests of Haelyn, focused on Justice and Noble War may
> not be able to give a very satisfactory answer to this, but this thing
> should be right up Ruornil's alley. Clues could reveal, as the party
> understands them, step by step, a plan to assissinate the Duchess, and by
> the time the party finally puts all the pieces together, they have no time
> to do anything but rush to where-ever Marlae is and foil the plan. I can
> envision dark alleys in Proudglaive, secret catacombs under the city,
> melees with poison smugglers in the dead of night, assassins scheduled
> to arrive at the docks at a certain time, and then revealed to be red
> herrings, chases through the city under the cover of night,
> Marlae's brother kidnapped, oblique clues which first seem to lead one
> way, and then another, trusted advisors proved to be false, and the final
> desperate battle with the betrayer in a small side chapel in the
> voluminous Cathedral of Haelyn, with the life of the Duchess on the line.
This is an *excellent* idea!!! I love it! You have my eternal gratitude. ;)
Here are some more Brainstorms following Mark's idea above (please feel free to
suggest or redirect as you feel inclined):
What if Count Bellam double crosses everyone? He longs for the throne, and
somehow (this is what I haven't worked out yet) manages to arrange it so that
Kalien, and Ghoere are left holding the 'guilty stick' when the smoke clears.
Then, just as Marlae is being held responsible for the failing alliances with
Medeore and Illien, the assassin strikes, and she is killed. Bellam uses his
connections with Kalien & Ghoere to claim the Throne, and at the same time,
manages to expose them to Medeore and Illien as the culprits behind it all, and
he somehow comes out smelling like a rose.
Now... all those details..... hmmm....
Morg
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02-22-1999, 10:47 PM #4Jim CooperGuest
Introductory Adventures
Mark A Vandermeulen wrote:
> First thing that springs to mind is an assasination attempt.<
Well shoot! Great minds really DO think alike. I posted my suggestions
and BOOM! here now is Mark saying basically the same thing! Cool!
:D
> A variant sprang to my mind as I was writing above, so I'll share that as well. Perhaps Marlae has been having bad dreams. In these dreams she dies (sees her own dead body), and is concerned about them. She naturally summons the diviners and priests of the realm, and asks them for an interpretation. Priests of Haelyn, focused on Justice and Noble War may not be able to give a very satisfactory answer to this, but this thing should be right up Ruornil's alley.<
Yet more proof! IMC, not only did my PC assassinate his sister, but the
next day he himself was threatened with assassination by an unknown
assailant, simply known as "The Watcher" (incidently, this is the same
assassin of the Ilien dude that whatshisface took over from).
But this was no ordinary assassin. This guy attacked mentally - through
dreams, and letters; no matter how many guards the PC posted, or how
many locks on the door, once every month, the PC (or the targeted
regent) received one death threat, which got progressively closer to the
person of the regent until it was placed next his sleeping body in bed.
The next month, The Watcher struck. Boy, did this freak out my PC!
hehehehe. A single black rose was the signature of The Watcher.
The Watcher has yet to be caught ... my poor PC friend ...
MWUAHAHAHAAA!! :)
(Incidently, IMC The Watcher is an elven assassin, once a close
confident of Rhoubhe, who went rogue after he was disillusioned with
Rhoubhe and his 'unimaginative' methods of wiping the human menance from
Cerilia. He is, IMC, the head of the secret organization of The
Watchers, which I mentioned there in the BROCP project. Their goal is
to cull the human regency 'threat' (to the elves)! Ironically, the only
elf in the organization is the sole assassin, The Watcher himself).
Cheers,
Darren
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02-22-1999, 10:53 PM #5Jim CooperGuest
Introductory Adventures
Morg wrote:
>
> AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! Mark, YOU DA MAN!<
What about my little post?!? What if Count Bellam double crosses everyone? He longs for the throne, and somehow (this is what I haven't worked out yet) manages to arrange it so that Kalien, and Ghoere are left holding the 'guilty stick' when the smoke clears. Then, just as Marlae is being held responsible for the failing alliances with Medeore and Illien, the assassin strikes, and she is killed. Bellam uses his connections with Kalien & Ghoere to claim the Throne, and at the same time, manages to expose them to Medeore and Illien as the culprits behind it all, and
> he somehow comes out smelling like a rose.<
Well this works just fine! And you thought you were dry for ideas!?!
Cheers,
Darren (Just carving out my heart with a spoon is less painful!)
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02-22-1999, 11:32 PM #6Mark A VandermeulenGuest
Introductory Adventures
On Mon, 22 Feb 1999, Jim Cooper wrote:
> Morg wrote:
> >
> > AAAAAHHHHHH!!!! Mark, YOU DA MAN!<
>
> What about my little post?!?
>
> Cheers,
> Darren (Just carving out my heart with a spoon is less painful!)
Hey Darren,
Don't take it too seriously, Dude. Morg probably just got my post first. I
certainly enjoyed hearing about your South Coast campaign, esp. about
different modules and Dragon adventures which translated well into BR.
Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu
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02-23-1999, 12:12 AM #7Mark A VandermeulenGuest
Introductory Adventures
On Mon, 22 Feb 1999, Morg wrote:
> What if Count Bellam double crosses everyone? He longs for the throne, and
> somehow (this is what I haven't worked out yet) manages to arrange it so that
> Kalien, and Ghoere are left holding the 'guilty stick' when the smoke clears.
> Then, just as Marlae is being held responsible for the failing alliances with
> Medeore and Illien, the assassin strikes, and she is killed. Bellam uses his
> connections with Kalien & Ghoere to claim the Throne, and at the same time,
> manages to expose them to Medeore and Illien as the culprits behind it all, and
> he somehow comes out smelling like a rose.
Well, let's see. Bellam is a wizard himself, isn't he? So perhaps to cast
the blame on Kalien or Ghoere he casts Charm on the known agents of one or
both of the two and draws them into his schemes. Note that he doesn't need
to get them to do the actual deed, just get them into a place where they
look suspicious. Or perhaps he just kills them and sets one of his own
cronies in their place by using one of the Illusiary or Transformative
spells to create the resemblance. This might be an interesting option,
because he could kill the blokes, freeze them solid, and then thaw them
out later to be found "slain" by their supposed "compatriots" in the
scheme. The forensic science of the time might not be able to tell the
difference between a fresh body and a frozen-and-thawed one. The one thing
that springs to mind is the eyes, which might burst when frozen, but that
could be masked by post-mortem mutilation of the corpes (sorry if I'm
getting too gross here). So the PC's find the quarry that they think are
responsible, but find them slain and their eyes carved out. "What does
this mean?" they ask. "Is it a ritual, or some sort of oblique warning
about "seeing too much." When in fact it is just a red herring again, and
a good healing proficiency check or divinatory magic might reveal the
truth. (Either should require some time to do.)
So Bellam selects his patsies, plants the clues that the PC's will
initially find that directs them at the patsies, and casts the spells that
bring his patsies into compromising positions. Then he has his cronies
make the assassination attempt.
The PC's hear of the attempt, or perhaps foil it, and in attempting to
follow them up, come across the patsies. The patsies protest their
innocence (truthfully, if any of the PC's have the Detect Lie blood
ability), and the PC's have to let them go (or perhaps they CAN put them
in custody, or put a tail on them). Later the PC's find all the clues that
Bellam has planted, and decide they need to look at the patsies more
closely. Meanwhile, Bellam has killed the patsies, frozen them, and placed
his replicas in place. The replicas consistently avoid the PC's, plant
more clues linking the attempt to the patsies and their superiors, and
generally act suspiciously. After a day or two of merry chase, when all
the necessary evidence is planted, they make the switch for the dead
bodies.
Now the PC's need some clues to point them back in the right direction.
For one, everyone who knows the patsies should tell them that they just
haven't been acting themselves lately, which should be some clue, perhaps
getting them to think of charm spells. They may also get the clues from
the corpes mentioned above. Further clues should come from the dream of
Marlae, and now, that being the only clues the PC's have to go one, that
might start to make some sense. Bellam might have planted some evidence to
get the PC's out of the way, so they go to intercept the "new assassins"
at their scheduled destination, only to realize that it's a trap. When
springing the trap, they realize who is really behind the attempt, and
have to rush to the conclusion to rescue Marlae just in time.
OK, your turn.
Mark VanderMeulen
vander+@pitt.edu
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