I've never really like objects themselves being sentient but more that the item just has so much evil ingrained in it that it starts to corrupt the owner similar to the One Ring in the Hobbit, and Lord of the Rings. The Ring itself is not sentient but the power it offers corrupts those who possess it.
Gladiator Campaign
- Thread starter Hervé
- Start date
I'm repeating things said in this thread by others.... but don't push it too hard. Pull is better. Offer power. Give a free sample. The scrolls could give little something as an taste of what they have to give. It may get both the player and the character hooked. Has worked for me before. If your prey doesn't swallow the hook, try another character. I'd prefer a PC if I were you , since it opens more interesting possibilities story-wise. Perhaps that cultist could be the second choice - even if he is not a sorcerer.
1) "Like Father, Like Son" was a good idea. In this case, the essence of the sorcerer might be trapped in the scrolls and dimly aware of its surroundings. It would simply want a body to possess. It might have some preferences on the body to have, but might be desperate to have any body if possible. Perhaps it can sense that ancient enemies are after it, wanting to destroy the scrolls and kill it for good.
2) Self-destructive corrupting influence in the style of Necronomicon and our old friend Nyarlathothepth. The scrolls simply wish to make people mad with power so they destroy everything they hold dear in pursuit of fell knowledge, become corrupted and eventually destroyed by their own sorcery.... or perhaps by other power-hungry sorcerer that then takes the scrolls and the circle begins again. Perhaps this could feature the Unspeakable Oath or other easy pathways to great power, but a terrible, hidden price included?
3) If the scrolls are part of some fell book, they might wish to be united with the original copy that has lost some of its potential through the loss. For this end they might be willing to part with magical knowledge and prophetic dreams that will nudge the owner to go looking for a treausure, knowing that it is the Cthulhusque book or deceived in to thinking of more mundane loot. The almost-sentient thing might not be the pages, but the original book that is calling for the lost scrolls beyond time and space.
4) They might be really just one powerful spell, such as a summoning/contact ritual for a Great Old One or an Outer God. It might be that power that reaches through the potential of such spells on those pages to touch the minds around it, invoking through dreams and visions what could be achieved by learning how to use such power. These dreams and visions might mix good and terrible things, horrible degeneration with wealth and knowledge, love with death, all that kind of stuff - perhaps making the receiver think that the bad things are what will happen without the scrolls, a sort of prophecy, while really it is the price to pay for the services rendered if the ritual is done.
5) Maybe they are really a relic of some truly ancient war from times long past. Something like a ritual made to destroy a Valusian city, but lost in time and space before it was ever used. Still the power is so great that the weapon has developed a sort of will of its own that compels it to reach its destination and do its mission. The ancient target might now be just a piece of jungle or some modern city or even be underneath the sea, it matters not to the single-minded weapon.
Style said:
1) "Like Father, Like Son" was a good idea. In this case, the essence of the sorcerer might be trapped in the scrolls and dimly aware of its surroundings. It would simply want a body to possess. It might have some preferences on the body to have, but might be desperate to have any body if possible. Perhaps it can sense that ancient enemies are after it, wanting to destroy the scrolls and kill it for good.
2) Self-destructive corrupting influence in the style of Necronomicon and our old friend Nyarlathothepth. The scrolls simply wish to make people mad with power so they destroy everything they hold dear in pursuit of fell knowledge, become corrupted and eventually destroyed by their own sorcery.... or perhaps by other power-hungry sorcerer that then takes the scrolls and the circle begins again. Perhaps this could feature the Unspeakable Oath or other easy pathways to great power, but a terrible, hidden price included?
3) If the scrolls are part of some fell book, they might wish to be united with the original copy that has lost some of its potential through the loss. For this end they might be willing to part with magical knowledge and prophetic dreams that will nudge the owner to go looking for a treausure, knowing that it is the Cthulhusque book or deceived in to thinking of more mundane loot. The almost-sentient thing might not be the pages, but the original book that is calling for the lost scrolls beyond time and space.
4) They might be really just one powerful spell, such as a summoning/contact ritual for a Great Old One or an Outer God. It might be that power that reaches through the potential of such spells on those pages to touch the minds around it, invoking through dreams and visions what could be achieved by learning how to use such power. These dreams and visions might mix good and terrible things, horrible degeneration with wealth and knowledge, love with death, all that kind of stuff - perhaps making the receiver think that the bad things are what will happen without the scrolls, a sort of prophecy, while really it is the price to pay for the services rendered if the ritual is done.
5) Maybe they are really a relic of some truly ancient war from times long past. Something like a ritual made to destroy a Valusian city, but lost in time and space before it was ever used. Still the power is so great that the weapon has developed a sort of will of its own that compels it to reach its destination and do its mission. The ancient target might now be just a piece of jungle or some modern city or even be underneath the sea, it matters not to the single-minded weapon.
First off, let me just say thank you to the posters who've take the time to help me out. You guys are great!
Hadramas is definitely enemy number 1, and my players will hunt him to the ends of the earth to pay him back. Having Hadramas seek them out certainly has an appeal, hence I've made him (and his master Amanar) one of the scrolls chasers.
Having said this, I could have the scrolls send dreams to the PCs that if they hold on to the scrolls, they will get their shot at revenge. This would actually be true, as Hadramas is hunting the scrolls.
Back to Sting52jb, why would Hadramas want the PCs to hold onto the scrolls? If he had the power to know their motivations, and could get in their dreams, why wouldn't he send visions of them giving him the scrolls and then getting all their hearts desire?
What power do the scrolls offer those who are not sorcerers? I only have one MU in the party, and I don't plan on pushing (or pulling) too hard, but if he doesn't bite, what would the scrolls offer someone else? Should I give a non-MU the ability to cast spells if they study the scrolls?
I like this one a lot. There are problems though. If I have a PC overtaken by an ancient sorcerer, then what? Do I make it an npc, and the player has to roll up a new character? Do I just have the player play the ancient sorcerer? He might not enjoy that. And even if he does, the ancient sorcerer would be clearly overpowered for the group.
All these problems go away if Cleb or another npc is the one who is effected by Like father like son.
Having said that, there are solutions to these problems if it happens to a PC: don't make the switch permanent, don't give the ancient sorcer control all the time, or don't give the sorcerer absolute control. Perhaps the pc and the sorcer have opposed tests of will periodically to determine who's in control. Perhaps the PC is in control all the time, but at key moments the sorcerer will force a test of will, where if he wins he takes over for a few seconds. Could prove very interesting. The player could even get into playing a jekly and hyde character, fooling the other PCs when he's hyde, and the like.
:twisted:
The unspeakable oath is awesome. Would it work for a non-MU I wonder? Hmmmm.
I was thinking a cool story hook is if the scrolls are part of a larger book. Making the book want to be together is pretty brilliant. I like it!
My original idea for the scrolls, before they were ever even in the hands of the PCs, was that they contained a ritual to summon Mata'Cima (who is really Jhebbal Sag, who is really Shub-Niggurath). It was also my original idea that the goal of the sentient scrolls was to be cast. I'm still slightly leaning toward this, but the other ideas are in play as well. The nice thing is I don't really have to decide yet which one to go with. I can wait for a bit, see how things play out, and then pick which ever one makes for the best story.
:twisted:
Oh man, I like it. Maybe their destination is Tartarus. In this scenario, the entity and his regressed minions would actually be unlikely heroes, out to destroy the scrolls and save their home, which would also be saving Messantia. Imagine the scrolls are successful in their endevor, which in some way was the fault of the PCs, and Messantia is wiped off the map. Now that is a story, gentlemen.
So many good ideas.
Sting52jb said:
Hadramas is definitely enemy number 1, and my players will hunt him to the ends of the earth to pay him back. Having Hadramas seek them out certainly has an appeal, hence I've made him (and his master Amanar) one of the scrolls chasers.
Having said this, I could have the scrolls send dreams to the PCs that if they hold on to the scrolls, they will get their shot at revenge. This would actually be true, as Hadramas is hunting the scrolls.
Back to Sting52jb, why would Hadramas want the PCs to hold onto the scrolls? If he had the power to know their motivations, and could get in their dreams, why wouldn't he send visions of them giving him the scrolls and then getting all their hearts desire?
Majestic7 said:
What power do the scrolls offer those who are not sorcerers? I only have one MU in the party, and I don't plan on pushing (or pulling) too hard, but if he doesn't bite, what would the scrolls offer someone else? Should I give a non-MU the ability to cast spells if they study the scrolls?
Majestic7 said:
I like this one a lot. There are problems though. If I have a PC overtaken by an ancient sorcerer, then what? Do I make it an npc, and the player has to roll up a new character? Do I just have the player play the ancient sorcerer? He might not enjoy that. And even if he does, the ancient sorcerer would be clearly overpowered for the group.
All these problems go away if Cleb or another npc is the one who is effected by Like father like son.
Having said that, there are solutions to these problems if it happens to a PC: don't make the switch permanent, don't give the ancient sorcer control all the time, or don't give the sorcerer absolute control. Perhaps the pc and the sorcer have opposed tests of will periodically to determine who's in control. Perhaps the PC is in control all the time, but at key moments the sorcerer will force a test of will, where if he wins he takes over for a few seconds. Could prove very interesting. The player could even get into playing a jekly and hyde character, fooling the other PCs when he's hyde, and the like.
Majestic7 said:
:twisted:
The unspeakable oath is awesome. Would it work for a non-MU I wonder? Hmmmm.
Majestic7 said:
I was thinking a cool story hook is if the scrolls are part of a larger book. Making the book want to be together is pretty brilliant. I like it!
Majestic7 said:
My original idea for the scrolls, before they were ever even in the hands of the PCs, was that they contained a ritual to summon Mata'Cima (who is really Jhebbal Sag, who is really Shub-Niggurath). It was also my original idea that the goal of the sentient scrolls was to be cast. I'm still slightly leaning toward this, but the other ideas are in play as well. The nice thing is I don't really have to decide yet which one to go with. I can wait for a bit, see how things play out, and then pick which ever one makes for the best story.
Majestic7 said:
:twisted:
Oh man, I like it. Maybe their destination is Tartarus. In this scenario, the entity and his regressed minions would actually be unlikely heroes, out to destroy the scrolls and save their home, which would also be saving Messantia. Imagine the scrolls are successful in their endevor, which in some way was the fault of the PCs, and Messantia is wiped off the map. Now that is a story, gentlemen.
So many good ideas.
Style one reason Hadramas could possibly not want to project that though is due to the fact that they know or sussucpt that Hadramas is aligned against them.
He could know that the PC's have the scrolls by there being a traitor in their mist, This could be the character who just recently drooped out of your game that if you haven't killed off could now become a recurring NPC in Hadramas employ.
Hadramas might want the PC to hold onto the scrolls not realizing that they are corrupting the one possessing them. His reason for this is he is making a plan to in the future retrieve the scrolls from the PC after completing some other planes he needs to finish reciting the incantations on the scrolls that will allow him to Mata'Cima (who is really Jhebbal Sag, who is really Shub-Niggurath).
Just some ideas, nothing solid it is your game.
I also like the idea that the essence of the sorcerer is entrapped in the scroll. This sorcerer could be a rival of Hadramas, not that ancient and also the reason Hadramas is after the scrolls to destroy his enemy forever. The way you could work this is that every once and a while the character need to make something similar to a DC test and if they fail the sorcerer takes over the PC's character for an undetermined point of time.
If you have access to the Wheel of Time RPG they have a really good way to represent this with their madness rules for channeling the One Power.
I really like the Idea of of the need to find the other parts of the book, this could be another reason for Hadramas to want them to keep the scrolls for now as he needs them to retrieve them. Why have your own minions try and complete a task that you can use a totally expendable dupe preform for you.
I also like the idea of that if for some reason the PC fail in their mission some dire consequence could happen maybe the destruction of a not so major city, but if you want it to be Messantia why not.
I did something very similar in one of my campaigns set on my own world. A member of my party were given a task by a member of an elite mage order and set off to complete their mission. Little did they know that the Mage had become the apprentice of the ultimate evil, ie. the Dark Lords of the Sith. When the found the book the Mage proceeded to destroy an entire continent trying to resurrect his demon lord.
Man this is making me want to start writing my own adventures again.
He could know that the PC's have the scrolls by there being a traitor in their mist, This could be the character who just recently drooped out of your game that if you haven't killed off could now become a recurring NPC in Hadramas employ.
Hadramas might want the PC to hold onto the scrolls not realizing that they are corrupting the one possessing them. His reason for this is he is making a plan to in the future retrieve the scrolls from the PC after completing some other planes he needs to finish reciting the incantations on the scrolls that will allow him to Mata'Cima (who is really Jhebbal Sag, who is really Shub-Niggurath).
Just some ideas, nothing solid it is your game.
I also like the idea that the essence of the sorcerer is entrapped in the scroll. This sorcerer could be a rival of Hadramas, not that ancient and also the reason Hadramas is after the scrolls to destroy his enemy forever. The way you could work this is that every once and a while the character need to make something similar to a DC test and if they fail the sorcerer takes over the PC's character for an undetermined point of time.
If you have access to the Wheel of Time RPG they have a really good way to represent this with their madness rules for channeling the One Power.
I really like the Idea of of the need to find the other parts of the book, this could be another reason for Hadramas to want them to keep the scrolls for now as he needs them to retrieve them. Why have your own minions try and complete a task that you can use a totally expendable dupe preform for you.
I also like the idea of that if for some reason the PC fail in their mission some dire consequence could happen maybe the destruction of a not so major city, but if you want it to be Messantia why not.
I did something very similar in one of my campaigns set on my own world. A member of my party were given a task by a member of an elite mage order and set off to complete their mission. Little did they know that the Mage had become the apprentice of the ultimate evil, ie. the Dark Lords of the Sith. When the found the book the Mage proceeded to destroy an entire continent trying to resurrect his demon lord.
Man this is making me want to start writing my own adventures again.
Style said:
If you like many of the ideas about the purpose and motivations of the scrolls, combine them. For example, the scrolls could be a weapon meant to destroy Tartarus by hijacking a body like in "Like Father, Like Son" and then accomplishing the destruction through summoning of some Mythos monster.
What comes to the push and the pull, the power the scrolls offer does not need to be magical in nature. It could be something like dreams revealing a place where the character can find a leather bag full of gold coins then promising more. Another option would be some mechanical boost to the characters abilities. Something that feels unique, not just basic bonus to abilities - for example, if darkness is somehow attached as a theme to the scrolls, they might make the character feel more at home in dark, bestowing him +1 to hit in such conditions.
What comes to Unspeakable Oath, it should be easy to cast - you could even make it something that can be done by even people who are not sorcerers. It does not after all give only sorcerous power, but can be used to practically receive a wish from the Unspeakable One.
Sting52jb said:
Of course, the vision would more subtle than "Give the scrolls to Hadramas. Trust me, it'll be ok."Sting52jb said:
That's pretty brilliant. I'm going to have to steal that. I may even keep him as a member of a family of assassin. Oh, man the more I think about this the more I like it!
Sting52jb said:
I do have that rule book. I'll have to dig it up read them. Off topic, but I'd love to play in a WoT game some time. Don't think I'll run one though.
Sting52jb said:
That's also pretty brilliant. After sending a few demons to retrieve the scrolls was unsuccessful, he decided to try a different approach and let the PCs retrieve the missing pieces for him...
Sting52jb said:
In my last campaign (a more traditional D&D world), the PCs unleashed an evil army from another plane. The army proceeded to subjugate or lay to waste half the known world. Talk about leaving your mark on a game world!
Sting52jb said:
Isn't it great being a DM? So much more rewarding than being a player, imo.
Majestic7 said:
What a coincidence! While reading stings I started putting together ways of combing all the ideas. Great minds think alike!
Majestic7 said:
That's very good.
Majestic7 said:
Good ideas.
Majestic7 said:
While I love the Unspeakable Oath spell, I'm trying to decide if I like combining it with Like Father, Like Son. The scrolls make you turn into a horrible beast, and the scrolls make you turn into an ancient sorcerer. Should I combine these two? Of course, the physical changes could be making the body more acceptable for the ancient sorcerer (perhaps he was a serpent man?), but I think I like the idea of him changing to someone else, but physically looking the same, and then me and the player working together to fool the other players with a Jekyll and Hyde routine.
I'm glad i could help. For my world i have shamelessly stoled from the WoT multiple times, just because i enjoy Robert Jordan's work so much. By the way the rules i was talking about is on pg. 210 it is just a basic overview on how madness works for channeling. You would probably have to convert it but it would give you a general idea. I use something very smiler for my actually soccers for when they over cast magic.
Style said:
I think it is better to not tie together too many loose ends in the same mess. I think you should choose between Like Father, Like Son and the Unspeakable Oath - they aren't really compatible. So since you are leaning towards LFLS (heh), my advice would be to dump the Unspeakable Oath and other elements that don't easily combine with LFLS. I think LFLS is nice because it turns someone ordinary in to something extraordinary without the change necessarily being apparent.
You were wondering about how to make the transformation work. That battle of wills - idea might work fine. Perhaps the sorcerer is so ancient that the spell has lost some of its potency, especially if the target is not really a relative. First, I think the deciphering the scrolls should not be a trivial task. So how about if activating them would be a long quest and the transformation itself would be another long quest? Several sessions each? You should be careful about not leaning too heavily on just one character and player, though - as others might not like becoming sidekicks.
I remember that you are not using Mongoose D20, but Savage Worlds? Well, in Conan d20 you could handle the transfromation through Corruption. The spirit of the sorcerer would live inside head of the "victim", offering power and knowledge... Accepting those boons would give the character one point of Corruption. If the character ever passed 10 points of Corruption, the sorcerer would take control. I don't think he should be able to ever push the dead man out of his head, though...but keeping Corruption at zero would keep him just as a whisper at the back of the head, perhaps manifesting in nightmares. Increasing points in Corruption on the other hand would strengthen his grip. Insanities galore might be in order, together with moments when the sorcerer is in total control. I can see plenty of fun there.
Hmm, I think the largest problem is - how to prevent the player from spilling the beans and telling everything once he starts to find out what is really going on? You could just try to have the sorcerer bribe him not to tell the others... some kind of curse that prevents him from telling would be too pushy, I think, but would work if necessary.
Majestic7 said:
Right, I was thinking the same thing. Plus, this allows me to bank the great story seed that is the Unspeakable Oath for another time.
Majestic7 said:
Yeah, that is the danger making one player the center piece of your campaign for an extended period. I have a new player in the group, new to my campaign AND new to RPGs. I'm kind of hoping it's his PC who takes the bait, as the other veteran players in my game should have an easier time as support characters. Not to mention he's showing a TON of role playing potential. This could be a great opportunity to put him in the spotlight and watch him blossom.
Majestic7 said:
That's a pretty good way to handle it.
Majestic7 said:
I'm thinking that there will be a test of wills when the sorcerer wants to take control, and upon success he has 100% control. The sorcerer will have access to all of the PC's knowledge. Meanwhile, the PC does not have ANY awareness of the sorcerer. When the sorcerer feels his control slipping, he can plant false memories of what was happening while he had the wheel, and the PC will be none the wiser. In this way, we should be able to carry on the charade for a while. Eventually the PC (and especially the rest of the party) will notice inconsistencies, I'm sure, and figure out something is up. But what? It will hopefully be some time before they figure out what is really going on.
Another key point will be convincing the player of the gem of a role playing opportunity he has in his hands. He is not just playing his character, he's also playing a villain. I need to sell the player on playing the villain with as much passion and desire "to win" as he does his PC. I don't think it will be too hard of a sell. Personally, I would absolutely LOVE to have a chance to play something like this if I was in their shoes, but maybe I'm just being optimistic. We'll see.
That would be another good thing if the new guy is the one taking the bait. He hasn't had that long to fall in love with his character, and may not find it so hard to work against his own PC.
Anyway, I'm thinking that new powers/boons will come with more study/translation of the scrolls. This also brings with it more frequent tests of will for control. I'm thinking each new boon/power will come with a minor insanity, phobia, or other oddity like a facial tick. There is actually a mechanic for this in SW, where you take hindrances (like insanity) in exchange for benefits (the power/boon). In this manner, I can simulate increasing corruption AND keep things balanced by the SW rules. Even with all the powers, the player will be paying a hindrance cost for them, so it should balance out vs the other characters.
OK, let me recap and collate what I have so far:
Gladiator related plot points
* The PCs are now escaped slave gladiators.
*** What is being done to retrieve the PCs?
* Maloc, the champion gladiator of house gabrio, is an enemy of the ophirian PC (and doesn't care for any of the PCs really). Last session he poisoned the blades of the Shemite PC, causing him to win a match he was suppose to throw.
* Tommy the Fist, thug who does "jobs" for house gabrio, claims to have evidence to clear the PCs of their crimes. He has been known recently to have dealings with smugglers of sorcerous items. The Shemite was supposed to throw a match in exchange for the evidence, but ended up winning. This pissed off Tommy, who (along with some thugs) is about to administer a beat down to the PCs (cliff hanger from last session).
* Tommy and Maloc both work for House Gabrio, but are not allied with each other.
* What's going on with gladiator council currently investigating the poisoning and thrown match that occured (which involved the shemite pc, maloc, and tommy)?
* House Actaeus would be pissed at the Shemite for killing their gladiator via poison if they find out.
* House Gabrio has it in for Hadramas, and that’s why they dug up evidence on him.
*** Why do they have it in for him?
* Lord Damon Florens has a neutral to good relationship with the celebrity gladiator PCs.
* Calchas Idaeus, owner of half the PCs, is attempting to use the PCs to embarrass house Gilroy (with one of the party members being a noble from rival house Gilroy). The PCs have since fled captivity.
Scroll plot points
* The scrolls are a piece of an ancient book.
* The purpose of the book is to destroy Tartarus (Archeronian city beneath Messantia).
* The book completes its mission by taking possession of someone (an ancient sorcerer's essence is in the book), and then using them to complete a ritual detailed in the book to summon Mata'Cima (who is really Jhebbal Sag, who is really Shub-Niggurath).
*** Question: What happens when the ancient sorcerer "awakens" and realizes Tartarus is gone? Is his mission so strong that he has the blinders on, believing Messantia is really Tartarus in disguise? Or is the possession not by an ancient sorcerer, instead the person is more like an automaton with a very firm primary directive? Ehh, that idea doesn't work well with the charade I'd like to play...
* The scroll will send visions to those around them, offering power and other rewards (playing on their motivations) to get them to become obsessed with the scrolls and retrieving the entire book.
*** This will start with dreams sent to the entire group until some one bites. Once one PC is hooked, it will sink its teeth in and concentrate on reeling that one in, no longer sending visions to the others.
* Velikul, "the entity", lives below Messantia and wants the scrolls to destroy them.
*** Could be Mordiggian, ghoul god. Or it could just be the cthulhu-inspired alien in SM3.
* Cthulhu cultist/regressed Neanderthals worship "the entity". Velikul sends his minions after the scrolls (via the sewers), sometimes accompanied by cthulhu monstrosities.
* Hadramas is a disciple of Amanar, a great sorcerer.
* Hadramas was originally sending demons to retrieve the scrolls. It failed twice. (First when Cleb possessed them, and Second when the PCs did.)
* Hadramas has since gained an ally within the party, the Ophirian assassin named Crucio. He's decided to cease sending demons; instead having Crucio encourage the party to hold onto the scrolls and retrieve the whole book. Then, Crucio will steal the book and give it to Hadramas.
*** How did Hadramas gain Crucio as an ally? Hypnotism? A Mundane business deal? Perhaps an order from his family, with which Hadramas is now allied?
*** What role does Crucios family of Assassins play? Originally, when Crucio was a PC, not an NPC, I had them as scroll chasers independent of Hadramas.
*** Why does Hadramas/Amanar seek the scrolls? Originally I was thinking Amanar was an ancient enemy of the entity, and didn't want it to have the power of the scrolls. Now that the plot has changed and the entity wants the scrolls to destroy them, what is Amanar/Hadrmas's desire for the scrolls? Are they ignorant of their true purpose, and want power? Do they desire the destruction of Messantia? Perhaps the sorcerer trapped within the scrolls is an old rival of Amanar, and thus Amanar too wants the scrolls destroyed, but that doesn't make sense why he'd want the PCs to find and assemble the book.
* Cleb, a priest of the cult of Mata'Cima, is an ally of the noble PC from house Gilroy, a fellow cultist. He is not a slave or gladiator, nor is he wanted. He sent the PCs the scrolls to get Hadramas's demon off his back. He's currently at large.
*** What effect did the scrolls have on him while they were in his possession? I was planning on having Cleb return for the scrolls, and jealously wanting them back now that the demon has been taken care of.
* A Vendhyan priest of Mata'Cima, a powerful rival of Cleb, has Solomon Kane's staff of power in his possession. He thinks it's a relic of the church of Mata'Cima. Later, I may reveal it's really a relic of Bast.
* The scrolls were stolen from the Vendhyan priest of Mata'Cima. He's seeks the scrolls as relics of Mata'Cima.
* Argentio, the information broker from Vengeance of the Golden Skull (which I'd like to run later), has been known to do jobs for Cleb and the noble PC. He recently delivered the scrolls from Cleb to the noble PC.
Misc plot points
* Are the Noble's family (House Gilroy) doing anything on his behalf?
* Question: what merchant house is Hadramas (a merchant) affiliated with?
* What about Zuthelia and the Cult of the Golden Skull?
* Another PC is a Cimmerian barbarian. He's related to the Cimmerian who was killed during the arrest for robing Hadramas. The PC, Ragas, was searching for his cousin to join up in his quest. The quest was to find the warlord raider who destroyed their village and killed most of their family. (A clear rip off of CtB.) Ragas followed his cousin's trail to Messantia, where he heard he was killed resisting arrest for murder and robbery. He wanted to get close to the men who were traveling with his cousin, and find out what really happened, as well as to find where they were on the trail to find the warlord (which is ice cold). Being an ignorant barbarian, he ended up selling himself into slavery/gladiatorship to get close to them, not fully understanding what it is he was doing to himself.
* The Zamorian thief has an unknown enemy (per his hindrance).
Mama mia. That took longer than I thought it would.
Gladiator related plot points
* The PCs are now escaped slave gladiators.
*** What is being done to retrieve the PCs?
* Maloc, the champion gladiator of house gabrio, is an enemy of the ophirian PC (and doesn't care for any of the PCs really). Last session he poisoned the blades of the Shemite PC, causing him to win a match he was suppose to throw.
* Tommy the Fist, thug who does "jobs" for house gabrio, claims to have evidence to clear the PCs of their crimes. He has been known recently to have dealings with smugglers of sorcerous items. The Shemite was supposed to throw a match in exchange for the evidence, but ended up winning. This pissed off Tommy, who (along with some thugs) is about to administer a beat down to the PCs (cliff hanger from last session).
* Tommy and Maloc both work for House Gabrio, but are not allied with each other.
* What's going on with gladiator council currently investigating the poisoning and thrown match that occured (which involved the shemite pc, maloc, and tommy)?
* House Actaeus would be pissed at the Shemite for killing their gladiator via poison if they find out.
* House Gabrio has it in for Hadramas, and that’s why they dug up evidence on him.
*** Why do they have it in for him?
* Lord Damon Florens has a neutral to good relationship with the celebrity gladiator PCs.
* Calchas Idaeus, owner of half the PCs, is attempting to use the PCs to embarrass house Gilroy (with one of the party members being a noble from rival house Gilroy). The PCs have since fled captivity.
Scroll plot points
* The scrolls are a piece of an ancient book.
* The purpose of the book is to destroy Tartarus (Archeronian city beneath Messantia).
* The book completes its mission by taking possession of someone (an ancient sorcerer's essence is in the book), and then using them to complete a ritual detailed in the book to summon Mata'Cima (who is really Jhebbal Sag, who is really Shub-Niggurath).
*** Question: What happens when the ancient sorcerer "awakens" and realizes Tartarus is gone? Is his mission so strong that he has the blinders on, believing Messantia is really Tartarus in disguise? Or is the possession not by an ancient sorcerer, instead the person is more like an automaton with a very firm primary directive? Ehh, that idea doesn't work well with the charade I'd like to play...
* The scroll will send visions to those around them, offering power and other rewards (playing on their motivations) to get them to become obsessed with the scrolls and retrieving the entire book.
*** This will start with dreams sent to the entire group until some one bites. Once one PC is hooked, it will sink its teeth in and concentrate on reeling that one in, no longer sending visions to the others.
* Velikul, "the entity", lives below Messantia and wants the scrolls to destroy them.
*** Could be Mordiggian, ghoul god. Or it could just be the cthulhu-inspired alien in SM3.
* Cthulhu cultist/regressed Neanderthals worship "the entity". Velikul sends his minions after the scrolls (via the sewers), sometimes accompanied by cthulhu monstrosities.
* Hadramas is a disciple of Amanar, a great sorcerer.
* Hadramas was originally sending demons to retrieve the scrolls. It failed twice. (First when Cleb possessed them, and Second when the PCs did.)
* Hadramas has since gained an ally within the party, the Ophirian assassin named Crucio. He's decided to cease sending demons; instead having Crucio encourage the party to hold onto the scrolls and retrieve the whole book. Then, Crucio will steal the book and give it to Hadramas.
*** How did Hadramas gain Crucio as an ally? Hypnotism? A Mundane business deal? Perhaps an order from his family, with which Hadramas is now allied?
*** What role does Crucios family of Assassins play? Originally, when Crucio was a PC, not an NPC, I had them as scroll chasers independent of Hadramas.
*** Why does Hadramas/Amanar seek the scrolls? Originally I was thinking Amanar was an ancient enemy of the entity, and didn't want it to have the power of the scrolls. Now that the plot has changed and the entity wants the scrolls to destroy them, what is Amanar/Hadrmas's desire for the scrolls? Are they ignorant of their true purpose, and want power? Do they desire the destruction of Messantia? Perhaps the sorcerer trapped within the scrolls is an old rival of Amanar, and thus Amanar too wants the scrolls destroyed, but that doesn't make sense why he'd want the PCs to find and assemble the book.
* Cleb, a priest of the cult of Mata'Cima, is an ally of the noble PC from house Gilroy, a fellow cultist. He is not a slave or gladiator, nor is he wanted. He sent the PCs the scrolls to get Hadramas's demon off his back. He's currently at large.
*** What effect did the scrolls have on him while they were in his possession? I was planning on having Cleb return for the scrolls, and jealously wanting them back now that the demon has been taken care of.
* A Vendhyan priest of Mata'Cima, a powerful rival of Cleb, has Solomon Kane's staff of power in his possession. He thinks it's a relic of the church of Mata'Cima. Later, I may reveal it's really a relic of Bast.
* The scrolls were stolen from the Vendhyan priest of Mata'Cima. He's seeks the scrolls as relics of Mata'Cima.
* Argentio, the information broker from Vengeance of the Golden Skull (which I'd like to run later), has been known to do jobs for Cleb and the noble PC. He recently delivered the scrolls from Cleb to the noble PC.
Misc plot points
* Are the Noble's family (House Gilroy) doing anything on his behalf?
* Question: what merchant house is Hadramas (a merchant) affiliated with?
* What about Zuthelia and the Cult of the Golden Skull?
* Another PC is a Cimmerian barbarian. He's related to the Cimmerian who was killed during the arrest for robing Hadramas. The PC, Ragas, was searching for his cousin to join up in his quest. The quest was to find the warlord raider who destroyed their village and killed most of their family. (A clear rip off of CtB.) Ragas followed his cousin's trail to Messantia, where he heard he was killed resisting arrest for murder and robbery. He wanted to get close to the men who were traveling with his cousin, and find out what really happened, as well as to find where they were on the trail to find the warlord (which is ice cold). Being an ignorant barbarian, he ended up selling himself into slavery/gladiatorship to get close to them, not fully understanding what it is he was doing to himself.
* The Zamorian thief has an unknown enemy (per his hindrance).
Mama mia. That took longer than I thought it would.
Sting52jb said:
OK, I finally read p. 210. I forgot how great those madness rules are. Very nice. Thanks for the heads up! These would work great for studying any lovecraftian texts that drive you mad. Have every page (or so) read/translated give you 1 point madness, and just follow the rules straight up otherwise.
I'm tempted to scratch my original idea (adding hindrances with each new power) and just go with this. Although I would need to alter it a bit to add in the second personality. What I could do is alter the madness check, and instead of results like Delusion, Suspicion, etc, I could have increasing amounts of time where control is surrendered to the ancient sorcerer. In place of Dementia, at that time the ancient sorcerer takes control permanently.
It's not the tit for tat balance of my original idea (each power gained comes with a hindrance gained), but losing complete control with no awareness is a pretty huge hindrance in its own right. And if the character isn't picking insanities along the way, is acting completely normally when he's in control, this could help keep the charade in place for an extended period.
I have a few questions/open issues for which I'd love your feedback:
* Hadramas has since gained an ally within the party, the Ophirian assassin named Crucio. He's decided to cease sending demons; instead having Crucio encourage the party to hold onto the scrolls and retrieve the whole book. Then, Crucio will steal the book and give it to Hadramas.
*** How did Hadramas gain Crucio as an ally? Hypnotism? A Mundane business deal? Perhaps an order from his family, with which Hadramas is now allied?
*** What role does Crucios family of Assassins play? Originally, when Crucio was a PC, not an NPC, I had them as scroll chasers independent of Hadramas.
*** Why does Hadramas/Amanar seek the scrolls? Originally I was thinking Amanar was an ancient enemy of the entity, and didn't want it to have the power of the scrolls. Now that the plot has changed and the entity wants the scrolls to destroy them, what is Amanar/Hadrmas's desire for the scrolls? Are they ignorant of their true purpose, and want power? Do they desire the destruction of Messantia? Perhaps the sorcerer trapped within the scrolls is an old rival of Amanar, and thus Amanar too wants the scrolls destroyed, but that doesn't make sense why he'd want the PCs to find and assemble the book.
* Cleb, a priest of the cult of Mata'Cima, is an ally of the noble PC from house Gilroy, a fellow cultist. He is not a slave or gladiator, nor is he wanted. He sent the PCs the scrolls to get Hadramas's demon off his back. He's currently at large.
*** What effect did the scrolls have on him while they were in his possession? I was planning on having Cleb return for the scrolls, and jealously wanting them back now that the demon has been taken care of.
* House Gabrio has it in for Hadramas, and that’s why they dug up evidence on him.
*** Why do they have it in for him?
* Hadramas has since gained an ally within the party, the Ophirian assassin named Crucio. He's decided to cease sending demons; instead having Crucio encourage the party to hold onto the scrolls and retrieve the whole book. Then, Crucio will steal the book and give it to Hadramas.
*** How did Hadramas gain Crucio as an ally? Hypnotism? A Mundane business deal? Perhaps an order from his family, with which Hadramas is now allied?
*** What role does Crucios family of Assassins play? Originally, when Crucio was a PC, not an NPC, I had them as scroll chasers independent of Hadramas.
*** Why does Hadramas/Amanar seek the scrolls? Originally I was thinking Amanar was an ancient enemy of the entity, and didn't want it to have the power of the scrolls. Now that the plot has changed and the entity wants the scrolls to destroy them, what is Amanar/Hadrmas's desire for the scrolls? Are they ignorant of their true purpose, and want power? Do they desire the destruction of Messantia? Perhaps the sorcerer trapped within the scrolls is an old rival of Amanar, and thus Amanar too wants the scrolls destroyed, but that doesn't make sense why he'd want the PCs to find and assemble the book.
* Cleb, a priest of the cult of Mata'Cima, is an ally of the noble PC from house Gilroy, a fellow cultist. He is not a slave or gladiator, nor is he wanted. He sent the PCs the scrolls to get Hadramas's demon off his back. He's currently at large.
*** What effect did the scrolls have on him while they were in his possession? I was planning on having Cleb return for the scrolls, and jealously wanting them back now that the demon has been taken care of.
* House Gabrio has it in for Hadramas, and that’s why they dug up evidence on him.
*** Why do they have it in for him?
We played last night. It was both interesting and frustrating. It was frustrating in that because multiple players were VERY late, we only played for 1.5 hours! 
It was interesting in that the players did something I did not expect.
Like I mentioned before, the last session ended with the players leaving a gala at the Tavern of Trials, with (what I thought was) no intentions of returning to the coliseum. They were told they had the night off to attend the gala, but just had to be back by the start of training early in the morning. I was ready to run a session of them hiding out in Messantia (a difficult task, considering they are celebrities), them being hunted as escape slaves, and the like. Well, they went back to stay at the Coliseum.
The details: Last session ended with the PCs running through the darkened streets of messantia, trying to lose a group of figures who followed. They couldn't lose them, and the session ended with the trailing Shemite being grabbed from behind, and hearing the familiar voice of Tommy the Fist saying "No one betrays me." So I picked up right there. The PCs stopped running, and the Shemite tried to talk his way out of it. He was doing an exceedingly poor job of it (not saying even remotely the right things to get out of it), but I gave him a persuasion roll none the less, which also failed. (Had he said the right thing and made a persuasion roll, it's possible he could have formed a loose alliance with Tommy and possibly gotten the evidence to free themselves anyway, despite not throwing the match.) Meanwhile, Tommy's thug friends were surrounding the shemite, and telling the others to "Stay out of it." and "This doesn't involve you." So they backed off, for some reason thinking it was going to be a fair fight between Tommy and the Shemite. When the thugs proceeded to hold the Shemite so that Tommy could wail on him, only then did they try to act, but it was too little too late. Tommy pummeled him into unconsciousness, and knocked some teeth out. (For those familiar with SW rules, he did a whopping 22 points damage with one unarmed blow! The shemites toughness was 6, so I was like "Yeah, he's losing some teeth over this one.") Tommy and company then just left them.
The PCs proceeded to look for Cleb, high priest of Mata'Cima who sent them the scrolls. They went first to the Noble's villa, where they found it locked up with a 'For Sale' sign out front. (Unknown to them, it was given to Hadramas by the courts as compensation for his losses, and he's selling it.) Not finding him there, they moved on to find Argentio. When the tracked him down and told him that demons came after them seeking the scrolls, the scrolls that they had on them at that moment, in his apartment, he became very scared and said whatever he could to get them out of his apartment quick.
Next, they went searching for Cleb again, but the sun started to rise before they could, so they went back to the Coliseum.
At this point, the scrolls started sending promising dreams to the characters. The one to take the bait was the noble, to which the scrolls sent dreams of him becoming a powerful high priest, creating a strong church, toppling the church of Mitra, and crushing his enemies. Character wise, he's probably the best choice to be the chosen of the scrolls, as they are in his possession and they are in fact (un)holy relics of Mata'Cima (sort of).
Calchas Idaeus has been attempting to use the Noble of house Gilroy to embarrass his rival merchant house, in front of everyone in the floor of the arena. So far, the noble has been able to turn the tables and thus embarrass Calchas Idaeus instead. This time Lord Idaeus tried something safer. He had an impostor fight as the noble (wearing a visored helm), and had the impostor show cowardliness in the arena, running away, and being severely shown up by his opponent. The crowd had a good laugh at these antics. Of course the PC found after the fact, but there was nothing he could do about it.
I didn't have and additional Coliseum encounters in mind, so I decided to have Hadramas send more demons. The session ended with demons slipping into the noble's room at the coliseum, and battle about to commence. What they don't know is that next session, shortly after the battle starts Velikul's troops (a rampaging Shogoth, with hordes of degenerates following in its wake) will burst in seeking the scrolls, and we'll have a nice three way battle.
Not as much as I'd of liked to accomplish (no combat, other than the Shemite getting his teeth knocked out!), but I guess not bad for 90 minutes work.
Now what? I really had no intentions of keeping them captive slaves this long. I figured they would be gladiator slaves for one or two sessions, and then escape. I had reason to believe this, as they've said all along they're looking for the first shot at freedom. But their actions haven't matched their words. I've given them several opportunities for escape, and so far they have not taken any of them. Now they're embroiled in the story, want to find out what's going on, and have changed their tune that they're content to use the coliseum as their home base. I'm thinking I will start giving them a lot more freedom. They've shown they're trust worthy by A) performing their duty as members of the Order of the Sands, protecting Messantia from the threat below, and B) always returning on time when given leave. I'm thinking they will now be allowed to leave after practice each day, as long as they're back by the start of practice the next day. Otherwise allowed to come and go. Maybe with this a promotion to the next rank in the gladiators, given better lodgings with in the Coliseum, and so on. What do you think?
Of course, there are two more matter to consider before elevating their rank among the gladiators. One, do the gladiators begin to put together the fact that the darkness below has increased its aggression dramatically since the PCs have arrived, and now seem to actively be seeking them out? Two, what is the results of the investigation of the incident with poisoned blades and thrown matches? Your thoughts?
It was interesting in that the players did something I did not expect. Like I mentioned before, the last session ended with the players leaving a gala at the Tavern of Trials, with (what I thought was) no intentions of returning to the coliseum. They were told they had the night off to attend the gala, but just had to be back by the start of training early in the morning. I was ready to run a session of them hiding out in Messantia (a difficult task, considering they are celebrities), them being hunted as escape slaves, and the like. Well, they went back to stay at the Coliseum.
The details: Last session ended with the PCs running through the darkened streets of messantia, trying to lose a group of figures who followed. They couldn't lose them, and the session ended with the trailing Shemite being grabbed from behind, and hearing the familiar voice of Tommy the Fist saying "No one betrays me." So I picked up right there. The PCs stopped running, and the Shemite tried to talk his way out of it. He was doing an exceedingly poor job of it (not saying even remotely the right things to get out of it), but I gave him a persuasion roll none the less, which also failed. (Had he said the right thing and made a persuasion roll, it's possible he could have formed a loose alliance with Tommy and possibly gotten the evidence to free themselves anyway, despite not throwing the match.) Meanwhile, Tommy's thug friends were surrounding the shemite, and telling the others to "Stay out of it." and "This doesn't involve you." So they backed off, for some reason thinking it was going to be a fair fight between Tommy and the Shemite. When the thugs proceeded to hold the Shemite so that Tommy could wail on him, only then did they try to act, but it was too little too late. Tommy pummeled him into unconsciousness, and knocked some teeth out. (For those familiar with SW rules, he did a whopping 22 points damage with one unarmed blow! The shemites toughness was 6, so I was like "Yeah, he's losing some teeth over this one.") Tommy and company then just left them.
The PCs proceeded to look for Cleb, high priest of Mata'Cima who sent them the scrolls. They went first to the Noble's villa, where they found it locked up with a 'For Sale' sign out front. (Unknown to them, it was given to Hadramas by the courts as compensation for his losses, and he's selling it.) Not finding him there, they moved on to find Argentio. When the tracked him down and told him that demons came after them seeking the scrolls, the scrolls that they had on them at that moment, in his apartment, he became very scared and said whatever he could to get them out of his apartment quick.
Next, they went searching for Cleb again, but the sun started to rise before they could, so they went back to the Coliseum.
At this point, the scrolls started sending promising dreams to the characters. The one to take the bait was the noble, to which the scrolls sent dreams of him becoming a powerful high priest, creating a strong church, toppling the church of Mitra, and crushing his enemies. Character wise, he's probably the best choice to be the chosen of the scrolls, as they are in his possession and they are in fact (un)holy relics of Mata'Cima (sort of).
Calchas Idaeus has been attempting to use the Noble of house Gilroy to embarrass his rival merchant house, in front of everyone in the floor of the arena. So far, the noble has been able to turn the tables and thus embarrass Calchas Idaeus instead. This time Lord Idaeus tried something safer. He had an impostor fight as the noble (wearing a visored helm), and had the impostor show cowardliness in the arena, running away, and being severely shown up by his opponent. The crowd had a good laugh at these antics. Of course the PC found after the fact, but there was nothing he could do about it.
I didn't have and additional Coliseum encounters in mind, so I decided to have Hadramas send more demons. The session ended with demons slipping into the noble's room at the coliseum, and battle about to commence. What they don't know is that next session, shortly after the battle starts Velikul's troops (a rampaging Shogoth, with hordes of degenerates following in its wake) will burst in seeking the scrolls, and we'll have a nice three way battle.
Not as much as I'd of liked to accomplish (no combat, other than the Shemite getting his teeth knocked out!), but I guess not bad for 90 minutes work.
Now what? I really had no intentions of keeping them captive slaves this long. I figured they would be gladiator slaves for one or two sessions, and then escape. I had reason to believe this, as they've said all along they're looking for the first shot at freedom. But their actions haven't matched their words. I've given them several opportunities for escape, and so far they have not taken any of them. Now they're embroiled in the story, want to find out what's going on, and have changed their tune that they're content to use the coliseum as their home base. I'm thinking I will start giving them a lot more freedom. They've shown they're trust worthy by A) performing their duty as members of the Order of the Sands, protecting Messantia from the threat below, and B) always returning on time when given leave. I'm thinking they will now be allowed to leave after practice each day, as long as they're back by the start of practice the next day. Otherwise allowed to come and go. Maybe with this a promotion to the next rank in the gladiators, given better lodgings with in the Coliseum, and so on. What do you think?
Of course, there are two more matter to consider before elevating their rank among the gladiators. One, do the gladiators begin to put together the fact that the darkness below has increased its aggression dramatically since the PCs have arrived, and now seem to actively be seeking them out? Two, what is the results of the investigation of the incident with poisoned blades and thrown matches? Your thoughts?
So we played last night. It was pretty fun. My only complaint was that the session was too short. (Darn players coming late. :evil: )
The session started with more (Hadramas summoned) demons hunting the scrolls in the dead of night, while the gladiators slept in their quarters within the Coliseum. A couple rounds into the fight, other gladiators (who were formerly on guard "down below") go running past screaming. When the PC's looked down the hall, here is what they saw. (I prepared my own box text before the session, borrowing some from HPL's At the Mountains of Madness.)
“You see a massive, shapeless thing filling the entire hallway. It’s terrible and nearly indescribable, as it gathers unholy speed rolling straight toward you. It’s faintly self luminous, a myriad of temporary eyes forming and unforming. You can’t help but feel repulsion at this abomination, seemingly rotting with putrescence, yet filled with horrible vitality. You hear muffled sounds of screams and chaos coming from somewhere behind it. Make a guts check, -2.”
Apparently my box text was appropriately creepy, as even though the PC's made their guts checks, they still ran. (Thank you Howard Phillips!) In fact one ran and hid under a bed! I'm not kidding.
Let me back up a few steps and set the scene. The argossean noble was burnign the midnight oil, studying the scrolls. The zamorian thief was standing guard, as they were suspicious after the last time demons came for the scrolls. so 2 demons show up, the PCs engage to fight, but one demon slips by to grab the scrolls off the desk. Meanwhile they hear gladiators running by and screaming in the halls. The demons decide to bolt, with scrolls in hand. As the PCs give chase, they are given the box text above. They chase after the demons anyway (away from the shoggoth), and one hero manage to grapple the demon with the scrolls. One of the other PCs was going to attempt to grab the scrolls and pull them away, but I told him that this would only result in the ancient, frail documents being torn to shreds. (In retrospect, I probably should have asked for a Smarts check first, and if unsuccessful, just let him tear them to shreds. That's the way it goes some times.) So instead, he does a called shot to the arms, hoping to lop them off or at least cause him to drop the scrolls. First try, the called shot is unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the shapeless horror continues to roll toward them, crushing innocent bystanders as it chases the scrolls. Next round, the called shot worked quite well, lopping off the demon's hand. They grabbed the scrolls off the ground, with the shoggoth nearly on top of them. At this point, the party split. Those with the scrolls went one way (toward a dead end!!!), those without, including the argossean noble, the other.
So the PC's with the scrolls quickly realized their error, but could do nothing about it, as the shoggoth completely filled the hall in the direction of the only way out. They went in a room, barred the door, and hid under the beds. (That still cracks me up.) Meanwhile, I told the noble that he had a moment of clarity, remember a "prayer" from the scrolls, and that he thought it'd be a good idea say it right now. So he did. In reality what happened is the sorcerer from within the scrolls seized control during the chaos and panic, and cast summon earth elemental. I described it to those around the noble that they saw him put his hands on the stone wall and begin chanting in some strange and unknown tongue. When asked about it after, the noble was just like "What, I said a prayer to my god. So?" Remember that the sorcerer can alter the Noble's memories to be what he wants them to be. There is no "black out" when the sorcerer takes over. There is no understanding of what's really going on. So he painted a memory that the noble was simply praying.
Then, the whole coliseum starts to shake, people are running around screaming, the shoggoth is slamming into the barred door (which is about to shatter at any second), and PCs are hiding under the bed with in. This is when a section of the coliseum collapsed.
When the dust settled, a pie section of the coliseum, about a 5th of the structure, had collapsed in, destroying the gladiator quarters, and crushing the Shoggoth, the demons, and any gladiators who didn't make it out. The PCs hiding under the bed with the scrolls had their room collapse in on them, but they were at the edge of the destruction, took only minor wounds, and managed to pull themselves and the scrolls out.
I was pretty pleased with the scene. The players seemed to be as well. I'm sure at least some were thinking the prayer was a deus ex machina, but I can live with that. All the better it will be when they find out that it actually wasn't, that the PC was possessed by a sorcerer who was just protecting himself/the scrolls. And I was able to pull off the first incident of Mr. Hyde taking over without bringing the player into the fold, which was a bonus.
After the confusion that followed, the surviving gladiators were eventually directed toward apartments near by, where they'd be given room and board (and freedom to come and go, as long as they showed up for training and matches).
With their new found freedom, they went to the streets searching for information. The noble went in search of other cult members, and learned that some foreigners of his faith came in just the night before, including one matching a description of the Vendyhan he stole the scrolls from. Now, they still think that it's this guy summoning the demons, but now they're questioning it some since demons first came after them a week earlier, and this guy apparently just arrived last night. They also heard word of a crazy homeless guy known as "the prophet", who was preaching his incoherent ramblings around dock side. They searched for the prophet and discovered that it was indeed Cleb. He was beaten up pretty badly, but not mortally. (This was from the Vendhyan who'd found him first, but the players didn't openly speculate about why he was in that condition.) So they took Cleb and tried to clean him up, gave him a drink and food, etc. He didn't recognize them, and just rambled incoherent fragments about Mata'Cima. He did say a few times that he'd "seen her", and that she "was beautiful."
I liked this scene with Cleb, as it showed that contact with forbidden knowledge can break your mind, plus his saying things like "I've seen her!" is good foreshadowing for if they do ever gather all the pieces of the scrolls and summon Mata'Cima (who is really Jhebbal Sag, who is really Shub-Niggurath).
That was it. Like I said, a short session last night. I was hoping to have the PCs get in a situation with the Vendhyan and his crew, but I guess that will come soon enough.
Thoughts?
The session started with more (Hadramas summoned) demons hunting the scrolls in the dead of night, while the gladiators slept in their quarters within the Coliseum. A couple rounds into the fight, other gladiators (who were formerly on guard "down below") go running past screaming. When the PC's looked down the hall, here is what they saw. (I prepared my own box text before the session, borrowing some from HPL's At the Mountains of Madness.)
“You see a massive, shapeless thing filling the entire hallway. It’s terrible and nearly indescribable, as it gathers unholy speed rolling straight toward you. It’s faintly self luminous, a myriad of temporary eyes forming and unforming. You can’t help but feel repulsion at this abomination, seemingly rotting with putrescence, yet filled with horrible vitality. You hear muffled sounds of screams and chaos coming from somewhere behind it. Make a guts check, -2.”
Apparently my box text was appropriately creepy, as even though the PC's made their guts checks, they still ran. (Thank you Howard Phillips!) In fact one ran and hid under a bed! I'm not kidding.
Let me back up a few steps and set the scene. The argossean noble was burnign the midnight oil, studying the scrolls. The zamorian thief was standing guard, as they were suspicious after the last time demons came for the scrolls. so 2 demons show up, the PCs engage to fight, but one demon slips by to grab the scrolls off the desk. Meanwhile they hear gladiators running by and screaming in the halls. The demons decide to bolt, with scrolls in hand. As the PCs give chase, they are given the box text above. They chase after the demons anyway (away from the shoggoth), and one hero manage to grapple the demon with the scrolls. One of the other PCs was going to attempt to grab the scrolls and pull them away, but I told him that this would only result in the ancient, frail documents being torn to shreds. (In retrospect, I probably should have asked for a Smarts check first, and if unsuccessful, just let him tear them to shreds. That's the way it goes some times.) So instead, he does a called shot to the arms, hoping to lop them off or at least cause him to drop the scrolls. First try, the called shot is unsuccessful. Meanwhile, the shapeless horror continues to roll toward them, crushing innocent bystanders as it chases the scrolls. Next round, the called shot worked quite well, lopping off the demon's hand. They grabbed the scrolls off the ground, with the shoggoth nearly on top of them. At this point, the party split. Those with the scrolls went one way (toward a dead end!!!), those without, including the argossean noble, the other.
So the PC's with the scrolls quickly realized their error, but could do nothing about it, as the shoggoth completely filled the hall in the direction of the only way out. They went in a room, barred the door, and hid under the beds. (That still cracks me up.) Meanwhile, I told the noble that he had a moment of clarity, remember a "prayer" from the scrolls, and that he thought it'd be a good idea say it right now. So he did. In reality what happened is the sorcerer from within the scrolls seized control during the chaos and panic, and cast summon earth elemental. I described it to those around the noble that they saw him put his hands on the stone wall and begin chanting in some strange and unknown tongue. When asked about it after, the noble was just like "What, I said a prayer to my god. So?" Remember that the sorcerer can alter the Noble's memories to be what he wants them to be. There is no "black out" when the sorcerer takes over. There is no understanding of what's really going on. So he painted a memory that the noble was simply praying.
Then, the whole coliseum starts to shake, people are running around screaming, the shoggoth is slamming into the barred door (which is about to shatter at any second), and PCs are hiding under the bed with in. This is when a section of the coliseum collapsed.
When the dust settled, a pie section of the coliseum, about a 5th of the structure, had collapsed in, destroying the gladiator quarters, and crushing the Shoggoth, the demons, and any gladiators who didn't make it out. The PCs hiding under the bed with the scrolls had their room collapse in on them, but they were at the edge of the destruction, took only minor wounds, and managed to pull themselves and the scrolls out.
I was pretty pleased with the scene. The players seemed to be as well. I'm sure at least some were thinking the prayer was a deus ex machina, but I can live with that. All the better it will be when they find out that it actually wasn't, that the PC was possessed by a sorcerer who was just protecting himself/the scrolls. And I was able to pull off the first incident of Mr. Hyde taking over without bringing the player into the fold, which was a bonus.
After the confusion that followed, the surviving gladiators were eventually directed toward apartments near by, where they'd be given room and board (and freedom to come and go, as long as they showed up for training and matches).
With their new found freedom, they went to the streets searching for information. The noble went in search of other cult members, and learned that some foreigners of his faith came in just the night before, including one matching a description of the Vendyhan he stole the scrolls from. Now, they still think that it's this guy summoning the demons, but now they're questioning it some since demons first came after them a week earlier, and this guy apparently just arrived last night. They also heard word of a crazy homeless guy known as "the prophet", who was preaching his incoherent ramblings around dock side. They searched for the prophet and discovered that it was indeed Cleb. He was beaten up pretty badly, but not mortally. (This was from the Vendhyan who'd found him first, but the players didn't openly speculate about why he was in that condition.) So they took Cleb and tried to clean him up, gave him a drink and food, etc. He didn't recognize them, and just rambled incoherent fragments about Mata'Cima. He did say a few times that he'd "seen her", and that she "was beautiful."
I liked this scene with Cleb, as it showed that contact with forbidden knowledge can break your mind, plus his saying things like "I've seen her!" is good foreshadowing for if they do ever gather all the pieces of the scrolls and summon Mata'Cima (who is really Jhebbal Sag, who is really Shub-Niggurath).
That was it. Like I said, a short session last night. I was hoping to have the PCs get in a situation with the Vendhyan and his crew, but I guess that will come soon enough.
Thoughts?
We played last night, and the PCs are beginning to piece together some of the story.
The Shemite, who worships Bel, decided to seek out a place of worship. I told him that Mitra was by far the dominant religion, and there was a massive temple in the King's Prefect, but with Shem's proximity and the number of shemites in the city, there was one smaller temple to the Shemite pantheon in the city (much to the chagrin of the Mitran priests).
As an aside, I was not prepared for the player to seek out priests of Bel, and I made the ruling above on the fly. After the fact looking at the Messantia box, I see that there is no temple to the Gods of Shem, just a shrine, and Bel is not worshiped there. Oh well.
So he went to the temple, where there were shrines within to many of the Shemite deities, and went and prayed before the idol of Bel. Afterward, he sought a priest for consol. It went well, and they quickl trusted each other. The PC told the priest, named Gilzan, more or less everything he knew. Gilzan told him about Messantia being built upon Tartarus, and that there is an ancient slumbering (now awakened?) evil below. That the regressed were once men, but they worshipped the entity as a god, and were twisted into the creatures they've seen and killed. He didn't know why the entity would be seeking these scrolls. He asked the PC to bring the noble who had been translating the scrolls, as he wanted to talk to him about it.
Note that they player playing the noble was not there at this session. So when days later, the shemite came back to Gilzan with the Argossean noble in tow, Gilzan asked for a private audience with the noble. Now I need to call the player and have that conversation with him. That, or I could rule that the ancient sorcerer from the scrolls took over and had a conversation the player is unaware of. I'm also considering that Gilzan my attempt to hypnotize the noble, if he suspects he's under some influence. Thoughts on Gilzan's questioning of the noble?
After the private discussion, Gilzan spoke to both PCs, saying that he would speak to the elders on the matter, and then let them know their response. Gilzan knows about the entity Velikul below, and knows that he's apparently after the scrolls the PCs possess. He also knows that demons are being sent after the scrolls, presumably by the Vendhyan priest of Mata'Cima (they're really being sent by Hadramas). What should the shemite priests response be?
The PC had asked if there was anything the priest could do to help him protect himself against demons. The priest gave him a holy relic, a tasseled belt that would "give those strong of faith the will to stand against the darkness." (+2 to guts checks, i.e. saves verses fear.) He also traced runes of power on his sword that would make it a weapon vs demons, but that "the power will hold only for a few days." With that, he sent them off, telling them to report back any news they find.
While this was going on, Argentino told them he discovered that House Gabrio had it in for Hadramas. The fat merchant had run afoul of the House, and they've since done some digging to uncover "dirt" on Hadramas. The PCs then began to speculate that perhaps Tommy the Fist did actually have evidence that could help them prove their innocence. They discussed seeking Tommy out to "talk" about it, but so far have not gone any further.
One day, they came back from training with the gladiators to their apartments, and found their old clothes were gone, and nice new clothes were left in their place. They asked around: "Lord Idaeus wanted to reward you for doing so well, so he had new clothes brought for you." Since Lord Idaeus has done nothing but shit on them, they immediately suspected something was up. They speculated that the Vendhyan sent for their clothes to use as magic links against them. Actually it was Hadramas who did this to gain magic links, but the PCs didn't investigate further and discover the truth.
In addition, some of the other PCs began investigating the Vendhyans, and found the inn where they were staying. They began watching them. While watching them, they soon discovered that the Vendhyans were also watching them. And then the Vendhyans discovered that the PCs were watching them. So everyone knows everyone is watching everyone. The Vendhyans discovered this the night before Seabreaker (the biggest boat racing holiday of the year in Messantia). They immediately, stealthily vacated the inn.
With the discovery that they PCs are watching them/on to them, the Vendhyans decided to quickly make a bold move. The PCs were invited by Lord Florens, a fan of gladiators and the PCs specifically, to watch the races with him on some barges he had converted to pleasure boat luxury boxes. It's not uncommon for Merchant houses to use barges in this manner for Seabreaker, and there were actually other barges right next to them that were open to the public (for a fee). Ferry men were bringing guests out to the barges, along with refreshments.
Anyway, one ferry boat approached their barge, and some masked Vendhyans sprung out to attack. At the same time, some other Vendhyans leaped across from the near by public barges. There was a battle on the cramped pleasure boat, with lots of screaming noble ladies, turned over tables, spilled wine, and splashed sea water. As the PCs dispatched the assailants, the priest of Mata'Cima, watching from afar, thought it best to "clean up the mess." He cast summon beast. The session ended with the PCs watching a dark form rising in the water, then tentacles exploding forth, water splashing everywhere, the barge rocking, people falling off, and women screaming.
I love ending sessions on a cliff hanger. So far I've been pretty successful in timing them like this.
So anyway, next session will start with the giant squid (kraken?) targeting the fallen Vendhyans to drag to the murky depths. This is punishment for failing their mission, but more importantly to shut them up. Of course, the PCs don't know this, and assume it's after them. The priest would not want to target them with the sea monster, for after all, the water could very well destroy the scrolls.
So what's next? If the PCs aren't going to attempt to clear their names by seeking the evidence House Gabrio has on Hadramas (why they haven't done this, I don't know, but you can only lead a horse to water, you can't force it to drink), then I think it's time to send them off scroll chasing. The question is where? I want to send them to the Pictish Wilderness for sure, but I'm not quite ready to run that yet. (I want to read Beyond Thunder River first.) I'm thinking Amanar has one piece of the book already (and desires the rest). I could send them to Amanar, where I could run Conan the Invincible. But how to get them there?
One thought is Hadramas has already sealed Crucio as a conspirator (how?), and so he's content to let the PCs gather all the scrolls and then have Crucio steal them for him. So he leaves, going back to Amanar's mountain fortress. (Where should I put this?) Perhaps the noble is sent dreams (by the scrolls) that Hadramas is the key to finding the next piece of the book, then they could pick up his trail and follow him to Amanar. Thoughts on this?
Any feedback you can give would be great. Thanks!
The Shemite, who worships Bel, decided to seek out a place of worship. I told him that Mitra was by far the dominant religion, and there was a massive temple in the King's Prefect, but with Shem's proximity and the number of shemites in the city, there was one smaller temple to the Shemite pantheon in the city (much to the chagrin of the Mitran priests).
As an aside, I was not prepared for the player to seek out priests of Bel, and I made the ruling above on the fly. After the fact looking at the Messantia box, I see that there is no temple to the Gods of Shem, just a shrine, and Bel is not worshiped there. Oh well.
So he went to the temple, where there were shrines within to many of the Shemite deities, and went and prayed before the idol of Bel. Afterward, he sought a priest for consol. It went well, and they quickl trusted each other. The PC told the priest, named Gilzan, more or less everything he knew. Gilzan told him about Messantia being built upon Tartarus, and that there is an ancient slumbering (now awakened?) evil below. That the regressed were once men, but they worshipped the entity as a god, and were twisted into the creatures they've seen and killed. He didn't know why the entity would be seeking these scrolls. He asked the PC to bring the noble who had been translating the scrolls, as he wanted to talk to him about it.
Note that they player playing the noble was not there at this session. So when days later, the shemite came back to Gilzan with the Argossean noble in tow, Gilzan asked for a private audience with the noble. Now I need to call the player and have that conversation with him. That, or I could rule that the ancient sorcerer from the scrolls took over and had a conversation the player is unaware of. I'm also considering that Gilzan my attempt to hypnotize the noble, if he suspects he's under some influence. Thoughts on Gilzan's questioning of the noble?
After the private discussion, Gilzan spoke to both PCs, saying that he would speak to the elders on the matter, and then let them know their response. Gilzan knows about the entity Velikul below, and knows that he's apparently after the scrolls the PCs possess. He also knows that demons are being sent after the scrolls, presumably by the Vendhyan priest of Mata'Cima (they're really being sent by Hadramas). What should the shemite priests response be?
The PC had asked if there was anything the priest could do to help him protect himself against demons. The priest gave him a holy relic, a tasseled belt that would "give those strong of faith the will to stand against the darkness." (+2 to guts checks, i.e. saves verses fear.) He also traced runes of power on his sword that would make it a weapon vs demons, but that "the power will hold only for a few days." With that, he sent them off, telling them to report back any news they find.
While this was going on, Argentino told them he discovered that House Gabrio had it in for Hadramas. The fat merchant had run afoul of the House, and they've since done some digging to uncover "dirt" on Hadramas. The PCs then began to speculate that perhaps Tommy the Fist did actually have evidence that could help them prove their innocence. They discussed seeking Tommy out to "talk" about it, but so far have not gone any further.
One day, they came back from training with the gladiators to their apartments, and found their old clothes were gone, and nice new clothes were left in their place. They asked around: "Lord Idaeus wanted to reward you for doing so well, so he had new clothes brought for you." Since Lord Idaeus has done nothing but shit on them, they immediately suspected something was up. They speculated that the Vendhyan sent for their clothes to use as magic links against them. Actually it was Hadramas who did this to gain magic links, but the PCs didn't investigate further and discover the truth.
In addition, some of the other PCs began investigating the Vendhyans, and found the inn where they were staying. They began watching them. While watching them, they soon discovered that the Vendhyans were also watching them. And then the Vendhyans discovered that the PCs were watching them. So everyone knows everyone is watching everyone. The Vendhyans discovered this the night before Seabreaker (the biggest boat racing holiday of the year in Messantia). They immediately, stealthily vacated the inn.
With the discovery that they PCs are watching them/on to them, the Vendhyans decided to quickly make a bold move. The PCs were invited by Lord Florens, a fan of gladiators and the PCs specifically, to watch the races with him on some barges he had converted to pleasure boat luxury boxes. It's not uncommon for Merchant houses to use barges in this manner for Seabreaker, and there were actually other barges right next to them that were open to the public (for a fee). Ferry men were bringing guests out to the barges, along with refreshments.
Anyway, one ferry boat approached their barge, and some masked Vendhyans sprung out to attack. At the same time, some other Vendhyans leaped across from the near by public barges. There was a battle on the cramped pleasure boat, with lots of screaming noble ladies, turned over tables, spilled wine, and splashed sea water. As the PCs dispatched the assailants, the priest of Mata'Cima, watching from afar, thought it best to "clean up the mess." He cast summon beast. The session ended with the PCs watching a dark form rising in the water, then tentacles exploding forth, water splashing everywhere, the barge rocking, people falling off, and women screaming.
I love ending sessions on a cliff hanger. So far I've been pretty successful in timing them like this.
So anyway, next session will start with the giant squid (kraken?) targeting the fallen Vendhyans to drag to the murky depths. This is punishment for failing their mission, but more importantly to shut them up. Of course, the PCs don't know this, and assume it's after them. The priest would not want to target them with the sea monster, for after all, the water could very well destroy the scrolls.
So what's next? If the PCs aren't going to attempt to clear their names by seeking the evidence House Gabrio has on Hadramas (why they haven't done this, I don't know, but you can only lead a horse to water, you can't force it to drink), then I think it's time to send them off scroll chasing. The question is where? I want to send them to the Pictish Wilderness for sure, but I'm not quite ready to run that yet. (I want to read Beyond Thunder River first.) I'm thinking Amanar has one piece of the book already (and desires the rest). I could send them to Amanar, where I could run Conan the Invincible. But how to get them there?
One thought is Hadramas has already sealed Crucio as a conspirator (how?), and so he's content to let the PCs gather all the scrolls and then have Crucio steal them for him. So he leaves, going back to Amanar's mountain fortress. (Where should I put this?) Perhaps the noble is sent dreams (by the scrolls) that Hadramas is the key to finding the next piece of the book, then they could pick up his trail and follow him to Amanar. Thoughts on this?
Any feedback you can give would be great. Thanks!
thelevitator
Mongoose
Hey Style, thanks for pointing me to this thread. I......can't.......stop......reading it!
Great stuff! 8)
Great stuff! 8)
Crucio's motivation can be as convoluted as you desire, depending on how thick you want the intrigue to run.
He could simply be motivated by a captured family member, perhaps Hadramas has his little sister or mom, or even an exceptional signigicant other.
Or for a more intrigueing strategy- Crucio could have been born a whelp, a runt, doomed to an embarrassing existence in his house. But his mother bargained with Hadramas to make him straight of limb and strong of thew, with a sound mind- But that mind was poisoned by Hadramas to someday become his servant. etc. Crucio might not even be aware of this. Imagine if Hadramas had no further use for Crucio and discarded him and the rest of the PC's (having eventually discovered Crucio's treachery) find Crucio a handicapped drooling mess and trying to figure that out!
Just some ideas.
He could simply be motivated by a captured family member, perhaps Hadramas has his little sister or mom, or even an exceptional signigicant other.
Or for a more intrigueing strategy- Crucio could have been born a whelp, a runt, doomed to an embarrassing existence in his house. But his mother bargained with Hadramas to make him straight of limb and strong of thew, with a sound mind- But that mind was poisoned by Hadramas to someday become his servant. etc. Crucio might not even be aware of this. Imagine if Hadramas had no further use for Crucio and discarded him and the rest of the PC's (having eventually discovered Crucio's treachery) find Crucio a handicapped drooling mess and trying to figure that out!
Just some ideas.
While I love Gavin's concept for Hadramas mending a gimpy Crucio, I'm not sure I can implement it, at least not for Crucio. First off, I don't see Hadramas as the arch mage that would be required for this type of powerful magic, but that's an easy fix, just make Amanar, Hadramas's master, be the one who worked the magic. No, the real problem is the timing of when Crucio joined the group. He joined it before they had the scrolls, and likely before Hadramas had any clue they were going to get them. It's just way too coincidental that he joins the group as a henchmen of Hadramas, before Hadramas knew having a henchman among them would be useful. Sure, I could say he used divinations to see what was coming, but it still seems like a stretch.
I love the idea, but unless some one can talk me into it, I'm thinking it would be better used somewhere else down the road.
Moving on, Savage worlds has a feature called hindrances. You take a hindrance during character creation in order to gain a benefit somewhere else. The Zamorian thief joined the party well into the story, and took the hindrances enemy (he has an enemy out to get him) and death wish. (For death wish, you have a goal that you will do ANYTHING to complete, no matter how much you put yourself in harm's way. You want to die after completing the goal.) The player told me "You can reveal my enemy as we play" (sounds reasonable) "and my death wish goal is to kill that enemy."
I let it go initially, but it hasn't really been sitting well with me of late. To me, it's like getting the benefits of two hindrances for the price of one. Let me explain a bit more.
Any heroes in a role playing game are going to have enemies, regardless. All the characters in our group have enemies right now, whether they have the hindrance or not! (The Zamorian is the only one who does.) It also says in the rules that hindrances should be hindering. (Duh!) So to me, for an enemy to be hindering enough to count as a hindrance, since they're all going to have enemies regardless, then the enemy must be a serious pain in the a$$, screwing the PC at every opportunity. Before long, the PC will seriously hate them and they're going to want to get them at nearly any cost anyway, regardless of the Death wish hindrance. See what I mean?
It's pretty easy to fix this. Either select a different death wish goal or select different hindrances entirely. I've spoken to the player about it, and he's willing to make some changes. Here's what I'm considering:
Crucio is not Hadramas's plant, the Zamorian thief is. In the next session, Hadramas gets a shot to hypnotize the Zamorian, and he plants some deep seeds in his subconscious. The Zamorian's main goal is to get all the pieces of the book (of which the scrolls are just one piece). He will do anything to get them. He is to work with his friends, as long as they are working toward finding the scrolls, and then when they are all found, he's to take the book and give it to Hadramas. "I will come to you when you have the whole book. Have it ready for me. After you give it to me, kill yourself." Of course, Hadramas will close out the hypno-session with the ol' "You don't remember me talking to you."
Pros? It would clearly advance the story. Should keep the party together, and on the same page/working toward the same goals (at least until the end). It would also make for a nice plot twist as the story nears its climax.
Cons? Is this too railroady? I'm essentially forcing a quest upon them. Granted, whatever the goal of the death wish is, by its nature it will end up being a quest the PC must complete, but hindrances are normally chosen by the player, hence my trepidation.
Speaking of hindrances, I'm thinking of making Crucio the enemy of the Zamorian. Not a "I want him dead immediately" kind of enemy, but more a "I want to watch him suffer slowly for a loooong time" type. Where the timing of making Crucio Hadramas's gimp is all wrong, it's actually perfect for making him this type of enemy to the Zamorian (who's name is Olexander). Both Crucio and Olexander joined the party at the exact same time, during the initiation into the Order of Sands.
At some point in the past, Olexander unknowingly wronged Crucio. Perhaps Olexander stole from a noble, but Crucio's wife, the Noble's house maid, was blamed and hung from the gallows? Olexander got away and had no idea this happened, no clue who Crucio and his wife even were! Since then, Crucio has been trying to catch up with the thief to exact his slow revenge. When Olexander became a gladiator, Crucio sold himself into slavery to become one as well, and has latched on to the party ever since. Now, he plans to exact his revenge with relatively small things at first. Stuff like messing with the thief's equipment before a job, so that it breaks at the wrong time. Maybe slipping tiny amounts of poison into his food, so that he's sick and suffering (fatigued) all the time. Some day he will take the opportunity to kill him, but it won't be until he's had plenty of opportunities to make Olexander miserable.
Your thoughts?
I love the idea, but unless some one can talk me into it, I'm thinking it would be better used somewhere else down the road.
Moving on, Savage worlds has a feature called hindrances. You take a hindrance during character creation in order to gain a benefit somewhere else. The Zamorian thief joined the party well into the story, and took the hindrances enemy (he has an enemy out to get him) and death wish. (For death wish, you have a goal that you will do ANYTHING to complete, no matter how much you put yourself in harm's way. You want to die after completing the goal.) The player told me "You can reveal my enemy as we play" (sounds reasonable) "and my death wish goal is to kill that enemy."
I let it go initially, but it hasn't really been sitting well with me of late. To me, it's like getting the benefits of two hindrances for the price of one. Let me explain a bit more.
Any heroes in a role playing game are going to have enemies, regardless. All the characters in our group have enemies right now, whether they have the hindrance or not! (The Zamorian is the only one who does.) It also says in the rules that hindrances should be hindering. (Duh!) So to me, for an enemy to be hindering enough to count as a hindrance, since they're all going to have enemies regardless, then the enemy must be a serious pain in the a$$, screwing the PC at every opportunity. Before long, the PC will seriously hate them and they're going to want to get them at nearly any cost anyway, regardless of the Death wish hindrance. See what I mean?
It's pretty easy to fix this. Either select a different death wish goal or select different hindrances entirely. I've spoken to the player about it, and he's willing to make some changes. Here's what I'm considering:
Crucio is not Hadramas's plant, the Zamorian thief is. In the next session, Hadramas gets a shot to hypnotize the Zamorian, and he plants some deep seeds in his subconscious. The Zamorian's main goal is to get all the pieces of the book (of which the scrolls are just one piece). He will do anything to get them. He is to work with his friends, as long as they are working toward finding the scrolls, and then when they are all found, he's to take the book and give it to Hadramas. "I will come to you when you have the whole book. Have it ready for me. After you give it to me, kill yourself." Of course, Hadramas will close out the hypno-session with the ol' "You don't remember me talking to you."
Pros? It would clearly advance the story. Should keep the party together, and on the same page/working toward the same goals (at least until the end). It would also make for a nice plot twist as the story nears its climax.
Cons? Is this too railroady? I'm essentially forcing a quest upon them. Granted, whatever the goal of the death wish is, by its nature it will end up being a quest the PC must complete, but hindrances are normally chosen by the player, hence my trepidation.
Speaking of hindrances, I'm thinking of making Crucio the enemy of the Zamorian. Not a "I want him dead immediately" kind of enemy, but more a "I want to watch him suffer slowly for a loooong time" type. Where the timing of making Crucio Hadramas's gimp is all wrong, it's actually perfect for making him this type of enemy to the Zamorian (who's name is Olexander). Both Crucio and Olexander joined the party at the exact same time, during the initiation into the Order of Sands.
At some point in the past, Olexander unknowingly wronged Crucio. Perhaps Olexander stole from a noble, but Crucio's wife, the Noble's house maid, was blamed and hung from the gallows? Olexander got away and had no idea this happened, no clue who Crucio and his wife even were! Since then, Crucio has been trying to catch up with the thief to exact his slow revenge. When Olexander became a gladiator, Crucio sold himself into slavery to become one as well, and has latched on to the party ever since. Now, he plans to exact his revenge with relatively small things at first. Stuff like messing with the thief's equipment before a job, so that it breaks at the wrong time. Maybe slipping tiny amounts of poison into his food, so that he's sick and suffering (fatigued) all the time. Some day he will take the opportunity to kill him, but it won't be until he's had plenty of opportunities to make Olexander miserable.
Your thoughts?
