Sagely Advice · Legacy archive
Ancient Gamer's Smithy - Coldforged Table Top Scenarios
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Re: Ancient Gamer's Smithy - Coldforged Table Top Scenarios
#41Well, obviously the PCs will get a chance to fend off the coup. It will be a very hard thing to do, but they are up to the task.
If the order isn't successful, the nomads will still try to assault the city (the order has paid them to do so and they are unaware whether the coup is successful or not).
The city will still be in turmoil after the coup attempt, and the walls will be undermanned.
However:
A) The soul driven Steamwork Golems will come to the rescue
B) The armies will move towards the walls.
So it all depends on how skilled the city watch are at guarding the walls. Once again the PCs will play a role, and with their newly acquired allies it is possible that they will even fight on the walls (though they ARE thieves, not soldiers).
The main weapon of the PCs will be subterfuge - Disrupting the chain of command and killing off key personell among the enemy.
These sessions will be played with warfare, explosions and murder as the backdrop.
Notes to self:
- Try avoiding pure "kill enemies" scenarios:
-- Warn the council
-- Defend position X (Safety - Defensive)
-- Secure alliances (Safety - Offensive)
-- Visit the coven (Info - Divination)
-- Find new hiding place for the guild (Safety - Defensive)
-- Question merchant (Info - Torture)
-- Discover vital information by observing enemies (Info - Spying) -
Re: Ancient Gamer's Smithy - Coldforged Table Top Scenarios
#42Hmmm...
The logical thing for the coup makers would be to have the nomads stage an attack beforehand, but the nomads themselves would likely attack after or during the coup.
Sounds like both the coup and the attack will start at dawn, with nomad spies making sure the coup makers are true to their word. -
Re: Ancient Gamer's Smithy - Coldforged Table Top Scenarios
#43The lost boy in the slums:
The PCs will search and search, but to no avail. There is no lost boy in the slums. There are a number of urchins though, and orphanages galore, but in the end no obvious choice will present itself.
One late night, when the moon is full, a male PC will be separated from the rest, and he will be set upon by foes (that fit the occasion). When the rest of the PCs find him, he will look strangely young in the moonlight, almost like a boy drenched in the blood, and he will be hard pressed, retreating step by step, trying to not get completely surrounded (I hope... Up to the PC, I better pick one of the smart ones).
This then will be their lost boy, and thus the PC will have a central role, one that he does not understand yet.
(Introduce tattoos here, as I did in the coldforged forum RPG. The "boy" will have a moon-seared tattoo on his neck (only visible in the light of a full moon)). -
Re: Ancient Gamer's Smithy - Coldforged Table Top Scenarios
#44The Good Ol' Sorcery too Great for thee plot
In the heart of the city district only known as 'The Gloom', because of its sheltered position between Temple Hill and the city wall, where the sun rarely shines (and because of the cries of the insane from the sanatoriums on the slopes of Temple Hill facing 'The Gloom'), there is an estate nested between the ramshackle slum buildings. A black cast iron fence keeps the undesirable elements of this city district out, the rabid doberman watchdogs making sure no one climbs the fence and enter the gardens.
This is the abode of the plantation owner Feng Rashul, a man rarely seen entering or exiting his dark abode. In fact there are catacombs beneath the city, and some of the subterranean corridors of these catacombs lead straight below the estate. It is through these corridors Feng Rashul and his cultist followers travel, for Feng is anything but a simple plantation owner. Feng Rashul is the High Sorceror of Anashur**, the Champion of Xaor*** and the Chosen Disciple of the late Master Hun Shen.
While watching the movement of the shapeshifters, the Face-Eaters, that has so haunted the guild, the PCs discover messengers delivering messages between a Face-Eater stronghold and Feng Rashul's mansion.
Intercepting any of said messages will reveal brief out of context notes. The messages will say things such as:
(From Face-Eaters to Feng Rashul's Cult)
"We agree. The requested service will be carried out, but first we need a sign of your sincerety. On the morrow of the great festival you will leave a bundle of your prize products on the steps of merchant Lu's weaponshop. Following this delivery, the requested service will be provided"
"It is as you say. Master Agoros, the Many-Hued, Favored of Anashur, has yet to return from his previous activity. We therefore suggest that Adept Benuin, Firemage of the Second Circle, fill his role in this most critical venture. As ever our foes are vigilant, in spite of being decimated. We will launch a grand attack on their remaining forces in perfect synchronization with this most vital endeavour. Feed your dobermans by the grand iron gate tomorrow morning if you agree"
(From Feng Rashul's Cult to the Face-Eaters)
"The master has decided that your services are required now, rather than at the appointed time. Our lord stirs in his eternal sleep, as well you know, and the tremors of the ether occur more often than before. It is of utmost importance that you understand this, and that you understand that the cost of failure is as high as the payment which you require. Do not let anything get in your way, not even lyour dealings with the order of Ansmarch must interfere."
"We agree to your terms. Everything will happen during the grand festival. Your final payment will be delivered at midnight, on Coyote Hill, by the old sacrificial altar of the outlawed Hun Shen Cult"
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Re: Ancient Gamer's Smithy - Coldforged Table Top Scenarios
#45Feng Rashul's Estate
Notes to self:
- Ashes of the forefathers: The Rashul Bloodline's remains are kept in glossy vermillion ceramic urns, their base encircled by newly plucked bluish and red coloured orchids. If things look grim for Rashul he will attempt to withdraw into the ancestral temple, where he will call upon his forefathers. Three ghosts will answer his call (flesh out the ghosts). -
Re: Ancient Gamer's Smithy - Coldforged Table Top Scenarios
#46And why haven't you made this a submission? -
Re: Ancient Gamer's Smithy - Coldforged Table Top Scenarios
#47Because here I can brainstorm and vent my ideas without the need for formatting, rereading and all that nonsense. Here I can be creative, no strings attached.
I do not wish the contents of this thread to be moved without my consent. I will move it when I have the time, which is not very often. Please respect this.
The Curse of Potter-Town
The Guild Master has been approached by a client offering the guild 300 gold for the elimination of the Warlock Deng Arun, master potter of the Guild of Potters. Should be fairly straightforward.
It is not. The Warlock and his four apprentices have been cursed, transforming them into the "Nex Derja, The Apostles of Wrath". The Nex Derja walk hinged, almost on their knuckles, and their once human faces have been impossibly contorted into beastial, snarling visages of hatred and intentions most murderous. The Nex Derja stalk the shadows, climb steep walls, often jumping thrice their own height, whilst whispering empowered words that send listeners into near sleep, or sometimes drive a deep fear into their souls, before they burst from the shadows, tearing at the hapless victim with inhuman strength, their teeth gnawing and gnashing at windpipes, claws rending the skin.
The client knows of this, but has neglected to tell the guild representative this, knowing well that the price would multiply fourfold. This is in violation of the contract, but it would prove difficult to prove anything. Only the Guild Master's client representative has meet the client, and the PCs have never even met him/her (the representative). If questioned by the Guild Master, the representative will say that the client seemed a bit nervous, as if wanting to finish the negotiations early. This enabled the representative to press the prices, hence the huge reward (150 Gold Moons for the Guild, 150 for the assassins).
Into Potter-Town
The Quarter of the Merchants District known as Potter-Town seems oddly quiet. The few people met outside seems to hurry away when the PCs approach, and the first they manage to get in contact with will be a corpse, shred to pieces, horribly so, his legs ripped loose from the abdomen, as has the arms and head. (Nex Derja has done this). As the PCs enter the Potter Guild, the stench will be unbearable, the source quickly revealing itself: tens of torn corpses, half gnawed, fully mutilated. They have entered the Den of the Nex Derja.
The Nature of the Curse
The Guild Master, the Warlock-Potter Deng Arun, was once married to a beautiful woman. Her name was Ajin Enu, and for years all was well. It was the year Deng turned forty that he had an affair, a sexual thing with a young apprentice and soon they were the talk of the guild. As such things are wont to play out, Ajin was the last to hear, and her heart broke. She tried to get Deng to talk, but his lied would not end, and in the end she found love within the arms of another: Maq Xao, a city guard ten years younger than the aging Deng.
Ajin had decided to leave Deng, to flee his abode under the cover of night, but she was found out, perhaps she even wanted to be found out, and sobbing she revealed everything to Deng. What had she hoped for? Perhaps to win back his heart, or to balance out his sins, enabling them to go on, blemished but equal. Perhaps she dreamed of him crying, begging forgivance, begging her to stay, so they could go on with their lives, the love they once had. Yes, perhaps she dreamed of this, but it was not to be.
His heart turned dark with hatred, his thoughts churning, balking in the face of this most treacherous deceit, Deng Arun slammed his elbow into Ajin's nose, instantly breaking it, its sickly crunch heard even outside their room, droplets of blood on the antique wallpaper. Shocked, aghast, Ajin recoiled, but Deng would not relent, already harnessing his sorcerous power, wrapping her soul in ethereal chains. With a silver candlestick he smashed her skull, the left side of the face caving in. Ajin was dead, but her soul could not move on.
Chest heaving, breath heavy and heart pumping, Deng, the Master potter, sat down at the Potter's wheel. Soft clay was shaped into a thin, tapering vase, whereupon her soul was bound to the item. After having baked in the kiln, it was lacquered black. Drink that has been in the vase for more than a day will dishearten any imbiber, filling him with hopelessness, grief and a profound sense of futility.
Maq Xao is the source of the curse, for when Ajin never returned, never came outside to his waiting arms, he realized something horrible had happened. For weeks he fluttered about the building, a relentless phantom, a frantic madman. In the end he learnt of her fate as he overheard apprentice potters whisper about her fate as they left the building.
Despondent, dejected, he cried out as he collapsed by the outer Guild wall. He smashed his head into the stonework, blood soon flowing. As the Guild guards came to remove him, carried him away, he uttered his curse, his voice dead as stone, flat and emotionless. The words were not impressive, but his tone was, for he meant every single word, promising the guilty of the Guild a fate appropriate to their actions.
Solving the assignment
The client, who is not Maq, wants the Guild cleared. As a matter of fact she represents the survivors of the Guild who wants an end to the madness and business started anew. Little does she know that with blood on her hands, she will be responsible for actions such as those committed by her Guild Master. As a member of the Guild she will inherit the curse should the players successfully cleanse the guild. But no one knows of this.
Should the players prove conscientious and lift the curse (before killing the target or not, most probably they will), the curse will not be inherited.
Lifting the curse requires reuniting Ajin's vase with the now buried body of Maq. If they enter his tomb and place the vase in his embalmed embrace, why, the curse will have lifted.
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Re: Ancient Gamer's Smithy - Coldforged Table Top Scenarios
#48http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lipoptena_cervi
In the news today (Norway): Swarms of these insects target humans in the forest, and they are really difficult to remove. A bite can itch for up to a year...