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Deathwyrm's Zeitgeist Campaign - Clockwork Eclipse
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<blockquote data-quote="Deathwyrm" data-source="post: 7209801" data-attributes="member: 56957"><p>After the devious happenings aboard the Coaltongue, I ran a couple sessions of one shot "case of the week" sessions. In the past, we found that a lot of modules seem to be in a rush to get to the next exciting bit (Rise of the Runelords) or doesn't take the time to establish a connection to the location before it's in peril (Curse of the Crimson Throne), so we wanted to slow down leveling and in true serial crime tv style, have a couple of stand alone cases. One involved a serial killer who used convoluted traps (I was rewatching the Saw series while reading Grimtooth Trap books), the other involved a double-cross in a smuggling outfit when a cursed artifact was sent to mess up one group who wanted to back out of the deal. The group took to it well, because it gave them time to traverse the streets of Flint and encounter locations that would come up later.</p><p></p><p>Then the word came in that a crisis is happening, and they have an audience with Lya Jierre, the Minister of Outsiders. They were presented with the Three Towers puzzle and solved it pretty readily by taking the connections into three dimensions. One of the good agents, gunslinger Mikkel Oren, attempted to lay down some charming sedutions, to which she replied with a mixture of humouring and annoyance. Oren took it as a "maybe we'll go on a fancy date once all this business is done" cue and they got to the matter at hand. Exposition was laid down regarding the traitorous Duchess and her intent to spark an incident between the two nations. </p><p></p><p>As they set out on the R.N.S. Impossible, they were given some guidance on how to reach the fortress, and they formulated their own plans while ruminating "Isn't this well above our paygrade? Killers are no problem, but I mean, if we fail its war. And that's on us." So for much of the trip they kept to their cabin for "strategic planning" purposes but also spent much of it getting high. </p><p></p><p>Finding a good opportunity to infiltrate the island via the Sea Cave, their stealth was ruined almost immediately and a hard battle was fought in the mine. It was a particularly thrilling conflict as it was difficult to reach Foreman Dupiers. Many "He has the high ground, Jedi logic insists we are doomed" quips were had. </p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]87958[/ATTACH]</p><p>Diagram A: Vertical fights suck when you're the one on the bottom. </p><p></p><p>The laying down indicated swimming. </p><p></p><p>Having made their way out, they took note of the Icons that were left there. Seeing them as strange and potentially important, the agents held onto them and continued across the island to the protected fortress. Ambushing one patrolling group of guards, they diplomatically explained the situation to them. That the situation is going to escalate. At worst, it's war and no one wins. But cooperate, and they'll see about getting the treason charges dropped. </p><p></p><p>So they were able to make it into the fortress by pretending to be part of the patrol, delayed by reality fluctuations that made things really weird for them. "You get used to that" assured the duchess' guards. </p><p></p><p>Inside the fortress, the PCs took their time in gathering information on where the Duchess was hiding, where the Danorans were being kept, and how best to create a distraction so that the Sea Gate can be opened. Once they had the information they required, they set a couple buildings on fire and created a small panic which would allow them to release the prisoners captive in the stable-brig and hopefully distract enough people to allow the gate to be opened. </p><p></p><p>What came next was one heck of a battle. </p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]87959[/ATTACH]</p><p>Diagram B: First wave of the Duchess' forces arrive. </p><p></p><p>Guards-a-plenty quickly found out what the ruse was and descended upon the party. Thankfully, sneak attack clobberings, caltrops placed at critical choke points, and a lot of sudden improvisation won out like 25 rounds later. Highlights include the arrangement of unconscious/dying bodies to create more difficult terrain, reloading cannons to fire upon the base itself, and every PC spending at least a couple of rounds in negative hit points. It was a close one. </p><p></p><p>[ATTACH]87960[/ATTACH]</p><p>Diagram C: Don't be on the business end of a firearms crit. It leaves a mess.</p><p></p><p>But ultimately, the gate was opened and reinforcements made quick work of the remaining resistance. Many had the tactical mind to know when the battle for the gate was lost and offered a surrender. </p><p></p><p>Much of the rest of the session went as scripted. The Hedge Maze presented a frustration for the players (a couple of them have bad memories of the labyrinth levels of Rappan Athuk and their phase minotaurs), but when Asrabey Varel showed up they were quick to press Gillie that they're here to make sure the Duchess doesn't get killed and an accord was struck to reach her as fast as possible. </p><p></p><p>The standoff between Duchess Ethelyn and Asrabey was intense. Both parties were pretty battered and broken. Based on what Asrabey was saying in the scripted dialogue, the PCs assessed that he's not the enemy here either, and probably is like them.... soldiers just doing their orders. After half an hour of diplomacy, Asrabey agreed to relinquish Ethelyn to the PCs provided she is seen to proper justice for her crimes, and in return some day Asrabey would call on them for a favor and the PCs can not refuse it. They swore this over a blood oath that had no mechanical effects and is mainly symbolic, but the PCs believe strongly in so they feel indebted. </p><p></p><p>With this peaceful resolution, the island was officially given back to Lya Jierre who let slip to the group about her engagement to the king of Risur. PCs immediately looked at Mikkel "Friend-Zoned Casanova" Oren for his spectacularly failed but ambitious seduction attempt. Accolades were given to the task force as they did accomplish the task set for them.</p><p></p><p>The season ended with the PCs at their favorite hang out, the Broken Oar Tavern. Many of the people were thrilled with the celebrity gossip of the king getting married. But at the corner table, the PCs sat and drank. They felt more united than before, like a true team, for having endured a harrowing assignment that forced them to rely on each other more than before. Yet at the same time, why didn't it feel like the victory they were told they were? They remembered some of the words said, that "something was seen" which prompted Duchess Ethelyn to act the way she did. That Minister Lya Jierre seemed almost too enthusiastic to have the island back, at the time of her announced betrothal. Something was obviously happening above their statuses.... but they felt like nothing could be done at that time. So on into the night they drank, reflecting on what had happened and to be more aware of who can be trusted, and perhaps how far they're willing to go outside the law in order to serve the country they are so partial too now. </p><p></p><p>Overall thoughts on the module? Really good, really well done. The players were impressed that even at such an early level into an adventuring career, this wasn't a "kill rats in a basement" trope. They felt like their actions had consequences and enormous stakes. The NPCs were very fleshed out, so that their actions seemed to entirely make sense even if their motivations were unknown. This wasn't a simple "good vs evil" story. Everyone had very good reasons to believe their actions were justified, if regrettable. By the end of it, the characters and the players understood that a lot of was going on and they were in for something big. As far as a DM goes.... constantly reading and doing prep work will pay off. There's a lot of little things that went into this and made it really fleshed out. So that when the PCs do something unexpected, it's not really deviating off any rails. There's goals and objectives, and a sandbox for them to achieve that in. Excellently well written stuff.</p><p></p><p>So far, we're a couple sessions into Season 2. I started things off with a few more cases of the week (the trap killer again, and dealing with a local gang trying to blackmail the city police), but in September we're going to get into the meat of the overplot with The Dying Skyseer. Now that they're more "experienced" and know that this isn't something brutish adventuring acts of force can resolve... I'm very enthused to see where this goes.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Deathwyrm, post: 7209801, member: 56957"] After the devious happenings aboard the Coaltongue, I ran a couple sessions of one shot "case of the week" sessions. In the past, we found that a lot of modules seem to be in a rush to get to the next exciting bit (Rise of the Runelords) or doesn't take the time to establish a connection to the location before it's in peril (Curse of the Crimson Throne), so we wanted to slow down leveling and in true serial crime tv style, have a couple of stand alone cases. One involved a serial killer who used convoluted traps (I was rewatching the Saw series while reading Grimtooth Trap books), the other involved a double-cross in a smuggling outfit when a cursed artifact was sent to mess up one group who wanted to back out of the deal. The group took to it well, because it gave them time to traverse the streets of Flint and encounter locations that would come up later. Then the word came in that a crisis is happening, and they have an audience with Lya Jierre, the Minister of Outsiders. They were presented with the Three Towers puzzle and solved it pretty readily by taking the connections into three dimensions. One of the good agents, gunslinger Mikkel Oren, attempted to lay down some charming sedutions, to which she replied with a mixture of humouring and annoyance. Oren took it as a "maybe we'll go on a fancy date once all this business is done" cue and they got to the matter at hand. Exposition was laid down regarding the traitorous Duchess and her intent to spark an incident between the two nations. As they set out on the R.N.S. Impossible, they were given some guidance on how to reach the fortress, and they formulated their own plans while ruminating "Isn't this well above our paygrade? Killers are no problem, but I mean, if we fail its war. And that's on us." So for much of the trip they kept to their cabin for "strategic planning" purposes but also spent much of it getting high. Finding a good opportunity to infiltrate the island via the Sea Cave, their stealth was ruined almost immediately and a hard battle was fought in the mine. It was a particularly thrilling conflict as it was difficult to reach Foreman Dupiers. Many "He has the high ground, Jedi logic insists we are doomed" quips were had. [ATTACH=CONFIG]87958._xfImport[/ATTACH] Diagram A: Vertical fights suck when you're the one on the bottom. The laying down indicated swimming. Having made their way out, they took note of the Icons that were left there. Seeing them as strange and potentially important, the agents held onto them and continued across the island to the protected fortress. Ambushing one patrolling group of guards, they diplomatically explained the situation to them. That the situation is going to escalate. At worst, it's war and no one wins. But cooperate, and they'll see about getting the treason charges dropped. So they were able to make it into the fortress by pretending to be part of the patrol, delayed by reality fluctuations that made things really weird for them. "You get used to that" assured the duchess' guards. Inside the fortress, the PCs took their time in gathering information on where the Duchess was hiding, where the Danorans were being kept, and how best to create a distraction so that the Sea Gate can be opened. Once they had the information they required, they set a couple buildings on fire and created a small panic which would allow them to release the prisoners captive in the stable-brig and hopefully distract enough people to allow the gate to be opened. What came next was one heck of a battle. [ATTACH=CONFIG]87959._xfImport[/ATTACH] Diagram B: First wave of the Duchess' forces arrive. Guards-a-plenty quickly found out what the ruse was and descended upon the party. Thankfully, sneak attack clobberings, caltrops placed at critical choke points, and a lot of sudden improvisation won out like 25 rounds later. Highlights include the arrangement of unconscious/dying bodies to create more difficult terrain, reloading cannons to fire upon the base itself, and every PC spending at least a couple of rounds in negative hit points. It was a close one. [ATTACH=CONFIG]87960._xfImport[/ATTACH] Diagram C: Don't be on the business end of a firearms crit. It leaves a mess. But ultimately, the gate was opened and reinforcements made quick work of the remaining resistance. Many had the tactical mind to know when the battle for the gate was lost and offered a surrender. Much of the rest of the session went as scripted. The Hedge Maze presented a frustration for the players (a couple of them have bad memories of the labyrinth levels of Rappan Athuk and their phase minotaurs), but when Asrabey Varel showed up they were quick to press Gillie that they're here to make sure the Duchess doesn't get killed and an accord was struck to reach her as fast as possible. The standoff between Duchess Ethelyn and Asrabey was intense. Both parties were pretty battered and broken. Based on what Asrabey was saying in the scripted dialogue, the PCs assessed that he's not the enemy here either, and probably is like them.... soldiers just doing their orders. After half an hour of diplomacy, Asrabey agreed to relinquish Ethelyn to the PCs provided she is seen to proper justice for her crimes, and in return some day Asrabey would call on them for a favor and the PCs can not refuse it. They swore this over a blood oath that had no mechanical effects and is mainly symbolic, but the PCs believe strongly in so they feel indebted. With this peaceful resolution, the island was officially given back to Lya Jierre who let slip to the group about her engagement to the king of Risur. PCs immediately looked at Mikkel "Friend-Zoned Casanova" Oren for his spectacularly failed but ambitious seduction attempt. Accolades were given to the task force as they did accomplish the task set for them. The season ended with the PCs at their favorite hang out, the Broken Oar Tavern. Many of the people were thrilled with the celebrity gossip of the king getting married. But at the corner table, the PCs sat and drank. They felt more united than before, like a true team, for having endured a harrowing assignment that forced them to rely on each other more than before. Yet at the same time, why didn't it feel like the victory they were told they were? They remembered some of the words said, that "something was seen" which prompted Duchess Ethelyn to act the way she did. That Minister Lya Jierre seemed almost too enthusiastic to have the island back, at the time of her announced betrothal. Something was obviously happening above their statuses.... but they felt like nothing could be done at that time. So on into the night they drank, reflecting on what had happened and to be more aware of who can be trusted, and perhaps how far they're willing to go outside the law in order to serve the country they are so partial too now. Overall thoughts on the module? Really good, really well done. The players were impressed that even at such an early level into an adventuring career, this wasn't a "kill rats in a basement" trope. They felt like their actions had consequences and enormous stakes. The NPCs were very fleshed out, so that their actions seemed to entirely make sense even if their motivations were unknown. This wasn't a simple "good vs evil" story. Everyone had very good reasons to believe their actions were justified, if regrettable. By the end of it, the characters and the players understood that a lot of was going on and they were in for something big. As far as a DM goes.... constantly reading and doing prep work will pay off. There's a lot of little things that went into this and made it really fleshed out. So that when the PCs do something unexpected, it's not really deviating off any rails. There's goals and objectives, and a sandbox for them to achieve that in. Excellently well written stuff. So far, we're a couple sessions into Season 2. I started things off with a few more cases of the week (the trap killer again, and dealing with a local gang trying to blackmail the city police), but in September we're going to get into the meat of the overplot with The Dying Skyseer. Now that they're more "experienced" and know that this isn't something brutish adventuring acts of force can resolve... I'm very enthused to see where this goes. [/QUOTE]
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