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House of Exile::. Recap from my All-Drow campaign
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<blockquote data-quote="UniversalMonster" data-source="post: 5107247" data-attributes="member: 1034"><p>First thing, I wanted to set out some local rumors- the setting was House Rilyntel's demesne in the Drow City of T'lindhet. There was an ongoing situation in T'lindhet where plaguechanged creatures (fell taints and undead in this case) were constantly attacking the city and breaching some of the gateways. A fiend had recently arrived in the city and promised to cleanse the plague-cave in exchange for a great sacrifice.. (to which most drow houses were on board with). The matron of Rilyntel was rumored <em>not </em>to be interested in the sacrifice- the majority of Rilyntel's workforce were involved with silkweaving operations. </p><p></p><p>Nevertheless Dravanna took note in character as part of her backstory was managing the enslaved guards and gladiators. </p><p></p><p>Bjorkus made a streetwise check so he heard the same rumor through the servant network. </p><p>Tebrynn made his streetwise check as well. </p><p></p><p>And Lady Cyntelle had heard it as a subject of much gossip (including gossip about the fiend, who had become something of a local celebrty in T'lindhet). </p><p></p><p>To start the actual game: I use a technique called "Scene-ing" - where we let each individual PC say what they are up to on the adventure. It isn't meant to take a long time, but it let's the PCs establish a little bit about their character and get some individual attention without going into too much detail or taking too much time. </p><p></p><p>So I went around the table counterclockwise. </p><p></p><p>First was Bjorkus (and Dravanna, who was sitting next to him). Bjorkus decided he was practicing in the arena against a group of other slaves- He's a massively powerful minotaur so made up a little scene together of him doing that while Dravanna watched from the amphitheatre seating and took notes on which slaves to possibly "let go of" if the matron changed her position on the Great Sacrifice. So we did a little roleplaying scene there. </p><p></p><p>Tebrynn and Lady Cyntelle- we also put in the same scene- a group of drow priestesses (Lady Cyntelle being lower ranking) , Mistress Ilianmyrna, Lady Ardulae (Tebrynn's "love interest"), and an elderly drow crone known as Felynxtra (the pale sage- an NPC) were meeting in Mistress Ilianmyrna's chambers for a sort of tea party to discuss the rumors of the Matron's refusal to take part in the sacrifice. Tebrynn was drawn in because Ilianmyrna always tries to keep him nearby (she has plans to groom him as her personal assassin perhaps..) so they had him there serving wine and so on. </p><p></p><p>During this scene, Ilianmyrna expressed her dismay at the possibility of House Veltran (a rival house) using the Matron's refusal as an excuse to have the house purged or lowered in ranking amongst the 16 houses of T'lindhet. She had composed a letter she wanted delivered to "a sympathetic ear" in Veltran.. the drow Aethl'yss (that was Dravana's interest!) so this little roleplaying scene went on, and she asked Lady Cyntelle and Tebrynn to deliver the encrypted letter for her. </p><p></p><p>Once out of the room, Cyntelle secretly broke the seal and noted the code used.. she used her insight to figure out how to decrypt it, (it was an offer of treachery) and quickly set out a plan to forge a new letter that sent a similar message but suggested that should Veltran attempt a purge, it use a well-trapped and guarded passage into Rilyntel rather than the passage suggested by the treacherous Ilianmyrna. The problem at that point was making it beleivable. </p><p></p><p>She drew Tebrynn into her plan and asked him to forge the new message, and also to steal Ilianmyrna's seal to make it more authentic. </p><p></p><p>(This was sort of an extended improvised skill challenge- the players came up with their plan, and I basically implemented it).</p><p></p><p>So Tebrynn was sent to infiltrate Mistress Ilianmyrna's boudoir and steal the seal, while Cyntelle went to go get Dravanna and Bjorkus (since Dravanna was Aethl'yss rival and Bjorkus was a good bodyguard). </p><p></p><p>Tebrynn had to roll two skill checks. The first was stealth (the little wine party in Ilianmyrna's chambers was still ongoing) so he had to slip into her chamber from an outside window. The second check was a thievery check to retrieve the seal without leaving any clues. THIS check he failed. So, while it was trivial to escape with the seal, he left a distinctive set of footprints outside the window. </p><p></p><p>The skill challenge was not failed though- it was ongoing. If the challenge failed, one of the consequences would be Tebrynn's identity as the thief would be known. He escaped and ran back to the amphitheater where Cyntelle, Bjorkus, and Dravanna were. </p><p></p><p>So once the entire party was united, Tebrynn wrote out the new message under Lady Cyntelle's direction. This was a thievery (forgery) check, but I told him not to roll it. I put a circled success and a circled failure in each of the columns. </p><p></p><p>"You get to roll it when the letter is actually read".</p><p></p><p>They used the seal and the code book, which effectively "signed" the missive as Ilianmyrna.. and went into the city to locate House Veltran and Aethl'yss of Veltran. Lady Cyntelle pocketed the real message for eventual delivery to the Matron at the appropriate moment. </p><p></p><p>So they make their way through the city and arrive at the gates of Veltran. When the Veltra drow recognize their rival house they set off the automatic gate intruders (a low level encounter with clay scouts and energy motes- reskinned in this case as gothic stone cherubim and bats that decorated the outer walls of the Veltran drow compound). </p><p></p><p>So we had a little combat (this was the first..) with the group against these constructs but after defeating the cherubim, Lady Cyntelle called for the drow of Veltran to shut down the rest of the defenses.. (they were watching from just inside the gate and commenting/taunting during the battle) and I allowed a skill check after the "expensive" stone cherubim were reduced to rubble. A rival drow priestess from Veltran was summoned and she and Cyntelle ahd a bit of an argument over where Aethl'yss was.. but eventually she told the group that they had to go back into the city where Aethl'yss was celebrating his birthday at the Howling cabaret. </p><p></p><p>(to be continued, feel free to comment...)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="UniversalMonster, post: 5107247, member: 1034"] First thing, I wanted to set out some local rumors- the setting was House Rilyntel's demesne in the Drow City of T'lindhet. There was an ongoing situation in T'lindhet where plaguechanged creatures (fell taints and undead in this case) were constantly attacking the city and breaching some of the gateways. A fiend had recently arrived in the city and promised to cleanse the plague-cave in exchange for a great sacrifice.. (to which most drow houses were on board with). The matron of Rilyntel was rumored [I]not [/I]to be interested in the sacrifice- the majority of Rilyntel's workforce were involved with silkweaving operations. Nevertheless Dravanna took note in character as part of her backstory was managing the enslaved guards and gladiators. Bjorkus made a streetwise check so he heard the same rumor through the servant network. Tebrynn made his streetwise check as well. And Lady Cyntelle had heard it as a subject of much gossip (including gossip about the fiend, who had become something of a local celebrty in T'lindhet). To start the actual game: I use a technique called "Scene-ing" - where we let each individual PC say what they are up to on the adventure. It isn't meant to take a long time, but it let's the PCs establish a little bit about their character and get some individual attention without going into too much detail or taking too much time. So I went around the table counterclockwise. First was Bjorkus (and Dravanna, who was sitting next to him). Bjorkus decided he was practicing in the arena against a group of other slaves- He's a massively powerful minotaur so made up a little scene together of him doing that while Dravanna watched from the amphitheatre seating and took notes on which slaves to possibly "let go of" if the matron changed her position on the Great Sacrifice. So we did a little roleplaying scene there. Tebrynn and Lady Cyntelle- we also put in the same scene- a group of drow priestesses (Lady Cyntelle being lower ranking) , Mistress Ilianmyrna, Lady Ardulae (Tebrynn's "love interest"), and an elderly drow crone known as Felynxtra (the pale sage- an NPC) were meeting in Mistress Ilianmyrna's chambers for a sort of tea party to discuss the rumors of the Matron's refusal to take part in the sacrifice. Tebrynn was drawn in because Ilianmyrna always tries to keep him nearby (she has plans to groom him as her personal assassin perhaps..) so they had him there serving wine and so on. During this scene, Ilianmyrna expressed her dismay at the possibility of House Veltran (a rival house) using the Matron's refusal as an excuse to have the house purged or lowered in ranking amongst the 16 houses of T'lindhet. She had composed a letter she wanted delivered to "a sympathetic ear" in Veltran.. the drow Aethl'yss (that was Dravana's interest!) so this little roleplaying scene went on, and she asked Lady Cyntelle and Tebrynn to deliver the encrypted letter for her. Once out of the room, Cyntelle secretly broke the seal and noted the code used.. she used her insight to figure out how to decrypt it, (it was an offer of treachery) and quickly set out a plan to forge a new letter that sent a similar message but suggested that should Veltran attempt a purge, it use a well-trapped and guarded passage into Rilyntel rather than the passage suggested by the treacherous Ilianmyrna. The problem at that point was making it beleivable. She drew Tebrynn into her plan and asked him to forge the new message, and also to steal Ilianmyrna's seal to make it more authentic. (This was sort of an extended improvised skill challenge- the players came up with their plan, and I basically implemented it). So Tebrynn was sent to infiltrate Mistress Ilianmyrna's boudoir and steal the seal, while Cyntelle went to go get Dravanna and Bjorkus (since Dravanna was Aethl'yss rival and Bjorkus was a good bodyguard). Tebrynn had to roll two skill checks. The first was stealth (the little wine party in Ilianmyrna's chambers was still ongoing) so he had to slip into her chamber from an outside window. The second check was a thievery check to retrieve the seal without leaving any clues. THIS check he failed. So, while it was trivial to escape with the seal, he left a distinctive set of footprints outside the window. The skill challenge was not failed though- it was ongoing. If the challenge failed, one of the consequences would be Tebrynn's identity as the thief would be known. He escaped and ran back to the amphitheater where Cyntelle, Bjorkus, and Dravanna were. So once the entire party was united, Tebrynn wrote out the new message under Lady Cyntelle's direction. This was a thievery (forgery) check, but I told him not to roll it. I put a circled success and a circled failure in each of the columns. "You get to roll it when the letter is actually read". They used the seal and the code book, which effectively "signed" the missive as Ilianmyrna.. and went into the city to locate House Veltran and Aethl'yss of Veltran. Lady Cyntelle pocketed the real message for eventual delivery to the Matron at the appropriate moment. So they make their way through the city and arrive at the gates of Veltran. When the Veltra drow recognize their rival house they set off the automatic gate intruders (a low level encounter with clay scouts and energy motes- reskinned in this case as gothic stone cherubim and bats that decorated the outer walls of the Veltran drow compound). So we had a little combat (this was the first..) with the group against these constructs but after defeating the cherubim, Lady Cyntelle called for the drow of Veltran to shut down the rest of the defenses.. (they were watching from just inside the gate and commenting/taunting during the battle) and I allowed a skill check after the "expensive" stone cherubim were reduced to rubble. A rival drow priestess from Veltran was summoned and she and Cyntelle ahd a bit of an argument over where Aethl'yss was.. but eventually she told the group that they had to go back into the city where Aethl'yss was celebrating his birthday at the Howling cabaret. (to be continued, feel free to comment...) [/QUOTE]
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