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D&D Older Editions
RRH1: Expanding the Iron Circle
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<blockquote data-quote="Jacob Lewis" data-source="post: 8497837" data-attributes="member: 6667921"><p>Part III: <strong>The Fell Court</strong></p><p><em>Threats to the Nentir Vale</em></p><p><a href="https://postimg.cc/MMBsVNsc" target="_blank"><img src="https://i.postimg.cc/MMBsVNsc/e4-MVN24.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /></a></p><p></p><p>I must confess. If the <em>Neverwinter Campaign Setting</em> had not pointed me to the Fell Court while I was reviewing the Ashmadai (see Part IV below), I probably would have overlooked them. Reading the first paragraph of their description, however, it's still likely that I might have skipped them altogether. Take a look at what it says:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>It's interesting, to be sure. But from what I read there, I didn't think I would be able to make it work for this adventure. The group operates mostly out of Fallcrest, which is a few days removed from Harkenwold. And the Court seems like they would have a conflict of interest with the Iron Circle. Both want to see themselves in power, but neither strike me as the type to share it. Or, so I thought.</p><p></p><p>I continued reading and found this hidden surprise on the next page:</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Alright. Some of you might have picked up on the relationship between tieflings and devils right away. I, on the other hand, needed to have it spelled out for me. Regardless, I am grateful that it did. I have yet to find a more succinct and intriguing correlation between the Iron Circle and any other faction or monster anywhere. This one, in my opinion, is a really, <em>really</em> good one. Here's why.</p><p></p><p>Up until this point, I had expected to find only mercenaries, weak-willed sycophants, and mindless monsters that could easily be manipulated to do whatever the Iron Circle wants them to do. The Fell Court, however, is none of these things. They are scoundrels, schemers; villains in their own right. And they are willing to help these new comers achieve their goals of conquest, if only to get closer to achieving their own. </p><p></p><p>But an alliance has not yet been made. Thus far, the Iron Circle has ignored the Melech Ambrose's requests for an audience. But the leader of the Fell Court answers to his own dark masters; devils and fiends who have a vested interest in seeing Bael Turath rise from the ashes. One might think Asmodeus would align the groups towards a common goal. If so, why hasn't he done so already? Well, who says it has to be Asmodeus? Maybe a rival or upstart devil is using the Court to work their own machinations? And here we have our most interesting twist!</p><p></p><p>From an adventure designer's perspective, this presents an opportunity to create a decision point allowing for multiple paths in an otherwise linear script. Will the Fell Court join the invaders? Can the party stop them from adding their strength to the Iron Circle? Or do the tieflings have some other nefarious plans to betray everyone? These are all delicious possibilities better left decided by the players and the actions of their characters. </p><p></p><p>I'll explore the Fell Court in more detail, and the role they'll play in this adventure, in another section later. For now, I have some new monster stats for the adventure, including Melech Ambrose himself. They are:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fell Court Blackheart (level 2 Lurker)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fell Court Ruffian(level 2 Minion Brute)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fell Court Creep (level 3 Minion Skirmisher)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fell Court Underboss (level 3 Soldier (Leader))</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Fell Court Hellmage (level 4 Artillery (Leader))</li> </ul><p></p><p>And that's not all! Because the Fell Court have access to small groups of the tiefling-bred monsters, called Felldrakes, I can also add incorporate the following creatures:</p><p></p><ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Leaping Felldrake (level 1 Lurker)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Crested Felldrake (level 2 Skirmisher)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Hissing Felldrake (level 3 Artillery)</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Tri-Horned Felldrake (level 4 Soldier)</li> </ul></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jacob Lewis, post: 8497837, member: 6667921"] Part III: [b]The Fell Court[/b] [i]Threats to the Nentir Vale[/i] [url=https://postimg.cc/MMBsVNsc][img]https://i.postimg.cc/MMBsVNsc/e4-MVN24.jpg[/img][/url] I must confess. If the [i]Neverwinter Campaign Setting[/i] had not pointed me to the Fell Court while I was reviewing the Ashmadai (see Part IV below), I probably would have overlooked them. Reading the first paragraph of their description, however, it's still likely that I might have skipped them altogether. Take a look at what it says: It's interesting, to be sure. But from what I read there, I didn't think I would be able to make it work for this adventure. The group operates mostly out of Fallcrest, which is a few days removed from Harkenwold. And the Court seems like they would have a conflict of interest with the Iron Circle. Both want to see themselves in power, but neither strike me as the type to share it. Or, so I thought. I continued reading and found this hidden surprise on the next page: Alright. Some of you might have picked up on the relationship between tieflings and devils right away. I, on the other hand, needed to have it spelled out for me. Regardless, I am grateful that it did. I have yet to find a more succinct and intriguing correlation between the Iron Circle and any other faction or monster anywhere. This one, in my opinion, is a really, [i]really[/i] good one. Here's why. Up until this point, I had expected to find only mercenaries, weak-willed sycophants, and mindless monsters that could easily be manipulated to do whatever the Iron Circle wants them to do. The Fell Court, however, is none of these things. They are scoundrels, schemers; villains in their own right. And they are willing to help these new comers achieve their goals of conquest, if only to get closer to achieving their own. But an alliance has not yet been made. Thus far, the Iron Circle has ignored the Melech Ambrose's requests for an audience. But the leader of the Fell Court answers to his own dark masters; devils and fiends who have a vested interest in seeing Bael Turath rise from the ashes. One might think Asmodeus would align the groups towards a common goal. If so, why hasn't he done so already? Well, who says it has to be Asmodeus? Maybe a rival or upstart devil is using the Court to work their own machinations? And here we have our most interesting twist! From an adventure designer's perspective, this presents an opportunity to create a decision point allowing for multiple paths in an otherwise linear script. Will the Fell Court join the invaders? Can the party stop them from adding their strength to the Iron Circle? Or do the tieflings have some other nefarious plans to betray everyone? These are all delicious possibilities better left decided by the players and the actions of their characters. I'll explore the Fell Court in more detail, and the role they'll play in this adventure, in another section later. For now, I have some new monster stats for the adventure, including Melech Ambrose himself. They are: [list][*]Fell Court Blackheart (level 2 Lurker)[*]Fell Court Ruffian(level 2 Minion Brute)[*]Fell Court Creep (level 3 Minion Skirmisher)[*]Fell Court Underboss (level 3 Soldier (Leader))[*]Fell Court Hellmage (level 4 Artillery (Leader))[/list] And that's not all! Because the Fell Court have access to small groups of the tiefling-bred monsters, called Felldrakes, I can also add incorporate the following creatures: [list][*]Leaping Felldrake (level 1 Lurker)[*]Crested Felldrake (level 2 Skirmisher)[*]Hissing Felldrake (level 3 Artillery)[*]Tri-Horned Felldrake (level 4 Soldier)[/list] [/QUOTE]
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