ZEITGEIST [ZEITGEIST] The Continuing Adventures of Korrigan & Co.

A DM's Lament

We have come to the end of an era. A month ago Korrigan's player said that he was going to have to leave the game at the end of the current adventure. As if this wasn't bad enough, last week I learned that Malthusius' player is also leaving. Our group has held together for five years with the odd line-up change, but nothing so profound as the back-to-back departure of two key members.

I was always conscious that player departure was likely. When we first started Zeitgeist in 2011 I thought we would be lucky to reach its proposed conclusion in 2014. (We game in London, and everyone in the group moved here for our careers, and is liable to leave for similar reasons.) I hope that goes some way to explaining my impatience with the various delays to the release schedule!

Right now I'm not sure what this means for our game, only that the news has knocked the wind from my sails and that even if the group does stick together it won't feel the same. We are all agreed that this is the best campaign we've ever played in (and combined we have been playing for over fifty years). But part of the attraction of a long-running adventure like this is the ongoing narrative, and the development of characters over the course of time. How everyone will feel about continuing under the circumstances remains to be seen.

Figured I'd post here to explain the situation, in case the thread comes to a juddering halt along with the campaign. I have a couple of ideas about how to move forward, but I need to talk to my players before making a final decision.

Fingers crossed...

I'm sorry to hear that Gideon; but in any case reading your game posts inspired me, and probably others, and it sounds like you guys had a super time of it.

jacktannery said:

I'm sorry to hear that Gideon; but in any case reading your game posts inspired me, and probably others, and it sounds like you guys had a super time of it.

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I'm very glad to hear it, thank you. It certainly has been fun.

I hope you can continue your campaign. Im kind of sad Korrigan is leaving.

Crispy120286 said:

I hope you can continue your campaign. Im kind of sad Korrigan is leaving.

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Me too, on both counts. And thanks for your support. Things are looking more optimistic now, and I've had a few ideas about how to capitalize on the situation, necessity being the mother of invention and all that. Our last session went well. It was a thoroughgoing debrief and roleplaying session to wrap up heroic tier - full report to follow. We're starting a dungeon bash buffer adventure next week with unit B that should give us all a breather from the tension and complexity of the main campaign and give me as DM the chance to take stock.

Session 103 - Preamble

"Previously on Zeitgeist...

The unit had defeated Leone Quital in his Bleak Gate lair. (Or had they? After all, no one had been able to lay a hit on him until he clutched his head and started screaming.)
They had captured Lavanya, a key member of the Obscurati conspiracy. (Or had they? They awoke from a vivid dream of being defeated by her, only to dimly remember the fact that she had surrendered.)
They had saved the city of Flint from death and destruction. (Or had they? Parts of the city lay in ruins, and it was their ally, Alexander Grappa, who had released the golem in the first place.)
They had saved the Peace Talks from disruption... (Or...)

Okay. You get the point. Nothing really turned out quite as you had hoped. You finally managed to root out the Obscurati in Flint, but are no closer to understanding their goals, let alone understanding why they were building a 300-foot-tall golem. Korrigan has resigned, Malthusius is dead, Leon has fled, and Unit B are in tatters. A week or so after the Battle of Bosum Strand you sit down with Stover Delft to rake over the coals."

Not for the first time following the climax of a published adventure I decided to have a free-form roleplaying session to wrap up dozens of loose ends. Too much happens in a session like that for me to record it in narrative form, but the main thing to note is that it did not necessarily happen in the order I have written in down: To provide a structure to the session, we began with a debrief with Delft. There were some extremely important issues to cover here, and the conversation was wide-ranging. But players are not their characters and with the best will in the world don't have the same grasp of events as they would do if they were really there, experiencing them (and not just showing up for three hours a week after work). So when we moved on to other matters, if someone suddenly remembered something they wish they'd raised earlier - with Delft or with another NPC - we simply dealt with it then and there without concerning ourselves with chronology.

I saved a couple of important things for the end of the session, even though they would have happened earlier, and foreshadowed them by saying things like, "Delft says a few words in praise of Korrigan, and about how sorry he is the way things turned out for him".

Players who weren't 'there' -such as Leon, who had made his escape; and Malthusius' player whose characters (Malthusius and Sevitar) are dead - were still able to chip in. All of this made it much easier to wrap things up than trying to handle things realistically.

@RangerWickett - My players want to go back in to the Cauldron Hill complex and investigate it more thoroughly. I thought this would be a good opportunity to establish that Quital's body is missing, to rescue trapped engineers, learn more about Oddcog, etc. But I stalled on the viability issue because I thought I'd check with you first and see if it is intended that the complex remains accessible.

I'd actually considered putting a prologue into adventure 6 with "here's what you find if you go spelunking into the Bleak Gate facility," but

a) it didn't really connect with the rest of the adventure, and
b) you didn't find much of interest.

But sure, the place is accessible. Probably full of monsters. I honestly wouldn't bother making it into an actual 'dungeon crawl,' unless you want to let them get some treasure or just flex their combat muscles. Or maybe work in some personal plot elements, like something for Uru?

I really couldn't think of any revelations to put in the ruins that weren't better-delivered at the ends of adventures 6 and 7.

RangerWickett said:

I'd actually considered putting a prologue into adventure 6 with "here's what you find if you go spelunking into the Bleak Gate facility," but

a) it didn't really connect with the rest of the adventure, and
b) you didn't find much of interest.

But sure, the place is accessible. Probably full of monsters. I honestly wouldn't bother making it into an actual 'dungeon crawl,' unless you want to let them get some treasure or just flex their combat muscles. Or maybe work in some personal plot elements, like something for Uru?

I really couldn't think of any revelations to put in the ruins that weren't better-delivered at the ends of adventures 6 and 7.

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Just replied, but it appears to have vanished.

Thanks for getting back on this. I wasn't intending to create a full delve as I have one of those lined up already. Just wanted to make sure the site was intended to be open so I could use it to foreshadow some stuff. (Quital's survival; Tinker Oddcog's madness.) As for treasure, the most they will find is some bromagio cheese.

Session 103 - Loose Ends

Debrief with Delft

• Delft holds a meeting to establish that the Ob investigation is stymied right now, with no obvious leads. In answer to his question "What do we do next?" Uru responds, "We need to get larger explosives". He is reminded that the eschatologist bomb was the largest of its kind ever constructed.
• Security is touched upon and it is agreed that the unit must be more careful in future, after what happened to Malthusius.
• The possibility of a 'rival geas' is touched upon but Delft says that's not the way the RHC do things. "We just ask people not to talk..."
• Feedback on Korrigan's earlier request to summon the spirit of Alexander Grappa: Powerful spirit mediums in Slate have been unable to do so. Either Grappa is not dead, or his soul was absorbed by witchoil.
• Possibility of returning to the Ob complex is raised. Awaiting a report from Lt. Dale and Isaac, Mayor of the Nettles.
• No further information about Tinker Oddcog's whereabouts has been discovered: "When gnomes want to disappear, they disappear". Delft has men looking into his background and identity.
• Delft makes an oblique reference to Leon indicating that he knows the unit has had contact with him, and hinting at a 'don't ask, don't tell' policy on his part, as long as they are sure he can be trusted.
• Xambria's desire to join the RHC and fight against the Obscurati is raised. Tests on her and on Conquo must be conducted before a firm decision can be made.
• Dima has installed a spitoon in Delft's office but has to keep moving it as Delft's aim is poor.

Governor Stanfield

• Invites the unit to the Governor's mansion to thank them personally for their role in saving Flint and rooting out the Ob. From the huge window in his study they can see the ongoing works to improve Flint harbor, redoubled to make good on the damage done by Borne.
• Gives Matunaaga a brace of pistols; Uru a shadowy cloak; and Rumdoom a pair of rime-crusted Drakren gloves. (The cloak has a power that keys off charisma. Another player says that might be a problem for Uru. Uru's player agrees. "Yeah, I'm not your wine and dine kind of assassin. I'm the kind who waits for you in the toilet with a sharpened bamboo pole.")
• Expresses regret that the industrialization he has driven forward at the behest of the King has been misused and suggests the unit consult the files he opened to Malthusius concerning the construction of the Stanfield Canal. They set Dima to the task, as none of them has a gift for the paper-chase.
• (In the coming weeks and months, the Governor's office leads the drive to root out all those connected to the Obscurati. The public mood is understandably heated, and many of those associated with the construction of the canal are subjected to show trials and handed out harsh sentences, despite pleas that they thought they were working for the Risuri government. Worse treatment befalls those who were working in the Obscurati complex, many of whom face the death penalty.)
• Stanfield is able to provide news of the Black Star Mining Fleet. Apparently it has reached Seobriga, and is in the process of negotiating terms with Bruse Shantuse, monarch of Ber.
• The fate of Lorcan Kell is discussed. The unit agrees that he is of no further use and they have no objection to him standing trial. In all likelihood he will be executed for his crimes.
• Asked about deva reincarnation, and whether it would be possible to predict where Malthusius might return, Stanfield explains that Malthusius did not spend long with the tome in question - not long enough to master the mantras within. That he was able to spontaneously end his current incarnation is a impressive enough. Stanfield doubts if enough of Malthusius' consciousness will be retained unless he is found very swiftly. But the governor concedes that it would be very useful if this could be done, as Malthusius could identify his captors.
• On the way out they hear a strange noise. Buzzing down the corridor towards them is Azure Lord Blackthorn, with a mechanical flying device strapped to his back, chugging out black smoke. He careens off a wall and comes to a halt on a nearby side-table, knocking over a vase. Now a guest of the Governor, Blackthorn is as cocksure as ever and subjects the unit to mockery, as usual. Following behind, exasperated, is Justin Rollins, the Royal Engineer, who has been tasked with designing a device that will replace the pixie's severed wings.

Interrogations

• Korrigan patiently questions a distraught and stammering Luc Jierre who, it turns out, had the note he gave to the Danoran messenger dictated to him by Lya. He is devastated to have been used by his sister and withdraws even further into himself.
• Many of those captured in the Ob complex thought they were working for the Risuri military, having been recruited by Colonel Greg Masterson of the Battalion. Divinations reveal that Masterson has killed himself, though there is no body to be found.
• The rest of the unit have a baffling conversation with Lavanya, who deftly runs rings around them. She says that she can only tell them as much as Leon knows himself and asks why they don't ask their friend. She reveals that she is not a member of the Obscurati herself and wears no ring! But she does not know what Borne was constructed for: the Obscurati is organised in cells. She knows that the leader of the Ob is a man known as Nicodemus, that she greatly admires him, and is assured that he works for the 'betterment of all'. Further, tougher questioning, is prevented by Admiralty guards and officials who issue orders that, as an eladrin woman, Lavanya is not to be harmed.

Leon

• At the request of the Old Stag, Leon meets with him on board his ship. Admiral Dawkins dispenses with any disguise now that Leon is an Unseen Warlock, and a direct servant of the court. He tells Leon that the mystics see his past very differently to the Risuri authorities - in their view a previously bitter enemy who has been converted to your way of thinking is even more valuable than a long-term friend.
• Leon says he is concerned for the well-being of the mysterious eladrin woman, Lavanya, and asks that the Old Stag ensures she comes to no harm. Dawkins agrees.
• The Old Stag asks Leon to look into certain goings on in the Dreaming. The fey crossings have almost all been closed, and there are reports of a blight afflicting the realm. He suggests Leon speak with Colonel Sebastian Harlock at the Battalion.
• Harlock tells Leon that he is the head of the secretive Risuri Eldritch Investigative Division. Reading the RHC reports for units A & B he is concerned about the two idols that have recently come into their possession, only to be lost. He introduces two dwarven members of the REID - an archeologist called Orum Dwist and his sidekick and bodyguard, Throgmorton. Orum Dwist greets Leon in a knowing fashion and reveals that he shares a pact with the thought entity Leon encountered in the cave in the bayou (who claimed to be an ancient foe of the gidim). Dwist calls the entity 'the Thinker'. Both he and the Thinker desire the return of the icon discovered by unit B in an Ancient burial chamber in the Cloudwood and Harlock recommends Leon as just the man/tiefling to head into the Dreaming to retrieve it. Dwist also says that they are more idols and that they are connected to each of the planes.
• Meanwhile, Dwist and Throgmorton will remain in Lanjyr to track down other idols before they fall into the wrong hands. As both the jade and crystal idols are now in the hands of the dragon Tatzel, it is possible he seeks to own more. Having investigated the matter for some months, Dwist has gleaned clues as to the whereabouts of a third idol, deep in the Cloudwood. Harlock intends that the dwarves should work with unit B, some of whose members have experience in the jungle.
• Gale contacts Leon via messenger wind. She says that in her absence Isobel has departed in the company of two strangers, apparently sent by Andrei von Recklinghausen to escort her to Elfaivar. By all accounts they presented a token that confirmed their sincerity and could only be from Andrei. Gale has her doubts. It has long been her ambition to visit Elfaivar and she is tired of trying to restore sanity to Flint, so she means to go after Isobel and ensure she has arrived safely. (The two strangers were a brightly coloured female sprite and a man in a stovepipe hat who repeatedly checked his pocket watch. If only Malthusius were on hand to remind the unit who they were...)

The Clockwork King

• Summons Uru through his punishing eye which animates and guides him to a disused building in the Nettles, where he meets the elderly, crippled wererat who first led them to the Clockwork King. The wererat is accompanied by three hulking 'remade' brutes: men who have had limbs replaced by machines. Uru compliments the work and says that he has made similar modifications himself (providing caterpillar tracks to a young boy who had lost his feet, for example). The wererat dismisses the comment and points out that these 'remade' were not volunteers.
• The wererat goes on to complain that the unit's side of their bargain has not been kept: they were given the golem eye on trust that they would apprehend Tinker Oddcog when they encountered him and seize the Godmind Urn. No such effort was made: the Clockwork King was observing events through the punishing eye and knows that the unit had a fleeting encounter with Oddcog.
• Rather than simply explaining that the unit had no real opportunity to capture the gnome (they did not even lay eyes on him after all), Uru makes a wisecrack about how the Clockwork King should get his 'cogs checked' before making agreements that involve fulfilling his side of the bargain up front. Then he disappears.
• Moments later, he thinks better of his effrontery and reappears before the startled wererat to apologise. But the wererat shakes his head and says that he can negotiate no further with one so capricious and will return to consult with his all-powerful master.

Unit B

• Captain Theren, Sevitar Anrathi and Niniel Erendis are dead. Although Sevitar has always returned from the Bleak Gate following 'discorporation', he has failed to do so on this occasion. Perhaps a death within the Bleak Gate has put an end to him once and for all? In any case, unit B is in tatters.
• The carnage at the canal has taken its toll on Doctor Wil Stanmore, who was already of a sensitive disposition following his harrowing experiences during the fourth Yerasol war. Unhappy at the thought of losing more comrades, Stanmore begins to investigate arcane healing methods, inspired by fantastic tales in the daily broadsheets of a Doctor performing miracles of science and the arcane in the hinterlands of Ber.
• Even more sensitive to events than Stanmore, the loss of his brother pushes Brajham over the edge. Without Theren's stabilizing influence, his chaotic approach to magic becomes unhinged. Blaming himself for his brother's death, for bringing them to Flint in the first place, Brajham seeks a release from his turmoil in games of chance in the gambling dens of Parity Lake.
• Professor Ludo Marcione is invited to meet Colonel Sebastian Harlock and introduced to the dwarven archaeologist Orum Dwist, who turns out to be a great admirer of Ludo's work in the field of psionics. At Harlock's request, Dwist has returned to the site of the Ancient burial chamber discovered in the Cloudwood by Unit B. (The place where they found the strange, shifting crystal idol and lost it to the dragon Tatzel.) Dwist identified various markings in the chamber which only an expert could know point to the whereabouts of another such site, deep in the jungle. Brajham, his bugbear ally Ffenwig (and his late brother Theren) have some experience of operating in the deep jungle and as such, the whole unit is being seconded to the R.E.I.D. Dwist says that he knows the customs of many of the local tribes, so can be reasonably sure of friendly reception.

Family Matters

• With the help of Bernard of Glenwade, Korrigan performed a ritual to remove the briar barrier surrounding his wife and unborn child. Rumdoom, Uru, Matunaaga and Korrigan's in-laws were all on hand. But when Bernard dispelled the magical stasis that had prevented her from going into labour, a terrible fact was revealed: Before their eyes, Elizabeth aged and wizened, though her belly remained swollen with child. Korrigan was horrified, but Bernard fell to his knees with a great cry of anguish and wept as though the loss was chiefly his. Korrigan helped the druid regain his wits sufficiently to explain that Elizabeth must have use her own life force to power the warding ritual. With tears in his eyes, he helped Korrigan deliver his son, before Elizabeth, now aged beyond recognition, took her last breath. Her parents were overcome with grief, Korrigan stood stoney-faced holding his baby boy, but the loudest wails of grief yet came from Bernard. Bernard confessed that he had always been hopelessly in love with Elizabeth, asked for Korrigan to forgive him, and then departed, along with the unit (none of whom knew what to say or do), leaving Korrigan alone with his newborn son and his in-laws.
• Saddened by these events, Uru goes to Malthusius' apartment, takes the deva's severed arm from the chest under the bed where he kept it and returns to the Nettles, where he plants the arm in his fungal garden.
• Matunaaga returns to his dwelling in Stray River where he found Worness, Seyna and Manfor his three students waiting for him. During one exchange the youngsters asked him why he called himself Matunaaga (when his maustin name was Caji Dobra). By way of an answer Matunaaga tells them to follow him and sets off at a run. Together they cover over a hundred miles in just a few days (Manfor almost collapses), arriving at the village by the falls where Matunaaga shares a house with his human wife Ayesha and their ten children. They spend a few days getting to know the people of the central Cloudwood, and their peaceful way of life. These are the folk who gave him the name Matunaaga.
• It was one of Ayesha's visions, many months ago, that inspired Matunaaga to give up his peaceful life and serve under Korrigan. Ayesha has another vision and tells Matunaaga that Korrigan's role in events is far from over. He should continue to serve as the Marshal requested, for in doing so he will fulfill his own destiny.
• After the tragic events that befell Korrigan, Rumdoom returns to Hildegaarde's manse with a heavy heart. She tells him to put aside his fear of what may happen to her and to embrace their future with optimism. Then, as is traditional among dwarves, she asks for his hand in marriage. Rumdoom agrees and in a few days they are wed. Kvarti stays in Flint for the ceremony but leaves shortly afterwards. He says he intends to travel north to Drakr and find out more about the 'doomsday cult' that spawned Azon the Stoneforger and Grundon Zubov.
• Back in Uru's garden, Malthusius' hand begins to twitch...

Session 104 - Preamble

The initial purpose of this thread was to share my experience of DMing Zeitgeist with others who might be about to do the same. But more often than not over the last two-and-a-half years we've not been playing Zeitgeist at all!

We've reached another of those points, and as such, my updates will not be as detailed or narrative for a few weeks/months.

The idea is that we will run a dungeon bash with 'Unit B', explore a new subplot with a brand new group of characters, and go searching for Malthusius' reincarnation with Unit A. Haven't decided yet whether I will complete each adventure before moving on to the next, or mix them up at an appropriate point.

This week we started the dungeon bash - the Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. A simple dungeon-based adventure (with at least a couple more in the pipeline) to give my poor brain a rest. All of them link in to the subplot I am working on involving icons connected to the planes as they used to be (before the Ancients changed things).

The line-up for Unit B has changed a lot. Three characters died during the carnage on the canal and (as regular readers will know) two players left. Each of the surviving unit B members made changes of one kind or another, and two new characters joined the group.

Professor Ludo Marcione - Arrogant Human Telekinetic Psion. Brought in to lead the team after a couple of foul-ups, Marcione has proved to be adept at leading from the rear. He rarely exposes himself to physical harm if he can help it (though the rest of the team haven't really noticed this yet). Something snapped in Ludo when he saw Borne stomping across the city a few weeks ago and he came to realise he was on the wrong side. Before leaving Flint for the jungle, he put the feelers out in an attempt to find someone who can introduce him to the Ob...


Doctor Wil Stanmore - Haunted Human Wizard. Wil was traumatized by his experiences in Yersaol, and has been further affected by the carnage at the canal. After Niniel Erendis died in his arms, he determined to do all he could to ensure his comrades survive. Inspired by reports from Ber of a physician who works miracles by combing magic with science, Wil has focused his considerable scientific expertise in just this direction. (He is now an artificer, but has access to wizard powers where artficer powers fall short.)


Brajham - Flamboyant Elven Sorcerer. Badly affected by the death of his brother Brajham's already fragile mental state has all but disintegrated. Before the current mission he had to be tracked down by Ludo, as he had vanished into the underworld of Flint, where he blew his stipend on games of chance. Without Theren's stabilizing influence his magic has become wild and unpredictable. (Tired of playing an elementalist, the player has statted up a Chaos Sorcerer instead.) Brajham only rejoined the unit because he is fascinated with the eladrin culture and its influence on the Ancients of Risur. His behaviour has become increasingly erratic.

Orum Dwist - Cheerful Dwarven Star-pact Warlock. This jocular scholar and archaeologist has been teamed up with the unit by Colonel Sebstian Harlock of the R.E.I.D. (Risuri Eldritch Investigative Division). Orum knows everything there is to know about dungeon delving (or at least he thinks he does) and is driven by a passion for all things psionic. He is an acknowledged expert in the field, though he possesses no major psionic talent himself, beyond the ability to create simple tools with his mind. He derives his power from an arcane pact with the same being Leon recently compacted with: a being from beyond the stars whom Orum calls 'the Thinker'.

Throgmorton - Single-minded Dwarven Battlemind. Adviser and bodyguard to Orum Dwist. Throgmorton is an older dwarf, with a sad life story, ostracized from his traditional community for the stigmatized mental powers he demonstrated as a youth. He lived a life of isolation and poverty until he was fortunate enough to cross paths with Orum, who coaxed his latent powers to fruition, giving the world its first 'battlemind' in several thousand years. Throgmorton is dedicated to his job and has memorized the legal framework which supports the RHC and the REID, quoting whole chunks where he feels it necessary. In a way single-minded is a nice way of saying simple-minded. He is the archetypal loyal manservant.

There are real holes in the team, as befits a group that has been brought together haphazardly: no one has stealth; no one has a STR score higher than 14; there is only one melee character. No seasoned professionals, like unit A. Hopefully the whole mission will be played for laughs.