ZEITGEIST Crispy's Zeitgeist Campaign

[Crispy120286]

I havent been working on writeups. I completely skipped writing up Module 7 and 8, and now my party is most of the way through act 1 of Module 9.

In Schism, they really enjoyed the kobolds and El Extrano. They spent a very long time searching for Leone Quital and then really set up a lot of contingencies for fighting the Lich and the whole table laughed when he just collapsed.

The convocation was awesome and by far one of my favorite parts of this module. I added an NPC who will take over for future Ghost Lya Jierre encounters in the form of Amethyst Ironforges twin brother Amorite. He came as a guest of Catherine Romana but sworn alliegence to Nicodemus. He defended the Ghost Council and when he was on the verge of death, Vicemi slain him and raised him as a ghost to continue the fight.

Edit: Also, Amethyst recieved the Humble Hook here as well.

They managed to break Vitus out of the prison and because i never had a place for her, Saxby was there! They "rescued" her and tossed her into the Absurdist Web and they want to gave her to delft as an early christmas present. She will be placed in a royal prison for treason for her acts in Digging for Lies and her going on the run.

Reed Macbanning was redeemed by sacraficing himself to destroy Vicemi and the Constables made sure that it was known that he died a hero and in service of Risur.

Schism ran for 9 sessions.

In Diaspora, I really began to work hard on my descriptions and fleshing out the areas they visited, this had two effects on my table. One, my players wanted to explore and see things that I described, They explored all the nooks and crannies of the Bloody Stump Trading Posts, and talked to many NPC's. They didnt even meet Kasvarina until Session 6. The first sessions were all exploration of Elfaivar, fighting some Danorans, and random encounters in the jungle. Like i said, I think I went overboard on the big descriptions and fleshing out and it took way too long.

Edit: It is here that I'Sheng recieved the Arsenal of Debhisu.

After meeting Kas they went and retrieved the Arc of Reida by allying with the Clergy. It was here I added some player backstory into it. The Weretigers wiped out the home of my Eladrin player when he was a child and killed his parents. It was there he escaped Elfaivar and emigrated to Risur. He came back and got some good revenge on Betronga, who betrayed his village and sided with the weretigers. He was a childhood friend/rival/frienemy? of I'Sheng so he was glad to get that fight in.

I like to print images for reference and when they we to the far future image, they all yelled with joy at seeing their ship they've been using for a long while now with winged sails. It was Kieran, our Technologist that noticed the PI on the side and correctly guessed Pemberton Industries.



It then took from session 8 to 13 to gather all the memories before our table had to sit down and just talk about how this is dragging so badly. It was diffiuclt to run the memories any way but like an interactive cutscene. And they found almost all of them. My favorite parts were them going to Crissilyir and meeting with the Clergy and they had to get someone past customs and into Flint to meet with Morgan Cippiano. Amethyst hates the guy but always turns a blind eye because he is useful so Kieran took the lead there.

I had to skip a bunch of the memories towards the end and just tell them they found the last few because even I was getting disheartened. We tried to run Bonds of Forced Faith as a palet cleanser but even that didnt work. We run every other week so 6 sessions is almost 3 months of play time. I was close to calling it quits. I filled them in on the rest, and set them right outside of Methia. This is where I called it Season 8, Part 2. Back in the action and infiltration everyone was back up to their usuall happy and excited selves and looking forward to what was happening next.

The whole scenario in Methia took two sessions. That final encounter was amazing. I really should take pictures of our encounters because I used my Borne stand in again. They succeeded in subduing Nicodemus and rescuing Andrei, everyone made it safely through the portal and found themselves... Months into the future!

Diaspora ran for 15 sessions.

You see, I know the Campaign had a proposed timeline. But because I let them dally and just explore and I dont think i used exploration rules correctly, They spent weeks searching the jungle. The book assumes that they arrive in the dreaming on Winter the 37th, They didnt get back to Sentosa after retrieving the Arc of Reida until the 45th. I used some math and assumed that their ship can sail approx 7 miles an hour and being a steamship can go 24 hours a day so 168 miles in a day. They just spent weeks sailing around ebcause they were scared of teleporting.

It wasnt until at least Winter the 65th that they encoutnered Nicodemus at Methia. Then for fun I altered the timeline that they were in limbo and didnt arrive in the dreaming until winter the 88th. Meaning they had all of the 89th to investigate, the 90th to present their findings, the 91st to stop an assassination attempt, and because I love the Zeitgeist calendar, New Years Day which isnt on the calendar proper is the day the Obscurati does their ritual. Nicodemus is kind of a diva like that.

And now, We're about 4 sessions into The Last Starry Sky and having a ton of fun. I will do better on giving recaps in the future.

As usual, Here is an up to date link to a copy of my campaign document, you can see all the notes for each module in individual tabs.
Linky to the sheet!

 

[RangerWickett]

New Years Day which isnt on the calendar proper is the day the Obscurati does their ritual. Nicodemus is kind of a diva like that.

I dig it.

 

[Crispy120286]

The Last Starry Sky, Act 1 (Mostly)

The constables and an unconcious Andrei von Recklinghausen awake to find themselves on a checkerboard forest between two warring factions. Quickly stabalizing Andrei, they escape the conflict and meet with some onlookers who explain to them that they current date is Winter the 88th, 23 days since their battle atop the Lance of Trigenes. Here they learn that Rock Rackus was murdered.

Amethyst: "Yay!"
Kieran: "Didn't we see him in the vision of the far future? Wouldn't he be not dead then?"
Amethyst: "Not yay..."

Amethyst, the stiff backed leader of the party does not like the chaotic person that is Rock Rackus. And here they're congratualted as they['re members of the Royal Homeland Congratulatory, A meme that does not stop when they're exploring clover, everyone always congratulating them. I love the dreaming. The constables hires the newly fired Mista Nyves to guide them but quickly gets annoyed at him and sends him on his way. They make their way to Thistle Palace and speak with the Unseen Court. Thisraldion tasked them with finding Rock Rackus' murder. Amethyst sighs.

They then go and make the mile long detour to speak with the Hedgehog court and are beginning to learn how insane and strange the Fey are. Kieran is having the time of his life and Amethyst is chanting how much he hates this place. They meet with the members and then go and rest for the evening in the house that Sallin offered them. Andrei and Sir Gnomington stay here.

Kieran Oddcog is a Gnome Technologist who turned his simulacrum into a Gnome Shaped robot. During the events of Cauldron Born, Grappa worked on him and gave him the spark of a mind, Only an infant then. Soon after meeting Tinker and giving him Pembertons old Building in Pardwright, Kieran and Tinker opened Oddcog Industries and Kieran was given the rank of Royal Technologist. Tinker helped rebuild Sir Gnomington to have full facial espressions and body movements. Hes becoming a real boy! Sir Gnomington ever since is one half of the parties mascots, the other half goes to Yueling, I'Shengs animal companion, an Intelligent cat native to the Dreaming who occationally polymorphs herself into the form of an elven girl. When not a cat she pretends to be I'Shengs daughter. They two of them, very much children tend to cause chaos and call Amethyst Grandpa, much to his annoyance.

They discuss their next steps and Kieran came up with a shockingly close theory. I let him run with his, This is what he typed up, in his words.

Rock Rackus Murder(as if,deputy too strong)Need to see body to confirmRock probably not killed(we saw him in the future and resurrection magic isn't a thing here)Too convenient to cause a rift between 2 major factionsCopperhat no where to be foundHes friends with rock and last we saw them both together is when we got the webWeb only pulls out stuff we know is in thereIs the rock that got killed an imposter?Is rock in the webby boi?Copperhat stated"You’ll have some dead bodies on your hands in the near future, and this will come in handy. Not sure quite what you’re up to, but I’ve got a knack. I can always smell a corpse in the offing."Fey constantly have double meaning, sure he could've meant our bodies but what if we had rock with us the entire time and never even knew?Fey are crazy and weird so it might plausible, question is why do it even in the first place if it is true??? Was copperhat kicked out of the cool kids club and his mask taken which is why he's invisible like the rest and wears a hat?Revenge?

Interesting and very close.

The first thing they do the next day is visit the morgue and meet the Mosscats. They try and sell them memorabelia. They do find out that he was poisoned and take the bottle anyways as evidence. This annoyed the Mosscat.
They decide to dig him up themselves. I'Sheng was bound to Urim and used Cataclysmic Conjunction and just move earth to lift up the coffin. After a bit of investigating they learn that this rock is a SHAM ROCK! ba-dum-tss

Their next destination is Krog tunnel where they're frozen in, almost drowned, set upon by Killer Whales that like to swim through the floors and walls. I decided that as long as the whales were under the water they could freely swim anywhere they wanted, especially as a huge sized creature in 2 feet of water, they went down and trued to pull them under. In the end they managed to kill one whale and break free of the tunnel only to be attacked immediately by a team of Satyrs.

The sneaky satyrs were great snipers and ambushers and dealth a lot of damage to the party but eventually they got smart with Xeniam and held their actions for when he teleported in and all ganged up on him. Xeniam and the Debauched Brotherhood pledged themselves to them for a year and a day and told them that "Darbony" told them that Rock was Murdered by Dolax the Deathmask. So much conflicting information. They send the brotherhood to track down Copperhat and they went searching for the witnesses who say anything at the Tunnel. They also pulled a favor and asked the authorities who were at the scene of the crime to find them Aric de Rocha, the one who found the body.

After learning the three witnesses are going to be culled in the winter culling. Gioing to the arena to question them, they wont speak unless theyre set free. The Arena master is a blueskinned Elf who always smiles a creepy smile(Ever see Avatar the Last Airbender? There is no war in Ba Sing Sei, That creepy smile), tells them they must participate in the Culling if they are to set them free. They decided to go interrogate the Unseen Court and Hedgehog Court. Amethyst askes his questions to the Unseen Court and the Hedgehog Court while I'Sheng and Kieran search their rooms. They find Rocks golden piece and his bloody shirt with a crude sword. Everyone was pointing fingers at another Fey Lord and Amethyst head was spinning by the end of this. They did manage to ask Furg about the poison and he says its from a little know fey called Borenbog.

When they were leaving Lavac tried getting I'Shengs attention by tossing rocks at him. Amethyst went to investigate and got poop thrown at him so I'Sheng when to look on his own. Lavac explains how he uniwttingly helped the "Obscurity" and wants to make amends. Joined the Hedgehog court to help fight the Obscurty schemes, wants to mend what was marred. I'Sheng asks him if he can "dig up" information on Dolax the Deathmask and Borenbog. Poor choice of words.

They go back to their house to go over information only to find Aric de Rocha bound, gagged, with a sack over his head, and tied to a chair in their living room. Andrei watches him, says the police came by saying you wanted him. Amethyst facepalms. They untie him and quesiton him. Rock was Naked, decapicated, had an arrow, his head was nearby. There were people outside the tunnel but nobod inside the tunnel. He saw spiderwebs above the body, hanging from the ceiling, a big orb of them. Standard Webway sized. Did nothing to the body when he found it, left right away and went straight to the police. They let him go.

Kieran goes over his crazy plan again and reaches into the Absurdist Web. Out pops a poisoned and unconcious Rock Rackus! Kieran cheers! Amethyst wants to cry. I'Sheng stoic as ever doesnt really say much.

Rock is healed up and explains his side of events. The Satyrs return to the house and Rock is put back in the bag. One of them is missing a hand and tells them that Copperhat is at the Headless Human. They set out immediately.

At the headless human they see Borenbog and Copperhat. They confront Copperhat about the events and he admits everything. He admits he did it on the orders of his master the Voice of Rot. He promises if they name Thisraldion the killer, he will have his master send them back to the Waking. Amethysts tried to ask the Borenbog questions and it told to piss off.

That evening Amethyst goes to duel Karrast at the Winter Culling. They meet the creepy blue elf who always smiles who guides them to the arena. I used the pathfinder Duel rules and he managed to win. They set the witnesses free and question them on what they saw. They already know it was Copperhat but now all the pieces are falling into place.

They went home and I'Sheng got hit with rocks again, he went over to meet with Lavac who tossed them the body of Dolax the Deathmask, freshly dug up. Just like he wanted! He also gives them information on Borenbog. He brings this information to the others and they begin discussing what to do about tomorrow. Rock tries climbing out of the Absurdist web but is stuck in Kierans pocket so he lets him out. Rock tells them that he could hear everything inside the web. (They dont put two and two together yet. Surely they will eventually.) Rock helps them make plans for tomorrow. He wants to go in Disguise. Kieran makes some pyrotechnics.

The next day, they arrive to Thistle palace and name Copperhat as the "Murderer". But they also say it wasnt a murder, and it was all a ruse to star a war between the courted orchestrated by the Voice of Rot. Rock Rackus reveals himself surrounded by Fireworks and everyone is shocked. The Borenbog breaks his gourd and Copperhat escapes into the Webway. The Borenbog fight took almost 8 rounds to take him down but they eventually succeeded. Poor I'Shengs player could not make the save against the Borenbogs Aura and wasnt able to act the entire fight. Kieran was the MVP as he was a gunslinger (retrained a bit back) and used a deed to turn his entire attack action into a single shot. Rock spent most of his actions trying to refluff the webway but was entangled by spittle. Took the borenbog down to half HP in one hit. The rest of the time was improvised weapons and just failing to hurt him mostly.

Once the was taken out, they went into the Webway to chase down copperhat and encountered him in the Checkerboard forest. There Ozlador ordered the army to attack them but Kieran Shot Copperhat a bunch and Rock used Bards Escape to get the party to surround him, they beat him into submussion and his clothes fell and a tiny arm pulled his hat into his clothes, dissappearing. They searched for him but he was gone.

This is where we are now, All caught up. Next session will be Episode 6, They'll recieve rewards from the Courts, I'Sheng will be invited to join the Unseen Court. One scene im looking forward to is when they're about to set out to the the Voice of Rot, I will have Lanjyir ride from the horizon like the moon. Rock will say "Told you I was on the moon, and now so have you!"

 

[RangerWickett]

I'm far too pleased with myself over all the fey weirdness of this adventure.

 

[Crispy120286]

The fey weirdness is my favorite thing. The creepy blue elf I added who ran the colosseum was great.

I also had a Satyr Icecream man dancing atop a carriage in a michael jackson outfit. He had a big afro and wore circular sunglasses. A single gloved hand gave out the treats and took the money. The carriage was pulled by a tiny british chihuahua wearing a bowler hat.
The Dance!
The Song!


And his weird menu of treats. My players loved it.

 

[Tormyr]

The fey weirdness is my favorite thing. The creepy blue elf I added who ran the colosseum was great.

View attachment 342783

I also had a Satyr Icecream man dancing atop a carriage in a michael jackson outfit. He had a big afro and wore circular sunglasses. A single gloved hand gave out the treats and took the money. The carriage was pulled by a tiny british chihuahua wearing a bowler hat.
The Dance!
The Song!
View attachment 342780

And his weird menu of treats. My players loved it.

I may have just stolen this for my game.

 

[Crispy120286]

Lol. Please do. I look forward to reading how your players react to it. I set up the MJ video on my laptop in the continuous loop while the icecream song played in the background. Definately got some great laughs.