Notes for a New Campaign City, Parsantium

[RichGreen]

Hi,

Did some work on the rat-infestation adventure today, putting together some 4e encounters for the first time. The adventure is planned for 1st-level PCs so there's actually quite a limited set of monsters to choose from and I really didn't want to feature any kobolds for this as they play such a big role in Keep on the Shadowfell.

The first encounter is outside the Black Dolphin's Wake and gives the PCs a chance to try out 4e combat against some dockside thugs (human bandits, human rabble and a halfling thief). Once they get down in the tunnels beneath the tavern they run into:

Encounter 1:
2 rat swarms
2 dire rats

Encounter 2:
3 rat-things (giant rat minions but with human faces)
1 rat-thing hexer (as above, using stats for goblin hexer)

Encounter 3, takes place in the main sewer tunnels:
2 wererats with crossbows
1 visejaw crocodile (how could I resist having a crocodile in the sewers? I couldn't!)
5 rat-thing minions

Encounter 4:
2 cavern chokers

Encounter 5:
The daeva statue
2 wererats with crossbows
2 zombie brutes
3 zombie rotters

Here are the stats for the 3' high now six-armed evil idol brought back by Mikulas from the Pillars of Heaven:

Hidimba, Daeva Statue
Level 4 Controller, 175xp
Initiative +0, Perception +12
AC 20
HP 60 Bloodied 30
Immune disease, petrification, poison
Speed 0
Enslave (standard, recharge ) Charm
Ranged 5; +6 vs Will; the target is dominated (save ends). Hidimba can only enslave one creature at a time.
Alignment Chaotic Evil

I only really did the bare minimum stats for the idol as it's not really a monster. The Enslave power is a weakened version of the mind flayer's; apart from that it has no attacks and the PCs just need to smash it. I toned down the attacks bonus for the Enslave power; it should be +8 according to the DMG but I think that might be too much.

What do you think?

Cheers


Richard

 

[Gilladian]

I love it! I can't answer your question about the Idol's enslavement power, as I don't "do" 4e, but I can certainly say the adventure sounds like a real winner. The chance that the PCs will have to fight/subdue one of their own is fun. Just make sure there's some clear reason for them to realize smashing the statue is the "answer" to stopping it. They might fear that doing so will simply release the demon and make things worse.

In fact, I may steal it, and with a few changes to make it appropriate to my setting, use it in an Egyptian-style adventure I'm about to run. It would make a perfect early adventure for my group!

 

[RichGreen]

I love it! I can't answer your question about the Idol's enslavement power, as I don't "do" 4e, but I can certainly say the adventure sounds like a real winner. The chance that the PCs will have to fight/subdue one of their own is fun. Just make sure there's some clear reason for them to realize smashing the statue is the "answer" to stopping it. They might fear that doing so will simply release the demon and make things worse.

In fact, I may steal it, and with a few changes to make it appropriate to my setting, use it in an Egyptian-style adventure I'm about to run. It would make a perfect early adventure for my group!

Cool, glad you like it!

I'm hoping that a sense of palpable evil coming from the idol might give them a clue that they need to smash it, but it's certainly possible that they might think this would make things worse. It'll be obvious to anyone that the statue fails to control that it was trying to dominate him/her.

Cheers


Richard

 

[RichGreen]

Jagadamba again

Still can't think what class works best for Jagadamba in 4e. I've been thinking about making her a warlock with the Ritual Caster feat and Brew Potion ritual. There just aren't that many potions in 4e yet!

Oh well, it'll be some time before the PCs need to fight her.


Richard

 

[RichGreen]

New Flotsam Location: Shrine to Anwyn

N.B. Anwyn is featured in Green Ronin's excellent Book of the Righteous

Shrine to Anwyn
Anwyn is known as the Homely, the Blessed, Goodlady, the Firekeeper and the Lady of the Feast among other names. Her shrine (or hearth, as her temples are called) in Flotsam is on a boat and is a popular meeting place for the wives, daughters and young children of the local fishermen. The deck of the boat is dominated by a communal kitchen and dining area where naan bread and chapatis are baked and fragrant lentil soup simmers away on the stove. The women of Flotsam gather round, chatting about life in Parsantium, politics, the latest gossip and other matters, great and small. This is obviously great place for a female PC to find out information.

In the centre of the deck is the hearth-fire itself; in front of it is an altar arrayed with food, candles and wine. The manciple (priestess) is Goodmother Bree Eleri, a rotund, matronly halfling with rosy red cheeks. Kind and gentle, the Goodmother is a 9th-level cleric and knows the gentle repose, cure disease, raise dead and remove affliction rituals.

She is assisted by a young petitioner (1st-level cleric) called Hannah Megaris, also a halfling, from a village to the northwest of Parsantium named Nicasia.

Secret: Hannah is more powerful than she seems. More importantly she belongs to a secret doctrine within the church of Anwyn which secretly worships the King of Hell, Asmodeus. Corrupted by her (human) village priestess, Hannah was sent to the city to destabilise and destroy the good works of the hearth here from within.

This is likely to be the temple the PCs go to when in need of healing (eg Cure Disease after the first adventure vs the rats beneath the Black Dolphin's Wake) so quite an important location.

Any comments?

 

[RichGreen]

University District

Hi,

I thought it was about time I detailed a few of the important buildings in the Imperial Quarter:

The University of Parsantium is situated in the Civic Ward and is renowned as the foremost centre of mundane learning in the former Batiaran Empire. Consisting of several buildings, the biggest, an impressive marble edifice known as the Ivory Towers, houses the 300-seater Auditorium where lectures take place, classrooms, and the offices of the tutors and academic staff. The University Library and the Imperial Museum of Antiquities, as well as halls of residence and for the students and academic staff, kitchens and a grand dining hall make up the rest of the buildings.

The Imperial Museum of Antiquities houses a collection of artifacts from the former lands of the Batiaran Empire, the deserts of Khemit, and beyond. Its collection would be more impressive if the University did not need to sell its most valuable artifacts rather than putting them on display, not to mention the steady stream of items routinely stolen from the museum. More interesting perhaps is the stuff not on display stored in the vaults beneath the building: some is awaiting cataloguing, some has been deemed too uninteresting to show and some too dangerous...

The university is also home to an enigmatic sphinx named Flamewind who came to the city after being met by adventurers in a ruined temple deep in the jungles of Sahasra. Flamewind has the body of a giant lion but with orange stripes on deep black fur. Her great falcon wings are jet black; she has the face of a beautiful elf or eladrin maiden, though her features are very feline and her hair is the same black and orange as her coat. She wears a few jewelled chains of platinum and gold around her neck and forelimbs and a silver diadem rests on her brow.
Flamewind spends much of her time in the Great Libary and around the university and has a great deal to offer adventurers and scholars seeking to know more about the Ruined Kingdoms and other remote parts of Sahasra. She possesses oracular powers and has been known to summon a band of adventurers, sending them on strange missions after uttering a cryptic prophecy identifying them by name.


The Great Library of Parsantium is situated in the university district in the Civic Ward and serves as the centre of the worship of the god of knowledge, Tinel.

This is the most complete and inclusive library in the former Batiaran Empire, housing many literary, artistic and scholarly works of the people of the Empire and beyond. This huge collection has grown over the centuries of Parsantium's existence, although many valuable works were destroyed or lost when the city fell into the hands of the humanoids prior to the Great Crusade.

To keep the library's Hall of Records current, the Inceptors (priests) of Tinel who look after the library hire adventurers to travel to remote locations and document their journeys. Sometimes, they are asked to find out the truth of a particular legend; at others, to verify a rumour or reported event. These adventurers are instructed to keep a journal of their travels; these journals are then purchased by the Great Library. Typically, adventurers return to Parsantium from their travels in the months of September and October hoping to sell their journals to the library.

The library is open to researchers and visiting scholars at a cost of 20 gp per day which includes assistance from the librarians, scribes and research scholars.

Sources:
- Flamewind is stolen from Eberron and appears in the Sharn, City of Towers book.
- The Great Library is based on the Great Library of Throal in Earthdawn -- I always liked the setting but never got to play the game.
- Tinel is from Green Ronin's excellent Book of the Righteous from which much of the Batiaran pantheon has been taken.

Any comments or suggestions? With these locations I wanted to give the PCs a places where they could do research as needed for their adventures, and also give them some potential patrons.

Cheers


Richard

 

[RichGreen]

BTW, if anyone can think of some more interesting names for the university, museum and library, let me know! They're very vanilla at the moment.

Cheers


Richard

 

[Ebonyr]

What about the Scholasticia for the university?

 

[RichGreen]

What about the Scholasticia for the university?

I like it. The Scholasticia or did you mean University of Scholasticia? Or something else?

Cheers


Richard

 

[RichGreen]

Flotsam location: Sapta Sindhu temple

The Temple of the Sapta Sindhu

This large houseboat serves as the religious centre for the Sahasran community of Flotsam although these days many of the women pay their respects to the Batiaran/halfling goddess Anwyn instead.

On the deck stand colourfully painted statues of the Sapta Sindhu, the seven river gods and goddesses, as well as one of Varuna, god of oceans and rivers, astride his makara (a sea creature resembling a cross between a dolphin and a crocodile). Worshippers at the temple will make offerings of rice, flowers and sweets at the foot of the statue they want to bless their endeavours: praying to Kunar for a bigger catch before going out fishing for the day, asking one of the goddesses (often Sarayu) to help find the perfect wife or husband or beseeching Yamuna to provide a healthy son and heir. Vibrant flags and pennants run on strings from the mast down to the front, back and sides of the boat adding to its colour appearance. This increases tenfold during the Festival of Flowers in the month of Sextilis when the temple is covered in bright yellow, orange and red flowers.

The priestess, Chandipati , is a 5th-level cleric; she knows the brew potion and hand of fate rituals. Chandipati is a tall, thin woman in her late 30s. She is short-sighted and has a tendency to squint at anyone approaching in an attempt to recognise them. A strict vegetarian who hates the idea of harming any living thing, she sometimes can’t help showing her disapproval of catching and eating fish to her congregation of mostly fishermen.

Secret: Chandipati’s husband walked out on her a few years ago after an argument and is now mixed up with the Golden Scimitars.