Notes for a New Campaign City, Parsantium

[RichGreen]

The Platinum Knights of Bahamut

The Platinum Knights of Bahamut is a fighting order of knights and paladins acting as the "sword and shield" of the Church of Bahamut, sworn to protect his clerics and followers from harm. Throughout the Sunset Lands, the Knights build chapter houses in cities and towns; from these bases, they defend the local inhabitants from orcs, goblins and other warlike humanoids. Many of its members are dragonborn; nearly all are paladins.

A hundred years ago, the organization helped Corandias XVI the Stubborn recapture Parsantium from a hobgoblin "king" in the Great Crusade. Since that time, the Platinum Knights have maintained a chapter house in the Grand Ward in the city's Imperial Quarter and can be counted on to support the Basileus in the event of war.

The order's headquarters is in a floating fortress which hovers several thousand feet above the island of Cervenna in the Corsair's Sea to the south west of Parsantium. The island was given to the Knights by the Batiaran Emperor Josephus 300 years ago for saving Rhodias (the Empire's capital) from a savage orcish attack. No one knows if the fortress is fixed in place; the rumour is that the castle can fly into battle, as Ustraternes, the dragonborn City of Flying Stone once did in ages past, dropping its elite warriors into the action from above.

Grand Master Baragarr, the dragonborn head of the Platinum Knights, has a female adult silver dragon named Kastrandethilian ("Shimmerscales") as his companion and mount. Much of his energy and the Knights' resources are spent on making the Corsairs' Sea safe for merchant traffic by dealing with piracy. Surprisingly, another knightly order are the prime culprits. The Crusading Brothers of the Sword, a fighting order dedicated to Terak which has fallen on hard times in recent years, has taken to attacking Akhrani shipping and sometimes even merchants from Loranto heading from Batiara to Parsantium. The Platinum Knights of Bahamut thus find themselves fighting their erstwhile allies to keep the sea free from pirates.

Any comments or suggestions?

 

[RichGreen]

Session #2

Here's what happened in the second session on Monday:

6th Maius (contd)

Ella, El’em and Gong are joined by Krivinn (dragonborn paladin of Bahamut). The four agree to help Riyad with his rat problem for 100gp. The buck-toothed landlord shows the PCs into the private room off the bar where he stores his barrels of Marlin Brew. There is a bad smell in here, coming from one corner. Krivinn smashes open the barrel of beer standing here, flooding the room and washing away a few rats but there are no dead bodies inside. However, Gong is able to determine there’s a trap door beneath the remains of the barrel.

Ella climbs down the rickety spiral staircase leading into the room below; when she spots two rat swarms and a pair of dire rats, she climbs back up sharpish. Krivinn, though, is much braver and rushes downstairs where he is overwhelmed by the rat swarms and ends up unconscious. The others try and help, killing the two dire rats but El’em manages to fall off the staircase into the swarms in the process. Eventually area-effect powers win the day and all the rats are killed. Both Gong and Krivinn were bitten by dire rats; the cleric contracts filth fever. Worn out by the combat, the PCs withdraw to their houseboats to rest after searching the room, finding some rusty knives and cleavers and a silver ring set with a red garnet worth 180 gp


7th Maius

The PCs return to the Black Dolphin’s Wake and head back down the stairs. In the next room, the PCs encounter four large rats with evil-looking human faces. One of these is a spellcaster who fills the room with a vexing cloud which helps conceal the rats from the party. The PCs still manage to kill them all, despite triggering a spear trap and being hit by stinging hexes by the rat-sorcerer. Krivinn puts on the +1 cloak of resistance as the PCs head through a couple of doors into the sewers beyond. There, a big battle ensues with wererats, more rat-things and a large visejaw crocodile which manages to grab Krivinn. After a long, tough fight, the PCs are victorious.

 

[RichGreen]

The Curio Cabinet, Mercantile Quarter

I love putting this kind of location in my games! The stuffed beholder is stolen shamelessly from the Old Xoblob Shop from the FR sourcebook Volo's Guide to Waterdeep.

The Curio Cabinet

The Curio Cabinet is tucked away down a backstreet a few blocks from the Colossus called Tinker’s Alley, and is an unassuming stone and timber building with a faded sign, hanging half off its hinges. The glass windows are thick with grime and hard to see through. Inside, the shop is one room with exposed ceiling beams supported by a number of pillars. Crammed into this space is a vast, untidy and dust-covered assortment of items from plundered tombs, dungeons and ruins across the world, brought here by adventurers. Dominating the space is a huge, eyeless stuffed beholder which hangs from the ceiling. The other contents are less dramatic but still exotic – erotic drow scupltures, old treasure maps, statuettes of many-headed and –limbed Sahasran gods, canopic jars from Khemit, bronze prayer wheels from a monastery high in the Pillars of Heaven Mountains, lizardfolk tribal boundary marking poles, and so on.

Irene comes across as a sweet, friendly old lady who always offers her visitors a cup of tea, keen to see what they have for sale. However, rudeness or, even worse, mean-spririted remarks will cause her to give the offending PC a sharp slap on the wrist!

Occasionally, PCs will be able to buy magic items here of their level or lower but Irene does not typically deal in weapons or armour. There is a 20% chance Irene might have a specific in stock that a PC is looking for.

Of course, there is more to Irene than meets the eye. The elderly Batiaran woman is actually Naelere, an Elder Bronze Dragon who acts as an unofficial guardian of the city against its enemies both internal and external, rarely intervening directly. As the owner of The Curio Cabinet she comes into frequent contact with adventurers wanting to sell loot whom she is then often able to steer towards somewhere she wants them to go, for example, by offering them an old treasure map for sale at a bargain price.

Any comments?

Cheers


Richard

 

[Jack7]

Rich, this is a very long thread that so far I have only had time to briefly skim. I read the first page completely and some of the other entries, including the last page.

In my campaign world my players operate out of the City of Constantinople, circa 800 AD.
Your city description, based upon what I have read thus far, greatly resembles Constantinople (down to the wards, or districts, or quarters, which in Constantinople were called Demes, from the same root as demos, or people, as in democracy) in the way it is arranged, basic geographic positioning, naming contrivances, etc.

I mention this since yours is an entirely invented city (we use the real one of that era) and could incorporate, assuming you have not already done so, elements from Constantinople (and there are many fascinating and even secret and not generally well known ones, such as the Cistern system) of any era, creating a sort of super, or idealized, Constantinople. Indeed you could incorporate elements from practically any city in history, of any era, to color your urban domains and it seems your last page description does just that by reminding me of private collector shops in London during the Victorian age.

Anyways I thought you had a good idea for a campaign setting, and especially for an "adventuring base of operations." A good, interesting, consistent, and fascinating base of operations makes the entire difference between an ordinary set of Campaigns, and an ordinary milieu, and a truly terrific and fascinating milieu and campaign background. Constantinople and the Byzantine Empire of that era has been a superb base of operations for my players, indeed it has been the most successful and interesting setting I have ever DMed and I've been playing for over 30 years now. Where the characters live and how they operate (sanctioned by both the Emperor and the Orthodox church) adds elements of realism and interest that could not be achieved by looser, less directly emphatic home associations. In other words the land and city and peoples of the game are in many respects just as engaging as real world peoples (indeed one reason I started using Constantinople was precisely because I wanted to inject elements of historical virtual reality into the game, so that the religious, political, social, cultural, and military backgrounds of the game became as important to the players as the adventures and missions themselves) and are as important to explore in that respect as any mission the players are sent on, or any ruin they infiltrate.

The background you are developing reminds me in many ways of a setting of this type, where background and milieu are integral to the game itself, and in my experience, renders a far more satisfying game to play. My players are as often eager to undertake a spying mission against the Persians, or to fight Viking raiders out of Russia as they are to explore deserted ruins and kill monsters.

You develop opportunities like that (so that every aspect of the world the players explore is interesting) and I think your setting will succeed admirably.

 

[RichGreen]

Hi Jack7,

Great post! I've just finished reading Judith Herrin's book Byzantium: The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire which is going to help me add a bit more realism to the city. There are other, non-Byzantine elements to Parsantium too but it certainly owes a lot to that city.

Thanks for the advice.

Cheers


Richard

 

[RichGreen]

Session #3

Here's what happened in last night's game, in which the PCs finished the first adventure. Session xp was 522xp each - enough to level up Ella, El'em and Gong.

7th Maius (contd)
After a short rest, Ella takes the lead and opens the door to the south-east. Inside are four giant rats. She shoots at them while the others move up to support her. Krivinn moves into the doorway and engages the dire rats in melee but when he steps further into the room he’s attacked by the two cavern chokers lurking above the entrance and is grabbed. Gong goes to help and ends up with a rat stuck to his leg and also grabbed by a choker. The hapless Krivinn falls unconscious yet again after being bitten by rats and hit by the choker. Bravely, Ella dives into the room to help, using her split the tree power and El’em casts thunderwave to attack the chokers. Eventually the PCs’ enemies lie dead and Krivinn comes round. Needing to rest but suspicious of Riyad, the PCs leave by the ladder leading up to a manhole and return to their houseboats.


8th Maius
Ashna appears with El’em’s posters. She’s delighted when he gives her 20 silver solidi to put them up around the Old Quarter and promises to post some near the Camel Gate in the Caravans Ward where rich merchants arrive in the city.

Return to the sewers under the Black Dolphin’s Wake. Ella manages to find a secret door which she opens, revealing a room beyond with a sinister looking demonic statue standing on a bloodstained altar. The chamber is occupied by zombies and wererats but these don’t worry our heroine who boldly charges in and shoots at the wererat on the stairs. The wererats shoot back and the zombies close in, reducing her to 4hp. El’em casts flaming sphere, moving it round the room to great effect as the other PCs come in to help. Ella is dominated by the statue and shoots at Gong. She soon snaps out of it, however, and Gong attacks the statue with lance of faith while Krivinn fights the wererats. Once all the monsters are dead, the PCs gang up on the statue, smashing it to smithereens. They don’t like the look of the still-beating human heart and Kali statuette on the altar and throw these into El’em’s flaming sphere to burn.

With the statue destroyed, the PCs head back up to the tavern where Riyad explains that when he bought the Black Dolphin’s Wake he had to get it blessed by three different priests to remove the taint of evil left by the previous owner Mikulas, a cannibalistic murderer. Obviously, Gong points out, a priest of Niu Dahan, would have done a better job! Riyad pays the PCs 100 gp between them for dealing with the rats.

Any comments?


Richard

 

[RichGreen]

Selling Loot in Flotsam

Here are three locations near Flotsam where PCs can sell their ill-gotten gains and also buy new gear. For anything else, a trip to the Mercantile Quarter is in order:

Bilal’s Blades
An arms and armour shop on the north side of the Fish Market. Bilal is a somewhat weasley-looking Akhrani with thinning oiled hair and a scar running down from his cheek to his neck – a souvenir of a nearly fatal fight Bilal was involved in several years ago with a thuggee who tried to rob him as he was walking back to his home after a night gambling at Fahil’s. Bilal sells new and second-hand weapons and armour of various types, with scimitars and kukris a particular speciality. Local enforcers, rogues and thieves make up the majority of his customers. He sometimes has a few masterwork and magic items to sell.
Hook: one of the weapons Bilal has for sale is a strong-willed intelligent blade which has a special purpose to kill the enemies of its creator. This weapon might end up in the hands of a PC.


Harold’s Hole
Located on the south side of the square where the Fish Market is held. A plaque above the door reads “Welcome to Harold’s Hole!”; underneath is a plaque reading “Thieves: I have a loaded crossbow and I know how to use it – Harold.” The shop is crowded with tables and shelves lined with all sorts of adventuring gear. Even more hangs from the ceiling on hooks or dangling from harnesses and straps. Harold, a well-groomed half-orc with very short hair, a young face and a huge girth, runs the place. Nearly everything can be bought here, except for magical items, and is of good quality at standard prices. He pays one fifth listed value for weapons and equipment with no questions asked. He keeps a record of all transactions, including the seller’s name and residence.
Hook: a customer notices that one of the finely tooled leather backpacks for sale is actually a nobleman’s riding pack – belonging to a nobleman that’s been missing for more than a month. Harold is now in trouble with the Watch and he needs help finding the people who sold him the pack.

Girik’s Three Gold Coins
Girik is a gnarly old, one-eyed dwarf pawnbroker and fence operating from a small, shabby shop on the south-west corner of the Fish Market square. He wears red and gold silk robes in the Sahasran style and has a very long braided beard. The Three Gold Coins consists of a small office with a desk and table. Girik works behind the desk most days, and customers can lay their wares on the table so he can inspect them. The items he has for sale are displayed in a locked glass case and on shelves around the room.
Girik will lend four-fifths of the value on gems and jewellery; two thirds on other items with the loan running for six months. Interest is 10% per annum and is charged monthly. He also buys jewellery and other valuables (although nothing too esoteric or pricey) from thieves and adventurers. He sells some in his shop but he takes anything worth over 50gp or so to a stall he has in the Mercantile Quarter’s huge market.

Any comments? Any suggestions for a hook for Girik's Three Gold Coins?

Cheers


Richard

*Harold's Hole comes from Bluffside by Thunderhead Games

 

[Loonook]

Here are three locations near Flotsam where PCs can sell their ill-gotten gains and also buy new gear. For anything else, a trip to the Mercantile Quarter is in order:

Bilal’s Blades
An arms and armour shop on the north side of the Fish Market. Bilal is a somewhat weasley-looking Akhrani with thinning oiled hair and a scar running down from his cheek to his neck – a souvenir of a nearly fatal fight Bilal was involved in several years ago with a thuggee who tried to rob him as he was walking back to his home after a night gambling at Fahil’s. Bilal sells new and second-hand weapons and armour of various types, with scimitars and kukris a particular speciality. Local enforcers, rogues and thieves make up the majority of his customers. He sometimes has a few masterwork and magic items to sell.
Hook: one of the weapons Bilal has for sale is a strong-willed intelligent blade which has a special purpose to kill the enemies of its creator. This weapon might end up in the hands of a PC.


Harold’s Hole
Located on the south side of the square where the Fish Market is held. A plaque above the door reads “Welcome to Harold’s Hole!”; underneath is a plaque reading “Thieves: I have a loaded crossbow and I know how to use it – Harold.” The shop is crowded with tables and shelves lined with all sorts of adventuring gear. Even more hangs from the ceiling on hooks or dangling from harnesses and straps. Harold, a well-groomed half-orc with very short hair, a young face and a huge girth, runs the place. Nearly everything can be bought here, except for magical items, and is of good quality at standard prices. He pays one fifth listed value for weapons and equipment with no questions asked. He keeps a record of all transactions, including the seller’s name and residence.
Hook: a customer notices that one of the finely tooled leather backpacks for sale is actually a nobleman’s riding pack – belonging to a nobleman that’s been missing for more than a month. Harold is now in trouble with the Watch and he needs help finding the people who sold him the pack.

Girik’s Three Gold Coins
Girik is a gnarly old, one-eyed dwarf pawnbroker and fence operating from a small, shabby shop on the south-west corner of the Fish Market square. He wears red and gold silk robes in the Sahasran style and has a very long braided beard. The Three Gold Coins consists of a small office with a desk and table. Girik works behind the desk most days, and customers can lay their wares on the table so he can inspect them. The items he has for sale are displayed in a locked glass case and on shelves around the room.
Girik will lend four-fifths of the value on gems and jewellery; two thirds on other items with the loan running for six months. Interest is 10% per annum and is charged monthly. He also buys jewellery and other valuables (although nothing too esoteric or pricey) from thieves and adventurers. He sells some in his shop but he takes anything worth over 50gp or so to a stall he has in the Mercantile Quarter’s huge market.

Any comments? Any suggestions for a hook for Girik's Three Gold Coins?

Cheers


Richard

*Harold's Hole comes from Bluffside by Thunderhead Games

I wish I could give you rep. for every single post here... good stuff man. But right now you look like you're going to reach Ptolus level of detail in no time at all .

Slainte,

-Loonook.

 

[arcanaman]

Wow love the constanople idea the byzantines are my favorite culture in history

 

[RichGreen]

I wish I could give you rep. for every single post here... good stuff man. But right now you look like you're going to reach Ptolus level of detail in no time at all .

Slainte,

-Loonook.

I'm not sure I'll get anywhere near Ptolus level, but thanks!


Richard