Saturday Game Help. Military City, Outlaw Mages and a Wedding

[Angelsboi]

Information
- High Mages are PHB Sorcerrers
- Sorcerers are Monte Cooks Sorcerrers
- Psions, Psi Warriors and Sorcerers are banned in the lands of Zodicia.
- Party consists of a 1/2 elf barbarian/bard named Cy, a hafling fighter named Tatyanna, dwarven cleric (NPC) and a human high mage.

Last week Jester showed up for a one shot (elven bard). both bards heard of people having trouble in Stars Hollow. At the same time they overheard this, they found a young hafling woman who was heading up near Stars Hollow to Inal Fern Swamp (Stars Hollow borders on it).

*insert the Dungeon Adventure: Bogged Down*

Afterwords, the elvish bard stayed behind to help the town after the capture of the towns council man. The half elf bard and hafling returned back to Aphis, where, Tatyanna the hafling bounty hunter returned an object to Shorty Three Fingers, a hafling in charge of a local crime syndicate called the Scarlet Feather. They deal with extortion and drugs.

So i need something for this week.

This Week's Ideas

After rolling 3 times on the DMG pg 138, i came up with the following:

- A Wizards Guild challenges the ruling council
-A jealous rival threatens a well-attended wedding
-An evil tyrant outlaws nonofficially sanctioned magic use.

Im thinking ...

After a days of rest, Tatyanna comes down with Filth Fever (from Bogged Down - 2 days incubation time). During this day, i will introduce the High Mage to the game and have a random encounter with a band of thugs. Magic will be used im sure. A witness to this is a high level guard who then informs the local Captain of the Guards.

The captain of the guards claims to be speaking on behalf of the ruler, Stry, by declairing all unsanctioned magic cease. The only way to become sanctioned is to sign in at the Captain of the Guards.

A local wizards guild who work freelance start to protest over this.

In the midst of all this, the Captain of the Guards daughter is getting married to his first in command. His daughter doesnt want to marry him for she is in love with someone else, a mage.

He shows up at the wedding right as they ask about anyone not wanting them to get married. The Captain orders his guards to seize the man but he has brought a small group of mages to back him up.

Stry has no idea what is going on.

Goals:

- Make sure the girl doesnt get killed
- Get proof of the Captain speaking on behalf of Stry
- ?
- ?

Behind the Scenes:

- Captain knows of his daughters secret crush and is hoping to lure him out with the sanctioned magic law

- Young mage who loves the captains daughter belongs to a local wizards guild.

- ?

- ?

Additional Information
Name: Aphis Size: Large Town Population: 3.112
GP Limit: 3.000 GP Assets: 466.500
Active Guards: See Below Captain of the Guards: Highest Warrior
Power Center(s): Duke Stry Fennario - Psi Warrior (Magical)
Power Center Alignment(s): LN
Power Center(s) Authority: Middling
Power Center(s) Rule: Popular
Citizen Alignment(s): LN

Features: Stry Fennario rules the town of Aphis much like the military. If you are weak, you have no place here. Most mages that come from here are battle mages and tend to be just as tough as the fighters. Stry poses as a High Mage who is now a fighter. No one knows his true secret of being a Psi Warrior.

There are no commoners. They are all warriors. Everyone knows how to use some kind of weapon and everyone knows how to use armor and owns something light. All mages are taught to ficus on evocation or abjuration.

NPCs of Note: Duke Fennario (Psi Warrrior), Shorty Three Fingers (Rogue), Sister Jaquelynn Ho'rrie' (Cleric of Veriday (goddess of Law, Retribution and Liberation), Sean Dermount (Cleric of Ryan (god of Nobility, Glory and Truth), Pitre Foe Smasher (Cleric of Kraig (god of War, Destruction and Rage), Brother-In-Arms Karll War Friend (Cleric of Aerik (god of Glory, Hero and Strength)

what i need is some encounters that would be in the city and help filling in the ?'s. Some goals for the PCs and maybe some further fleshing out.

 

[the Jester]

Afterwords, the elvish bard stayed behind to help the town after the capture of the towns council man. The half elf bard and hafling returned back to Aphis, where, Tatyanna the hafling bounty hunter returned an object to Shorty Three Fingers, a hafling in charge of a local crime syndicate called the Scarlet Feather.

Just a quick note here- actually, Sarcastro (my bard) was the half-elf that stayed behind.

Fun game, by the way, Angelsboi!

 

[s/LaSH]

If the guild doesn't want to become sanctioned... why not? Are they doing something illegal they don't want people to know about? If so, is it moral or immoral? Or are they simply speaking out against an evil tyrant and trying to retain freedom?

Or perhaps there's public groundswell against magery fullstop. A religious movement? Maybe there's an evil magic-user out there who did something horrible and now everyone's paying the price.

Finally... it's not quite clear whether Stry is simply unaware of the wedding, or unaware of the magic sanctioning protocol. If the latter, then why is the captain doing this? Just because he wants his daughter to marry well, or is something deeper going on? Did he have a nasty experience with a magic-user at a younger age (a magic-user that is still present)? Or is he, in fact, not the Captain at all, but rather an evil imposter working to weaken the city's magical defences for a future invasion?

I'm just throwing ideas out at random here. Hope you find something useful...

 

[Buttercup]

How's this: It's not that the captain doesn't want his daughter to marry a mage, it's that he doesn't want her to marry this mage. Turns out the boy's father, who is now dead, is also the captain's father. This dead mage raped the Captain's mother using a glamour or something (think Uther Pendragon) and no one knows that the kids are brother & sister, except the captain, of course. He's trying to prevent an abomination from happening, while saving the face of all involved.

 

[Angelsboi]

well, the captain of the guards is a 1/2 orc. His daughter (A human with a little green tint) is secretly in love with a young mage from the guild.

He knows of this crush and sees it as petty and that the mage has used his 'magick' to brainwash her. He comes to this conclusion after she refuses to marry the 2nd in command under him.

Therefore, he decided to make ALL arcane magicks be banned unless sanctioned. The guild is outraged because they want their freedom. (Stry is staying away from this b/c he is a Psi Warrior, a class banned and outlawed in this nation).

The young lover decides to get some friends together to 'kidnap' the young lady he loves, unbeknowenst to her.

One of the local thieves guilds (the only one actually) is run by a hafling called Shorty Three-Fingers. The young lady has hired him to find some people to 'kidnap' her and smuggle her out of town.

The young mage doesnt know this, nor, does anyone else.

The young mage and the PCs will run into each other while trying to kidnap the young maiden, all the while, trying to avoid her father and her arranged fiance'

 

[Angelsboi]

Here is the revamp

Saturdays Game

Intro Alyss's Char
Intro Magus's Char
Intro Brad's Char

Ideas:

There are no commoners in this city. Every last citizen of the city is at least War 1. Everyone trains, everyone knows how to use a weapon.
Weapons. Everyone carries some sort of weapon. For many, it's a simple Club, Halfspear, Short Sword, Dagger or Sling, but they're present. Most citizens own and wear padded or leather armor.
Now, what are they giving up to be this militaristic? Likely, it's culture and arts. No gardens (at least, not decorative ones...vegetables, medicinal herbs and the like). No parks. No fountains. No artwork. The city is very sparce and grim. It is also very defensible.
The city is composed of square buildings, three storeys tall. Streets between them are narrow and winding, there is no direct path through the city. Each building has only one door to the outside, and it can be barred from within. They also have a trapdoor in the roof, which is square, flat, and has a 2' rim around it's outside edge. Most buildings have a couple of bows and quivers of arrows stacked on them, along with a plank long enough to reach the next building.
In case of invasion, the lower door can be barred, and the citizenry can take up arms on the roof, firing on those in the street. When the one door on the ground floor is broken into, they can use the planks to get to the next building, pulling it behind them.
Connotations of a LN culture. Curfews. Carefully defined districts. People probably carry identification papers. It's probably fairly clean. Authorities are accustomed to immediate obedience, and will be caught off guard by beligerant defiance.
Very Spartan


Information
- High Mages are PHB Sorcerrers
- Sorcerers are Monte Cooks Sorcerrers
- Psions, Psi Warriors and Sorcerers are banned in the lands of Zodicia.
- Party consists of a 1/2 elf barbarian/bard named Cy, a hafling fighter named Tatyanna, dwarven cleric (NPC) and a human high mage.

Last week Jester showed up for a one shot (elven bard). both bards heard of people having trouble in Stars Hollow. At the same time they overheard this, they found a young hafling woman who was heading up near Stars Hollow to Inal Fern Swamp (Stars Hollow borders on it).

*insert the Dungeon Adventure: Bogged Down*

Afterwords, the elvish bard stayed behind to help the town after the capture of the towns council man. The half elf bard and hafling returned back to Aphis, where, Tatyanna the hafling bounty hunter returned an object to Shorty Three Fingers, a hafling in charge of a local crime syndicate called the Scarlet Feather. They deal with extortion and drugs.

So i need something for this week.

Adventure
-----------------------
Flamerule 6
Morning:
- After a days of rest, Tatyanna comes down with Filth Fever (from Bogged Down - 2 days incubation time).

- Introduce Brad and the other characters.

- (ECL 4) Encounter with some thugs (5 level 1 thugs)

- Aunna Foebiter will be involved. Magic will be used im sure. A witness to this is a guard who then informs the local Captain of the Guards.

Afternoon:
- The captain of the guards, Gray'le Foebiter, calls for a meeting in the town hall. He shows up with his daughter, Aunna, and second-in-command, Gregorry Smither. Gray'le claims to be speaking on behalf of the ruler, Stry Fennaro, by declairing all unsanctioned magic cease and will then talk about the incident earlier that morning involving his daughter. The only way to become sanctioned is to sign in at the Captain of the Guards.

- A local wizards guild who work freelance start to protest over this. Gray'le will tell them that if they do not register by the morning, there meetinghouse will be shut down and all property will become that of the city of Aphis.

- Gray'le also mentions that his daughter is getting married to his second-in-command, Gregorry Smither, in a week. A stifled cry can be heard (Listen DC 15). As soon as the meeting is over, a spot check of DC 15 will reveal a distraught young man talking to a couple of his friends and then storming out of the Town Hall. His attitude is Unfriendly at this point.

Evening:
- Stephen and his friends refuse to register and start making plans to 'kidnap' his beloved.

- ?

- ?

Flamerule 7
Morning:
- The guards close in on the mage meeting house and a battle between some of the mages and the guards break out. Those mages that survive try to flee, those that die are buried in the local cemetary. Those taken into custody are then burned that afternoon.

- Stephen and his friends try to break into Gray'les house and unsuccessfully tries to kidnap his girlfriend.

- Gray'le calls another meeting for the afternoon.

Afternoon:
- Gray'le announces the foolish descion of the towns mages and then makes an example of them in a public exuecution. He also mentions the attempt of his daughters life and the wedding plans have been moved to the morning.

- Aunna says she doesn't want to marry gregorry but she wants to marry stephen. Gray'le gets upset and orders the guards to find Gregorry for illegal use of magick to brainwash his daughter. He then locks his daughter up in his house.

- ?

- ?

Evening:
- Shorty Three-Fingers contacts Tatyanna about a bounty on Aunna Foebiter and explains that she wants to be 'kidnapped' so she could be with her lover.

- Stephen is also planning on breaking into Gray'les house to 'kidnap' his beloved but no one but he and his friends know this. Under the guise of illusions, they try to carry out their plan.

- Both parties arrive at the house at the same time. ((how to use the illusions of the girls lover and the PCs to a disadvantage??))

- The PCs will rescue Aunna before Stephen can get to her. They deliver her to Shorty, who then, escorts her out of town through the sewers. Shorty will tell them that Stepehen will meet her on the outside.

- ?

Flamerule 8
Morning:
- Gray'le discovers his daughter missing and is enraged. He places a bounty on the head of Stephen Bolt. If the PCs dont help Stephen, he is brought in and mind scanned. Intent of kidnapping Aunna is there and he is sentenced to Death.

- PCs can either try to free Stepehen or let him hang (depending on the PCs). If they try to free him, they will be hunted (as will Stephen) by bounty hunters and they wont be allowed back in the city. They can get hlp with Stepehens friends and their magic to free him.

Goals:
- Make sure the girl doesnt get killed
- Get proof of the Captain speaking on behalf of Stry
- ?
- ?
- ?

Behind the Scenes:
- Young mage who loves the captains daughter belongs to a local wizards guild.

- Well, the captain of the guards is a 1/2 orc. His daughter (A human with a little green tint) is secretly in love with a young mage from the guild. Captain knows of his daughters secret crush. He sees it as petty and that the mage has used his 'magick' to brainwash her. He comes to this conclusion after she refuses to marry the 2nd in command under him.

- Stry is staying away from this b/c he is a Psi Warrior, a class banned and outlawed in this nation. If anyone found out, he'd be killed. He is posing as a High Mage/Fighter

- The young lover decides to get some friends together to 'kidnap' the young lady he loves, unbeknowenst to her.

- One of the local thieves guilds (the only one actually) is run by a hafling called Shorty Three-Fingers. The young lady has hired him to find some people to 'kidnap' her and smuggle her out of town. The young mage doesnt know this, nor, does anyone else.