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

[gideonpepys]

Character development - fluff and crunch

Some time ago I realised how hopelessly underwhelming 4E magic items could be, to the extent that almost any item you give to characters that are not wholly locked into their build (items listed as gold or light blue on optimization forums) will be greeted with an airy sniff by the player and either forgotten about or sold.

Zeitgeist sidestepped some of these issues by simply enabling players to buy what they want straight from the RHC, and also by introducing some key and quite cool new items, with the only issue being that, because they aren’t ‘canon’ players can’t easily add them to their character sheets. Also, the process of handing them in to the RHC and buying them back later (when they can afford them) means that often they get forgotten about.

For paragon tier, I’m planning to reduce the players’ stipends to nominal amounts that cover expenses only. Why? Because I want them to enjoy treasure-hunting again, once they are out of Risur and globe-trotting. I also figured that the way the D&D economy works, even a major nation like Risur might struggle to pay the wages of six to seven 20^th level characters.

To make this decision less random, towards the end of our most recent buffer adventure, I tied the funding of the RHC to Benedict Pemberton. A huge amount of the organisation’s funds derive from Pemberton Industries. Although Harkover Lee has gone out of his way to ensure that Pemberton derives no direct influence from his largesse, it does mean that when he withdraws funding and transfers his base of operations to Ber, the RHC will no longer have the means to pay out tens of thousands of gold pieces in stipends (and it will all be the players’ fault).

Tied to all of this was my decision to increase – yes, increase – character power (or at least, broaden character choice) throughout the campaign. Initially, we were moving from early epic tier back to first level, and I didn’t want the players to feel straight-jacketed by that change. I also wanted to have some way to influence their development myself, so I introduced DM bonuses at level 1. I have also been awarding boons of various kinds to players as they develop, the most important of which came at level 10 (with another at level 11). At level 10, the players receive a substantial improvement in the form of training (which cost their entire stipend); at level 11, they will gain an additional at-will (for the same cost). Which means I don’t have to bother with items for a while, but also means that the benefits accrued to each character are more about what they can do, less about what they can carry.

I also asked the players to weave any major changes into their character stories and downtime.

Here are the boons for each character:

Korrigan – At level 1 he gained the unrelenting mountain stance, and a bonus to diplomacy. The power gave him a more ‘steadfast’ feel during combat; the latter enabled him to function as a true ‘leader’ even though he lacked charisma. At level 10 he trained to gain both the battlefront leader and combat leader warlord features. He also became a multiclass paladin as a result of his intense study of the book on Triegenes (though his ‘conversion’ is more philosophical than spiritual). Throughout his development he has earned additional genasi manifestations as he comes into contact with other elements. While the default is earthshock, he is able to switch to swiftcurrent or cindersoul.

Uru – At level 1 he had the riverborn ritualist bonus feat (and eventually was able to perform all nature rituals). I enjoy rituals, and wanted to encourage their use by the players most likely to do so. At level 10 he gained the mark of shadow feat for free as a result of the incident on Cauldron Hill. He has also opened up the Fading One series of boons. Uru also has the most eclectic mix of items in the group, including a lot of stuff he invents himself, or with interesting stories attached: technologist’s goggles; tad-pole (a rod of shrivelled penises belonging to his victims which serves as a ki focus); hoodoo mask; grim candle; dragontooth groghorn; hat of hats; ‘Winken, Blinken & Nod’ (three ghost children who serve as mage hands). He can also make clockwork bombs.

Matunaaga – At level 1 Matunaaga had both the githzerai and githyanki racial powers, and a theme developed by his player and me. He also had the ability to meditate and access the racial memory of his people, granting him the use of a skill for 24 hours. At level 10, he used this racial memory, and his own martial prowess to study at the Battalion and earn the martial scientist theme. (His bespoke theme was cool, but little more than a collection of interesting abilities in comparison with the other Zeitgeist-specific themes which see ‘action’ in every adventure.) His close study of the Palimpsest item has opened up a series of benefits which can be accessed only as his Wisdom improves, and will enable me to offer him benefits as he levels up. All of these will have to be ‘bought’. (The Palimpsest demands and ascetic lifestyle, so he ‘buys’ improvements by not claiming his stipend.) The first of these is mercurial mind; the second is access to both the rrathmal and storvakal paragon paths.

Rumdoom – started off able to make alchemist fire, which was reskinned as highly flammable dwarven booze. He also had to roll on a random table to see how badly his alcoholism was affecting him each day. (These benefits lapsed when he was ‘reborn’.) A relationship with Heward Sechim saw his alchemical abilities improve, but to simplify matters, we’ve now decided that he can make grenades instead (some knowledge of basic munitions having been picked up during the Yerasol campaign). Rumdoom has recently become a multiclass runepriest. The boon for him is that he can use the rune of mending power once per encounter.

Leon – was granted multiclass shaman at level 1. This enabled him to take mending spirit at first level, and serve as back-up healer when Korrigan is absent. (Obviously, with both Leon and Rumdoom providing healing support, the full unit can be a little overpowered in this regard, but more often than not, one or more of them is missing. If and when all of them are present, it doesn’t take much to up the ante of an encounter.) Leon was a martial sholar from the outset, but working towards membership of the vekeshi mystics. I used this to open up the vekeshi story-lines which are some of the most important in the AP. At level 10, he has finally earned full membership (and thus the associated theme benefits), while also being granted access to fonts of power reserved for members of the Unseen Court: this will see him become an Unseen Warlock at level 11 (reskinned Evermeet Warlock).

Malthusius – was a full-blown spirit medium who, early in his current incarnation, had also been a skyseer (studying alongside a young Nevard Sechim). This meant that the skyseer story elements could feature in our adventures, and granted Malthusius the first level theme benefits. His interest in the path of the skyseer has been reawakened by recent events, and so it is that at tenth level Malthusius earned the benefits of the full theme. Malthusius has a couple of boons from earlier in the campaign. As his ability to access prior lives improved, he gained linguist as a free feat, and also multiclass paladin and multiclass monk (one previous incarnation being the godhand who helped clear Cauldron Hill of witches). At level 10 he took traveller’s insight, granting him a bonus to insight for every language he has – taking his passive insight up to a whopping 36. I’m now concerned that Roland Stanfield’s bluff of +31 (passive 41) might be in danger of being breached!

 

[gideonpepys]

Level 10 theme benefits.

Further to the post above, I thought I would also detail changes I made to the relevant theme benefits. I already posted these in a different thread:

Martial Scientist - Stayed the same.

Docker - I don't have a docker in my party, so no change necessary.

Spirit Medium - Spirit Wall. You can resist possession and psychic influence. You may make a saving throw at the start of your turn to end any effect that is dominating you, even if it does not normally allow a save. Location Loresight. You can also use the object loresight power to grant visions associated with a whole location.

Technologist - Second Self. You can use any at-will or encounter power through your contraption. It follows the rules for an animal companion. (This is a huge boost, but the player in question is not an optimizer and won't struggle to squeeze maximum value out of this.)

Vekeshi Mystic - Relentless Terror. Whenever you roll a 1 to 7 on an Endurance or Intimidate check, treat it as if you rolled an 8. Once per day you may nominate a target as subject to a Vekeshi Anathema. Until the end of the encounter you may roll two dice when making attack rolls against this target, and choose the higher result. You cannot opt to subdue the target while using the curse and nor can any of or allies, or the curse ends.

Yerasol Veteran - Call of Duty. Whenever you roll a 1 to 7 on an Initiative check, treat it as if you rolled an 8. Courage Under Fire. When an ally of your level or higher is reduced to 0 hit points or fewer, you gain an action point that you must use before the end of your next turn or the action point is lost. You must see or hear the ally when he or she is reduced to 0 hit points or fewer to gain this feat’s benefit. (This is an improvement on the previous power which allowed you to do so once per day.)

Eschatologist - This is not the End. When you roll an 18 or higher on a death saving throw, you can spend a healing surge as if you had rolled a 20. (Got rid of the history/religion boost because it didn't fit my player.)

Skyseer - Heirophant's Wisdom. When you roll a 1 to 7 on a History or Religion check, treat it as if you rolled an 8. You cannot be surprised.

 

[gideonpepys]

Matunaaga - theme

Here are the details of the theme we worked out for Matunaaga:

Maustin Caji theme. The caji are the fighting force of the maustin people who live in the eastern portion of the Anthras Mts (and in small pockets elsewhere; probably in Border States). Decades ago they swore an Oath to the kings of Risur and ever since have formed a loyal and capable addition to Risuri forces, something akin to modern day gurkhas. However, the carnage of Yerasol IV, and King Aodhan's decision to embrace technology during that campaign, have caused the maustin caji to abandon their oath and retreat to the mountains.

A caji can be any class, really, but they predominantly consist of fighters, warlords, rangers, monks and swordmages. What distinguished them from ordinary warriors (aside from the oath that sustained them) was their swiftness in battle, and their ability to easily cross rugged terrain (such as swamps and jungles) and take the enemy by surprise.

Level 1 - a caji gains either quick draw or melee training as a bonus feat, and iaijutsu as a bonus power.

Level 5 - a caji may ignore difficult terrain when running.

Level 10 - a caji does not grant combat advantage when running, and the penalty to attacks for running is reduced to -2.

 

[gideonpepys]

From further thoughts on Matunaaga to reflections on our approach to the campaign

In case anyone is wondering what happened to the session reports, we've just had a three-week break, and I've been using the opportunity to ruminate on all things Zeitgeist because it helps me to bash these things out on a keyboard.

While on the subject of character themes, and the unique theme we developed for Matunaaga, I got to thinking about the way his entire character developed and what that says about how our game works.

First off, the crunch - we wanted a striker who worked equally well in range or in melee. (I know terms like 'striker' are an anathema to some, but at least we all know what I mean.) When I say 'we' I mean not only Matunaaga's player, but Korrigan and his unit: Matunaaga was coming in to replace El Perro, who had just been killed by the Gloomoil golem in the creepy warehouse near the end of Dying Skyseer.

A rogue wouldn't do: this player had just taken an artful rogue up to mid-epic tier in my previous campaign. So we settled on hunter ranger after lots of toing and froing. (The email thread runs to dozens of messages.) We then began to work out a look and a feel for the character, which saw even more discussion. For a while he was going to have a samurai feel to him; one iteration was based on the guy from 13 Assassins (the ronin with the garden of katanas). But once we settled on the story and mechanics for the maustin caji (a name I now slightly regret stealing from another setting because it has too many connotations for me) we realised that, having abandoned his people and remained in Risur at the end of Yersaol IV (when the other caji returned to the Anthras Mts in disgust at the conduct of the war), Matunaaga was likely to have developed a means of fitting in with the indigenous people of the eastern Cloudwood - his adoptive home, whom in my campaign are analogous to Amerindians. So his final iteration saw him take on a similar look and feel to Hawkeye in the Last of the Mohicans (specifically, the Daniel Day Lewis incarnation), though with something a little distant, odd, alien or weird about him.

Then we decided that he would refuse to be recruited at first: Korrigan visits him out on the river, where he uses cormorants to fish, and Matunaaga gently rejects the request to join the unit. (He was one of a number of people Korrigan approached, all of whom were unsuitable in one way or another.)

Matunaaga was tired of war. He had fallen in love with a human woman (an older, maternal type, much to the surprise of the other players) with whom he has raised seven children (all orphans, as Matunaaga and his wife cannot have kids, what with him being, y'know, an alien and all – he ‘maustin’ are reskinned githzerai) and who he did not want to leave.

So Korrigan and crew were subjected to a cameo character - the appalling pixie Azure Lord Blackthorn - for several weeks before Matunaaga changed his mind, thanks to a skyseer vision from his wife, at which point they were joined by the graceful warrior.

All of the fluff worked out very nicely, but the crunch let us down: the hunter ranger doesn’t simply allow a character to switch effectively between melee and range, it actively encourages the character to constantly switch between the two, for no other reason than that it is mechanically beneficial. Which is actually pretty silly if you think about it. So Matunaaga would strike with his blade, switch to his rifle, shift away, fire, switch back to his blade, shift back in, strike with his blade, wash, rinse, repeat. It got a bit daft, and meant that Korrigan and the rest of the team couldn’t rely on him being in one spot from one round to the next.

So, with the discovery of the palimpsest, and the encounter with Gene, we set about ushering in a change to Matunaaga’s fighting style. In keeping with his ambition to make himself a ‘living weapon’ in the service of Korrigan (and Risur), he has embraced mankind’s oldest weapon – the fist – in conjunction with his latest – the gun. To that effect, we gradually altered Matunaaga over the course of a couple of levels from hunter ranger to a hybrid ranger/monk (quite heavily modified so as not to be utterly hopeless). The concept of a marksman who is able to strike out with his feet and fists, and treats both forms of combat with a ritualistic reverence is (for us at least) both a novel and an compelling one, and I wish we’d thought of it in the first place, during the dozens and dozens of development emails!

This brings me to the interesting part: the original method we used to design the unit. The idea was that it was handpicked by Korrigan, so the idea of having unique roles/functions for each of the PCs (which sometimes feels a bit ‘metagamey’) made absolute sense. Each player was given a role to fill – preferably one they hadn’t filled before – and asked to come up with a character concept centred on a keyword – a simple word or phrase that summed up their character and explained his place within the team. As Zeitgeist (and 4E) is very cinematic, I insisted that each player should view his character concept as a writer’s pitch to a TV producer: does your character fit in the campaign in the way a primary character fits in an ongoing TV show? What is the ‘shtick’ that differentiates him from the others and makes him popular with the audience?

Bringing in Matunaaga was interesting because we had to replace more than just a ‘striker’ in El Perro. El Perro was the good-looking, womanising hero of the group. His keyword was simply cool. He was the only real human in the group, and it would have been a huge surprise if his character had been killed in a TV show! That’s what made it cool. It was only when thinking about this (and realising that asking my player to fill too many shoes at once was quite restricting) that I realised the real hero of the group was in fact Marshal Korrigan. He is the moral focus of the group. He has a romantic and tragic personal life. He could be played in the movie by Idris Elba. That freed us up to make Matunaaga less obvious. But this was a very different experience to bringing in a character to other campaigns, where it was much more freeform and pretty much up to the player to do what they liked.

To reiterate a house-rule we introduced to keep these elements alive, the players earn ‘bennies’ for doing/saying something that encapsulates their keyword. Bennies are cool, and the players want to earn them. To begin with we used hero points, but now we dish out Plot Twist Cards, which are great fun and open up all sorts of possibilities.

Korrigan earns bennies for being moral and honourable – for being a true leader and keeping his unit in check. A good example would be when he refused to stoop to blackmail to score political points during the latest skill challenge. He’s the chief, the leader and the hero.

Uru gets a benny each time he is sinister or creepy. This isn’t hard for him to do and he earns quite a lot. His relationship with the spirits of Cauldron Hill is a good example. But he is played for comic relief more often than not. He’s the fool, the sidekick, the mascot.

Rumdoom was (is) Rumdoom. A more accurate description would be ‘manic depressive’ but that felt a bit anachronistic. Within a few weeks of play everyone knew what to expect from him without an accurate keyword. Since his brush with death at the hands of a kraken, a better word would be ‘evangelical’ as he develops an interpretation of eschatology that is focused on himself as a kind of messianic figure. He’s the ‘breakout’ character – popular with all the other players; cheered on regardless of whatever mess he gets himself into or out of. He used to have a deathwish; now he believes he can’t be killed. Acting recklessly earns him bennies. Rumdoom provides a great deal of comic relief too.

Leon is a turncoat tiefling with a dark secret, and a past that saw him mercilessly persecute the fey. Now he is a fey pact warlock, vekeshi mystic, and perhaps the most loyal, certainly the most reliable member of the group. His keyword morphed during play until we settled on resourceful. When he comes up with solutions or pulls off some neat trick to get the group out of trouble he earns a benny. He’s one of two ‘master hunter’ characters who get things done.

Malthusius is avuncular and philosophical. He earns bennies for acts of humanity and kindness, such as taking a tray of food to the below-decks guards on the Coaltongue. He is very much the ‘wise man’ or ‘shaman’ of the group. He had outsider status for a while, as he wasn’t a full member of the unit, and only Korrigan would listen to his advice. But the others have gradually realised that he is, more often than not, worth heeding.

Matunaaga is graceful, both in word and deed. When he reacts to situations with great patience and self-control he earns a benny. When confronted by two caji and challenged for possession of the Palimpsest, instead of rolling for initiative, he sat down cross legged and refused to be provoked. He’s the other ‘master hunter’ in the unit.

The benny system has worked very well - far better than I had anticipated. It really helps players who are reluctant to roleplay because it gives them a clear focus and a incentive to overcome their natural reticance and shyness. And creating a differentiated unit has worked wonders too, as even outside of combat, each character has opportunities to 'do their thing' - be moral, creepy, crazy, resourceful, thoughful, or gracious.

Now we are nearing paragon tier, I feel more comfortable growing attached to and celebrating these characters: At the start of the campaign we imposed a rule that there would be no resurrection in heroic tier. If a character died, they were dead. From paragon onwards, it will be up to the player to decide if they want to return to the fray following a fatal incident, and I’m assuming that they will, for the most part. The only thing that might happen – now the first section of the campaign has gone on rather longer than I’d anticipated – is that the group might split up, or a player might leave. But, as we head towards our first session of Cauldron Born (which I don’t mean to start until the birth of my son, whenever that may be, as a good few weeks off will probably be in order) I am very much hoping that we will still be playing Zeitgeist right up to its climax in twenty levels’ time.

 

[RangerWickett]

Lots of info, and a good look into the structure of a campaign. I'm glad things are working out for you and your group. And congrats on the kid!

 

[gideonpepys]

Lots of info, and a good look into the structure of a campaign. I'm glad things are working out for you and your group. And congrats on the kid!

It's not over til the fat lady sings, but thanks.

 

[N'raac]

It's not over til the fat lady sings, but thanks.

Self-preservation for soon to be Dad's - DO NOT let soon to be Mom hear/see you making reference of any kind to a "fat lady"...

 

[gideonpepys]

Self-preservation for soon to be Dad's - DO NOT let soon to be Mom hear/see you making reference of any kind to a "fat lady"...

I must confess to a frisson of trepidation while typing, but I couldn't resist.

 

[gideonpepys]

Session 85 - Wrapping up Unit B's last mission

My intention over the last ten weeks of our game had been to briefly outline what the main unit had done towards their skill challenge and then run a few one-shot adventures with unit B to level them up from 1 to 6. But we enjoyed the 'downtime' sessions so much that the unit B stuff got completed pushed to one side. Now, anticipating another hiatus in our game in a few weeks, I decided to delay starting Cauldron Born until our game resumes and pick up where we left off with unit B in the meantime.

To recap, Unit B comprises:

Captain Theren Silverspire – level-headed elven warden
Brajham Silverspire – flamboyant elementalist and brother to Theren
Niniel Erendis – inquisitive half-elf bard native to Flint
Sevitar Anrathi – grim and single-minded shadowmaster (rumoured to be undead)
Doctor William Stanmore – bookish wizard, and veteran of Yerasol IV
Ffenwig – bugbear slayer and longtime companion of the Silverspire brothers

When last we saw Unit B, they were deep underground exploring a strange ancient tomb. This is how they got there:

• A plantation owner on the edge of the Cloudwood petitioned the government for help following the disappearance of a number of workers.
• It turned out that some oddly mutated dragonborn were responsible, and that they were searching the jungle for something which they had now found:
• During a fight, their leader emerged from the deep ancient ruin the unit are now exploring and summoned a strange thoughtform creature to aid him in combat.
• The ruin turned out to be occupied by orcish ghosts and zombies. Two radial burial chambers had already been disturbed, leaving three still sealed.
• Ffenwig took a pickaxe to the sealed portal of one but stopped when movement was detected from beyond. Peering through the hole, the unit could see more undead shambling forward to fend off intruders.

And this is what happened when we finally caught up with them:

• Before Ffewig could resume her attempts to break into the radial chamber, Will - who had been left to guard the exit – reported some strange effects on the surface: stormy conditions with an oddly arcane resonance were being whipped up around them. Leaving Brajham and Sevitar to keep an eye on the undead, Theren, Ffenwig and Niniel rejoined Will up top.
• Brajham began to idly toy with the large silver hemisphere that dominated the circular entrance chamber and ended up causing the doors to the radial chamber to slide open one by one. Realising his mistake, he sent his firebird familiar to warn Theren, while making for the staircase himself. The bird escaped, but both he and Sevitar were sealed in by a slab of stone that cut across the stairwell.
• The headed back down to deal with the orcish zombies that spilled out of the third room. Theren reported that he was on his way, while Sevitar jammed the final doorway, giving Brajham time to fool with the hemisphere some more. He succeeded in causing a set of spiral steps to emerge from the walls of the main chamber.
• Eventually the jammed portal gave way and two wights sprang out, just as Brajham caused the stone that blocked the stairwell to slide open, allowing Theren to join them. Together, they successfully dispatched the wights.
• In the burial chambers they found some ancient golden magical items. Then they headed up the newly revealed steps to a now open secret door some twenty feet up.
• Within was a strange glowing artefact upon a plinth, defended by a female orcish spectre wielding a shield and a sword. This creature was able to attack them from the air and proved difficult to deal with, but eventually they were rid of it, and were able to claim the object she had guarded so assiduously:
• It was made from crystal and difficult to look at without becoming disoriented. Whispers emanated from the crystal and grew louder when it was taken in hand. The walls of the room were decorated with star-fields which none of them recognised. (Later they learned – from copies made by Brajham – that they were constellations as they would have been viewed thousands of years ago.)
• Heading back up the stairs to the surface, they could make no contact with the others through Brajham’s firebird. They stole carefully towards the exit hatch, finding the clearing beyond was obscured by a thick, roiling cloud. They could see the fallen forms of their allies close to the entrance. They might have headed straight back down, had concern for their comrades not overwhelmed them, and they moved to quickly inspect them for injury.
• At that moment, parting the mists like the prow of a ship, a great dragon – a dragon, despite all the tales of their long extinction – emerged and loomed over them. It’s features were distorted and it seemed oddly mutated, as the dragonborn had been.
• Before the creature could strike at them, Brajham guessed what it had come for. Had it’s servants not been scouring the tomb when they were interrupted? He bravely addressed the beast in obsequious terms, begged for mercy and threw the crystal artefact into its grasping foreclaw.
• The dragon seemed rapt with the object and, forgetting all else, withdrew.
• They were able to establish that, while overcome by some means or other, Will, Niniel and Ffenwig were not dead. With great difficulty, they set about returning through the Cloudwood, dragging their friends on makeshift stretchers. One further surprise they had was realising that Niniel’s true form was that of a non-descript grey-skinned humanoid with lank white hair, not the beautiful half-elf she posed as.

 

[gideonpepys]

DM's Note - Session 85

I meant to append a note to the end of the last session report, so here it is:

First of all, the dragon that Unit B just encountered is Tatzel, a green dragon that was hidden in the Dreaming and tricked Leon into giving it the Jade Idol (which accesses alien fonts of power known to the Deep Ones or aboleth). The idol's influence has warped the dragon and greatly increased its power, causing a blight to spread throughout the areas of the Dreaming it influences.

Unit B had no chance against Tatzel, obviously, but I had planned a deus ex machina to save them just in time: the fey entity Leshy was to step in and drive the dragon away. But before I could do or say anything to set this ball rolling, Brajham aced a diplomacy score (rolling a 20) and lobbed the crystal artefact to Tatzel.

This creates huge problems for Unit A who were going to use the crystal to defeat Tatzel. Now Tatzel has another artifact-level item to draw power from!

Also, the crystal was to be the means by which Leon could access the star pact for his paragon tier dual pact feat. Now he'll have to wait til he defeats Tatzel before he can get it!