Curse of the Crimson Throne Recap # 90 [RPG]

[Sunday, 9 Arodus 4708 A.R. continued]

 

For 800 years, Castle Scarwall has stood unchanging as a forlorn, haunted reminder of the cruelty of one would-be tyrant and the doomed fates of those who finally ended his reign of terror.  For the orc tribes of the Hold of Belkzen, Scarwall has always been taboo—a place forbidden, generation after generation, long after the memories that explained its curse faded away.  But the Deadwatcher tribe has always guarded Scarwall—from what could come out and from those who would foolishly enter—as part of a great ancestral legacy.  The Deadwatchers paint their faces white to honour the legend of their ancestors’ flight from Scarwall, a flight said to have turned their flesh white from the shock.  But a time of great change is about to come to Scarwall, and only one member of the Deadwatcher tribe has had premonitions of the cataclysm soon to unfold.  Protosilaus, much-derided half-blood witch-doctor of the Deadwatchers, has seen a future of life outside the stifling responsibilities of tribal membership.  A future of travel and excitement, a future of fun and frivolity, and, oddly enough, a future involving a golden monkey flying on a bird!

 

For Goldcape, the journey from Ilsurian back to Scarwall has been a grueling one that has tested even Rocky’s vaunted endurance.  As the two finally crest the volcano and see the crater lake below, Scarwall looks the same as before—a fog-shrouded, imposing castle that seems bathed in perpetual gloom.  As she prepares to take Rocky down, the roc suddenly banks and heads toward the ruined barbican on the shores of the crater lake—a barbican known to be infested by orcs!  For Rocky is no longer flying under his own, or Goldcape’s command—he’s been magically compelled by Protosilaus!  For Goldcape, seeing a skinny half-orc clad in rags is no reason to let down her guard.  “Tell me who you are and what your weaknesses are so I can kill you!” the vanaran shouts.  Protosilaus laughs uproariously and explains his visions of a new future while promising friendship.  He says the rest of his tribe haven’t returned from a hunting expedition yet, and now is the time for him to escape for a new life.

But fate has decreed that escape will not be that easy.  Shouts indicate the rest of the Deadwatchers have just returned to the barbican, and as their words are carried on the wind, a small tremor causes ripples in the normally calm lake.  And then, as if it has suddenly exhaled its final breath and died, Castle Scarwall implodes!  A massive cloud of dust, trapped for centuries, is released into the sky as thousands of tons of stone collapse into a pile of rubble.  For the curse of Castle Scarwall has, at last, been broken!  And floating in the air above the debris are three members of the legendary Harrowed Heroes—Lorien, Yraelzin, and The Reckoner--along with the body of a fourth, their fallen dwarf magus, Anorak.

For Ury Sevenskulls, chief of the Deadwatchers, the twin sights of his hated witch-doctor speaking to a well-dressed foreigner (and a monkey at that!) along with the collapse of the tribe’s sacred charge become inextricably linked.  With an enraged battle cry, Sevenskulls orders the rest of the Deadwatchers to kill Protosilaus.  But the focus of their outrage isn’t afraid.  “I foresaw this, you idiots!  I alone foresaw this!  And I shall suffer your ignorance no more!”  With an invocation of occult power, the cloud of dust over the ruins of Scarwall is drawn around him and Goldcape, obscuring them from sight of the orcs.  Arrows begin flying and two graze Protosilaus, leaving Goldcape in a quandary of whether to trust this bizarre stranger.  She makes her decision and offers the half-orc a hand to climb onto Rocky’s back, and together they fly to the pile of rubble to join the others, leaving the Deadwatchers to fume impotently on the shore.

 

Once reunited, Goldcape relates what happened at the summit in Ilsurian—how a military alliance between Varisia’s independent city-states has been formed to try to repel the wizard of the north’s army of giants, and how Rolth Lamm made an appearance only to escape again.  Yraelzin quickly summarises how the curse of Scarwall was broken, and that Anorak died bravely.  Protosilaus hears for the first time about the evil Queen of Korvosa, and how breaking the curse of Scarwall has finally made her vulnerable to attack.  He offers to teleport the group there, but explains he needs to know what a particular location in the city looks like in order to make the magic work.  Perhaps surprisingly, The Reckoner agrees to allow the newcomer to magically access one of his memories of Korvosa to facilitate the plan. 

 

Meanwhile, Goldcape leads Yraelzin aside and says that if anything happens to her, she wants him to take up the mantle of Blackjack and train with Vencarlo Orisini.  The former Razmiran is honoured, but says he couldn’t imagine himself running around on rooftops, dueling with a rapier, or catching criminals.  He does promise, however, that he’ll either bring Goldcape back to life or work with Vencarlo to find a worthy successor.  Touched by the trust Goldcape has shown in him, Yraelzin admits he’s not really a cleric!  He says he could always do some magic, and sometimes secretly used wands to cast spells.  He explains that the Church of Razmir booked him passage on a ship out of the country because he never really fit in with their training, and that they were trying to get rid of him.  But when Goldcape hears about the strange apparition following him around, dressed like an ancient Azlanti, she makes a startling speculation: perhaps that’s one of Yraelzin’s ancestors!  He’s startled by the idea at first, but then realises it could make sense—after all, a family heirloom (a ring) that he wears is said to be an artifact of that lost empire.  But further discoveries have to wait, as the others are ready for the magical journey back to Korvosa.

Protosilaus is as good as his word, and succeeds in teleporting everyone just where The Reckoner told him: outside the Grand Cathedral of Pharasma in the city’s Gray District.  The imposing black-marble building looks as much a fortress as a temple but is still a relief to see after days spent trapped inside the perpetual gloom of Scarwall.  The Reckoner divulges his secret identity to Lorien and Protosilaus by changing to his alter ego of Ralph Blackfeather.  While Goldcape goes off to collect information about what’s happening in the city, the others are (after some difficulty with security precautions) admitted inside.  They’re soon led to a large embalming chamber filled with stone slabs that has been turned into a temporary hospital for those injured in the rebellion.  Bishop Keppira d’Bear is there, tending to an unconscious Field Marshal Kroft.  Ralph is circumspect with his words, but confirms that the job is done and that the final task can now be accomplished.  Bishop d’Bear gives him a knowing nod, and says that Field Marshal Kroft has been placed under magical sleep to recover from grievous wounds—it seems she slew a dragon!  d’Bear says she’ll awaken Kroft in the morning for a Council of War with the other rebel factions.  She remarks, as an aside, that she’s never seen Yraelzin without his mask before, and the two engage in what the others see as flirting.  Fittingly, the visitors decide to leave Anorak’s body in a temple devoted to The Lady of Graves.

Meanwhile, Goldcape (disguised as a human woman) passes through the gate out of the high walls of the Gray District and into the city proper.  There, she can see smoke rising from the direction of Castle Korvosa—campfires of the rebel army that has surrounded it.  And although it’s broad daylight, a darkness in the distance is surely the magical gloom of the Black Tower covering much of Trail’s End and even Old Korvosa in shadow.  From gossip on the streets, she learns that House Arkona was instrumental in cleansing the streets of Gray Maidens, but that its methods trouble many: an army of insect-like monsters!  Goldcape returns to the Grand Cathedral and tries to gain entry, but is refused by a particularly obnoxious elven priestess.

 

Fortunately, it’s not long until the others emerge to share information.  Plans are made to learn more about the state of the city.  Goldcape and Ralph discreetly talk about Blackjack and The Reckoner making a joint appearance that night to embolden the resistance.  A visit for supplies to Phaeton Skoda’s shop Hedge Wizardry reveals that business is booming, with a line stretching out of the door!  It is possible Korvosa has become better off in the absence of the Harrowed Heroes?

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GM Commentary

This was first session of the final chapter of the adventure path, and a lot happens.  First, we get the introduction of Protosilaus, the new character run by Anorak's player.  Protosilaus was a witch, and the player chose some pretty OP abilities.  They ended up being manageable, but I was more concerned that the character wasn't really role-played as an orc, a Deadwatcher, or a non-Korvosan.  I like to see function and form fit together!  Second, Goldcape rejoins the main group as her player returns to that side of the gaming table after having been Assistant GM through the previous chapter.  It was great to have one of the original PCs back in the group again.  Third, we get the big "official" reveal that Yraelzin isn't actually a cleric at all!  Instead, he's a sorcerer with the Razmiran Priest archetype.  In addition, we get some insight into why the ghostly Azlanti has started appearing sometimes (a manifestation of his Vestige bloodline's Call Ancestor ability).  And last, we have the PCs return to Korvosa for the first time in a long-time.  As always, I try to keep off-screen events dynamic to reinforce the notion that the whole world doesn't resolve around the PCs.  So, for example, I had Castle Korvosa under siege by the three rebel armies and had Field Marshall Kroft responsible for slaying the dragon Zarmangarof.

Pathfinder Player Companion: "Blood of the Night" [RPG]

 

Let’s dig into Blood of the Night, a 32-page softcover Player Companion that’s all about vampires (both killing them and being one!).

 

We’ll start with the front cover, depicting a dhampir vampire hunting taking on a gang of Pharasmin priests—very cool!  I really like the glowing holy symbols on the Pharasmins, the gothic background, and the dashing swordsplay of the dhampir.  The inside front cover is “Vampires of the Inner Sea”, and contains an image and brief summary of the four types of vampires (and their specific dhampir off-spring) discussed in the book: Moroi (traditional Dracula-type vampires), Nosferatu (ancient, hairless vampires), Vetala (Indian-themed mind-draining vampires), and Jiang-Shi (Chinese-themed breath-stealing vampires).  There’s also a reminder of dhampir racial traits—I ran an entire 17-level campaign for a dhampir PC, so I have a certain fondness for them!  The inside back cover is a map of the Inner Sea captioned “Regions in Need of Vampire Hunters”, and it calls out Nex, Osirion, The Darklands, Nidal, Ustalav, and Beyond the Inner Sea, providing a sentence or two about why each could use a hand.

 

Getting into the book itself, there’s a page for the table of contents, a page explaining what types of characters will get the most out of the book (clerics, inquisitors, vampires, dhampirs), and a page for the rules index.  Two pages are dedicated to an Overview, which contains the origins and creation of the four types of vampires and the things that motivate vampires.  Just for flavour, there’s a “handwritten” letter from Ramoska Arkminos—the Nosferatu who plays a small part in Chapter Two of Curse of the Crimson Throne! As a whole, the interior layout is excellent and the interior artwork is pretty good (not Paizo’s best—it’s a little cartoony in style—but still good). 

 

Each of the four types of vampires gets a two-page spread.  Jiang-Shi, the “hopping” vampires of Chinese myth, are driven by an unfulfilled obsession and perceive deep connections to it in signs and symbols unrecognizable by others.  I’ve never had a game with them in it, but they’re pretty interesting and the art is really cool!  Moroi, traditional Western vampires, are characterised by a self-imposed culture of refinement and restraint.  Nosferatu have eternal life without eternal youth and long for a cure for their condition.  Finally, vetalas are body- and memory- stealers.  Very interesting and very different than “typical” vampires, I’d like to see how they fit into an adventure.  For each type of vampire, a pair of race traits are introduced, which I guess are potentially useful if a PC was going to play a vampire.

 

Speaking of PCs, the next two pages talk about the motivations of vampire adventurers, whether/how they can fit into a mixed party, and how a GM should run a campaign for vampires.  There are some useful tips, but it still sounds pretty challenging to make it workable.  The book’s big central spread (mostly art, a little text) are three new feats that (respectively) improve a vampire’s ability to take on bestial shapes, turn into swarms, and turn into mist.  For dhampir PCs (more likely to fit into a campaign), the book has four pages.  It starts with a good description of what it means to be a dhampir, introduces a couple of mediocre traits and roles, and then provides a half-page each (along with two more—much better—traits!) for being a dhampir of one of the four specific types of vampires.

 

The remainder of the book contains several short sections that are seemingly in no particular order.  There’s a two-page system of rules for tracking vampire hunger; I don’t think it’s great, though I get why having some sort of fixed system could be good to avoid arguments if a player is running a vampire PC.  Another two pages are “Vampires on Golarion”, but it’s pretty vague and doesn’t really add much.  Two pages on “Hunting Vampires” is likely to disappoint players familiar with the game, as it just contains roles (suggested classes, archetypes, spells, equipment and role-playing tips) for different types of vampire hunter PCs, but with no new mechanical content. Still, it could be quite handy for new players, and I’d much rather see them follow something like this than the often OP and flavour-blind Class Guides that are popular online.  A two-page section on Feats contains five designed for vampire hunters and four designed for vampires themselves.  I liked the “Hymn Singer” feat for bards, which allows them to sing sacred music as a bardic performance to hold a vampire at bay (in the same way presenting a holy symbol would) and the “Life-Dominant Soul” feat for dhampirs (allowing them to heal half hit-points from channeled positive energy).  Last up in the book are a page of new spells (project weakness is clever—it curses a living creature with the *weaknesses* of vampires!) and a page of new magic items (pretty good!).

 

And that’s Blood of the Night.  Obviously, it’s a book of niche interest.  Many campaigns won’t feature vampires or vampire hunters.  But if your campaign will, or you want to run a dhampir in a “normal” campaign, you might find it useful.