Scott Ruggels

Figured is better, precisely because of the cookie cutter effect. It makes sure that the characters are within the guidelines, and not too far apart from each other.  The other problem I have, is that in fifth, and before the point system was economic, and in sixth, its more like taxes.  I prefer the looser accounting and bargain hunting from the earlier editions. In Fantasy Hero the Package deals made character creation a lot quicker, where one would just copy down a stack of package deals, and add a few items outside the deals for flavor. Character creation demands  software to create the charactersm now, It is nigh unto impossible if you have poor math skills like me.

Because I never read anything Tolkein wrote past The Hobbit, My knowledge of Middle Earth is mostly from the movie trilogy.  My inspirations have always been historical at their base, usually with the serial numbers filed off, but you can tell, because of character names, what sort of culture folks are from. The Current Campaign is early Byzantium. Previous Campaigns borrowed heavily from 1400s-1500s Europe. I have wanted to do something with Persia, but I need to do a lot more reading on that
 
 
Low to no magic works, but you may have to address healing rates, or the players get extremely Risk Averse, because while they won't die (It's Hero after all), spending time bed ridden, and out of the action causes players to tune out, look at their phones, or not show up.  The die rolls in an epic combat eventually go against the PCs.  Otherwise the games tend to be pretty engaging.  Adventure construction, though becomes kind of critical.
 
Depends on the set up, but I can see the negative attraction to set ups like that.  Who's power fantasy is thos?  THE GMs, or the Players?
 
 
 Correct me if I am wrong, but didn't Pathfinder just have a mapos of Golarion, and some Kingdome names, names of capitals, and  vague descriptions to start out with, and it was up to the Adventure Paths to fill out the individual kingdoms? The Mummy's Mask did a fine job of filing out Osirion, and the Emerald Spire not only filled in a fairly blank spot on the map, but also illustrated the expansionistic nature, and bureaucratic excellence of the Cheliax. Other Adventure Paths which I have not seen, have detailed out a fair amount of the globe.  Again. I think this is, or should be the model for Champions Adventures  moving forward.
 
 
Once upon a time I was a player in Paul Gazis' 8 Worlds Campaign. [ http://paulgazis.com/EightWorlds/index.htm ] The feel of that game was a bit more  16th -17th century sociologically and their tech level was  at the top, quite a bit lower than the Imperium was.  The "Empire" had fallen and most places had disconnected from each other, so the game was just 8 worlds in a trading  relationship, and he had a couple of alien races.  I do remember that space combat was nigh unto lethal, so you would try to avoid it, because you would place your character in a section of the ship. and then you would roll to see what section of the ship got hit by successful missile or projectile attack.  Then you would roll to see if you you were hit by shrapnel, or a direct hit. If hit directly. Roll a new character. It was a very unique, and somewhat blackly humorous campaign. Run by a (now retired) Engineer working for Nasa, Physics could be deadly, and without Gravetic technology, lets say Maneuvering was conservative in that Universe. 

So yes one could build anything from the basic three books. However that was then, and this is now, where people do not have the time, or inclination or willingness to buck authority to homebrew these days.  I contemplated running Traveller lately, after our other GM ran it for about a year. If I did, to ramp up quickly, I would use the current Third Imperium, and get a couple of Adventures and Boom! ready to go.
 
 
 
Being a bit of a Browncoat, yes, I have heard of that.  and his background, much like Paul Gazis' 8 Worlds, the tech level was lower than the Third Imperium. 
 
 
 
Mongoose 2nd Edition Traveller, feels like a cleaner version of Classic Traveller.  It's pretty harsh, but unless you have put yourself into static Firing range conditions, it's very hard to  hit anything, especially when it's moving.
 
Using Hero for Traveller seems to work fairly well.
 
 
Well.... yeah.... it happened with our recent run of Traveller.  Once you purchase a ship, you kind of have to pay the mortgage on it, Sooo...   In those situations Adventures happen to you rather than something the crew seeks out. You need to have the proper players for this. (generally math savvy grognards, that like to roleplay negotiations and brokerings, but it's not a game for the young and passionate.
 
 
 
I'm sometimes the opposite. I like playing non-humans on occasion. I'll read everything about them, and try them out.  I've been in games with mixed crews of Human and Vargr in Traveller. I won an old D&D contest at a convention playing Hector the Hippogryph. 
 
 
 
I just want Hero, or a similar rules set. I like a little it crunchy. I want some game in my RPG, not so much an interactive narrative.
 
 
 

Hero's Erqigdlit dog-men are reputed to have once been Men from the far North who were transformed by the gods as punishment for trying to steal the Sun to warm themselves. The gods also exiled them from their homeland, although for my own use of Erqigdlit in my modified Turakian Age games, I left them as one of the more common inhabitants of Wilderland, the large area of northern Arduna south of Turakia that Steve Long deliberately left undeveloped for individual GMs. However, the growing threat of Kal-Turak prompted some of them to migrate south looking for a safer home.
 
Some of the dog-men are described as more rapacious and cruel, hunting and killing other humanoids to devour their flesh, even other Erqigdlit. I decided that that practice became more common under the malign influence of Kal-Turak, and Erqigdlit with such instincts gravitated toward actually serving the Ravager of Men. They stalk the fringes of Kal-Turak's Wall, the vast cliff guarding the border of Turakia, looking for any intruders trying to sneak around the edges of the Wall.
 
It would not be unreasonable for there to be differences in the attitudes among Gnolls, as well, if you didn't want them to be uniform. Some might be able to interact peacefully with other sapients, while others engage in the more malevolent practices Gnolls are traditionally known for. There may be whole tribes which follow one cultural pattern of behavior or the other, perhaps hostile to each other. Evil Gnolls could serve a master of similar bent who encourages and rewards such behavior. Perhaps there's a schism in Gnoll religion, with one faction propitiating a dark god who inflames their cruelty and bloodlust (the default D&D Gnoll), while another faction reveres a more benevolent deity or deities.

Back to Gnolls. I pulled up the classic “where there is a whip there is away” from The Return of the King animated movie. It got me thinking that if you portray Goblins/Orcs as lazy bullies that could be negotiated with. The Gnolls as listed in DnD could be blood thirsty fiends if you will. The difference could be that if captured by Goblins you could be ransomed. You be treated roughly but not excessively. Whereas with Gnolls expect no mercy. Better to die than to he captured by them.  

Lots...and I do mean lots...of pop musicians prove CRT's point.
 
By the 90's/00's, I was giving up altogether on the medium.  Mostly because the artwork was kindergarten grade too often.

Remember how Steve Rodgers, Bucky and Falcon picked a blue VW Beetle as a "low profile" car to move around in during Civil War?
 
That may have been a Disney/MCU warning to DCU about making a full length Blue Beetle movie.
 
"BB is just too low profile to do that folks. Bad idea."
 
But as a side note to DCU:
 
What i would really like to see done in the DCU is a reboot of Swamp Thing- Alan Moore's Swamp Thing.
 
Have Tim Burton direct/produce this reboot and go all out.
 
Which means of course that Keanu Reeves can reprise his role as John Constantine in the project. 

In the old days (1981), Disads were an eye opener, and they were looked at as something to increase the points budget for your character. Two Hundred and Fifty points was the upper limit, but to get there was a lot like scrounging for change in the couch cushions, so I tended to build up to around 220, and then carefully add disads to increase the budget. My most successful Champions character started at 241 points. Careful selection of Disads really forced one to think about the whole character. Not just the powers.

Thank you, Sir, for stating that better than anything I could come up with.
 
I can only speak for the group I was in at the time, but yes:  we _never_ considered Disads as part of some sort of great overarching role playing experience-  do _not_ misunderstand: we we're all completely familiar with ideas like character concept, roleplaying to character, etc, etc, and when we did take disadvantages, we selected even then as we do today: what is appropriate to the character that I envision?
 
But Disads were, to build on what Scott said, seen first and foremost as a trap!  A trap loaded with tasty, tasty, extra building points, just oozing with increased characteristics and dripping with extra damage dice and defensive abilities, lightly seasoned with a few new skills...
 
 
Tempting....  Oh, so very tempting....
 
But the trap!  The trap!  The GM had new ways- with in-gake mechanics!-  to get his murderous hooks into you....
 
 
 
 
Yeah.  Again, I would like to remind people of the general theme of us versus him that D and D brought, and that it took a couple of decades to finally drift out of gaming...
 
But that was our impression of them:  take only the absolute most vital amount of points, and select the disadvantages that were the least likely to make you the GM's plaything....
 
 
 
 
(A lot has changed since then, obviously)
 
 

In the old days (1981), Disads were an eye opener, and they were looked at as something to increase the points budget for your character. Two Hundred and Fifty points was the upper limit, but to get there was a lot like scrounging for change in the couch cushions, so I tended to build up to around 220, and then carefully add disads to increase the budget. My most successful Champions character started at 241 points. Careful selection of Disads really forced one to think about the whole character. Not just the powers.

When I first started playing Champions in around 1982, I considered disadvantages a problem to work around, so I would pick the least problematic, least likely to actually impact my play options, and most GMs didn't even bother with writing them into the game.  As a GM I rarely would use disads as part of the story, which is a huge mistake.
 
But now, I see them as a very important, valuable tool to creating scenarios, and making characters.  Its how they work around their weaknesses that makes characters interesting, not how they steamroll every opposition.  There's a time and a place for total domination, like Superman vs a street gang.  But that should be used sparingly, to emphasize the character's actual power rather than a regular occurance.
 
Having the heroes win easily every time is as lame and dull as having them get bashed around and fail all the time is frustrating and infuriating.  A very little bit of each makes the campaign stronger and more memorable.

I think that, when it came out, disadvantages were radical.  To build weaknesses into your character was a brand new way to build character into your character along with the abilities and skills they might have.  It is not just Champions.  I have said before, it was Justice Inc that brought home to me the way it had changed the way my players approached their games.  When the player who delivered mad slasher, after mad slasher came to me with Catherine Du Pont, with a huge COM, face skills, a single derringer revolver and a physical disadvantage that their first action in any combat was to freeze and scream was ASTOUNDING!!!

Pathfinder - Selversgard - Pt.12
 
4713AR
 
Shev has expanded his first business and now has a fellow Ysoki in his employ running a regular package run along the Skull River, taking advantage of the all-terrain nature of the riding rats that he has been breeding. He has also established a hunting lodge about half a day’s trek out of town to tend to the forest and hopefully host the occasional hunt for out-of-town worthies.
 
Shev’s player: There’s more than one way to read that last bit.
Gonno’s player: The Most Dangerous Game
GM: No, around here the Most Dangerous Game is the Tarrasque.
 
Arram is just on his way home one evening when he hears screams down the street, from the Yellow House, Selversgard’s brothel. The owner of the business, an elven sorceress, is helping one of her employees out of the building.
 
Sennsa-Auel: Oh thank goodness - I’ve driven it off, but can you get Mara to Mother Maybell?
Arram: What happened?
Sennsa-Auel: A ghost, if you can believe it. A f***ing ghost!
 
The wounds are certainly weird, and a wandering ghost is also very weird - as Selversgard’s only magical healer (aside from Remilda), Mother Maybell the Pharasman priestess is the closest thing we have to an authority on the undead. She suspects the ghost has a touch that causes flesh to tear itself apart.
 
Krigor, the current mayor, is just as baffled as everybody else. Why the heck would Selversgard have a ghost? Unless it’s because they’ve opened the Tolland Manor for the first time in years. There’s no sign of the John that was in the room with Mara - one Jesse Garund. Jesse is married, so his wife isn’t going to be happy when she finds out what he’s been up to during the evening. Doesn’t explain why some kind of ghost bride would take an interest in his extracurriculars, though. 
 
Remilda: You should get Shev, he hunts *anything*
 
Skave has some information - he’s been looking into the fall of the Tolland family. Their downfall began when their eldest daughter Emilia took her own life 40 years ago, rather than go ahead with an arranged marriage to an old mining magnate from Magnimar. It’s certainly a recipe for a ghost. Apparently she stabbed herself repeatedly on the morning of her wedding, in her room. Of course, there were no actual witnesses. And the room was locked. 
 
It would seem we have to investigate a 40 year old death. At least Krigor was captain of the militia at the time, and Gonno had been living in the town for decades. 
 
Miya: I believe you call that ‘being a suspect’
GM: Gonno is many things but ‘fitting through that window’ is not one of them.
Shev: I keep forgetting how old you people all are.
Skave: I’m going to go get as much holy water as I can carry.
Shev: You’ll have to wake Mother Maybell again.
 
Both Krigor and Gonno accepted the version of events they’d been given at the time, being unwilling to pry into the tragedy. This, in retrospect, was probably a mistake, especially if the ghost of Emilia is floating around. We should also check that Jesse Garund actually made it home. We’re met at the door by Liz Garund, who is about 8 ½ months pregnant.
 
Shev: Let’s not give her any shocks.
 
Jesse is not home yet - Liz was expecting him home from the pub an hour ago. She is distressed to hear that there was an attack, although we spare her the details such as where it happened. Shev panics a bit when Liz needs help, but after what happened to his sister-in-law that’s not surprising.
 
Shev blows his Vok-summoning whistle - we need to find the missing farmer, on a cold, moonless, windy night. Apparently he ran off into the woods, through one of the many gaps in the town’s palisade.
 
Shev: Of course they haven’t finished the palisade, they want to leave Selversgard room to expand - BUT THEN NEVER EXPAND. I’m getting very very tired of council meetings.
 
Vok and Shev track him down to where he is huddled shivering, under a bush.
 
Jesse: Shev? That you?
Shev: Let’s get you some pants and get you back to your wife - and no, I have no interest in telling your wife where you were. Do you need to ride Vok?
Jesse: I can’t ride your rat! I don’t have any pants!
Arram: Terrible manners to rub your junk on another man’s rat.
 
Shev also intends to order proper boots for everybody in town. Jesse has no idea why the ghost of Emilia Tolland is out and about.
 
Jesse: There haven’t been any Tollands in 30 years?
Arram: Famously, ghosts are of dead people.
 
Jesse has a few more details about the Tollands - the mother died of the Blue Plague shortly after the death of her daughter, and the father died of a heart attack while seeking a new and younger bride. There was a persistent rumour that he was ‘exerting himself’ with the young women at the time. Jesse also says that he was ‘exerting himself’ with Mara when the ghost appeared, moaned, and he fled in unreasoning terror.
 
Shev has heard that the ghosts of those who died in terror can inflict that terror on other people.
 
Arram: That’s not what I read into it when he said moaned. I just thought ‘coward’.
Shev: Okay. OK. I keep forgetting that it’s always sex with you hairless ones.
 
It’s also weird that the ghost was driven off by Madam Senn’s magic missiles. We can only speculate that neither Mara or Jesse were actually the ghost’s target. We’re going to have to check the family crypt - after we consult Mother Maybell.
 
Shev: She’s just going to have to live with being woken up.
Mother Maybell: At four AM?
Shev: Take it up with your goddess.
Mother Maybell: I do. Regularly.
 
Mother Maybell consults the books and diaries left to her by her predecessor, although his handwriting leaves something to be desired. Apparently Emilia’s family had the officiating cleric attempt to Raise Emilia from the dead, but she refused the call. Maybell even has the cleric’s account, but his handwriting was just as bad. It would appear the mining magnate was Chelish - no wonder the girl didn’t want to marry an Asmodean. But he DID note a force of Disruption on the Tolland house, but couldn’t identify it.
 
Arram: I can’t see an Asmodean cleric getting very far with bad handwriting. 
Miya: Imagine the Contracts. 
Maybell: Oh, I see what happened  - this is a copy. *sigh*
 
Apparently the priest in question is now one of the High Priests of Asmodeus in the capital of Cheliax - Mother Maybell has exchanged letters with him in the past.
But none of this explains why Emilia would come back NOW. We borrow the key to the old burial ground crypts. Of course none of us are equipped to face down a ghost - there’s a blanch Skave can make that will suitably enchant a weapon, but he needs Ghost Salt first to make it.
 
Shev: So first I need to take out this ghost, before I can take out this ghost. 
Arram: Right.
 
That probably explains why half of us completely botch the Perception checks at the crypt - we’re all glancing around so nervously we don’t actually see anything. We certainly don’t see the three Ghouls and a Ghast that burst out of the overgrowth and attack. Given their stench, speed, and paralysing bites, this could well be the end of us. Happily Skave stabs one right through the eye with his rapier, and Gonno literally punches one of their heads off. After the third ghoul gets killed the ghast runs off, despite the fact half of us are already paralysed.
 
Of course this MIGHT explain why Emilia is active - the ghouls have been disturbing the graves. At least there isn't some necromancer from the Twilight Academy in the crypt, and Emilia’s remains appear intact, apart from the stab wounds to her belly. Her mother’s body is not here - she would have been cremated as a plague victim. Her father is still here, as is his gold pocket watch. Nobody has been looting the bodies. We lock up the crypt.
 
 We’ll still have to hunt down the ghast - easier than it might be, given its horrendous stink.

Dungeon? I’m Fantasy Hero? What is this of which you speak? This isn’t D&D!!😁. Most of our adventures were outdoors in the weather. 

AAAAAAAGH! NOOOOO!

And that was the end-of-session cliffhanger.

Pathfinder: In Hell Bright Shadow - The Millionaire Waltz
 


 
While the rest of the party's outfits for the party are pretty elaborate, Terzo’s Red Death costume is the most elaborate at the entire Masque, but he’s prepared for any questions.
 
Terzo: I thought it was appropriate, given the venue, unless you think there’s already a monster lurking in the basement?
 
This rather barbed joke is, of course, aimed at Barzillai Thrune, but it does trigger some rather alarming conjectures in Civilla, particularly about what might have happened to Shensen, Kintargo’s opera diva who has been missing since the takeover.
 
Terzo’s player: How many feet in a mile?
Civilla’s player: I don’t f***ing know?!
Rajira’s player (and the only actual American in the group): I’m sorry, I don’t speak Obsolete. 
 
Terzo: We might not have a specific reason to be here but I wouldn't object if, say, Thrune falls down the stairs and breaks his neck.
Ayva: Oh look, he’s coming down the main staircase to make an announcement. I cast Grease.
Rajira: Let’s not do that because if you do they’ll crucify you and I’m not going to stop them.
Ayva: Oh Rajira, I thought you liked me.
Rajira: If they crucify you, we’ll have to rescue you and I might get killed.
Ayva: Ah, there it is.
 
We bring some of those potions of invisibility with us. It’ll help with our sneaking around, if any of the dotarri seems particularly observant.
 
Terzo: And we might have to get out in a hurry if it all goes Terzo-shaped.
 
We get to work mingling, picking up rumours, and sidling off to explore the off-limits parts of the Opera House while our other party members distract people with entertaining anecdotes and the like. And try to locate our allies in the crowd, since it seems half the attendees turned up in the same costumes. Rajira soon locates Lady Docur, although she’s as much a rival as an ally since they’re both spymasters. Terzo spots Vendalfek at the refreshments table, magically disguised as a drunken halfling and helping himself to platefuls of food. Ayva finds the Archbaroness, who is not pretending to be anything other than the frighteningly powerful woman she actually is. Civilla, with her plus-one, spots Captain Sargaeta and HIS plus-one nipping into one of the private booths upstairs.
 
Civilla: Huh. Well, that could be funny. For the dance. 
Ayva: Ooh, a Doubles!
 
The four of them on the dancefloor is certainly a great opportunity to whisper messages to each other and set up the next stage of Civilla’s masterplan for the evening. Terzo provides distraction by expounding at length about the future of Kintargo opera to a circle of partygoers.
 
Terzo: Because of course*Thrune’s announcement will be that he’s reopening the opera.
 
Ayva and Rajira are exploring the off-limits areas above the stage, and are rather surprised there are no guards around - it’s an obvious spot to snipe from. They do find a cache of various magical healing supplies, however. The underground areas will probably be rather more difficult to explore without being noticed, but Ayva and Rajira can be very sneaky indeed.
 
Civilla does get a bit of a shock at 10PM, when Thrune comes out onto the stage where she and the others were dancing.
 
Ayva: Hark, yon scary douche.
Civilla: Well, douche.
 
Thrune: Good evening, honoured guests, and citizens of Kintargo, and welcome to the Ruby Masquerade. I am glad that everyone has begun in earnest. Tonight, I shall make my first announcement short: I must thank all of Kintargo for bearing with me during my transition as lord mayor, and can finally announce that the worst is behind us - Effective tomorrow morning, Kintargo may return to it's former glory, as the city curfew will be no more!
Crowd: *Rousing cheers* 
PCs: *privately waiting for the other shoe to drop*
Thrune: I will be making one more announcement during the Unmasking ceremony at Midnight. I am sure that you will all be greatly surprised and delighted by the news I will be giving you all... But until then, I would like to ask any willing participants to come up onto the stage and perform in a classic Chellish competition: The Dance of the Damned!
 
Civilla rightly suspects that NOT participating will reflect badly on us, even if it IS a hell-themed dance-off. Terzo requires some encouragement - his own religious beliefs mean he wants little to do with devils, even if they’re merely dance judges with ornamental pitchforks.
 
Civilla: Terzo, come along - you might not be as spry as you once were but surely you remember this much.
Terzo: That’s not the problem - I have religious objections to the entire theme.
Civilla: *hisses* You have religious objections? I’m a follower of the f***ing Redeemer Queen. SUCK IT UP!
 
Civilla and Avya both last to the end of the dance contest, partly thanks to Ayva’s sorcerer-level Charisma. Thrune is not entirely pleased with this result. By the rules of the ‘Dance of the Damned’ that makes them the ‘Saviours’ and Thrune was clearly expecting everybody to be eliminated by poor dancing and fatigue so ‘Lord Asmodeus could feast well’. Plus, now Thrune has to split the prize - a gold and ruby crown - between two people.
 
Civilla: I saw her dance, she clearly out-performed me.
Thrune: Very well *crowning Ayva*  I'll keep my eye on you for the rest of the night.
 
(the MASSIVE XP reward is also welcome - nice to see a challenge that actually requires social Skills)
 
As well as various things we’ve already resolved (or as actually responsible for) we do hear a very odd rumor after the dance-off. Somebody saw a blue dragon with a pentagram carved on its chest perched on the roof of the opera house last night. That sounds like the kind of devil-binding Asmodeans do (and that was done to the real Nox).
Despite Thrune’s increased attention, Ayva manages to sneak away again, and among other things finds the room that Thrune’s been using as a bedroom, at least until very recently. One feature is a life-sized statue of an elven woman, holding a scimitar in a position of horrified defense. She looks familiar. We’ve found out what happened to Shemsen. We have a few ways to get the petrified diva out of here - one option is turning her into a tattoo. Of course we’ll still have to de-petrify her. 
 
Civilla: Give me four days…….Two days……..One day and I’ll make an option that’ll work twice.
 
Civilla: I’ve just had a nasty thought - he’s not sleeping in that room anymore but the statue is still there. Time for Nox to make her appearance.
 
We pass off that miniature painting of our fake Nox to our agents in the Opera House, to hide behind a curtain somewhere out of the way. Rajira also discovers one of the ways Thrune is preventing any exploration of the underground levels - six hellhounds on patrol. Happily, even they can’t spot Rajira when she’s about her business. 
 
Everybody hurries back to the main hall in time for the unmasking - Civilla and Ayva are invited to join Barzillai on stage.
 
Civilla: … Of course we are.
 
This could be very bad - he IS an Inquisitor, Civilla is carrying a concealed weapon, and Thrune already has reasons to dislike her even before the unmasking and realises who she actually is.
 
GM: Everybody make Sense Motive checks.
All: f**********.

Thrune: And thus we come to the conclusion of tonight’s festivities. I would like to thank each and every one of you for making the Ruby Masquerade a night to truly remember.
 
Thrune’s dottari guards have blocked all the exits. Others are leading a chained woman up onto the stage. A woman that looks very like Nox. The Ghosts of Kintargo and our various allies have a sudden premonition that the manure is about to hit the windmill.
 
Civilla has made more than one compact during her rise to power, and one of those deals was made after she and Ayva originally created the fake Nox. That contract was made with the Bone Devil Cizmerkis, who had been responsible for the binding of Nox to House Thrune.
 
"In return for a boon no later than one year that does not violate Civila's ethics or morals, the Bone Devil known as Cizmerkis shall provide and maintain absolute confidentiality on the following items. The Contract that he held with Nox. The disposition of Nox's Soul. The contract detailed herein.”  
But when you make a deal with a devil, they’re eventually going to collect. She hears a voice in her head.
 
Cizmerkis: Ah, good, you’re in a perfect position to strike. I’m calling in that favor now. The Thrune has angered me, and I would like to cause a bit of Chaos… Kill him.
 
Civilla’s thoughts race through every possible reading of the contract, and whether this is a valid boon for the devil to claim. Killing Thrune in front of 300 witnesses might reflect badly on House Alazario, for one thing. 
 
Civilla: … F***.
 
Thrune: We have reached a turning point, all of us in Kintargo, and from this night onward, the city will look to what occurred this evening as a rallying point. A point where the city’s true villains were revealed, and it's true heroes were forced to save the day. A point where the so-called Ghosts of Kintargo showed their true colors—the colors of blood, of betrayal, and of death! Thank you, loyal sacrifices of Kintargo, for offering yourselves as the martyrs this city so desperately needs!
Civilla: DISPEL MAGIC - THRUNE.
 
The spell strips off just one of the dogbotherer’s many protections. He whirls on her in surprise and outrage.
 
Thrune: BETRAYER!
 
 
 
 

Best way to steal skills and memories.  Be immortal.  Win sword fights.  Decapitate opponent.
 
 

Multiform would work because you simply include your own abilities in the multiform.   In 6th edition they removed the requirement that the base form has to be the most expensive.   You build a multiform that has everything your character has but has enough spare points to include the abilities you gain from the creature you killed. 
 
Your true form would be the character without any abilities from the target and the VPP.  The VPP would be used to create a new multiform when you killed someone.   The multiform would include all your skills and abilities you want to use and then you would just add whatever other abilities you stole from the target.   Give the multiform a KS of the character you killed on and extremely high roll to simulate stealing the memories.  I would suggest it should be a minimum of a 15 or less but might even be higher.  Some things may be missing because people forget things and you can’t steal what someone does not have.  You still have all your own memories and skills because you paid for them in the multiform.  
 
Your true form is more for bookkeeping purpose.  When the character is in use you will almost always be in the multiform.  Multiform allows you to switch between forms without having to revert to the “true” form so you can switch from one target to another without having to assume your true form.  Your true form will probably be less powerful than the campaign normal as you will need to reserve some points for the skills you steal.  
 

Pen and paper. Write it all down.  

Brainstorm and figure out what you want and just put it on paper and organize it later when you have defined your goals.  

I have to admit, our gaming groups tend to take an almost perverse pleasure in being anything BUT adventurers. Such as the "suprisingly dangerous archeologists" we played through The Mummy's Mask.

Once again, Thank you 

Pathfinder : Hell's Bright Shadow : Hammer To Fall
 
When you’re living in an authoritarian state run by the literal forces of Hell, you soon learn to watch your words carefully. Kintargo might be wildly permissive compared to the rest of Chelliax, and being of Good alignment isn’t illegal (yet), and being a worshipper of one of the Good gods isn’t illegal (yet), but since Barzillai Thrune arrived and declared he was now in charge, the authorities don’t need much excuse to arrest you, torture you (with fire), Infernally Heal you (more fire), repeat the process until you’ve incriminated all your friends and family members (repeat applications of fire) and if you’ve been a suitably large nuisance Maledict you and send your soul to Hell (see above). 
 
Even if you’re somebody that puts their duty to their heart before their duty to their country - which shouldn’t be difficult when the country is Chelliax - there is the very real threat that actually acting on any of that will not only get you horribly killed but also everybody you care about, even if they weren’t involved. So, to protect them, you drop any contact with them, and don’t do anything that could threaten them. Of course, this is an entirely desirable outcome as far as the Chellish government is concerned, and one reason Terzo drinks more than is healthy for him.
 
But then you get somebody doing something so egregious he annoys a good chunk of the population, and suddenly there’s no shortage of people with similar points of view. And that’s why, in the months after Barzillai Thrune shut down the opera, there’s a highly motivated rebellion brewing in Kintargo, and why Terzo, his friends, and large number of the rebellion’s operatives, are currently attending a masquerade ball announced by Thrune, at the Kintargo Opera House.
 
Terzo: Hopefully he won’t have a Zone of Truth set up at the door and ask everybody if they’re acting against the government of Chelliax.
 
On the other hand, our various teams of ninjas and socialites have the opera house so thoroughly mapped we even know where the secret rooms are. And we also have that secret base under the coffee shop with the shrine to Calistria that will boost our will saves against hypothetical Zones of Truth or similar compulsions. And if they're checking people for sword canes it won’t help them either, since Civilla has a sword parasol. It Shrinks to accessory-sized too. Civilla is taking Shimza as their plus-one, although the effects of the of Sex Change Elixir they’ve both been taking have likely been interesting, given that there’s no real visible change in either of them.
 
The rebellion has confirmed that Barzillai has ordered the construction of chambers beneath the opera house, some of which almost certainly connect to the endless caverns that run beneath the continent. This is a bit odd - House Thrune is more likely to build connections to the depths of Hell rather than the depths of the Underworld. 
 
Since our rebellion is crafted around being completely unnoticed right up until it’s time to stab Thrune in the neck, we pass a number of secrecy checks without much difficulty.
 
GM: *sigh* you have one of your Tengu in place as a security guard. SOMEHOW. AND you have a copy of the skeleton key that opens most of the doors in the building.
Civilla: Oh nonono, it’s not a Tengu, it’s the Dire Corby. It’s HER.
Avya: We’re all going to die.
Rajira: Who needs a murder of crows when we can just have a murder.
 
Rumour has it that Thrune will make an appearance at the end of the Ruby Masquerade and announce a lifting of some of the restrictions he’s placed on the city.
 
Terzo: A velvet glove around the iron fist.
 
Civilla nonetheless passes on word to the various rebellion cells to hold back on any troublemaking for the time being - if Thrune thinks the rumour is actually working, he’ll be doubly surprised by the aforementioned neck-stabbing.
 
Terzo is going to the Masque in a ludicrously over-the-top Red Death costume. He looks completely ridiculous, given his build compared to that of the famous opera character, but it will hopefully come as a great shock to Thrune’s dottari that, like the character, Terzo is actually an accomplished fencer. 
 

 
Civilla has also created a Costume Bureau, a Wondrous Item that can generate four complete outfits a day. 
 
Civilla: You CANNOT go to the ball like that - here, put this on. 
 
Although the outfits disintegrate after 24 hours.
 
Civilla: I’m doing better than Cinderella’s fairy godmother anyway. Actually that’s not a bad retirement option, maybe I’ll be a fairy godmother for a while.
 
Rajira is coming in a scandalously sheer outfit dripping with rubies. Shimza and Civilla’s outfits are matching mirror-images. Although a Dispel Magic would be unfortunate, since it would dispel the Glamour and the actual clothing. Luster (Civilla’s Homunculus) has an exact match of Civilla’s outfit, which is cute right up until the homunculus smiles - all the way back to the ears. Vino (her Capuchin Familiar) is wearing a matching waistcoat.  Ayva’s outfit might not display the same level of wealth, but does reflect her position in the social strata appropriately.
Everybody that attends the ball in an exceptional outfit has an advantage going in.
 
Civilla: MERELY exceptional??
 
Apparently Barzillai will be leading the Dance of the Damned an hour after the 300 or so guests are let in. And after the unmasking at midnight he’ll be making an announcement about the future of the city. Surprisingly, it looks like there’s representatives from most walks of life. Whilst quite a few of our allies are supposed to be dead or otherwise keeping a very low profile, we ensure Captain Sargaeta and his plus-one; the halfling Laria Longroad; Mialari Docur (founder of Lady Docur’s School for Girls and spymaster); and Archbaroness Eldonna Aulamaxa are also in the crowd - if the situation does hit the fan we’ll need help holding Thrune down for the neckstabbing. The fairy dragon Vendalfek is also attending, in a snazzy waistcoat, but nobody can see him since he’s invisible. It’s not like he’d miss a party.
 
Among the changes Thrune has made to the public levels are taking out all the seating, replacing the statue of the Opera’s founder with one of himself, various vainglorious painting of himself or literal hellscapes, a shrine to Asmodeus, three caged cockatrices hanging over the crowd, and no paintings of Queen Abrogail II. That last bit is very odd, given Thrune’s own proclamations.
 
Proclamation the Second   All places of public business must display in a position of prominence within the first room accessible from the building’s primary entrance a portrait of Her Infernal Majestrix Queen Abrogail II. Said portrait must measure no less than 11×17 inches.  
Terzo: Hmm. ‘A Rule for thee, but not for me’.
Ayva: I think he’s got us on a technicality.
Terzo: True - I don’t suppose the Opera House counts as a place of business, after he closed it. 
Civilla: It’s exactly the level of sophistry that we operate at, so we’ll leave it alone.
 
It certainly doesn’t seem wise to provoke Her Infernal Majestrix - she became the Queen under unusual circumstances - if you count her father Infrexus drowning in a country with no shortage of high-level clerics who can cast Raise Dead as unusual. But be that as it may, removing the statues and pre-existing paintings is just another attempt to destroy Kintargo’s history, probably, after the Redactors and whatever weird circumstance altered the memories even of very long-lived individuals that were actually around for events that nobody can seem to recall anymore. It is, after all, very odd that nobody seems to know how Kintargo and the surrounding area actually became part of Chelliax.
 
Civilla: My family are rather invested in the question of what happened to Kintargo’s history. In fact that was my first thought when I heard Thrune was digging - *he knows something*.
 
Terzo: Anybody want to place a bet on him dropping the cockatrices into the crowd at the climax of the night?
Rajira: Probably not, but it won’t mean we won't.
 

Having converted the minotaurs into wedding attire, the troubleshooters of Selversgard turn back towards the village. Shev travels far ahead, no doubt out of his excitement about the upcoming wedding, leaving the rest of us at something of a disadvantage when the weather takes a turn for the worse.
 
Miya: How do we know it’s a bad storm? The Treants have f***ed off into a cave.
GM: Can I get a Survival check from somebody?
Arram: You COULD but Shev isn’t here.
 
We huddle under an overhang without even the benefit of a giant riding rat to huddle against. At least Prestidigitation and Ember Pots get us warm and dry-ish, so we won’t be reenacting any Jack London stories. 
 
Shev’s player: ?
Gonno’s player: To Build A Fire. A short story about someone who repeatedly fails his Survival checks. 
 
A conversation is had about adventurers, and exactly what kind of mental damage makes running off to clear out a nest of vampires sound like a good idea.
 
Skave: At least contracting vampirism might solve the problem of my 30 year lifespan? How am I supposed to get anything done in three decades, is what I want to know.
Gonno: *tactfully not mentioning that he has a potential lifespan of hundreds of years* You could always take a run at the Starstone.
Arram: As I understand it, if you survive it you either become a god or the servant of a god. Is that the kind of immortality you actually want?
Gonno OoC: I’m picturing exactly what kind of principles Skave The God would embody. Unnecessarily Large Explosions, probably. He’d get on well with Nethys at least.
 
Miya’s pregnancy has started to show - since she’s non-human, there’s a chance of complications. At least she’s told her husband about them.
 
Miya: There’s a non-zero chance of kits instead of babies.
 
We hear somebody yelling for help out in the torrential rain - after some mental calculations about the odds of a second Leucrotta lurking in the woods around here, we investigate. 
 
Gonno: Hopefully not another idiot wizard from the Twilight Academy.
Arram: Well I’m good, I’m a sorcerer from the Twilight Academy.
Gonno OoC: Somebody needs to investigate the water supply at the Academy, because at the rate that their students go mad, wander off into the woods, or express other antisocial behaviour, I suspect the lead pipes are corroding
Miya OoC: There is likely an eldritch horror in the Attic and the basement, the lunch lady is a lich and the whole thing can be described as Creepy Spooky Haunted and Hydrocolonic.

There’s two human men, one of whom has carelessly misplaced an arm, being carried by the other. Both need immediate medical aid.
 
Arram: Anything following you we need to know about?
Chist: I.. I think we got away from it?
Arram: Just in case you didn’t, what was ‘it’?
 
Alveson and his less-mangled friend are from the Order of the Nail - Hell-knights. Hopefully they don't notice the way Gonno tenses up, since there’s no way the hell-knights have forgotten about his wife who escaped Cheliax, and the Order of the Nail are one of the most hard-line of the lot.
 
Arram OoC: They’re basically everybody that’s ever played a paladin wrong. 
 
Apparently the Hell-knights were out here to open a Gate, so they could escort a pair of Devils back to their base. This is nothing particularly unusual for Hell-knights, but it wasn’t the devils they expected that came through. 
 
Chist: There were four of them - they were humanoid. But blue.
Arram and Skave: ….
Chist: And covered in chains!
Arram: I was just about to ask that. 
Miya: Welp, we’re stuffed.
 
It’s hardly surprising that four Chain Devils was two much for two hell-knights.
 
Chist: It wasn’t just the two of us, we came out here with five others.
All: ….
Chist: I think the mage got three of them with a Flame Blast.
Arram: Yes yes, very good, it’s just that I believe Chain Devils have Regeneration.
 
At least the Gate closed after the remaining Clive Barker ripoff ripped off his various limbs. Leaving an open doorway to Hell seems like a bad thing. Going after four Chain Devils would also be a bad thing. We decamp in a hurry, but note as we leave that the still-ambulatory Hell-knight has a glowing rune painted on his chest.  Apparently that was part of the Gate-opening ritual. 
 
Arram: Well. That’s not good.
 
None of us have the Erase spell to sever the connection. And while Miya will happily flay the skin off him ( ‘Create Treasure Map’ as Skave puts it ) we don’t know if the rune connects his body or his lifeforce to the gate. It’s likely that killing him wlll sever the connection, but messing with the connection will likely kill him even if we don’t want to. And it’s possible the devils can use the rune to track Chist down, and possibly use him to force the Gate open again.
 
Miya: It’s probably quicker to go home.
Chist: Where’s home?
Miya: Thattaway. Or thataway? Give me a second.
Arram: Selversgard.
Chist: I haven't heard of it.
Arram: It’s small. Small enough that four chain devils could kill everybody there.
 
It’s a ten-day trip south to reach the Order of the Nail’s keep. Although if we can get back to the boats we left on the riverbank on the trip down, we can go downriver much faster than on foot. Very much faster, given what the weather is likely doing to the river’s flow.
 
Arram: Shev is probably going overland back to Selversgard anyway, on the All-terrain Rat Express.
 
The problem is finding where we left the boats, in horrendous weather, at night, while trying to avoid pursuit. We recamp. After force feeding him some healing potions, Alveron comes to, and confirms that the head wizard with their party screwed up, and opened the gate into a Chain Devil slave camp.
 
Skave: …. Well, that’s the worst possible wrong number.
Arram: I feel beholden to suggest mounting a rescue mission. But that is well outside our capabilities.
Miya: So we’re going to leave that to the Hell Knights who screwed up in the first place.
Alveson: That’s fair, that’s really quite fair.
 
Alveson also confirms that the rune is connected to the gate.
 
Alveson: Well, we can resolve that. But it will require a sharp knife and a great deal of pain for my colleague here.
Miya: Oh good, the sensible solution works.
Arram: Hold still, I’m just going to do some Subdual Damage on you with this blunt instrument.
Alveson: Ah, no, that won’t work. He needs to be conscious to will away the connection as we physically sever it.
Skave: … how big is this rune again?
GM: Most of his chest. 
All: … 
Miya: Well, I suppose we could use Arram’s Acid Splash, but either way this is going to SUCK. 
 
Skave has to do the flaying. At least Chist is tied down and gagged as the Ysoki peels off his skin, piece by piece. He even stays conscious for the entire procedure, which takes nine rounds. No doubt because Skave’s paw is shaking a bit. 
 
Skave: You are *exceptionally* lucky you ran into me. 
All: ….
Skave: …Us, I mean Us.

At least the procedure seems to have worked, and when the sun rises we can hurry to the boats. Alveson isn’t going to be much use, sans spellbook and arm, but at least Chist can use that magical boar spear we found, and we still have the spellbook we found in the Leucrotta lair.
 
Arram: Oh gods, that thing - I warn you, the contents have a particular… flavour. Probably all necromancy, and we’re pretty sure it’s bound in human skin.
 
Arram: If that necromancer’s spellbook had Erase in it I’m going to be very embarrassed.
 
When we reach the boats, something is sitting on one of the boats combing her hair.
 
Miya: Don’t be Fae, Don’t be Fae, Don’t be Fae…
GM: It’s Fae.
Arram: Morning
Naiad: Oh! Good morning! Are these yours?
Arram: Yes, actually.
Naiad: I hope you don’t mind - I was merely using one as a place to sit.
Arram: Not a problem - but you might want to make yourself scarce. There’s a bunch of chain devils on the loose, and some of us have already run afoul of them.
Naiad: Oh, that is NOT good.
Arram: Quite. You might want to let everybody that needs to, know.
 
The Naiad leaves, without turning its Beguiling Aura on Arram or the rest of us.
 
Skave: Well, I’ve learned something - Arram has to be gay.
Miya OoC: He’s a sorcerer, his Charisma is ungodly high.
Arram: It’s all werewolves or Fae around here and personally I’d rather deal with the Fae.
Miya: Fae, werewolves or big f***ing spiders.
 
We leave a message for Shev in a waterproof sack, phrased ambiguously enough that the Chain Devils won’t immediately know which way we went, or that Selversgard is upriver, in case Shev comes looking for us when we don’t turn up. Unfortunately we’re attacked by a giant fish while we travel downstream.
 

 
Skave: *shakes Arram* SET IT ON FIRE, SET IT ON FIRE!
 
Miya gets engulfed.
 
Miya: Tell my husband I love him! Assuming I actually die!
 
Of course this about when Shev catches up with us, and sees us finally subduing the monstrous stickleback.
 
Shev: Pull that on board, that’s good eating!
Arram: Good luck with that, it’s bigger than the boat! Also it’s eaten most of Miya’s arm, we should probably do something about that.
 
We camp on the far side of the river to make things more difficult for the Chain Devils, just in case. Shev also has a camp oven that doesn’t produce smoke or light, which is also helpful in our current situation. For some reason the forest on this side of the river has been replaced with fens - fortunately we can find a dry hollow to camp in.
 
Skave: Keep an eye out for leeches… I need them for alchemy ingredients.
Gonno: Hopefully we’re all smart enough to avoid throat leeches.
 
And Shev never sleeps on the ground anyway - he has two hanging tents with excellent camouflage. Hopefully we won’t wake up with the rest of us dead.
 
Shev’s player: Won’t be the first time I’ve slept through combat.
 
Once again, the party is fortunate that Vokk the Giant Riding Rat is a light sleeper - something is happening near the boats.
 
Shev: Animal companions exist to show us up.
Shev: I’m pretty sure a gunshot is a suitable alarm, but I don’t want to wake the others up if I don’t have to. 
 
It’s a giant dragonfly nymph, settling itself to ambush us in the morning. Shev returns to the camp to prepare breakfast - we can deal with it in the morning. 
 
Shev: Welcome to camping in this forest.
Miya: Giant insects, arachnids, and Fae, oh my!
Shev (upbeat):  Don’t forget the werewolves!
 
Rather more problematic is that something eats half the giant nymph before dawn - and Shev didn’t see or hear what did it. (interesting fact -aquatic insect nymphs are called naiads)
 
Shev: Well, whatever it was it only ate half of it, so it’s not hungry.
 
The rest of the trip to the lake and the Hellknight keep is uneventful - Shev rides Vok in the river while the rest of us continue in the boat. Arrival at the keep is uneventful too - nobody challenges us as we approach. In fact the entire keep is still and silent. This is ominous. The boot sticking out under a bush is more so. It probably wasn’t the bush that beat the boot owner's head in. 
 
Arram: It might be a Whomping Wisteria
 
Whatever did it left all his gear here, including magical armour. And Chist identifies the body as one of the full Hell-knights. He didn’t even have his weapon out.
 
Skave OoC: Preliminary cause of death… murder-hoboes.
Miya OoC: But we’re murder-hoboes!
 
No we’re not - we haven't even looted the corpse yet. Around the corner some unfortunate woman has been pinned to the wall by multiple primitive javelins. And the portcullis has been jammed open with a man-sized boulder. Alveson identifies her as the head mage at the keep.
 
Arram: I’m really hoping whoever did this isn’t here anymore, to be honest. Can we make sure we move anything that’s been spilled on the floor? So we have a clear run for the door if we have to.
 
Neither Chist or Alveson recognise the make of the javelins, so it probably wasn't some group the Hell-knights annoyed recently. Perhaps some Orc warparty out of the Cinderlands? On the other hand, Miya recalls that the nearby town of Biston had a major problems with an infestation of Troglodytes recently, and there is certainly a smell in the keep that Vok does NOT like. Alveson finds the body of his brother among the dead, and is understandably distressed. 
 
We attempt to clear the portcullis - and hear rustling in the bushes. Shev takes aim.
 
Miya: Do we want to call out a warning? ‘Show yourselves or be considered bandits’
 
The warning is somewhat pointless - Troglodytes don’t speak Common. They speak Draconic.
 
Troglodyte: *in Draconic* This is our land now.
Arram: We WERE here to ally with the Hell-knights to fight devils.
Troglodyte: FIGHT devils? They SUMMON devils!
Arram: Yeah sometimes it doesn’t go to plan.
Troglodyte: You side with Hellknights?
Arram: Yeah, these two, at least - I like them.
Troglodyte: KILL THEM ALL
Shev: I don’t speak Draconic but the tone suggests ‘Talks have broken down’.
 
After the fight, which we survive and they don’t, we search the corpses and find a few lucky talismans their shaman gave them.
 
Gonno: I don’t think they worked.
 
Although we don’t have any reason to feel smug about our victory - we don’t know how many troglodytes the Hell-knights managed to kill before they were overwhelmed.
 
Shev: I actually got a second shot off before it misfired!
Miya: Clearly Erastil is pleased with you.
 
Miya: And now we have to deal with the Chain Devils by ourselves.
 
At least it’s only a day more travel to the lakeside fishing town of Biston. It has a population of over 200.
 
Gonno: If I knew we were coming to the big city I’d have got a shopping list from the wife.
 
There are quite a few Hell-knights at their building in the town - it appears they are mustering. That’s helpful - maybe they’re in the mood for a snipe hunt. Their leader Esteria receives Chist and Alveson’s report, and invites all of us up to her office, a small and tasteful room (the shrine to Asmodeus in one corner notwithstanding).
 
Esteria: Leave your rat in the stables, they’ll feed and water it.
Shev: Are they familiar with giant riding rats?
Esteria: They’d better be.
 
Apparently Biston and the outpost haven't been the only targets of troglodyte attacks in the area. She really can’t spare the men to deal with chain devils as well, even though she acknowledges we really aren’t equipped to deal with one, let alone four. On the other hand, if we help her with the troglodyte issue… at least she has a map of the tunnels the hero Biston used to attack the troglodytes from behind, back before he had the town named after him.  Vok can confirm that the tunnel only smells slightly of Troggies. On the other hand, it also smells of Something Else. We head in anyway - we have the advantage of Darkvision that the Hellknights don't. Hopefully we won’t be down here too long - our friends and family might start wondering where we are by the end of the second week. 
 
Before we find any cave dwelling lizard-types, we find a 60ft deep pit, lined with spikes, and including a noteworthy number of naked impaled dwarves. 
 
Arram: How long have they been there?
GM: Well, they’re not… 
Arram: Liquified?
 
It is possible the dwarves slid down the shaft we descended, and straight into the pit trap, but that wouldn’t explain why they’re naked. 
 
Arram: Hey Shev, we need you to climb down this hole full of naked dwarves.
Shev: Fffffffffff-
Arram: Don’t worry, they’re dead.
 


Miya: To be fair we haven’t actually *checked* they’re dead.
 
They are dead, but they’re not dwarves. They might be some other subterranean race, like the sadistic Dero.
 
Gonno OoC:  Richard Sharpe Shaver’s paranoid schizophrenia has a lot to answer for. 
 
It’s also not clear who or why somebody cut their throats and dumped them in the pit.
 
Shev: We’re here to kill trogs, let's go kill trogs. 
 
We find some trogs - guarding the ends of a rope bridge. Each has a gong.
 
Arram: The monk can bullrush one, and when the other one hits the gong you can fire your gun to cover the noise.
 
Gonno does, indeed, run up and push the first Troglodyte into the chasm. The rest of the party use a variety of ranged attacks, of the quieter variety. We are now in position to launch a sneak attack on a village of troglodyte non-combatants.
 
Gonno OoC: And here was me thinking we WEREN’T playing murder-hoboes.
 
Unfortunately, Gonno and Miya, both completely fail to notice that the party is being snuck up on from behind. Despite being at the back of the party precisely to stop this sort of thing happening. 
 
Miya OoC: I’m definitely going to retire and raise kids, things keep trying to eat me. 
 
Gonno doesn’t even notice Miya has been dragged off until a second tentacle wraps around his own neck. Fortunately the rest of the party actually glance over their shoulders and save the pair, without actually alerting the troglodytes with the sound of combat, or wheezing after the Oread and Foxmaid are released. Sneaking closer, we overhear the troglodyte leadership having some kind of argument with drow. This is a perfect opportunity for Arram to cast Web over the entrance to the chamber, and yell, in Draconic, “Our objectives are achieved! Slay the rest of the Troglodytes!”. 
 
GM: Well, you’ve done something very smart
Miya’s player: Are you sure you’re talking about the right game?
 
The drow and troglodytes promptly start murdering each other. We wait to see who survives - the drow priestess is a contender by the look of it. Although she probably wasn’t *planning* on killing one of her own compatriots with an area effect spell, but he was male and who knows with drow.
 
Arram’s player: We’ve just made the GM roll attacks against his own NPCs for 30 minutes.
Shev’s player: Sorry not sorry.
 
Killing a member of her own party was probably a tactical error, since the Troggie king follows up by cutting her in half. He’s also bright enough to start wondering why the supposed drow treachery was yelled in his language, and spots us waiting for more free XP. Still, now it’s 6-to-1 odds in our favour. 
 
Gonno OoC: Although after watching him bisect that elf, we probably shouldn’t have closed to melee range.
 
We find some documents proving the drow were conspiring to use the troglodytes as an organised threat to civilisations on the surface. Also evidence that quite a few drow have been through here. Miya has Arram leave a note - written in Draconic, in the drow’s handwriting, pinned to the late king’s eyesocket “Death to those that betray the Drow”.
 
Unfortunately we then have to sneak back out past the troglodyte village. 
 
Miya: We pick up the sorcerer and leg it.
 
After all these detours, we finally start heading home towards Selversgard.
 
Skave: Brother. This had better be the best wedding ever.
 
It’s also a relief that the chain devils haven’t found Selversgard, but we have a lot to tell the mayor and militia anyway, and a lot of apologies for everybody that's been worried about us. Certainly nothing really major happens for the next nine months, apart from the setting up of a Warrenguard by the ratfolk. 
 
Arram: The first I’m doing after we report to the Mayor is collapse into the bed for 24 hours, after all that bulls***t.
GM: Shev, would you care to make a Diplomacy roll?
Shev: I CAN but it’ll be abysmal.
GM: Would you prefer your brother address the Council?
Shev: He’s just as bad!
 
Although one discovery the ratfolk make while excavating is a hidden tunnel connecting the sewer, a hidden dock north of town, and the boarded-up Tolland Manor in the middle of Selversgard owned by a now extinct family. The rumours of a haunt are one reason it hasn’t been reoccupied. A bigger mystery is who would need a smuggling tunnel - Selversgard has no tariffs. 
 
To everybody’s surprise, Gonno & Galiante are already expecting a second child. Apparently, despite being a tiefling and a part-elemental, they are really compatible. Miya’s sister-in-law  moves in as a nanny for her & Falx’s apparently human son.
 
Gonno: If you ever want privacy again I know where a house is going unused.
 
Alternatively, we can use Tolland Manor as a proper school building - Arram is certainly willing and able to pay the requisite 5000gp to refurbish it, and it's not like potential undead are going to worry somebody who thinks the Twilight Academy is a fine educational institution. Arram is now one of Selversgard’s most eligible bachelors (certainly since the other PCs are all married now) which may explain why that teenager we rescued two years back is inexpertly trying to seduce him. 
 
Skave is a father again as well - but tragically his wife didn’t survive the birth. Even magical healing can only go so far. He’s emotionally ill-equipped to deal with this. So now he has three ratlings to raise, and a wet nurse to find.
 
GM: Miya might be able to do it.
Miya: I have seen rat teeth, so no. Especially if I have to deal with fox teeth as well.
 
Shev finds a bride as well, although is at a loss about what to do next - as far as social adjustment goes he’s not much better than his brother.
 
Miya: I’m afraid my perspective isn’t going to be very useful.
 
All these new children and new marriages (especially to forceful wives like the ratwoman Ranger Cidi) are good reasons to reduce the amount of stabbing gribbly-monster-stabbing we’ve been doing. What do we look like, adventurers?
 
Miya: Something has tried to kill me *every year*.
 
Miya sets up a dojo to train up the Selversgard Militia, but trying to get the council to actually fund the militia is like squeezing blood from a stone. At least we have all that loot from the troglodyte and drow incident to sell, and supply a proper armory and probably pay for a militia too. And maybe if we promote more business connections with the cities downriver, we might have an economy large enough to support actual taxation.
 

The campaign that a I posted about here (over a year ago!?) has been running since then and I thought I would share some of the stuff that I've produced for it. As I mentioned above, it's set in 1988 in Detroit, and I did end up populating it with lots of old classic Champions NPC's, organizations, etc. It's an Iron Age campaign, however, and despite being set in the past it's obviously written for modern tastes. So while familiar faces show up, they're often grittier and darker than the original Silver/Bronze Age-ish versions. For example, many of the NPC's, especially villains, have partially or completely reworked origins. I can only swallow so many freak accidents and alien artifacts.
 
In populating and setting up my Champions Universe, I started with the 6e version of Champions Universe - that stuff is more or less "cannon." Then I pulled out all of my old books, bought a whole lot of ebooks and (of course) customized stuff to focus on my players' and player characters' interests and backgrounds. In particular, one of the PC's is a cosmic refugee who is immortal and has been living in hiding on earth for several centuries, so we've done quite a bit of back and forth on his role in and knowledge of "history."
 
The timeline that I've produced is definitely a work in progress. I've mashed together all of the versions of the Champions Universe books and tried to hammer out a single, (relatively) consistent history, and I'm still in the process of going through all of the different supplements and adventures and deciding which to incorporate, which to pass on and which to set aside for future adventures. 
 
IN: Books of the Destroyer and the Machine, the Mutant Files, San Angelo, VIPER, UNTIL, PRIMUS, DEMON, PSI, Genocide/IHA, Atlas/Prometheus, ARGENT, TERROR Inc., Doctor Yin Wu and the Red Banner, Sanctuary, Deathstroke, Villains International (picks up some of VOICE's portfolio), the Olympians, the Zodiac Conspiracy 
Adventures: reworked VIPER's Nest/Champions Begins, powered-up Shadows of the City, Future: Day of the Destroyer, Mind Games, the Great Supervillain Contest, Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth/COIL
OUT: VOICE, SAT, CLOWN, Dr. Lirby Koo (though the reworked Geodesics are in, as Payback) 
 
The Timeline (Players' version. GM's version is too messy and disorganized to share atm)
C4E Timeline.pdf