Wednesday, April 27, 2011

The Dual Throne: ¡Viva la Revolución!

Last we left our heroes, they were dragging their soundly beaten prisoner back to the Rebel Safehouse underneath the Guard Barracks. The Traitor Guard Captain Sargon Akkad welcomed them, he was positively glowing with praise for the capture of Paubi (he didn't think it was at all possible to take her alive). Inquisitor Libris wants to get a message out to High Sovereign Daxol to let him know the progress of their mission and the severity of the situation in Charabesh.

The deal the party made with Akkad was that if they took care of the Devil Captain then the resistance would help them escape the city so that they could report to the surface and hopefully get some help sent down. Now the Resistance was never doing very well to begin with due to lack of experience from its members and lack of proper fighting equipment. The noose has been steadily closing around the neck of the last free elves in Charabesh for a century now and the lifespan of those involved is down to weeks (at best). Captain Sargon asked the party to postpone for just awhile longer and help them relieve some of the pressure the Council is placing on them. He informed them of a secret weapon cache (for use in emergency) underneath a Hrusian Temple that one of the rebellion's informants...well...informed him of.

It is heavily guarded and they have no idea as to what dangers lie protecting the cache. He was hoping the party would help them acquire these weapons and armor for the rebellion so that they could be properly armed and armored. He made sure to add that he was in no way forcing them to help, he would still honor his end of the deal and help them escape if they so chose.

I think deep down, each of my players have always wanted to cause a little anarchy for the side of good.

Also, this is how I picture every rebel elf
The Traitor Guard ran distraction for the city guards proper so the party could slip into the temple and have an avenue of escape after it's cleared out and the Traitor Guards could "appropriate" the loot.

Andrissa the Sorceress went busting into the temple like the fist of an angry god, hurling fireballs at any that registered as "Bad" to her sensibilities (i.e. the priests running the place). She pretty much single-handedly cleared out the temple until it came down to the Temple Guardians (Vampires in Full-Plate with Lightning Greatswords. Pretty rad right?) The three guardians pretty much dropped her immediately though they took a ton of damage from Area of Effect spells like fireball. They leapt forward and with mighty swings of their blades, Andrissa was cut down.
The party got their game on and went swinging into their enemies, landing blow after blow and rendering the undead still once more.
If you really study this, you can see where they've been
Now you may be wondering "But what about Andrissa? Is she dead?" and I'll answer that question with a story.
At the very beginning of this campaign a few months ago, I wrote down templates that each character could acquire and would boost their power considerably. I did not tell my players about these templates and wrote down specific instructions on how to acquire these templates and if my players fulfilled the qualifications it would be placed upon them as a great big reward.
Andrissa qualified in every conceivable way, death was a necessary part of the qualification. She was killed giving the greatest performance of her life and her god (Theodal, god of dance and merriment) demanded an encore. She awakened, sanctified by Theodal and stronger than ever. Everyone marveled. So no, she isn't dead (to answer your question).

Also the Captain Sargon congratulated them and thanked them profusely. Asking them to please take their pick of the strongest weapons and armor in the cache. The party were already heroes to the elven rebellion, so I guess they became double heroes and there was much rejoicing and I'm certain some elven women are naming their children after them or something. Currently the group prepares to storm the docks and take a submersible back to the surface so they can get help from the Church of Beryllus and liberate Charabesh from Demonic possession.

There wasn't a ton going on this session storywise, it was mostly the encounter in the Temple and Andrissa acquiring a "Saint" template, though it was a pretty cool fight with the vampire elf guardians.
I whipped them up like twenty minutes before the session started because I've been feeling like I've been relying too heavily on the Bestiary and I didn't want to overuse the demons. It's been awhile since the party had done anything except cover the Paladin as he killed everything for them. Which is great for Libris, less fun for everyone else. Andrissa got some time in the spotlight flash-frying just about everything and executing evil priests gangland style.
The Elf Vampires didn't really even have a class, it was this sort of nebulous thing, they were something akin to a fetus of the Fighter class (Full BAB, no class abilities).
Despite their incompleteness, I'm feeling pretty self-congratulatory about being able to do a last minute encounter change with a custom creature in twenty minutes and have it balanced perfectly to challenge the party but not necessarily kill them all or be defeated too easily either.

Great GM? Or greatest GM?
I leave the answer to you.

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