World of Alidor

The Kings Crew

shent_lodge — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 01:37:14 +0000

I decided to try the NPC Creator’s Toolbox for my King dungeon I am making. It is a random table set found in the Game Mastery Guide for the Pathfinder Role Playing Game. Overall it is useful in filling out characteristics of NPCs so they all don’t just have red shirts and answer to the name ensign. I am a big fan of random tables, because they sometimes help inspire game story which is extremely helpful when you are winging it, which I do a lot.

The king is:

Background: A disgraced noble
Goals: Help a child get a good start in life. This was cool because I was thinking about the king’s children; he has one wife and nine mistresses, his wife bore him a female child; she is now age 22 and is named Mysa, Princess of Canton.

The mistresses of the king all have given birth to girls except for his third mistress, named Ellerine Bassat, who had a boy named Cadus Bossat; he is six as of this writing. The king thinks the world of this boy and sent him and his mother off to Glenfiddich to live free of the political conflicts of the island. Yup the king has one legal heir to his thrown and one he wishes could be heir; the only son out of 16 children. He actually has a portal to the city and an apartment there, this could be another way to get at the king via the two way portal in Glenfiddich.

More about the king
Physical: The king has different colored eyes; one green eye and one blue.
Personality: The king is a failed actor and blames everyone for it. Ar age ten the king was set on being a play actor though his temperament made him difficult to work with it was truly what he wanted to be when he grew up, and would have been, had his father not died.

The king’s Priest is:

Cestus of Bilunoc who now acts as the leader of the Northern Church of Jelling.

Background: He is a reformed criminal
Goals: Get into history books He has done this by creating his own religion and by befriending the king and ousting the church of Yol from their position of leadership in the Northern Church of Jelling.
Physical: he has a shaved head as do all Bilunoc priests.
Personality: He has a stock phrase and an accompanying gesture. “As Bilunoc wills it…”

The King’s old priest was:

The Yolian response to Cestus is:
Dougfred Vivofree the Yolian bishop representing Yol inthe north.

Background: Pious member of a notorious family his ancestors are said to have forced out the royal family of Jelling out of power in JY 896 and started the infamous Merchants Alliance which lasted a short four years before King Harold the Bold stepped forth, and by force, reclaimed the thrown. Vivofree Merchant Clan (VMC) is still strong in jelling, but no longer a symbol of power.
Goal: Erase past failures with a single dramatic act; this has been stymied by Cestus being placed at the head of the NCJ.
Physical: He has one of the those long curled mustaches.
Personality: Seems to lack moral compass when making plans; often proposes horrific solutions to minor problems –this is considered a good trait in Yolian leadership school; which is why he is Bishop.

The King’s Wizard is:

Salanda the Honest Chief Advisor to the King

Background: Former witch hunter
Goal: Prove noble heritage
Physical: Handsome
Personality: Is a very distant noble and treats lower orders with disdain.

Their you have it, a little more history on the guy the party may or may not interact with and decide to kill or save some day; the King of Northern Jelling.

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The King’s Crib

shent_lodge — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 03:05:42 +0000

I am still rolling forward on my to kill a king dungeon. To help me out, I purchased a GameMastery flip-mat. I have quite a collection of these now. I have: the City Market, the Keep, the Bandit Outpost, the Arena and two Basic Flip-Mats; these pretty much cover all the bases in my home game; if I need a dungeon map in a pinch I grab these. The King of Northern Jelling is not as wealthy as he should be, so his place is meager compared to his sister’s to the south, this makes the Keep map perfect for his crib.

I found the maps useful for my home games and I think the Keep map will work. Of course there will be a dungeon under the keep that I will draw out if needed.

An interesting point; just looking at the map, I wonder how well defended is the king from enemies in his own home. If my party decides to be the assassins what chance does this guy have? How do rulers in a world of pathfinder adventurers stay in charge and alive. Should I really be concerned?

Sorry King I put you in your throne room with 6 9th level PCs; all dead set putting you in the dead book.

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The Villain’s Escape Kit

shent_lodge — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 18:07:25 +0000

Last week was a good week for me I was able to shop for new books and I ended up buying Advanced Player’s Guide & the Game Mastery Guide for Pathfinder. Both are great additions to the PFRPG game system. I may be bringing up parts and pieces from both as I do some tweaks to Alidor.

Right now I am creating a dungeon themed around the assassination of the Northern King of Jelling. I think I have a decent list of the usual suspects that may want the King dead. I think I have a good NPC behavior history built up around the King and his Twin sister, the Queen of Southern Jelling.

So I started thinking about how or where do I kill the king; this is where the PF Game Mastery Guide is coming in handy. If I decide that a NPC is the assassin and do the “who done it” dungeon eventually they are going to find that assassin and this is where the Villains’s escape kit in the PF Game Mastery Guide comes in handy.

Basically the authors broke down into 6 categories all the possible ways to escape and to stop someone from escaping using the Pathfinder rules.

You have airborne escape: like airwalk, barriers: like entangle, hindrances: hold portal is a good one, instant egress: dimension door, illusionary escape: mislead and rapid retreat: all cool villains use mount. I did not list all of spells, but man, I sure do like this little kit. In the past my villains have got stuck by some crafty player’s spell that broke the encounter and caught the bad guy unprepared. The game is so dynamic and there are so many spells; it is just nice to see this little synopsis in the PF Game Mastery Guide. As a GM, I am now a little more aware of my villain’s options and can incorporate this in a future game.

In my home game, a villain can also escape by surrender, this is a big risk on the part of the bad guy, but if he has followers that can help him escape or raise him from the dead then he is not really captured. Killing the King is a high crime in Jelling so the person responsible will get to meet the executioner whether that be the party, or the local law.

I could always run a dungeon where the party is back in town where the villain met her end, only to find news that her grave was disturbed, and the body missing… Eh, been over done.

The other thing is, a villain is usually tougher than the local constabulary in many of the towns in Jelling, he could just fight his way out; Riddick style.

When I make a villain in my game, I make him a challenge, but if a clever player can come up with a way to defeat the villain and it breaks the story, I will let them. Ultimately the dice determine success in most cases and I like to run my games as problem solving cases; if players develop a novel solution and the dice run their way then congrats to them; the story line ends the world is saved earlier than normal and a new story starts next week… That is why I play this type of game.

The best part about the The Villain’s Escape Kit is that while I am developing my to Kill a King story for my home game, I now have a decent list of spells to review as I start planning how to protect my King from being attacked or assassinated. Now I can figure what is realistic and economically feasible for my King

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Fun stuff in the new PF Advanced Player’s Guide

shent_lodge — Fri, 20 Aug 2010 17:19:34 +0000

I did get the Pathfinder Advanced Player’s Guide last week and I am very impressed with the book. There is all kinds of interesting rules additions and new character classes; sometimes though, it’s the little things that count in a new book.

In the equipment section they have Brass Knuckles and a Battle Aspergillum and a Boomerrang for cool weapons to add to my game. They have prices for animal cage and loaded dice; loaded dice I chuckled when I saw that.

They also had some cool new special substances perfect for my Yol NPC clerics; stuff like vials of anti plague and Alchemist’s Kindness; one cures the plague, or gets you a better save, the other appears to be a fantasy version of Alka Seltzer to help remove a drunken hangover. Too Cool.

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Fun Quick Convention Down Time Game

shent_lodge — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 14:27:07 +0000

I am always looking for fun games that are quick to play; Munchkin, comes to mind right away, but the guys at Steve Jackson Games made an even quicker game called Zombie Dice. I bought the game last week and have been having fun playing it with the wife and kid.

My son loves it and we use it to get him to go to bed on time. The old “if you get ready for bed, we can play Zombie Dice before we read you a book” trick.

The game plays fast, and is easy to pack for travel to conventions. So if you already have your 4e and Pathfinder characters updated for play and you are set for the Midnight Call of Cthulu game and you still have free time left at your next convention, like say Dragon Con give this game a try. I think you’ll find it fun enough to keep you busy between game sessions. (You need at least two players or you’ll look silly.) Thanks Steve Jackson Games for making another fun game to play.

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