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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
 Posted - 13 Nov 2006 : 12:55:23
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After having a blast playing with new people on D&D day, the others and I decided to continue together.
And I got stuck with the DM part... again. Not that I mind, but I would prefer to play every once in a while.
Be that as it may, I decided to just use one locale as the focal point of this campaign: the City of Splendors! And I realized how little I still know about Waterdeep. So I started reading more, my lack of thorough knowledge didn't prevent me from creating characters with the players, tho.
My premise was city adventures, and hence some classes just did not make the cut: ranger and druid, in their original incarnations, were dropped immediately. Also the barbarian.
Since I don't own PHB II and the Complete guides, many of the new core classes were unavailable as well, which just suits me fine since I am still based in the traditional "world" thinking of AD&D.
I also decided that players had the option to play a scion of one of the noble houses. And choose they did.
Here now are the characters:
Human fighter, scion of House Hawkwinter
Human rogue, scion of House Nantar
Half-Elf urban ranger
Asimar cleric of Tyr, scion of some other noble house.
Yep, my players went noble, and let me tell you, I never had so much fun at the table in the recent years. We decided beforehand that the characters were childhood friends. Especially the scions of Nantar and Hawkwinter, since their families do live close together.
I also decided, as is my habit, to not open yet another "alternate" universe for a Realms party, and hence they can, eventually, meet with the characters of my other campaign. Maybe even team up with them some time in the future to solve some big-ass mystery. (and I DREAD the day I have to handle 10 players again, but a decade after my last attempt to tame a bag of fleas...err players, I think it's time to again test my limits as a GM)
(If you want to know how the characters became friends, ask me, I'll be glad to share that tale)
The threesome (ranger, rogue, and fighter) met up on the 16th of Hammer (I think...1st month of the year) 1366 DR in the vicinity of the City of the Dead to find some trouble...and adventure.
And they found both...
Through a lucky roll, the ranger spotted a murder going on and of course she ran to the scene immediately. And was intercepted by our favorite Waterdhavian anti-hero/villain, Elaith Craulnober, who basically told her to mind her own business and not cross his path again.
Now a curious thing happened: they started to dog Craulnober, 1st level characters nosing around in his affairs. And through perseverance and sheer luck they managed to find out his name and started to hound him even more, even when the people who had betrayed Elaith ended up dead about 20 minutes after they had revealed their employers name. Of course when questioned by the watch the ranger did not say that she witnessed the murder.
This episode was only meant as an introduction to the intrigues of Waterdeep, it became an almost evening filling event. Why the person, who appeared to be a beggar but actually wore fine silk underneath his rags, was killed is still unclear to them, but they did find out that he was part of an organization (he wore the tattoo of a shield in his armpit.)
Come nightfall the threesome went to the City of the Dead to examine the body. It proved very interesting to hear the nobles' excuses to their respective patriarchs why they left their homes at night...well at least one excuse (that of the Nantar scion) was particularly funny. His friend of House Hawkwinter is a follower of Lliira and as such primarily focused on partying, so he merely claimed to join up with his friend to do just that.
Young lord Hawkwinter had no trouble leaving his ancestral home fully armed and armored. He did, however, have severe problems climbing the graveyard wall in banded mail.
In the graveyard they found above mentioned tattoo. After dealing with one important issue, of course:
Yound nobles go out fully equipped to find adventure. What is the one thing neither of them remembered to take with them (an error on the players' parts, but it played out beautifully.)? Illumination! None of them had any sort of lightsource with them!
When they made their way out of the graveyard, they (finally!) came to the only thing I knew was going to happen in the entire first day: a skirmish with slavers, which would lay the hook for the first true adventure...
Again, as with my other campaign, maybe even more so, I leave the players every freedom, like the Craulnober incident has shown.
I have a vague idea why Elaith would have attended the murder of someone else in brought daylight, but this is something that will come to haunt the characters in the future!
Hence begin the Waterdhavian Nights 
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Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Reefy
Senior Scribe
United Kingdom
892 Posts |
Posted - 13 Nov 2006 : 22:42:48
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| Sounds awesome - exactly what Waterdeep should be about, and the sort of thing I'm hoping to do with my new campaign. But I too wish that I'd get to play once in a while. |
Life is either daring adventure or nothing. |
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Dart Ambermoon
Learned Scribe
Germany
253 Posts |
Posted - 14 Nov 2006 : 20:49:17
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Yep, sounds really fantastic. Iīve just started a side-campaign in Waterdeep myself (if one of our players canīt make a date, we put the "main campaign" on hold) and, as you said, Mace, it certainly i a perfect place for character freedom and DM improvisation. My fearful...ahem, fearless Waterdeep trio is a bit of a hodgepodge concerning background, but that itself makes for some nice acting sequences.
And I for one would certainly be interested to hear the tale on how they became friends. |
~ In Finder I trust, for danger I lust ~ |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
USA
36779 Posts |
Posted - 14 Nov 2006 : 21:32:05
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At least two or three of the Adventure Hooks I've written for the Candlekeep Compendium are specifically set in Waterdeep. I just thought I'd mention that. 
(Yup, I've several ranks in the skill Shameless Self-Promoter!  ) |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen! |
Edited by - Wooly Rupert on 14 Nov 2006 21:32:24 |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 12 Dec 2006 : 10:53:45
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Update:
three days into the campaign chaos ensues (I have not laughed so hard in ages!!!).
The intrepid group of nobles and commoners have caused enough trouble to last a few lifetimes already. In their search for the slavers the fought in their first night out they kept an eye on the City of the Dead since they discovered the slavers in the vicinity. They observed a pair of figures enter the sewers and followed.
In the sewers the fought off a bunch of rats, a couple of kobolds, two mongrelmen and the two they had been following, without any lead. Next they tried to find out which organization the shield tattoo belonged to. At least 2 of the group did so, the nobles had to be at their "internships" in various guilds et. So the two women tried, at nightfall, to enter the palace...through the servants entrance..under false pretenses. Needless to say the guards did not like it, and when the two tried to get away they were promptly arrested and accused for spying.
and THEN things got real good |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 27 Dec 2006 : 13:02:27
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The last day went by with lots of fighting and healing...which makes sense since the only two people playing were the fighter and the cleric. The two made contact with a harper who told them he'd help them with information regarding the slavers, but the pair also went back into the sewers, and by pure chance they found a secret door to some hideout. They managed to open the door and infiltrate the place...and stumble right into the bedchambers of the lead thief/slaver/whatever. The duo captured the guy in his sleep and went on to tie him...that's when they realised that neither of them had a rope (I get a huge laugh out of the nobles...or basically the entire group who run around bumbling and stumbling into everything that normal city-dwellers would forget when going on adventures). The guy ended up being tied down with his own blankets and then the two started arguing, which again prompted the rest of the complex to slowly awaken. Needless to say the duo faced overwhelming odds, but when the cleric's player rolled his bluff check (nat 20!) and called out that the miscreants would be overpowered in moments, the thieves hesitated. When the fighter killed the first person approaching in one blow and told them that the city-guard (of which he is a member) has surrounded the place (rolling another nat 20 on his bluff check!!!), the charge was instantly halted, and the two managed to get out alive.
In two weeks we'll see how this story will go on...the fighter already proposes to clean out the sewers for the lords. |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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MerrikCale
Senior Scribe
USA
947 Posts |
Posted - 29 Dec 2006 : 00:23:44
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quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
(Yup, I've several ranks in the skill Shameless Self-Promoter! )
Tis nothing wrong with that |
When hinges creak in doorless chambers and strange and frightening sounds echo through the halls, whenever candlelights flicker where the air is deathly still, that is the time when ghosts are present, practicing their terror with ghoulish delight. |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 12 Jan 2007 : 09:39:38
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The characters went back into the sewers and the dungeon. They killed some and that was about it, we only played for about 3 hours, but those 3 hours were intense and fun.
Plus the trend that has been going on ever since the chaotic good half-elven urban ranger was almost imprisoned and decided to trust the Tyr cleric's advice on being honest...back then, at her trial, it worked and she started to believe that Tyr isn't so bad. Hell, she actually considered converting.
Then them most amazing and hilarious thing happened: in the dungeon, her passage to the fight was basically blocked and she opted to backtrack and find another way into the room. She discovered the secret door but could not open it. This was repeated twice, she couldn't find the opening mechanism, then, on her nextturn, with two of the party already down, she asked Tyr to help her opening the door... and rolled a nat 20! You could see one gamemaster falling off his seat sidewise, laughing so hard.
And now, for the very first time in my 2 decades lasting roleplaying-experience, I see an character to character in-game conversion from one faith to another. Once she actually commits to Tyr, the cleric will get a crapload of XP |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 22 Jan 2007 : 16:09:49
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Well, a short summary of recent events:
the party basically ran amok in a lair of thieves working for the eye. Not only did they slaughter a bunch of his guards, but also had to defeat a handful or more undead that came, seemingly, out of the ground/nowhere. The ground from which the undead rose was an unhallowed circle dedicated to Bane, in which the old magics still lingered. Surrounding the circle were 4 statues depicting the black hand of Bane. Above every digit was a black gem imbedded in the stone, and of course the party's rogue got to it and started removing the gems. Which in turn, broke the enchantment and allowed the Baneson (and I will never be able to spell him right so I don't even bother!) to make this place his own. As a thanks, and going right with the tradition of the Faustian pact, the Baneson thanked the intrepid noble and commoner adventurers by granting each of them a wish. (not the spell but more giving them something they desired)
The wizardess/soreceress declined respectfully. (very wise choice!!!)
The cleric/paladin wanted to have a holy and good sword. (He received the knowledge as to the location of one, and the full knowledge that he would have to kill an innocent and good man to get to it...)
The rangeress wanted to become more resilient. (She got her wish, at the cost of one point of Int, plus her features changed slightly, either she was to gain snakelike skin or be covered head to toe by psoriasis... after having every other player who knew a little about yuan ti vehemently argue against snakelike skin she went for the latter...now she is dumber, not a pleasant sight to behold, and has DR 2/-)
The rogue wanted his dagger to become more powerful. (He received a cursed weapon that deals 1d6 extra damage, half of which is used to heal him, while the rest feeds the dagger. If he doesn't feed it once a day, and he still isn't sure if he has to murder every victim, it will either take from him or force him to kill anyway...bad stuff)
And, last but not least, the laughing stock of the entire session: the fighter, who wanted to become very rich and experienced. (His wish was granted in full, no strings attached. His pouch filled with blood rubies (said to be cursed!). He became so worried, and not only him but the player as well, that something bad would happen should he ever spend the money, and I had determined that the rubies were just rubies, that in the end he donated all of them to the Church of Tyr. Hence he gained the wealth (if only for a short time) and learned the lesson that wealth alone does not make one happy.)
All in all a FUN session, but I think I need to start preparing something and not winging it every day we play... |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jan 2008 : 00:01:41
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Whew...it's been quite a while, a year...damn... so much has happened, in my life, in the game, with the game...
So... what did happen in the past year for the stout nobles and commoners who call Waterdeep their home?
A lot. A castle was inherited, debts were made, new friends made, and old ones lost. The latter two of the events concerned the whole group, the former just one guy. The very same guy who donated all the not-so-hard earned rubies to the Tyr-temple, inherited a castle. After that little detour he basically rented the castle out so that he would not have to pay for the upkeep, and then the remains of the group (the urban ranger and the rogue's players had left without ever giving a real reason, although I suspect that the skin.job on the ranger played a not so insignificant role) plus a new rogue went down to seek out "The Eye" and put a stop to him. Hence they traveled to Undermountain...
Things are slightly blurry because of the time yada yada... I seem to remember them entering a very nice gate that teleported them to one place and their gear to another. And I proudly admit that I stole from Tomb of Horrors...hell, if you steal, steal from the best. There also was the matter of distracting a blue dragon to get the gear back, the timely rescue of an abducted girlfriend (oh yeah, they went down there looking for her too!), the inconvenient help by Elaith Craulnober when the party was in real dire straights (boy, they really dislike that guy bwahahaha), and the final trip through a portal that had the very fitting name-tag "Step through if you have the time"
I hope you are already grinning to yourself now, because time they did have...one year to be precise.
When they stepped into Waterdeep's streets they were first accused of impersonating deceased nobles, and then had to find out that in lack of the right management, the castle had been running up quite a debt which Elaith Craulnober had been only too glad to cover...for a favor of course.
In light of the "rebirth" of his nephew Lord Hawkwinter held a ball, and of course did young Darvin invite the dashing, young, charming (like a viper), and honest like a car-salesman rogue that had joined the party to selfsame ball. And that's where he got his next debt for he wanted her to wear the best money could buy, and of course it had to be gold dust covering her skin, mixed with some emerald dust to accentuate certain features...the whole nine yards, basically.
Now did he not only owe Elaith Craulnober a favor (which has now come into play), but also some 6000 gold (with interest!) to Mirt.
The paladin/cleric of the group had, by now, received a vision from his god that the Scales of somesuch (I am too lazy to look the name up now...it's late!!!) had been discovered by a band of Cyric worshipers deep in the bowels of Undermountain and were now being moved to Darkhold.
Naturally the group to the opportunity (as if their was a choice from the paladin's perspective) and trecked across the Realms to finally wake up one morning and discover that not only were they not in the same place they had gone to sleep, but also that they had strange bluish markings on their arms... which is where I started Curse of the Azure Bonds...
So far they've gotten rid of two, the Fire Knives' one, and Moander's...which was pretty intense...and fun...soon they'll go to Zenthil Keep... where the noble paladin will have to make a deal with our favorit Priest of Cyric (at the time) Fzoul...boy, are they in for a ride...
Cheers |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Ergdusch
Master of Realmslore
Germany
1720 Posts |
Posted - 30 Jan 2008 : 08:36:43
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| A year - true - but still sounds like fun! |
"Das Gras weht im Wind, wenn der Wind weht." |
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 22 Mar 2008 : 19:40:40
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Well, the campaign came to an end... of my choosing, as I wanted to slow down the level-progress and use the UA rules, as I'm now doing with my main group. It came to a rules-argument with one player who basically said that the rules are there to stick by them and not alter them in any way, shape or form. So yesterday marks the last day I DMed for this group, unfortunate really, but as I am used to slow progression and epic battles from AD&D 2e and refuse to let myself be bound to rules when I can't bend them to my style of DMing (the guy threatened to walk out if I enforced the change) I thought it better to end the stuff...
The other group is quite comfortable with the change, especially since all of the players don't want their characters to be lvl 20 within a year or two but rather keep on playing... a notion that I wholeheartedly embrace.
Thus ends the Waterdeep campaign. |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Na-Gang
Learned Scribe
United Kingdom
348 Posts |
Posted - 30 Mar 2008 : 19:59:43
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Mace, how do you slow down the level progression? I mean, I assume you award fewer XP, but to what degree or percentage?
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 06 May 2008 : 20:24:40
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quote:
Originally posted by Na-Gang
Mace, how do you slow down the level progression? I mean, I assume you award fewer XP, but to what degree or percentage?
Ooops, must've missed this question. Sorry, mate.
How do you slow it down? There can be a lowering of the rewards, yes, but that just adds up to even more math. UA gave one option, which basically gave more XP per CR, fixed, meaning a CR 1 mob gave amount X for all eternity. The book then added a modified XP-table. It was basically the same progression as per PHB but with higher values.
Pathfinder RPG gives a couple other options.
What I did in my other campaign is basically using the UA table, but keeping the DMG XP-values for monsters. Thus really slowing down advancement.
It just gives me the option to reward good roleplaying, ideas etc. Plus I can again give XP for mere attendance! Something I did back in my 2nd edition times when the characters reached lvls 12 and beyond or so. |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Waterdhavian Nights or Mace's new campaign
