Council of Thieves - Campaign Continuation March 2015
Character Creation notes Level 19 Game
March 7th or before - 25 point buy. 19th level. 1,000,000 gp gear
March 8th to 14th - 20 point buy. 19th level. 500,000 gp gear
March 15th+ - 15 point buy. 19th level. no gear.
Friday game: Clean Up
Saturday game: The Devil You Know
Participation & Character link
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZGzN9Ah7EOA7ueDVycwCqWLnrIUMpHhM3U_hYixsuqs/edit?pli=1#gid=0
Notes about The Judges:
As far as the race "Fallen", they don't know what race they are. There were 26 children, all within a few years of each other, who just 'arrived' one day. Many of them ended up in Cheliax, but not all of them. We know that they advanced more quickly than others, bit otherwise they appear human.
The 'Judges' were four of the children (adopted by citizens of the realm) that decided to try to clean up the poorer areas of the city, as they were tired of seeing the downtrodden being further trod upon by the devil worshipping majority of the city.
The Judges took it upon ourselves to police the lower sections of town, and when they tackled big players, they would leave signs that said the occupants had been 'Judged'.
Praetorius and Ricken are tied to two of the local noble houses, whose family lines played a significant role in the story thus far.
The Judges have become heroes of the town, though they are mostly on pedestals from the perspective of the poor and downtrodden. The nobility see them as people worth associating with at parties for the esteem it will earn them - or as roadblocks to their machinations. Everybody in the city and surrounding area knows of us.
Praetorius Casius Chard (Drew) began a fighter and joined the Hellknights, of which he now commands a small garrison. He accepts buffs from the others, and then wades into the thick of battle without fear. This has built a serious reputation not only for himself, but for The Judges as a whole.
Ricken Oberigo (Bob) is a Summoner with an interesting tie to what it is he summons. In addition to his summoning ability he is incredibly good at buffing the party, and very creative with how he goes about it. By all appearances he may seem like the easiest target of the group, but he's got some surprises up his sleeves.
Galen Atreus (John) is an Inquisitor, and with his own personal spell-casting ability, is the next best fighter in the group. He's not afraid to head into the thick of battle with Praetorius, but is just as comfortable moving around the outskirts. Where Praetorius is battle-raged slaughter, Galen is far better at combat precision.
Verus Hildero (Brook) began, if memory serves, a Rogue Sorcerer, though by now he is definitely a Sorcerer Rogue. He's got some interesting buffing ability that balances nicely with Ricken but holds his own with his other spells as well.
Judges Fighting Tactics
A common tactic was for the three of them to cast every buff conceivable on the group or just on Praetorius, and then have Praetorius jump into the heat of battle and go nuts, gathering all the attention while the others took the time to be tactical and take out the ring leaders if it was a large group. With only one or two opponents, the buffs would be spread more evenly as Galen would join Praetorius in the thick of it, Verus and Ricken often hanging back.
While none of us are healers, we DO have healing alternatives.
We will be splitting into two teams as we've discussed, so there will be two judges per team. While it's not finalized, it will be likely that Bob with Ricken and Brook with Verus will be on separate teams, since they are both focused very much on buffing, and can offset Praetorius and Galen + the rest of the party nicely that way. That said, depending on what everybody else chooses to be, it could change. The Judges will help fill co-DM style roles when Jon is with the other group, giving direction, leading planning for the next attack, etc.
The biggest character limitation to keep in mind is that The Judges lean toward Good. Evil characters simply will not work. Neutral would be the furthest astray, but still leaning toward the good side when it counts. Race or Class-wise, unless Jon bans something, The Judges themselves have no qualms with any of those choices. If you choose to be a Hellknight, just understand from a character perspective you'll be working for other Hellknights.
Something that doesn't always stick on our minds as players is that the end of that campaign ended in the Judges negotiating the independence of Westcrown from Cheliax, with the intention of making Westcrown a freeport city. The last bit of the campaign was basically the Judges (in a very diplomatic way, thanks to Ricken not letting Verus say a goddamned word) telling the nobles and mayor to sod off. If not specifically the actual governing rulers of the city, the Judges are at least in their ears and highly influential.
Stories your characters would have heard about the Judges:- After the takeover of the region by Cheliax, the Pathfinder Guild was driven out of the region. Their headquarter near Westcrown, Delvehaven, was sealed and none have entered for some time. The Judges resurrected one of the long-dead Pathfinders, stormed Delvehaven, and cleared it out, enabling the Pathfinders to reclaim their base of operations in the region.
- At some point later, the Judges were beneath the city fighting a black dragon, vampires, and other monsters. A massive illusion of this fight appeared in the sky over the city, showing the Judges fighting in a pitched battle. The Judges obliterated the vampires, killed the dragon and cut down the asshole responsible for all of these problems while the entire city watched.
- The Judges ended the Curse on Westcrown. For as long as anyone could remember, a creeping darkness overcame the city at night, and anyone who was outside after night fell disappeared in screaming horror, even entire patrols of soldiers. The Judges disabled the artifact causing the problems and displayed illusory signs across the city promising that the nights were now safe, then walked the night openly to demonstrate to the people that the nights were no longer deadly.
- The rumored half-devil son of a major noble in Westcrown challenged the Judges to combat in the middle of a party in which The Judges had just shored up majority support from the nobles of Westcrown. The Judges accepted, and the venue was moved to the city's arena. At least one of the Judges didn't even wear armor. The Judges won the battle, and essentially the city. Before anyone could leave the arena, however, however, an ancient red dragon appeared. He threatened to destroy the city, and the Judges, ill-prepared for a fight with a dragon and having just gone through a difficult battle, were not in a position to fight such a powerful foe. The Judges bargained for the safety of the city, however, and the dragon left without further issue. Rumor has it that the Judges gave up a powerful magical item to keep the city safe.
- The Judges are nearly always accompanied by a huge shadowy, angelic figure carrying a massive sword. It is nearly 10 feet tall, looks like this and is often seen flying over the city. Little is known about this creature, except that The Judges call it Curator, it often stands watch outside the buildings the Judges occupy or just behind them, and its fury in combat is terrible to behold.
ITEMS UNIQUE TO THIS WEEKEND CAMPAIGN
1: I'm leaning on the local guys to help with this. They are going to be the driving force behind getting the rest of you together because I have presented them with some follow ups to the campaign and they know they need help with it. So it's them the new characters will have to impress! Sure, there will be give and take on it as usual but it's not some random NPC hiring you guys this time around!
2: was step one. Step two is knowing what your character is going to do in terms of preparation for combat. Having a sheet with your buffs in the order you would cast them or use items will help. Sure, some classes might not have as much prep time directly, but they will know what they need. For example, maybe the fighter took an item to help with CON but not DEX. In that case, the fighter can write down they would take Cat's Grace if there is one available. Don't do this if a buff to DEX won't help of course! (Due to armor limitations or the like.)
3: To further help with this, I cannot stress enough Hero Lab for iPad or laptop for those that have it. Everyone can add potential buffs to their character ahead of time and then check them on or off as needed and all of that math and game mechanics is done for you. That keeps it moving and allows us to focus on role playing HOW your character would do something ("swing across the rope, do a flip, and attack with a kick at the end") instead of the mechanical stuff. If you don't have it, that's fine! It does mean a bit of extra prep work to figure that stuff out before hand so it's minimized at the table.
4: I have instructed the Judges to be the leaders and handle some of it. It could be as specific as "only memorize buff spells, we got offense covered" or whatever they come up with. Again, I'm looking toward them to say what they need and lead the groups through the dungeons or adventure.
As always, it's up to the players to keep the overall group together, even if split into teams. The Judges are calling the shots, though, so I would suggest making characters that fit in with that theme!
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