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Author Topic: Re: Dungeons & Dragons / PNP games thread: COBRA!!!  (Read 845659 times)

Dorsidwarf

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You could always have him not publically be the court wizard at all, but have the players bump into someone familiarly-regal-looking in a hooded cloak who is hurried away by bodyguards while visiting him in the middle of the night.
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miauw62

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Really, the antagonist part is the thing im least certain about, after the initial tie-in. I originally started with trying to copy the Mule from the Foundation series, but I'm not *that* attached to the idea. But yes, the idea was to keep his court-wizardness hidden for a while.

Really, my idea for the tie-in was "wizard introduces party to old archaeologist friend, travel to one of the leyline ruins, clear dungeon, accidentally activate leyline". Obviously later ruins would be far more involved, but all of my players are new, and this seems like a decent introduction.
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Quote from: NW_Kohaku
they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the raving confessions of a mass murdering cannibal from a recipe to bake a pie.
Knowing Belgium, everyone will vote for themselves out of mistrust for anyone else, and some kind of weird direct democracy coalition will need to be formed from 11 million or so individuals.

Neonivek

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I mean, I guess it is serviceable.

Though I am biased since that is just about the exact same plotline as Broken Sword 3 and that was a REALLY bad and REALLY non-sense game.

What you need to do is sort of establish the court magician I guess... Build him up, give him some gravitas.
« Last Edit: August 05, 2016, 05:14:35 pm by Neonivek »
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Kadzar

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If he's based off of the Mule, why not make him a court jester instead?
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Neonivek

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If he's based off of the Mule, why not make him a court jester instead?

Which come to think of it... Dungeons and dragons tends not to actually do.
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Arx

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Just got back from Dragonfire (one of two or three decent sized local cons), where I was playing a PFS game. We had a paladin (me), a cavalier (with a horseless spec), who was level 2 and kind of carried things, an arcanist (somewhat minmaxed, and yet somehow useless in combat), a pacifist monk (we had a good time being both the morals and the muscles of the party), and a wizard.

We were helping someone quit a shady organisation without dying, and also trying to stop them setting up a massive drug operation.

So first, we tracked down the guy making the drugs in a sewer. After the cavalier roughed up a completely drugged-out wretch, we managed to peacefully find out from his other test subjects where he probably was. A very short while later we ganked him at the end of a corridor, successfully dropping him and then stabilising him (I and the monk were the only ones who cared about keeping him alive. The arcanist at least didn't feel it was a waste of time).

That was where things stopped being straight forward! We were also commisioned to prevent a meeting between two people. We knew when and where... but not who.

So we went to the tavern, and shenanigans began to ensue. This was the plan: we wait quietly. As soon as the meeting begins, we hit the pair with Sleep, claim to know them, and carry them out. Then we empty their pockets and dump them on opposite sides of the city, so each believed the other had set them up.

That didn't happen.

Plan B was to toss a smokestick somewhere hidden, and spirit the two away in the confusion. Somehow, this got mixed into Plan A. And the cavalier horribly botched her attempt to hide the smokestick, I and the wizard horribly botched distracting the barkeep, and the arcanist put the monk to sleep as well by mistake.

"Give me one good reason I shouldn't call the guard right now," Asks the bartender.

"There's a fire! Fire!" Shouts the arcanist.

"What the hell do you keep in your store, man? Something in that smoke's putting people right out!" I say.

He's not convinced. So the arcanist puts him out too. Except he resists it. So the arcanist puts him out again.

Finally, we've disrupted the meeting and the bartender's out of the way, but the dockworkers that were in the inn for lunch are... unruly. The cavalier shouts: "Drinks on the house for everyone!" She lures them outside with the drinks, and she and the monk keep them distracted while we restrain and sneak out the targets.

Then we plant half a pint of oil and a flint and steel on the more nefarious of the two. Safety first, folks. If you must stage an arson attempt, stage it well. (For the record, the tavern's owner was engaged in a significant quantity of illicit activity. This is why a paladin was okay with some of the stunts).

Then we pawned the stolen goods and donated the money to a temple of Iomedae to care for the drug addicts. A measure of justice.

Yeah, we weren't the most effective squad. Some time later, we got into a drawn out fight with some other agents. Reach weapons are pretty decent! I was frustrating a monk no end by keeping her at a glaive's length almost all the time, forcing her to either only five-foot-step or provoke.

Unfortunately two of the party went below 0 and I almost did too. As the only one able to use a wand of Cure Light Wounds reliably. Fortunately, things panned out okay with some good rolls.

So, in summary, not the most competent.
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miauw62

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If he's based off of the Mule, why not make him a court jester instead?
Well, it's harder for a jester to manipulate the party than a wise old wizard :V

I'd have to go all the way and frame the king as evil from the start, which is eh. I sort of want to hint at a conspiracy for a little bit before I reveal even a "fake" villain.
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Quote from: NW_Kohaku
they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the raving confessions of a mass murdering cannibal from a recipe to bake a pie.
Knowing Belgium, everyone will vote for themselves out of mistrust for anyone else, and some kind of weird direct democracy coalition will need to be formed from 11 million or so individuals.

Harry Baldman

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Well, it's harder for a jester to manipulate the party than a wise old wizard :V

I'd have to go all the way and frame the king as evil from the start, which is eh. I sort of want to hint at a conspiracy for a little bit before I reveal even a "fake" villain.

You could have the villains not be Evil. Maybe the wise old wizard is actually Chaotic Good. It's just that he really wants to become a god to do more good in the world. And then you can pile up evidence about his secret ambitions to become a god that he feels incredibly awkward and suspicious talking about because he has had experience with that very conversation.

EDIT: Better yet, have the king cover for him with stuff like "nonsense, this man has been my trusted loyal friend since you were but a gleam in your father's eye - I trust completely in his good intentions" when the players try to push him on it with dire warnings when the wizard's goal becomes clear to the party. Have the king be neutral. And maybe let the players eventually sway him into turning on his old friend when the evidence starts to pile up, at which point the wizard presumably makes a dramatic escape.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2016, 10:21:28 am by Harry Baldman »
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Oneir

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If he's based off of the Mule, why not make him a court jester instead?
Well, it's harder for a jester to manipulate the party than a wise old wizard :V

I dunno, a jester could be both surprisingly well-informed and harmless. If you played up the comedy a little without getting on the player's nerves, he could come across as just this friendly, harmless guy who works really closely with the king. That gives him a good excuse to now all the juicy rumors, and if you can get across the idea that a jester exists to be helpful foil to the king they might believe he's trying to do good by the kingdom in ways a regular courtier couldn't. Basically the total opposite of the classic vizier, power behind the throne wizard.

Another alternative is to make him basically Merlin, Gandalf, or Dumbledore. If he's goofy and supportive, it might be less obvious he's going to stab you in the back while sucking on a werther's original.
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kilakan

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Why not have the court wizard and the jester be the same person?  I mean wizards can specialize in things that aren't evocation.  A grand illusionist could make for a pretty impressive arch-villain due to the sheer level of mind-buggery that he could get up to.
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Neonivek

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Why not have the court wizard and the jester be the same person?  I mean wizards can specialize in things that aren't evocation.  A grand illusionist could make for a pretty impressive arch-villain due to the sheer level of mind-buggery that he could get up to.

Now where did I see this before? Ohh right :P Quest for Glory
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Harry Baldman

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Now where did I see this before? Ohh right :P Quest for Glory

If there's one great way to seem original and fresh, it's to crib things from Quest for Glory, and I'm not even kidding on that one.
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Kadzar

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Why not have the court wizard and the jester be the same person?  I mean wizards can specialize in things that aren't evocation.  A grand illusionist could make for a pretty impressive arch-villain due to the sheer level of mind-buggery that he could get up to.
Well, the idea of being a jester is that it makes the villain someone who escapes notice. If magic is prevalent enough that an illusionist wizard fits that description, that's fine, though wizards are known to be smart, so he probably can't easily play the part of the (in this case, literal) fool.

Unless you're saying he should be a secret illusionist? Because, yeah, when I said he should maybe he should be a court jester, I didn't mean he should put all his levels in some sort of jester class or something. He could easily be a wizard disguised as a jester, because, as far as I know (I'm almost certain someone will correct me on this) there isn't anything in D&D that will easily reveal someone as a magic user if they aren't actively casting spells.
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What if the earth is just a knick in one of the infinite swords of the mighty fractal bear?
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Oneir

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Why not have the court wizard and the jester be the same person?  I mean wizards can specialize in things that aren't evocation.  A grand illusionist could make for a pretty impressive arch-villain due to the sheer level of mind-buggery that he could get up to.
Well, the idea of being a jester is that it makes the villain someone who escapes notice. If magic is prevalent enough that an illusionist wizard fits that description, that's fine, though wizards are known to be smart, so he probably can't easily play the part of the (in this case, literal) fool.
What if the jester is an illusion? Or a simulacrum or something. I guess at that point there's no reason for them to specifically be a jester except that one might be fun to have around. (any maybe a literally disposable jester could do ridiculous Evel Knievel capers? I dunno.)

Quote
Unless you're saying he should be a secret illusionist? Because, yeah, when I said he should maybe he should be a court jester, I didn't mean he should put all his levels in some sort of jester class or something. He could easily be a wizard disguised as a jester, because, as far as I know (I'm almost certain someone will correct me on this) there isn't anything in D&D that will easily reveal someone as a magic user if they aren't actively casting spells.
I think in some editions a cleric or paladin will have a strong aura of their god's alignment, but I don't think magic users are intrinsically obvious in D&D, no. As long as they leave their spellbooks and items of phenomenal cosmic power at home, anyway.
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miauw62

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Well, it's harder for a jester to manipulate the party than a wise old wizard :V

I'd have to go all the way and frame the king as evil from the start, which is eh. I sort of want to hint at a conspiracy for a little bit before I reveal even a "fake" villain.

You could have the villains not be Evil. Maybe the wise old wizard is actually Chaotic Good. It's just that he really wants to become a god to do more good in the world. And then you can pile up evidence about his secret ambitions to become a god that he feels incredibly awkward and suspicious talking about because he has had experience with that very conversation.

EDIT: Better yet, have the king cover for him with stuff like "nonsense, this man has been my trusted loyal friend since you were but a gleam in your father's eye - I trust completely in his good intentions" when the players try to push him on it with dire warnings when the wizard's goal becomes clear to the party. Have the king be neutral. And maybe let the players eventually sway him into turning on his old friend when the evidence starts to pile up, at which point the wizard presumably makes a dramatic escape.
Eh, having a not-Evil antagonist doesn't seem that great of an idea for my first campaign :P Evil antagonists are safe, because at the end of the day you can still smash their face, no matter how the adventure goes.

The king covering for the antagonist is a good idea.

If he's based off of the Mule, why not make him a court jester instead?
Well, it's harder for a jester to manipulate the party than a wise old wizard :V

I dunno, a jester could be both surprisingly well-informed and harmless. If you played up the comedy a little without getting on the player's nerves, he could come across as just this friendly, harmless guy who works really closely with the king. That gives him a good excuse to now all the juicy rumors, and if you can get across the idea that a jester exists to be helpful foil to the king they might believe he's trying to do good by the kingdom in ways a regular courtier couldn't. Basically the total opposite of the classic vizier, power behind the throne wizard.

Another alternative is to make him basically Merlin, Gandalf, or Dumbledore. If he's goofy and supportive, it might be less obvious he's going to stab you in the back while sucking on a werther's original.
"basically Gandalf" was what I was tending to anyway. But that sort of jester seems like it would lean pretty close to some sort of spymaster, which then is a pretty obvious villain candiate.

Why not have the court wizard and the jester be the same person?  I mean wizards can specialize in things that aren't evocation.  A grand illusionist could make for a pretty impressive arch-villain due to the sheer level of mind-buggery that he could get up to.
Now where did I see this before? Ohh right :P Quest for Glory
the entire idea for the campaign is various ideas ripped from various places stitched together. i stole the plan of the antagonist from fullmetal alchemist.

Why not have the court wizard and the jester be the same person?  I mean wizards can specialize in things that aren't evocation.  A grand illusionist could make for a pretty impressive arch-villain due to the sheer level of mind-buggery that he could get up to.
Well, the idea of being a jester is that it makes the villain someone who escapes notice. If magic is prevalent enough that an illusionist wizard fits that description, that's fine, though wizards are known to be smart, so he probably can't easily play the part of the (in this case, literal) fool.

Unless you're saying he should be a secret illusionist? Because, yeah, when I said he should maybe he should be a court jester, I didn't mean he should put all his levels in some sort of jester class or something. He could easily be a wizard disguised as a jester, because, as far as I know (I'm almost certain someone will correct me on this) there isn't anything in D&D that will easily reveal someone as a magic user if they aren't actively casting spells.
but then again, the easiest idea seems to be to just make him a wizard outright. he doesn't even have to use magic, just dress like a wizard and have people refer to him as a wizard (e.g. gandalf for the first half of lotr), and friendly mentor wizard is a trope my players are probably familiar with.

Why not have the court wizard and the jester be the same person?  I mean wizards can specialize in things that aren't evocation.  A grand illusionist could make for a pretty impressive arch-villain due to the sheer level of mind-buggery that he could get up to.
Well, the idea of being a jester is that it makes the villain someone who escapes notice. If magic is prevalent enough that an illusionist wizard fits that description, that's fine, though wizards are known to be smart, so he probably can't easily play the part of the (in this case, literal) fool.
What if the jester is an illusion? Or a simulacrum or something. I guess at that point there's no reason for them to specifically be a jester except that one might be fun to have around. (any maybe a literally disposable jester could do ridiculous Evel Knievel capers? I dunno.)
this is probably going too deep. i don't need *that* many layers of "all according to keikaku" in my campaign :v
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Quote from: NW_Kohaku
they wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the raving confessions of a mass murdering cannibal from a recipe to bake a pie.
Knowing Belgium, everyone will vote for themselves out of mistrust for anyone else, and some kind of weird direct democracy coalition will need to be formed from 11 million or so individuals.
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