City of Hope: An Optimistic AIMHack Campaign

[nikki.]

Originally Posted By: Triumph

Yeah, we did have one death...but when you roll a 1...well, it was a very cinematic death.

Well, they say things come in threes, so I think it's fitting that the character who died did so after rolling their third one of the session.

I have to say, echoing what was said after the session, that this was probably my favourite campaign so far. Lilith really made this feel unique and interesting, and I don't think there was ever a part where I was hanging around waiting for something cool to happen (except at the end of the last session, but that's another story). That could've been because Meredith was a right pushy [censored], and I hope I didn't push other characters noses out by playing her that way, but it was fun.

I loved the second group of adventurers which we eventually came to a truce with (though we could've had them!), and I felt like they were real characters rather than just 2-D NPCs. Especially Hirst and Baxa. And the trials seemed really thought out and were great fun to try and figure out. I'll probably have more to say when my brain is less fried/when other people remind me of things, but I will just say I was incredibly surprised at the wishes the group made. Definitely missed opportunities!!

[Triumph]

I gave a lot of feedback as we chatted after the last session, so not a lot to add here.

 

I do kind of wish I had thought in advance about a wish to make, and then jumped in to get it before...well, the end of the wishes. It would have been cool to see what Lilith did (assuming I didn't fail the roll).

 

I really liked the riddles and puzzles and most of the NPCs (the other party being the main ones; I also liked chatting with the marooned goblins in Sliros' test).

 

The first couple sessions left me rather confused in terms of what our goal was. There was the initial marketing of the campaign, which I figured might be...tricksy. But once we started, we met that one turtle/dragonborn who first tried to kill us and then after we caught him, he asked us to save his people. Meanwhile Zellak first asked us to save his people, then seemed to want to kill us. Who in the world were we supposed to believe? I've notice that a lack of sense of direction of seems to be common at the beginning of AIMHack campaigns. In this case, it was conflicting in-game signals that confused me. Ultimately, I concluded Zellak was a tyrant and that what...oh, Skrass was his name! - what Skrass asked us to wish for was a good idea, but it took a while for that to come together. I wasn't even really sure how much sense it made to go into the undercity looking for the wish-place until we knew for sure why to even seek it (other than selfish wishes *cough*Meredith*cough*). Maybe I just misinterpreted what were intended to be obvious clues (I've done that more than once in AIMHack so far).

[nikki.]

Originally Posted By: Triumph

But once we started, we met that one turtle/dragonborn who first tried to kill us and then after we caught him, he asked us to save his people. Meanwhile Zellak first asked us to save his people, then seemed to want to kill us. Who in the world were we supposed to believe? I've notice that a lack of sense of direction of seems to be common at the beginning of AIMHack campaigns. In this case, it was conflicting in-game signals that confused me. Ultimately, I concluded Zellak was a tyrant and that what...oh, Skrass was his name! - what Skrass asked us to wish for was a good idea, but it took a while for that to come together.

I kind of think this was the point, it was a morally grey area to begin with until

did that awesome thing at the

and [spoilered] right at the end, and even then you could argue he did it to stop us helping the opposition. I suspect that Lilith was prepared for us to side with either of the two turtles, and I think in the end, for most of it, it was only the do-gooders like Lephista that ever really kept the overall goal in mind.

Quote:

(other than selfish wishes *cough*Meredith*cough*)

Hey, Dyen got a wish too, and he didn't use his to help people either! Also, why are you surprised. You all knew she was gonna try something selfish like that. You're just lucky she didn't try and screw you guys over too - that'd have been the flawless victory for her.

[Triumph]

Originally Posted By: Nikki.

I kind of think this was the point, it was a morally grey area to begin with until

did that awesome thing at the

and [spoilered] right at the end, and even then you could argue he did it to stop us helping the opposition. I suspect that Lilith was prepared for us to side with either of the two turtles, and I think in the end, for most of it, it was only the do-gooders like Lephista that ever really kept the overall goal in mind.

I am really curious which incident(s) you had in mind that you obscured that revealed something about the king. I thought the king gradually racked up a series of suspicious or underhanded behaviors (some of his reactions to us, seeing the "dwarves" in the first part of the underground, lying to other party to get them to kill us) that all added up to help convince me he was up to no good.

Originally Posted By: Nikki.

Hey, Dyen got a wish too, and he didn't use his to help people either! Also, why are you surprised. You all knew she was gonna try something selfish like that. You're just lucky she didn't try and screw you guys over too - that'd have been the flawless victory for her.

Oh, I wasn't surprised at all, nor excusing Dyen in some way. I was just citing Mer as the most blatantly selfish character, and therefore as the most obvious illustration of that kind of motivation for venturing into the temple.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Triumph

I am really curious which incident(s) you had in mind that you obscured that revealed something about the king. I thought the king gradually racked up a series of suspicious or underhanded behaviors (some of his reactions to us, seeing the "dwarves" in the first part of the underground, lying to other party to get them to kill us) that all added up to help convince me he was up to no good.

King Zellak was in fact meant to be a huge jerk, but at the same time, his argument about the caste system having kept the city functioning for 600 years, and its people not knowing any other way of life at this point, wasn't exactly false. I expected you'd be more likely to sympathise with Skrass's case, which is why I had him try to kill you to begin with -- so you'd get off on the wrongest possible foot and be more inclined to think twice before trusting him. I probably could have used a bit of a lighter touch at times, I'll admit.

And yes, I figured the party had enough selfish wishes in mind that you'd end up heading for the temple even if you didn't find either character's case compelling enough to side with them.

[Sarachim]

Originally Posted By: Lilith

Originally Posted By: Triumph

I am really curious which incident(s) you had in mind that you obscured that revealed something about the king. I thought the king gradually racked up a series of suspicious or underhanded behaviors (some of his reactions to us, seeing the "dwarves" in the first part of the underground, lying to other party to get them to kill us) that all added up to help convince me he was up to no good.

King Zellak was in fact meant to be a huge jerk, but at the same time, his argument about the caste system having kept the city functioning for 600 years, and its people not knowing any other way of life at this point, wasn't exactly false. I expected you'd be more likely to sympathise with Skrass's case, which is why I had him try to kill you to begin with -- so you'd get off on the wrongest possible foot and be more inclined to think twice before trusting him. I probably could have used a bit of a lighter touch at times, I'll admit.

And yes, I figured the party had enough selfish wishes in mind that you'd end up heading for the temple even if you didn't find either character's case compelling enough to side with them.

I actually thought the initial setup was handled quite well. I also found it hard to pick a side initially, but that wasn't because I was confused about what was going on. Instead, I thought both Zellak and Skrass had a point, and I was afraid that either one might be hiding something big that would make me side with the other. I'd probably have gone on being undecided a lot longer if we hadn't inadvertently tipped our hand to Zellak and made an enemy of him back in session 2.

In sum, don't worry about not getting what the GM wants you to do. If she seems to be leaving it up to you, that's a good thing!

[Triumph]

Out of curiosity, how far out did other people have their wishes planned? Anyone have a wished picked out way in advance? A wish you planned to use but then changed at the last minute?

[Sudanna]

I think mine was planned from when I submitted my character. It was fairly obvious, anyways.

[Sarachim]

I had mine planned from session 1. It turned out to be a lot more dramatic than I expected, though.

[Rowen]

I was going to go with gold but someone beat me to it, so I just made up one that would involve not having to fight a huge ass dragon.

[Dikiyoba]

Jarrox should have asked for a magical aleskin that never ran out of ale and could never leave his possession.

 

Dikiyoba.

[Dintiradan]

Jarrox should have asked for a magical liver.

[Nioca]

Some thoughts.

 

First off, I thought Lilith was an excellent DM. She rolled with punches, and wasn't afraid to improvise or go off the tracks a bit. The MapTool stuff was very nice (albeit very hard on dial-up), and she really knew how to paint a picture and capture the feeling of a world that's similar, yet alien.

 

However, I'm not ready to crown her king of AIMHack just yet.

 

One thing that bugged me throughout the campaign was how several of the tests were only loosely related to their appropriate deity. Phol-Phoram was the biggest offender here; I really have no idea how a word puzzle that leads to secret doors has any relation to either the sun or the stars. However, I felt that Kyrophius (nifty puzzle with minimal deception or trickery), Sliros (pull a hidden lever and don't steal?), and Tanann (alchemy and combat for a god of magic and secrets) were also off the mark.

 

Another thing was that some tests were fairly passive. Sliros? Just don't steal anything and make sure to pull a hidden lever. Mariona? Just stand on a pressure plate, work a few levers, work an elevator, and you're done. Phol-Phoram? Solve a word puzzle, don't steal (again), and find the secret doors. Phol-Phoram's puzzle in particular bugged me because one criticaled perception at the right time could have rendered the entire thing moot.

 

Don't get me wrong, I admire the amount of effort Lilith put in, and I think they were good, but I also think that they could have been better.

 

I think, to some extent, that the journal Meredith found did the campaign no favors. Knowing the order of the tests and the key to beating them rendered the exercise somewhat moot; Mariona's test would have been trickier if the party didn't know in advance which test it was or how to beat it.

 

---

 

Another thing that really bugged me happened during the climax of the story. Therefore, it is spoilered for people who don't know what happened.

Click to reveal.. (BEWARE! END GAME SPOILERS!)

Was Kekka stupid, or was she just lazy?

 

During the climax, the bridge between the altar and her was blown. Okay, so access is difficult. But she's a portal mage who managed to pinpoint an undersea target and teleport there, so she should have little trouble getting across a simple 10 foot gap, right?

 

Wrong. Kekka managed to warp Zellak across and cause a bit of tumult, but other than that, seemed perfectly content to just sit and watch as the party blew apart her plans. I mean, the party was sitting there talking about what to do next for 20 minutes. It was like she didn't even existed; even if her teleporting was failing completely, she could have had Druju chuck her across or something. But no, the party could take its sweet time talking it out and deciding what it wanted to wish for...

 

(On a humorous note, it seemed she started trying again about the same time Phulax remember she was there and started watching her again. Maybe she's a quantum dragonborn? )

 

It personally made me feel like Kekka wasn't a threat, which is not something you want when it comes to your final villain (unless its a deliberate choice, which I don't think in this case it was). The final battle didn't do a whole lot of allay this; while I understand that a lot of it was bad rolls, the worst she seemed to be doing was showering the party with rubble. Ultimately, everything was building up to this, and personally, it felt like a bit of a letdown. If THIS is the mastermind that pulled off the chaos of the campaign, I'd hate to think what someone competent could have done.

[Sarachim]

Originally Posted By: Nioca

One thing that bugged me throughout the campaign was how several of the tests were only loosely related to their appropriate deity. Phol-Phoram was the biggest offender here; I really have no idea how a word puzzle that leads to secret doors has any relation to either the sun or the stars. However, I felt that Kyrophius (nifty puzzle with minimal deception or trickery), Sliros (pull a hidden lever and don't steal?), and Tanann (alchemy and combat for a god of magic and secrets) were also off the mark.

Another thing was that some tests were fairly passive. Sliros? Just don't steal anything and make sure to pull a hidden lever. Mariona? Just stand on a pressure plate, work a few levers, work an elevator, and you're done. Phol-Phoram? Solve a word puzzle, don't steal (again), and find the secret doors. Phol-Phoram's puzzle in particular bugged me because one criticaled perception at the right time could have rendered the entire thing moot.

Don't get me wrong, I admire the amount of effort Lilith put in, and I think they were good, but I also think that they could have been better.

Fair points, but I disagree with some of them. For Sliros, I like to think that the goblins were the test. They're the sort of people Sliros would stand up for, and we helped them, so we passed. I doubt this is what Lilith was thinking at the time, but now that I've said it she can take credit for it if she wants.

As for Mariona, I don't know what campaign you were playing, but not strangling Siana was a pretty big test for me.

I think including the notebook was a good choice, because the point of the tests wasn't always to figure out what to do, but to make yourself do it. Hurak's test is the best example of this; it was obvious how to get past it, but doing so still required hard choices.

Originally Posted By: Nioca

Kekka stuff

Click to reveal.. (More spoilers here!)

I agree that part of the ending was a bit of a letdown, but I cut Lilith a lot of slack for it. She generally did an excellent job of preparing for anything the party might do, but apparently didn't expect us to blow up the bridge. It's not that hard to deal with the unexpected in a realistic way, but doing so in a way that also keeps the story together as neatly as if you'd planned it is much harder. Complaining that she only did a so-so job of adjusting to that on the fly feels a bit nitpicky to me, even if it did come at the ending.

Plus, Zellak's big surprise was good enough to make up for it.

[Nioca]

Originally Posted By: Sarachim

Originally Posted By: Nioca

Kekka stuff

Click to reveal.. (More spoilers here!)

I agree that part of the ending was a bit of a letdown, but I cut Lilith a lot of slack for it. She generally did an excellent job of preparing for anything the party might do, but apparently didn't expect us to blow up the bridge. It's not that hard to deal with the unexpected in a realistic way, but doing so in a way that also keeps the story together as neatly as if you'd planned it is much harder. Complaining that she only did a so-so job of adjusting to that on the fly feels a bit nitpicky to me, even if it did come at the ending.

Plus, Zellak's big surprise was good enough to make up for it.

Click to reveal.. (I see your spoiler, and raise you a spoiler)

Usually it's hard to deal with the unexpected, but I don't think such was the case this time. How many times have we seen Phulax warp people and things around in this campaign? A lot. So if this dragonborn's also a portal mage, why couldn't she do the same? Overall, especially considering that the party wasn't even paying attention to her at the time, it would have been very easy to have Kekka warp herself and her group over to the platforms and have the epic showdown occur.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Nioca

One thing that bugged me throughout the campaign was how several of the tests were only loosely related to their appropriate deity. Phol-Phoram was the biggest offender here; I really have no idea how a word puzzle that leads to secret doors has any relation to either the sun or the stars.

I was kind of caught between a rock and a hard place on that one because it's not really that clear what values Phol-Phoram even espouses beyond being a generic "good" deity. I got the idea for the puzzle based on the fact that astrology has historically been related to numerology, more or less, and then rolled with that to give Phol-Phoram's test a kind of vaguely Gnostic mystical flavour.

Quote:

However, I felt that Kyrophius (nifty puzzle with minimal deception or trickery), Sliros (pull a hidden lever and don't steal?), and Tanann (alchemy and combat for a god of magic and secrets) were also off the mark.

The party actually got a mediocre score on Kyrophius' trial precisely because they didn't use deception or trickery: the "correct" solution was to find ways to cheat their way through the puzzles instead of solving them. Maybe I should have made the puzzles actually impossible in order to rub this point in, but I suspect that would have just frustrated the players.

Sliros was another tricky one to design, because how do you make the party actually demonstrate their sense of justice in the context of an ancient labyrinth? Sarachim is correct: the goblins were the best way I could think of, and they were what the party was mainly being scored on. Just don't think too hard about what the goblins were being scored on when they were doing the test.

Tanann's blurb mentions that he and his followers value power, so I didn't think including combat in his test was too out of line.

Quote:

Another thing was that some tests were fairly passive. Sliros? Just don't steal anything and make sure to pull a hidden lever. Mariona? Just stand on a pressure plate, work a few levers, work an elevator, and you're done. Phol-Phoram? Solve a word puzzle, don't steal (again), and find the secret doors. Phol-Phoram's puzzle in particular bugged me because one criticaled perception at the right time could have rendered the entire thing moot.

These, however, are pretty valid concerns (apart from maybe Sliros' test, since the party did put in some actual effort to return the goblins to the surface). Mariona's test was so short because I couldn't think of a lot of ways to keep it interesting and varied without taking it too far away from Mariona's values -- I was also hoping the party wouldn't be quite so quick to trust their rivals. Phol-Phoram's test was rushed, and it shows.

Quote:

I think, to some extent, that the journal Meredith found did the campaign no favors. Knowing the order of the tests and the key to beating them rendered the exercise somewhat moot; Mariona's test would have been trickier if the party didn't know in advance which test it was or how to beat it.

The party already knew the order of the tests at that point, and I tried to keep the hints fairly vague. I was actually worried they weren't helpful enough, especially as a response to a critical success.

Quote:

Another thing that really bugged me happened during the climax of the story. Therefore, it is spoilered for people who don't know what happened.

Click to reveal.. (BEWARE! END GAME SPOILERS!)

Was Kekka stupid, or was she just lazy?

During the climax, the bridge between the altar and her was blown. Okay, so access is difficult. But she's a portal mage who managed to pinpoint an undersea target and teleport there, so she should have little trouble getting across a simple 10 foot gap, right?

Wrong. Kekka managed to warp Zellak across and cause a bit of tumult, but other than that, seemed perfectly content to just sit and watch as the party blew apart her plans. I mean, the party was sitting there talking about what to do next for 20 minutes. It was like she didn't even existed; even if her teleporting was failing completely, she could have had Druju chuck her across or something. But no, the party could take its sweet time talking it out and deciding what it wanted to wish for...

Keep in mind that what you see in the public chatlog isn't everything that's happening in the session.

Click to reveal..

I was actually rolling for Kekka's teleportation attempts behind the scenes the whole time the wishing was going on, and she was getting nothing but 2s and 3s for several rounds in a row. Plus, Triumph explicitly said to me that Phulax was going to continually watch Kekka and try to counterspell any teleportation spells she attempted: letting her automatically succeed after that would have been deprotagonising him.

And, uh, let Druju throw her across? Right into the arms of her well-prepared enemies? What exactly was she going to do to them that she couldn't have done better from the other side? She wasn't planning to waste her wish on turning into a dragon like Zellak did.

To be honest, though, I could have handled the whole Kekka thing a lot better if I'd actually prepared for it earlier in the campaign instead of throwing her back into the spotlight in the second half to fill plot holes from earlier.

Quote:

Click to reveal..

It personally made me feel like Kekka wasn't a threat, which is not something you want when it comes to your final villain (unless its a deliberate choice, which I don't think in this case it was). The final battle didn't do a whole lot of allay this; while I understand that a lot of it was bad rolls, the worst she seemed to be doing was showering the party with rubble. Ultimately, everything was building up to this, and personally, it felt like a bit of a letdown. If THIS is the mastermind that pulled off the chaos of the campaign, I'd hate to think what someone competent could have done.

Click to reveal..

The way I conceived it, the real "villain" of the campaign was always the altar itself, not any of the characters. I'll grant you that the second half of the last session was a bit anticlimactic, though.

Originally Posted By: Sarachim

Fair points, but I disagree with some of them. For Sliros, I like to think that the goblins were the test. They're the sort of people Sliros would stand up for, and we helped them, so we passed. I doubt this is what Lilith was thinking at the time, but now that I've said it she can take credit for it if she wants.

For the record, this is exactly what I was thinking at the time, and exactly why I put the goblins there at all.

[Nioca]

Originally Posted By: Lilith

Click to reveal..

I was actually rolling for Kekka's teleportation attempts behind the scenes the whole time the wishing was going on, and she was getting nothing but 2s and 3s for several rounds in a row. Plus, Triumph explicitly said to me that Phulax was going to continually watch Kekka and try to counterspell any teleportation spells she attempted: letting her automatically succeed after that would have been deprotagonising him.

Click to reveal.. (I look forward to the log coming out so I can speak normally)

Who said it had to be an automatic success? Maybe the burden could have been on Phulax to keep blocking her attempts. The same result was possible, but it would have put the pressure on the party to speed things along before Kekka finally got through.

Originally Posted By: Lilith

Click to reveal..

And, uh, let Druju throw her across? Right into the arms of her well-prepared enemies? What exactly was she going to do to them that she couldn't have done better from the other side? She wasn't planning to waste her wish on turning into a dragon like Zellak did.

Click to reveal.. (This is going to look funny in the Active Topics)

Fair point, but why not chuck a goblin across and have him make a wish to power himself up? Or some such similar. (This might be drifting to the point of contingencies that are hard to think up on the fly, but I'm just pointing out there were options)

Originally Posted By: Lilith

Click to reveal..

To be honest, though, I could have handled the whole Kekka thing a lot better if I'd actually prepared for it earlier in the campaign instead of throwing her back into the spotlight in the second half to fill plot holes from earlier.

Click to reveal.. (These have got to look so tempting to an outside observer. )

To be fair, you also could have done at lot worse, too. At least your party didn't wind up joining the villain for little explicable reason, turn and attack itself, and have one of its members commit suicide.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Nioca

Click to reveal.. (I look forward to the log coming out so I can speak normally)

Who said it had to be an automatic success? Maybe the burden could have been on Phulax to keep blocking her attempts. The same result was possible, but it would have put the pressure on the party to speed things along before Kekka finally got through.

Click to reveal..

I didn't want to just make him roll every round until he failed, and I couldn't think of a better solution on the spot. I probably could have planned a little better, or failing that just not have the bridge blow up completely, but reduce part of it to a more easily defensible one-space-wide chokepoint.

[Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas]

Originally Posted By: Sarachim

I doubt this is what Lilith was thinking at the time, but now that I've said it she can take credit for it if she wants.

So all this time Thuryl's really been a girl. Huh. I wonder what Marlenny's take on all this is.

EDIT: Or was it Kel she was dating? And didn't she break up with whoever it was? Just goes to show how long I haven't been here.

[Sarachim]

Originally Posted By: radix malorum est cupiditas

Originally Posted By: Sarachim

I doubt this is what Lilith was thinking at the time, but now that I've said it she can take credit for it if she wants.

So all this time Thuryl's really been a girl. Huh. I wonder what Marlenny's take on all this is.

EDIT: Or was it Kel she was dating? And didn't she break up with whoever it was? Just goes to show how long I haven't been here.

First I was annoyed, then I laughed.

[Slawbug]

FACE. PALM.

 

Infernal, you've missed quite a few episodes of Spiderweb Soap. In particular, you've missed a marriage and a shift in expression.

[Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas]

Well?! Is anyone planning on filling me in?

[Sarachim]

1. Yes, you were thinking of Kel before. Marlenny's married to Creator now (the older one).

 

2. http://www.spiderwebforums.com/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=196450#Post196450

[Sudanna]

I post-date the marriage, but see here for the gender expression one.

 

EDIT: Goddammit, Sara. I had to use the search function to get that link. The search function!

[Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas]

Well this is all news to me. Best of luck to Marlenny and Creator. I don't know if they still even frequent these forums. Creator I don't think I know aside from his scenarios; before my time.

 

Lilith, I'm surprised you had the courage to come out with that (on teh internets no less). I suppose she it is from now on. If I may, I hope you manage to cope with your family. I think I know something of religious fundies (as I am one, that's not too hard), and I know how news that's not to their liking is treated with scorn if not outright rejection. But my family have had several years to deal with my aunt's transgender issues, and we've gotten over it.

[Lilith]

i'm surprised and slightly disappointed by the lack of mockery in your post. thanks, though

 

and coming out over the internet is about 1,000 times easier than coming out in person

[Sudanna]

Doing just about anything over the internet is easier, emotionally. :|

[Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas]

Originally Posted By: Lilith

i'm surprised and slightly disappointed by the lack of mockery in your post.

Having fun playing with yourself, you dirty sinner? You'll suffer for eternity in hell for that!

Fun fact: In Judaism, gentiles don't have to worry about hell as long as they don't break any of the seven noahite laws. In that case, the longest possible sentence is 9 months. In the end, everyone makes it to heaven.

[Slawbug]

Infernal, you probably know that half of Creator better as Ash Lael. Ash and Marlenny are the ones who got married.

 

Too bad Alec's not here so the two of you can't get in banfights over race anymore.

[Radix Malorum Est Cupiditas]

I'm really going to have to start remembering this stuff better. Ash I think I knew. Wasn't he the one that JV permabanned for quoting him in a way that made it seem like he didn't want people to buy A4?

 

And who says that I can't get into banfights over you all being white devils?

[Dantius]

Originally Posted By: radix malorum est cupiditas

And who says that I can't get into banfights over you all being white devils?

I was reading an unintentionally hilarious account written by a Chinese man in the late 1800's about a discussion he had with another Chinese about travelling to the "land of wizards" (aka America), and how the "white wizards" were able to accomplish powerful magic with what was just steam power.

So apparently 19th century America was a land populated entirely by Gandalf clones and Theodore Roosevelt. Sounds awesome.

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: radix malorum est cupiditas

I'm really going to have to start remembering this stuff better. Ash I think I knew. Wasn't he the one that JV permabanned for quoting him in a way that made it seem like he didn't want people to buy A4?

i'm pretty sure the ban was temporary but otherwise yes

aaanyway, back to our regularly-scheduled city of hope discussion

This campaign acted as a testbed for two things: the new levelup system, and MapTool. At this point, I think we can say the former was a success: it's been used in other campaigns with a variety of characters, and it seems fairly robust at keeping both specialist and generalist characters useful, at least up to high single-digit experience levels. Results with MapTool were more mixed. It's still very much in development, and crashes and other problems weren't uncommon. Also, I think the very fact of having prepared maps for each area I expected the players to visit played a part in defining the structure of the campaign: it'd be much more difficult to run a large-scale, non-linear campaign in MapTool, at least using it the way I used it.

[Sudanna]

My epilogue's in.

[Lilith]

Sweet. Just one more to go.

[nikki.]

aw crap. i'm always last!

 

sending....now

[Lilith]

Time for the final log!

 

Quotes!

 

Click to reveal..

Meredith: "Yes, do what Jarrox says. We might finally be rid of him!"

 

Phulax: "If you don't want to talk, I'll just blow up the bridge."

 

Jarrox: "Yeah, I'm riding a huge winged turtle! Mush doggy, mush!"

 

Lephista: "Hey, Baxa, they're fighting us because Jarrox made the wish you wanted to. How about a little help?"

 

Dyen: "Hirst, I bid you farewell. May fate favor your plans. I am pleased that we did not come to blows senselessly."

 

And this time, we've got character epilogues too!

 

Jarrox:

 

Click to reveal..

It was a long walk back to the ship but Jarrox made it. He didn't drink the whole way there. Just walked and thought, thought and walked. After everything that had happened he knew that he could not go home yet. He may have made a name for himself, but not a name that his father would respect. "If only I had time to get my statue out of the temple," he muttered to himself as he was ferried back to the ship.

 

Once back onboard he wasted no time in finding Druju. The two of them talked for hours while Kekka brewed in anger at having been beaten by the "drunk" and his gang. As they talked it became clear that whoever Druju was working for was someone that Jarrox wanted to work for. It was a clear path to making a name for himself that would outshine his father's forever.

 

Dyen:

 

Click to reveal..

Dyen left Elpis and the City of Hope much the same as he came to it. Circumstances had not permitted him to investigate the results of his wish, and its potential scratched at his mind the entire voyage back to his ruined home. He needed solitude to meditate upon Imaunte's gift, and time that was simply not available until he arrived back at his home.

 

As he stepped through the mossy wreck of a palace, his thoughts twisted and turned around what waited in the recesses of his brain. The possibilities! . . .

 

Fate is a cruel mistress, though. When Dyen eagerly sat upon the cracked and crumbling tiles of the palace roof and let his soul settle from the long adventure, he found little within himself or within Fate that he had not already known. He had learned much on his journey, of course, and new powers and insight waited for him accordingly. But the fate of all things? This he could not find.

 

Dyen despaired for a time, and settled back into the simple, difficult life of surviving on his shattered island. He continued his worship of Imaunte, through meditation both traditional and martial, but grew frustrated as the wish he had fought for continued to be denied him.

 

Eventually, he abandoned his worship and turned to his magic. Straining to the limits of his power of sight, Dyen plumbed the depths of time, space, and metaphysics. He saw many strange things, and many more that would be incomprehensible to a mind less firmly rooted. But in the end, learned nothing.

 

Dyen abandoned his magic as well, after being discovered watching an alien being of great power. The monster had cast him from its plane and severed him from his magic. It returned in time, but the monk saw little point in straining against futility again.

 

He grew dead to the world around him, neglecting his meditations and attending only to his base needs. His soul began to mirror the ruins around him - wrecked and overgrown.

 

After many months of malaise, a great storm struck the island. Rain fell in sheets for weeks, as great winds tore at the jungle island, uprooting trees and sweeping away what remained of the wooden structures on the island. Tongues of fire tortured the stone of Dyen's home.

 

As the he cowered within the shattered palace, sick and cold, watching the floods rise ever higher around his shelter, a shriek ripped through the incessant dull roar of the storm. Dyen rose, shivering and coughing, to seek it.

 

In a room with two walls broken away, with the rain and wind sweeping through the broken stone, he found it. Backlit by lightning, an ape laughed at the wretched monk.

 

"Godless monk! Twice forsaken and twice forsaker! Ha!" The chimp screeched. Dyen recoiled from its screams. What? . . .

 

"Vain and greedy wisher! Ha! Scorner of us all! HA!" Dyen backed into the corner, shivering violently in the face of the wind and stinging rain. The beast spoke in the voice brute rage, rendered shrill by the vessel it was carried in.

 

It advanced on Dyen, rolling easily on its knuckles, emitting chittering chuckles all the way. "Broken thing. Perhaps you see best of all now, blind."

 

Dyen had to shout over the storm, though the ape only spoke and was heard. "What demon possesses you, ape? Whose magic binds you?"

 

The ape drew close, and the stench of decay poked at Dyen's nostrils despite the vicious winds. "The gods have no need of magic, wisher. And you have the ear of three!"

 

Hurak leapt and shoved Dyen into the wall, where he crumpled in a heap to the floor. As the god leaned close, he saw that the gums of the ape were lined with countless needle teeth.

 

"Korossos has lent me this form, and Tempecomt this storm, for here we are of one mind. What have you found in fate, monk? What have you known?" The beast pushed Dyen's shoulder.

 

"N-Nothing!" The broken elf gasped and wept. "Nothing!"

 

The god cackled and sat back, the awkward flesh of his loaned body slumping unflatteringly, fur blowing back and forth in the shifting winds.

 

It spoke calmly now. "And you have not seen your goddess. Was ever she there? You magic gave you lies, wisher. Gave you what you sought." Dyen cowered and stared, not understanding.

 

"You wished to know, monk. You wished for truth. And in being denied what you sought, you have been given it. Fate. Lies!"

 

The god of decay struck the senseless Dyen across the face. The monkey's paw was bony, and stung.

 

"Your god is dead, monk, and fate died with her plans. Do you see-" Lightning lashed outside, the thunder deafening Dyen to the ape's cries. "-ou know?! Forsake it!

 

Dyen could take no more, and scrambled away from the ape, fled the storm and the gods in it. Ran, hunched and hacking to the bowels of his broken palace. He waited there, shivering and retching, for the gods to come for him.

 

But nothing happened, and the storm faded over the next hours, and when Dyen emerged from his ruin, hungry and sick, the bright sun greeted him. Fish lay strewn about the ruins, left by the receding floods, and Dyen cooked them with wood he had stored before the storm. Food left him less weak, and he began to return to his usual life on the island.

 

Time made of him a fool, though, and he could not resist trying to make sense of his visit from the gods. Before seven suns had passed, the monk resolved to ask Imaunte.

 

This time, he saw what he had been denied. Fate, laid bare before his eye. He could scarcely comprehend the whole, but he looked to the place where gods tortured him with storms and words and a beast. There had Imaunte won a battle of sorts, for a wish that had been promised months before. Not all of the gods saw fit to bind things to fate, and by giving sight to mortals were more things bound.

 

Dyen left the piece of Imaunte lodged in his mind, and returned to his living body. He did not return to it for a long time, until travelers came seeking his wisdom. He was tempted to say their fate, as he saw himself do, but instead gave a lie. Fate warped in his sight, and burned. The travelers lived where they else would have died. As they left his island, leaving gifts of new tools and clothes, Dyen marveled at his new power. His wish was all he had hoped - by knowing fate, no more was he beholden to it.

 

Phulax:

 

Click to reveal..

Phulax remained behind with Lephista, helping the people of Elpis adjust to their new lives. Many times they both called upon their diplomatic skills to mediate disputes, or their abilities as healers to repair damage from conflicts. Though the dragonborn and other upper castes at first tried to maintain their ruling status, the far greater numbers of humans and dwarves showed little inclination to obey. Eventually Elpis’ former rulers came to accept that reality.

 

Phulax also served as a representative for the people when other ships visited occasionally, trying to make sure the visitors did not cause trouble, and sometimes trading for supplies with what little he had. Sometimes the ships had curious pilgrims, and it required every bit of oratorical flourish he had to convince them that there were no miracles left. The work required great patience, but Phulax’s irrepressible optimism never flagged. He was with people who needed help, and he determined to serve.

 

The goblin workers he teleported out of Sliros’ trial, distrusting Kekka and Druju and appreciative of Phulax’s efforts to them, stayed behind for a while rather than sail with their former employers; they did prodigious work constructing shelters for the people before they left.

 

Weeks passed, then months. One day, a warship from Hiana arrived – Phulax had sent a brief message via the first ship before Hirst’s party departed. The Hianan ship bore a message from Phulax’s family, confirming they were well. The ship also brought a special request: bags upon bags of different kinds of seeds for planting and a smattering of other useful goods, which Phulax distributed on the island. Time passed. The dwarves had the most difficult time understanding and adapting to their new reality, but even they were making progress. Thanks to its majority human population, Elpis grew into a haven for humans, and a source of hope for outcasts throughout Mote.

 

Finally the dawn came when Phulax bid a slightly teary farewell to Lephista, and teleported himself back to the coast, where he boarded a visiting ship to leave behind the reborn City of Hope. Parting from a close friend saddened him, but Phulax knew there was little more for him to do on Elpis. He left behind a good legacy and many friends, and returned to Hiana for a joyful reunion with his family. After a time, he set out on new portal-closing adventures, looking for people to help. Hoggle would be proud, Phulax was certain.

 

His tale was not yet over, and stories of the happy dragonborn portal-mage began to spread from island to island; some of the stories began on Elpis. Should *you* ever meet an exceptionally amiable dragonborn wearing a peculiar glowing brooch, feel free to ask for his help. He hopes you do so.

 

Lephista:

 

Click to reveal..

"The ship's here. Are you sure you don't want to come?"

"I'm responsible for all of the consequences of my wish, good and bad. I can't leave until I've done what I can to fix the bad ones."

"You made a good wish, Lephista. You gave these people new life. You don't need to have any regrets for that." Phulax paused and blinked back a tear or two. "I hope we meet again sometime."

"Me too. Goodbye, Phulax."

 

Even after order was restored in Elpis, much remained to be done. Most of the city had to be rebuilt. Its people had to adjust to a new way of life. Many of the humans had to be told not to stare directly at the sun. As months turned to years, Lephista's task was still far from finished, until one day she forgot about leaving entirely.

 

Everyone in the city knew that her party had been responsible for their transformation, and most of them thanked her for it. It did not hurt that she was one of the city's better healers, and its leading expert on living on dry land. The small shrine to Mariona that she kept behind her home was not much compared to the temple that had once stood below the city, but it was popular among the humans who came to Elpis to escape persecution on other islands. She never did find another axe.

 

Of course, every place on Mote needs a healer, and eventually duty would call Lephista elsewhere. But that is another story...

 

Meredith:

 

Click to reveal..

Meredith's failure to return caused great disruption at the Library of Serrenick. After an envoy was sent to the Island to try and find her, she was officially declared missing. Whilst it was entirely plausible (and fitting Meredith's character) that she had just decided not to return with whatever she had found, the Masters of the Library doubted this - there was truly nowhere on Mote she could hope to hide without them finding out. And, once she did, she would be made to pay for attempting to steal the information she had been tasked to steal from the City. Eventually, a modest ceremony was held, remembering her life and achievements, and her portrait hung in the Great Hall, for future seekers of knowledge to look upon.

 

===

 

The flooded caverns that lay beneath the City of Hope became something of a tourist's destination within a tourist's destination after the initial excitement of the island's rising subsided. The Temple, now mostly underwater, was nonetheless still home to grand frescoes and engravings, and scholars, historians and sightseers still came to appreciate the sights.

 

As time wore on, though, visitors to the Temple began telling a story about a young woman seemingly trapped beneath the surface of the water. She seemed to be marching about, searching for somebody, they said, until she caught sight of a visitor in her cavern. As soon as she made eye contact, she would let out a chilling, angry, pitiful cry, before fading away, still screaming. Those who stayed long enough to endure her hatred were adamant that she was calling out their names. Others claim she was calling out the names of the jailers who locked her beneath the Temple, inventing, as they did, a thousand and one crimes she may have committed. Most people, however, of those hardy souls who waited until her presence faded, swore everafter that she was calling out just one name, and not just through anger, but also despair. Muted by the ocean, and clouded in anger, there was some confusion over the exact name. But, they would tell anybody they relayed the story to, "I would hate to think what she would do if she ever met somebody called Jarracks."

 

And an epilogue for the campaign as a whole:

 

Click to reveal..

Some time after the events at the city, you hear of an elven swordsman named Ilestro who murdered several Dilegad nobles in an apparent fit of madness before being cut down by guards. For a short time, his name is the most infamous in all of Dilegad. As for Hirst, Siana and Baxa, you hear no news of their activities over the next few months: you can only hope that Hirst's wish was granted.

 

Thanks to Jarrox's wish and the efforts of Phulax and Lephista, the island of Elpis became a place of refuge for humans and other outcasts from all around Mote. Its people were nowhere near as wealthy as they had been in the days before the island sank, but between fishing, farming, and selling valuables retrieved from the old city's ruins, they were able to meet their needs. Many of the city's dragonborn and elves, resented by their former servants, soon left the island in search of a place where they could find the status and respect they felt they deserved, while those who remained were eventually accepted as equals in the new social order.

 

With its temple's altar destroyed, there will be no more miracles from the gods in the City of Hope... but perhaps ending six hundred years of stagnation and rebuilding a functional society is enough of a miracle in itself.

 

Thanks to everyone who participated in this campaign, and to everyone who observed sessions or followed the thread, too.

[Dintiradan]

 

Click to reveal.. (Hey, wait a second.)

Remember how, at the beginning of this campaign, everyone was pointing out the similarities between its premise and the Indiana Jones series? And the parallels between Meredith and Elsa?

 

And yet not one person remarked "She chose... poorly..." after Meredith made her wish.

 

Not going to lie, pretty disappointed in all of you. No champagne for you!

[Sarachim]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Click to reveal.. (Hey, wait a second.)

Remember how, at the beginning of this campaign, everyone was pointing out the similarities between its premise and the Indiana Jones series? And the parallels between Meredith and Elsa?

And yet not one person remarked "She chose... poorly..." after Meredith made her wish.

Not going to lie, pretty disappointed in all of you. No champagne for you!

I'm pretty sure someone (maybe Triumph?) said exactly this in parentheses, and that it got excised from the log.

[nikki.]

Originally Posted By: Dintiradan

Click to reveal.. (Hey, wait a second.)

Remember how, at the beginning of this campaign, everyone was pointing out the similarities between its premise and the Indiana Jones series? And the parallels between Meredith and Elsa?

And yet not one person remarked "She chose... poorly..." after Meredith made her wish.

Not going to lie, pretty disappointed in all of you. No champagne for you!

Haha, thanks for noticing. The wish was actually more influenced by the last film, when the Russian dudette wants to know "everything" (and Meredith was originally going to wish for that before she got wrestled to the grouund whilst taking too long figuring out how to word it. I ultimately felt it was too obvious - and much more likely to go disasterously wrong though, so I changed it ). As I said after the session, I really didn't anticipate Meredith survivng her encounter with the Altar. She wasn't pure enough of heart.

[Sarachim]

Originally Posted By: Nikki.

Haha, thanks for noticing. The wish was actually more influenced by the last film, when the Russian dudette wants to know "everything" (and Meredith was originally going to wish for that before she got wrestled to the grouund whilst taking too long figuring out how to word it. I ultimately felt it was too obvious - and much more likely to go disasterously wrong though, so I changed it ). As I said after the session, I really didn't anticipate Meredith survivng her encounter with the Altar. She wasn't pure enough of heart.

The last movie? We were already talking about Last Crusa- oh. For shame, Nikki.

[Dantius]

What movie are we talking about? The girl in The Last Crusade was a female Nazi, not Russian.

 

Sheesh, next thing you'll be discussing the Star Wars prequel fanfilms like they were produced by Lucas himself!

[Lilith]

Originally Posted By: Nikki.

Haha, thanks for noticing. The wish was actually more influenced by the last film, when the Russian dudette wants to know "everything" (and Meredith was originally going to wish for that before she got wrestled to the grouund whilst taking too long figuring out how to word it. I ultimately felt it was too obvious - and much more likely to go disasterously wrong though, so I changed it ).

Funny story: I thought you might wish for that and had a table of consequences prepared in advance depending on the result of your saving throw. Assuming you survived, the most likely outcome would have been a bonus to History and Religion checks and a penalty to all other Int-based checks due to massive mental overload.