Showing posts with label D&D. Show all posts
Showing posts with label D&D. Show all posts

Concepts: Players as Pawns: Example Of Play

Posted by: Jason Silverain / Category: , , , ,



In my own personal experiences I have found that after the initial wariness my party constantly trust NPCs that have proven themselves to be useful and often begin to take everything they say at face value until proven otherwise. Providing an organisation can subtly influence a person in contact with the players this makes it easy to guide the players as pawns.

It is important however that opportunities to see through the deception should be present especially if the player characters will be disadvantaged by the manipulations, this doesn't have to rushed however especially if a large premise of the campaign revolves around the party becoming more and more aware of the situation as evidence slowly builds up.

This can be a difficult balance to achieve as too many clues will make it too obvious and too few will leave the players feeling rail-roaded into choices, but if done well can lead to amazing stories and feelings of great satisfaction (and often betrayal) once the players realise their predicament.   
  
Below is an example scenario of how a campaign with a 50's Noir theme would develop with players as pawns.

The characters have recently beaten down/arrested or otherwise removed a locally feared thug, shortly after they receive a small message from a local bar owner thanking them for their help and offering them drinks on the house that evening. The bar itself is in fact a safehouse and a cover for a small local brothel under the control of the criminal organisation that wishes to influence the party, they are also responsible for the invitation.
When the party arrives they are indeed treated to free drinks and are the heroes of the hour, a few of the waitresses or local girls flirt with them, the bartender chats happily with them thanking them for removing the thug and they have a great time with the promise of half price drinks whenever they are in and perhaps some favours. 
The party begins seeing this as their potential hangout and begin frequenting it more often though only the most astute characters should realise something is a little off about the place at this time I.E: The locals girls with different men each time, a general nervousness around some regulars, the girls vanishing into the backrooms on occasion.

At this point the bartender begins asking them questions along the lines of "If they had heard about those shady deals over in.." in a manner that he is under the assumption the party as local vigilantes already know and intend to do something.
Of course this is all a ploy to subtlety direct the characters towards a rival mob's shipments of drugs and weapons, for the criminal gang at this point everything is a win/win either their rivals suffer a set back or a possible future problem is killed off.

This drip feed of information continues with stories of "My brothers kid in the force says.." and "I've heard from one of the delivery lads.." each with just enough information or a name to have the party start investigating until the group trusts their bartender friend perhaps even coming to rely on him for information more so than other sources even in unrelated cases.

At this stage all these tips have been aimed at obviously illegal operation's that have had no connection to the Criminal Gang but the removal of which would help them stabilise their position in their territory and they can claim they had no hand in the attacks as they were done by a unaffiliated party thus preventing retribution attacks. However a minor complication/opportunity has arisen for the Criminal Gang, one of the corrupt police officers that they pay off so their businesses are ignored is demanding a larger cut. Not wanting to continue paying the corrupt officer nor obviously remove him the Criminal Gang begins a scheme to use the characters group as more direct pawns.

Informing the corrupt officer to collect his pay off from the players frequented bar with the code word "This months insurance" the players observing the transaction. If the party tries to intervene they are rebuffed and threatened by the arrogant and aggressive officer and the bartender pleads with them to not intervene. Once the corrupt officer leaves the Bartender privately breaks down and confides in the players informing them that he caught several of his waitresses prostituting themselves to customers for extra money but rather than throwing them out onto the street where they would continue he allowed them to use the backrooms so they would be safe and not risk been murdered however the police officer found out and has been blackmailing him since keeping all the records in a personal ledger.

The story is a complete lie but the group now face a dilemma, they could report the officer for corruption but their friend would be jailed for allowing prostitution on the premises so now they are increasing forced into the morally grey.

At this point the party may start planning ways to remove the officer whether it would be having him killed, threaten or even framing him for another crime but the Bartender informs them that in order to prevent himself been arrested in the investigation they would have to retrieve or destroy the ledger also. To add weight to this the Criminal Gang after ensuring any illegal goods are relocated elsewhere give an anonymous tipoff which results in a brutal police raid on the Bar a few days later. The players either getting caught up in the raid or seeing its after effects are further enraged and more seeds of distrust regarding the police are sown. Especially as they now believe this raid was a result of the threat made by the corrupted police officer.       
                
Where the campaign goes from here (as in discovering they have been tricked or been drawn deeper into the criminal world) heavily depends on the party and how they use the ledger, so I'll end my example here for now but I hope it helped to see how this theory works in practice.


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3rd Party Showcase: Aerial Cavalier

Posted by: Jason Silverain / Category: , , ,


The still waters of the lake shimmered with the reflections white starlight and the waning crescent moon that escaped the wispy clouds, the sight before her seemed fey like almost as if taken from a story book even as the night breeze returned with a cold caress sending ripples and a shiver through both Tiasel and the lake.   
The sound of fluttering wings returning on the wind and a quiet rustle made twitch at the sudden realisation she wasn't alone, not ten paces from her in the shadow of an old willow the unassuming leader of this band she found her amongst was sat watching the lake. A Hawk rest upon his arm swallowing the remains of a unfortunate creature it had captured, Duncan acknowledged her with a faint smile and a nod before returning to his watch with a unwavering gaze.

Remaining composed even as a hot rush of embarrassment at been caught unaware chased away the evening chill Tiasel returned the gesture, her own eyes puzzled and curious in equal measure as she joined him. Settling upon a large root drawing her legs up to her chest to keep out the cold she continued to watch the pair, fascinated not only by the beautiful creature but also trying to examine this man of such quiet and unassuming disposition.
Fingers unfurling with a slight tremble, her hand began to reach out towards the Hawk gingerly, biting her lip in a moment of self doubt the young rogue started to retreat only to find the Duncan's hand upon her own holding her steady. "Remain calm and she'll allow it, if you twitch or fear then she too will be restless." 

Welcome to another edition of 3rd Party Show Case, this series of articles aims to highlight some of the more interesting 3rd party and homebrew creations available online. When able to we will credit the original creators and post links directly to the material.

Today is a little different as I am focusing upon a prestige class from Scarred Lands Campaign Setting: Ghelspad though much of the setting reliant requirements have been removed from the class to make available to other settings and games by the D&D community.
The Aerial Cavalier is an expert at fighting on an aerial mount increasing their mounts manoeuvrability and evasion, attacking their foes from afar or with devastating charges. In addition to their martial training, Aerial Cavaliers are frequently used as envoys and couriers, and thus they are versed in the skills of statecraft.


Becoming a Aerial Cavalier

Cavaliers due to its ability to gain a Riding Hawk or Riding Eagle as a basic mount will find themselves with the earliest accessibility to the class depending on their feat choices, whilst Paladins have the next easiest time with access to flying mounts such as Hippogriff's or Giant Owls becoming available from 6th onward (DMG3.5 page 204, there has not been an equivalent rule in Pathfinder yet).
Druids and Rangers may also enter but with no appropriate low level Animal companion and a onging general debate leaving it unclear on which animal companions increase in size categories they will normally have to wait until later levels, in addition the loss of spell casting levels usually makes this class unappealing to most Druids.

Fighters have several interesting methods of obtaining the mount required for entry into the class, the simplest method (bar simply loaning a party members mount.) is to purchase one with the Giant Owl been one of the cheapest at about 5000-6000gp (4000gp for a chick and 1000gp for the trainer + expenses). However they take 6 weeks to train which combined with the fact they are not the hardiest of creatures in Dungeons and Dragons or Pathfinder and lack the ability to improve like a Special Mount or Animal Companion as the Fighter increases in level he may find his mount been repeatedly cut down from under him as he faces stronger foes.
Alternative methods to fulfil this requirement could be the use of the Leadership Feat or Dragon Cohort Feat to obtain a intelligent magical beast cohort or dragon to use as a mount though both require the cooperation of the DM. Other prestige classes which provide mounts such as the Aglarondan Griffonrider or Dragon Rider though both these classes are setting specific and again require some alteration and permission from DM.

It should be noted that smaller races actually have an easier time fulfilling the entry requirements.

With full Base Attack Bonus and good Fortitude and Reflex Saves and reasonable selection of Class Skills the only thing that the Aerial Cavalier truly suffers from is their reliance upon their mount to make use of many of the class features and that the class features focus upon aiding a mounts survival.

Requirements:

Skills: Ride 8 ranks, Handle Animal 8 ranks.
Feats: Proficiency with all simple and martial weapons, Armour Proficiency (light, medium), Mounted Combat, Lightning Reflexes, Shield Proficiency.
Special: The character must own or have access to a flying mount.


Level
Base Attack Bonus
Saving Throws


Special


Fort
Ref
Will

1st
+1
+2
+2
+0
Aerial defence, Flyby Attack, mount
2nd
+2
+3
+3
+0
Aerial evasion
3rd
+3
+3
+3
+1
Aerial archery
4th
+4
+4
+4
+1
Enhanced manoeuvrability I
5th
+5
+4
+4
+1
Crash land
6th
+6
+4
+4
+2
Empathic link
7th
+7
+5
+5
+2
Spirited charge
8th
+8
+6
+6
+2
Enhanced manoeuvrability II
9th
+9
+6
+6
+3
Extended empathic link
10th
+10
+7
+7
+3
Improved aerial evasion

Hit Dice: D10

Class Skills:
The Aerial Cavalier class skills are: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Geography) (Int), Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Tumble (Dex).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the Aerial Cavalier prestige class:

Weapon and Armour Proficiency: Aerial Cavaliers gain no additional proficiency with weapons or armour.
Aerial Defence (Ex): Beginning at 1st level, whenever an Aerial cavaliers flying mount is required to make a Reflex saving throw, the Aerial cavalier may substitute her own Reflex saving throw, if her bonus is greater than the mount's.
Flyby Attack (Ex): Beginning at 1st level, while flying upon her aerial mount, an Aerial Cavalier and her mount both benefit from the Flyby Attack feat. They may attack before, during, or after the mount's move.
Mount: A paladin or cavalier whose special mount is also an aerial mount may add her Aerial cavalier levels to her paladin/cavalier levels when determining the abilities of her special mount.
Aerial Evasion (Ex): At 2nd level, the mounted Aerial cavalier gains the ability to use her mount's three-dimensional movement capabilities to avoid magical and unusual attacks. If, while flying on her mount, the cavalier makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, the cavalier instead takes no damage from the attack. While the cavalier is mounted on her flying mount, the mount also benefits from this ability—if the mount makes a successful Reflex saving throw against the same attack.
Aerial Archer (Ex): Beginning at 3rd level, while flying upon her aerial mount, the penalty that an Aerial cavalier suffers when using a ranged weapon is halved. Typically, this penalty drops from -4 to -2 if the mount is taking a double move, and -8 to -4 if the mount is attempting difficult manoeuvres (loops, barrel rolls).
Enhanced Manoeuvrability (Ex): At 4th level, the Aerial cavalier can increase her mount's flying manoeuvrability rating by one ranks, so that a manoeuvrability rating of clumsy becomes poor, poor becomes average, average becomes good, and both good and perfect become perfect. At 8th level, this ability improves so that the cavalier increases her mount's rating by 2 ranks (maximum is still perfect).
Crash Land (Ex): At 5th level the Aerial cavalier whose mount is blinded, blown away, dazed, deafened, disabled, dying, entangled, held, paralyzed, stunned, or unconscious may have her mount continue to move when it might not otherwise be able to do so. The mount may continue to take make single-move partial actions for one round per level of the Aerial cavalier. While moving in this manner, the mount's manoeuvrability rating is reduced one rank, so for example a rating of average becomes poor (a mount that is clumsy remains clumsy). If the mount is still aloft after the time limit has passed and it could not otherwise remain flying, if will fall.
Empathic Link (Ex): At 6th level, the Aerial cavalier may establish an Empathic Link with a single aerial mount. This is treated exactly like a paladin's Empathic Link with her special mount. If the aerial mount is killed, the cavalier must wait a year before establishing an Empathic Link with another mount.
Spirited Charge (Ex): At 7th level the Aerial cavalier gains the Spirited Charge feat for use from her flying mount. If she already has the Spirited Charge feat, she may increase their Spirited Charge to 3x damage with melee weapon, and 4x damage with a lance.
Extended Empathic Link (Su): At 9th level, the Aerial cavaliers Empathic Link with her mount improves. It now has an unlimited range, provided that both the cavalier and the mount are on the same plane of existence.
Improved Aerial Evasion (Ex): At 10th level, an Aerial cavaliers mounted Aerial Evasion ability improves. She and her mount still take no damage on a successful Reflex saving throw against attacks such as fireball, but now only take half damage if they fail their saving throw.

Using the Aerial Cavalier
While prestige classes such as the Aglarondan Griffonrider could be considered superior it should be noted that the Aerial Cavaliers abilities can be used on any flying mount (with the exception of the Empathic Link) they are riding regardless of its race giving the Aerial Cavalier a degree of flexibility not available to other similar themed prestige classes.
The Aerial Cavaliers strength comes from the Enhanced Manoeuvrability it grants the mount, allowing mount and rider to attack larger more cumbersome foes and deliver devastating charges further empowered by Spirited Charge and Flyby Attack or harass them with ranged attacks while keeping out of reach. Specific tactics for an Aerial Cavalier are difficult to recommend due to the reliance upon the mount to plan them and this also highlights the classes greatest weakness. Every class feature is focused upon improving the Aerial Cavaliers abilities upon their mount so if the campaign forces the Aerial Cavalier into a confrontation on the ground they can find themselves with much few options available than a regular Fighter or Paladin. 
 
Outside of combat the Aerial Cavalier's Diplomacy and Knowledge skills can certainly help in military planning, noble gatherings and general travel though most Aerial Cavalier's will prioritise the Balance, Ride and Spot skills above all else.
With the background of been envoys and couriers an Aerial Cavalier NPC is a great way to have a lord or noble family contact the Players and showing the great prestige or wealth of the lord in question. While not expected evil Aerial Cavaliers make surprising good antagonists ranging from the spoilt nobles son who abuses his position to intimate and insult, to a group of enforcers imposing their lords will upon a series of isolate villages. 
 
With my review of the class I've noted some growing interest amongst some of my group in updating the class to make it more comparable in strength alongside Pathfinder class and more viable choice for Pathfinder players.
For further information on making the most of mounts and mounted characters the Mounts Handbook is a good place to start.

Her fingertips toying with the long feather in her grasp marvelling at its softness, a soft giggle left the young woman's lips before she tucked her prize into one of her leather tunics many deep pockets for safe keeping. The Hawk now roosting in the tree above her attention now turned to its 'owner' though he had denied as such claim as he guide her fingers across the bird even when she teased him for information, "Tonight feels like a story book, you and that Hawk remind me of tales my mother used to tell me in the evenings about the Griffonriders of Evermore.."

 "It must of been difficult growing up in the Elven tenements in the capital with all the bitterness from the old wars." His voice hardly above a whisper regardless the words were louder than a scream to her ears "How.. how did you.. do the others know?" the half elfs voice almost broke breath catching in her throat, eye wide with a very sudden awareness that she was alone and unarmed as the panic set in. 
"When you were on the altar your hair was swept back enough to reveal your ears.. Sandell may of noticed but you needn't worry neither of us will say anything unless you speak of it yourself." Duncanss eyes leaving the lake for the first time now focus entirely upon her as he offered her his outstretched hand, his voice steady and calm with no hint of duplicity or malice as he continued. "In my village we had a half orc smith, regardless of the insults and slurs thrown his way he never once rose to them and was one of the kindest and bravest men I had ever met.. To judge another by their birth is foolish and forces others down paths they may have otherwise avoided."

Her mind a blizzard of conflicting thoughts and fears the normally self assured rogue hands clenched as she fought within herself, the words seeming almost too good to be true even within the guild and her few friends there her bloodline had been something to note, to mock or abuse. With one final deep breath and a low huff her hand darted out, the calloused palm of the ranger turning white where her fingers bit into his skin as she gripped with all her strength fuelled by the anxiety and doubt that ebbed from her. "Damn it you really are trying to make it a fairy tale.. Okay I'm going to trust my ears on this one and trust you, don't make me regret it."   


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