Midnight: the SHADOW KILLERS Campaign SPOILER PAGE

From RPGnet
Revision as of 17:53, 25 November 2007 by Demongg (talk | contribs)
Jump to: navigation, search

said by Khalim at the Battle for First-Hold.

"We can't always choose our circumstances, but we can choose how we handle them."
"sometimes, what matters is not that you made the right decision, it's that you made any decision at all. If the choice falls between certain death and possible death...well, that's not much of a choice, is it?"
"War is our imperative...payback."

"she will lead the human race to its end....She is the herald of the apocalypse"

The equivalent of the mouth of saron to give them an ultimatum.

"Cease you ways and join Izador or for every town saved we will burn 10 to the ground, for every soul they save 10 will be hanged, the people of the land will curse your names and if anyone joins you not only will their life be forfit but the lives of anyone they ever knew.
...in strait places gar keep all store, And burned ye plainland them before, That they shall pass away in haist What that they find na thing but waist. ...This is the counsel and intent Of the gud King's testiment and command."


This is Red and this is not.

Book I, WIKI BLUEBOOKING

Book II, WIKI BLUEBOOKING


SCORCHED EARTH POLICY

Salting the earth refers to the practice of spreading salt on fields to make them incapable of being used for crop-growing. This was done in ancient times at the end of some wars as an extremely punitive scorched earth tactic.
A scorched earth policy is a military tactic which involves destroying anything that might be useful to the enemy while advancing through or withdrawing from an area. Apparently a translation of the Chinese phrase jiao tu (焦土 jiāotǔ), the term refers to the practice of burning crops to deny the enemy food sources, although it is by no means limited to food stocks, and can include shelter, transportation, communications and industrial resources, which are often of equal or greater military value in modern warfare, as modern armies generally carry their own food supplies. The practice may be carried out by an army in enemy territory, or by an army in its own home territory. It is often confused with the term "slash-and-burn," however, that is not a military tactic but rather an agricultural technique. It may overlap with, but is not the same as, punitive destruction of an enemy's resources, which is done for strategic rather than tactical reasons.
The Harrowing of the North - The death toll is believed to be 150,000, with substantial social, cultural, and economic damage. Due to the scorched earth policy, much of the land was laid waste and depopulated, a fact to which Domesday Book, written almost two decades later, readily attests.
Area denial weapons are used to prevent an adversary from occupying or traversing an area of land. The method does not have to be totally effective (and usually isn't) as long as it is sufficient to severely restrict, slow down, or endanger the opponent. Most area denial weapons pose long-lasting risks to anyone entering the area, specifically to civilians, and thus are often controversial.
Sea denial is a military term describing attempts to deny an enemy's ability to use the sea (usually with naval blockades or port blockades)[1] but at the same time making no attempt to control the sea itself. It is a far easier strategy to carry out than sea control because it requires the mere existence of a navy. The downside of sea denial is that fleets may become over-stretched as constant hit-and-run tactics can erode unit strength, leaving them unready for direct action in main fleet combat.
A blockade is any effort to prevent supplies, troops, information or aid from reaching an opposing force. Blockades are the cornerstone to nearly all military campaigns and the tool of choice for economic warfare on an opposing nation.
Blockades can take any number of forms from a simple garrison of troops along a main roadway to utilizing dozens or hundreds of surface combatant ships in securing a harbor, denying its use to the enemy, and even in cutting off or jamming broadcast signals from radio or television. As a military operation, blockades have been known to be the deciding factor in winning or losing a war.
Blockades are planned around four general rules:
  • Value of thing to become blockaded: First, the value of the item being blockaded must warrant the need to blockade.
  • Blockading strength is equal to or greater than the opposing force: Second, the strength of the blockading force must be equal to or greater in strength than the opposition. The blockade is only successful if the 'thing' is prevented from reaching its receiver.
  • Suitability of terrain to aid in the blockade: Third, in the case of land blockades, choosing suitable terrain. Knowing where the force will be travelling through will help the blockader in choosing territory to aid them. For example, forcing a garrison between a high mountain pass in order to bottle neck the opposing force.
  • Willpower to maintain the blockade: Fourth, willpower to maintain a blockade. The success of a blockade is based almost entirely on the will of the people to maintain it.



CARDS

POTION
Name, Actual Name (spell), Description, Effect (paragraph), Caster Level, Arcane or Devine, Origin (where it was found), picture, Book/Page Reference

SCROLL
Name, Actual Name (spell), what language, Description, Effect (paragraph), Caster Level, Arcane or Devine, Origin (where it was found), picture, Book/Page Reference

CHARM
Name, Type (True/Greater/Lesser/Minor), Description, Effect (paragraph), Origin (where it was found), picture, Book/Page Reference


Need UPDATING

  • Nycoptic Manuscripts from Vrolk's tower. What is this item?
  • Travelling papers for Zal (scroll) Authority Mark
  • "wanted" posters for Krell for Zal
  • Goblin Mark from Lakz for Zal
  • month day planner
  • item cards

DURGAZ

  • Plate armor, breastplate and greaves, 'The Caustic Plate'
  • Open-faced plate helmet, 'Vanguard'
  • Spiked steel mask, 'The Veil of Hell'
  • set of enchanted blacksmith tools

ERANON

  • Benaedan's Pelt (updated to 8th level)
  • (True) Silvered Acorn necklace (needs updated by GM)
  • Swallows Regret (10 uses) (what is this? I can't remember)
  • Nifty telescope (needs updated by GM)

ZAL'KAZZIR

  • Splinter Steed Dirk 'Soul Splinter' (Adam, can you note all

the details I've given so far on this that you remember please. needs updated by GM)

  • The Journal of Ardherin (needs updated by GM)
  • Pouch containing drugs (Adam - I want suggestions on this, then

I'll make the list - needs updated by GM)

  • Pouch containing poisons (Adam - I want suggestions on this,

then I'll make the list - needs updated by GM)

  • Enchantment Save Penalizing Flower given to him by Eranon

(what is this? I can't remember)

  • Copper signet ring (what is this? I can't remember)
  • A Hearthstone in the shape of a large brass skeleton key (what

is this? I can't remember)

KYUAD

  • Seludonym's Folly (updated to 8th level)
  • Occulus of the Spine (updated to 8th level)
  • Harvester of Souls (updated to 7th level)
  • Echo's Splinter
  • True Charm - "Cap of Spiritual Awareness"


Bluebook Updating



RANK & FILE

http://wiki.rpg.net/index.php/Midnight_-_Rank_%26_File


Random NOTES


ITEMS and CHARMS

  • Covenant Items
    • Seludonym's Folly a.k.a. The Scarf of the People
      • appears as a scarf made of woven bark. 1 lb.
      • 3rd Level: This illusion-creating scarf alters the appearance of the wearer as the disguise self spell. The wearer appears to be a person common to the local surroundings. When the scarf is removed all affected by the illusion forget the person was wearing it and treat them as if they've just arrived, forgetting the illusionary person. Anyone knowing the scarf is in use is allowed a DC 15 Will save to avoid forgetting wearing the scarf. The glamor lasts for 1 hour. (Faint illusion; CL 6th)
      • 4th Level: The wearer can see as though affected by a true seeing spell. This ability can be used for as long as 30 minutes a day, divided up into periods of minutes or rounds as the user sees fit. Wearer may make a Will Save to resist beginning at DC10.
      • 8th Level: The wearer is protected from all devices and spells that detect, influence, or read emotions or thoughts. Seludonym's Folly protects against mind-affecting spells and effects that seek information gathering. The Scarf of the People even foils limited wish, miracle and wish spells when used to gain information on the wearer.In the case of scrying that scans an area the wearer is in, such as arcan eye, the effect works but the wearer simply isn't detected. Scrying attempts that are targeted specifically at the wearer don not work at all.
        The wearer is affected by "the Folly" effect. Wearer may make a Will Save to resist beginning at DC20.
      • 11th Level:  ???. Wearer may make a Will Save to resist beginning at DC30.


Seludonym's Folly begins to affect the wearer's mind with it's power. The wearer begins to become confused, unable to remember themselves, items held, their past, family, friends and enemies (all but skills/abilities). Roll on the following table to determine the wearer's state of mind.
d%: Behavior
01-10: No memory loss
11-20: Do nothing but ask questions about to determine lost memories.
21-50: Wearer Full Attacks most threatening creature, if none are available wearer begins argument with nearest friend due to the confused state.
51-70: Flee away from surrounding friend or foe due to confused paranoia.
71-100: Full Attack the nearest creature (familiar counts as another creature) due to confused fear state.
The wearer that cannot carry out the indicated action does nothing but babble questions to themselves regarding who they are. Attackers are not at any special advantage when attacking the wearer in a confused state. The wearer will not make attacks of opportunity against any creature until attacked by that creature.


NORTHERN

COVENANT

  • Azamyr's sword {Falknar}
  • Kursu is Courtier for “Lightning”. This ancient weapon was brought to Eredane during the Sarcosan invasion in the early years of the Second Age. The original pommel, a globe of Pellurian star crystal, was smashed when its then wielder, one of the generals leading the war against Erethor, was assassinated by Elven mages in 318 S.A. The sword was later reforged and formally returned by the Elves as part of the alliance with the newly formed Kingdom of Erenland.

Kursu is a bastard sword, the blade of white Pellurian steel, the pommel (a replacement) made of steel from Eredane with its characteristic blue tint.

  • 3rd level: Lightning Path: 1/day the wielder may call Kursu to her as a free action, causing the sword to instantly move into the wielder’s hand at lightning speed or if the wielder has no hand free, fall at the wielder’s feet in her square. Kursu must be within 30’ of the wielder and not held or wielded by anyone and a clear (not necessarily straight) path must exist to the wielder, or the call attempt fails.
  • 5th level: Lightning Dances: +2 luck bonus to Reflex saves.
  • 7th level: Lightning Shock: Upon command the weapon is sheathed in crackling electricity. The electricity does not harm th wielder, and the effect remains until another command is given. Upon a successful hit Kursu deals an additional 1d6 points of electricity damage.
  • 9th level: Veil of Lightning: For up to 5 rounds per day (can be spread over several uses), as a free action the wielder can surround herself with a veil of flickering, humming electricity, providing her with concealment for a 20% miss chance to any opponent using sight or hearing.
  • 11th level: Edge of Light (always active): Kursu gains a +1 enhancement bonus.
  • 13th level: Glorious Lightning: Upon command for up to 5 rounds per day, Kursu is sheathed in bright, crackling lightning that sheds light equivalent to that of a daylight spell and grants a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls, weapon damage rolls and will saves to all allies within 30’. Glorious Lightning can not be used while Veil of Lightning is active and vice versa. Once the Glorious Lightning ability is unlocked, the concealment bonus conferred by Veil of Lightning increases to 50%.


  • [{Midnight covenant item: Cloak of Elvenkind|name???] aka the Cloak of Elvenkind: This cloak of neutral gray cloth is indistinguishable from an ordinary cloak of the same color. However, when worn with the hood drawn up around the head, it gives the wearer a +5 competence bonus on Hide checks. Faint illusion; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, invisibility, creator must be an elf; Price 2,500 gp; Weight 1 lb. on command its magical properties distort and warp light waves. This displacement works just like the displacement spell and lasts for a total of 15 rounds per day, which the wearer can divide up as she sees fit. Moderate illusion; CL 7th; Craft Wondrous Item, Extend Spell, displacement; Price 50,000 gp;Weight 1 lb. +5 competence bonus on Spot checks. offer magic protection in the form of a +1 to +5 resistance bonus on all saving throws enable the wearer to move quietly in virtually any surroundings, granting a +5 competence bonus on Move Silently checks.
  • [[Midnight covenant item: Scarf|Scraf??] ??? affected as if by a disguise self glamer, with the individual who sprinkles the dust envisioning the illusion desired. An unwilling target is allowed a DC 11 Reflex save to avoid the dust. The glamer lasts for 2 hours. Faint illusion; CL 6th; Craft Wondrous Item, disguise self; Price 1,200 gp. enables the user to see as though she were affected by the true seeing spell. A gem of seeing can be used for as much as 30 minutes a day, divided up into periods of minutes or rounds as the user sees fit. allows its wearer to alter her appearance as with a disguise self spell. enables its wearer to appear to be part of his surroundings. This allows him a +10 competence bonus on Hide checks. The wearer can adopt the appearance of another creature, as with the disguise self spell, at will. All creatures acquainted with and friendly to the wearer see him normally. Moderate illusion; CL 10th; Craft Wondrous Item, disguise self; Price 30,000 gp;Weight 1 lb.
  • Bracelet of Friends: This silver charm bracelet has four charms upon it when created. The owner may designate one person known to him to be keyed to one charm. (This designation takes a standard action, but once done it lasts forever or until changed.) When a charm is grasped and the name of the keyed individual is spoken, that person is called to the spot (a standard action) along with his or her gear, as long as the owner and the called person are on the same plane. The keyed individual knows who is calling, and the bracelet of friends only functions on willing travelers. Once a charm is activated, it disappears. Charms separated from the bracelet are worthless. A bracelet found with fewer than four charms is worth 25% less for each missing charm. Strong conjuration; CL 15th; Craft Wondrous Item, refuge; Price 19,000 gp.
  • Backbiter aka Demondeath of the Abandoned
  • Anathema, the staff of snakes
  • Gringold's Bounder ring
  • Quarrion's Spike
  • Cur's Ichorous Blade, the Fang of Shadow (sentient weapon)
  • Agon's Reprieve - Ring of the Guardian



CHARMS

  • tarnished bronze metal ring (Lesser: purifies 1 cubic foot of water)
  • a wrist bracelet of woven grass (True: +4 Will SV vs. Compulsion Effects)
  • 4 in. straight twig (Minor: +2 Will SV)
  • a statue head of a smiling man (Minor: +2 Bluff check)
  • barbed Sarcosan arrowhead (Minor: +2 Heal check)
  • small piece of bark charred by lightning (Minor: +2 Fort SV)
  • small rubbing stone (Lesser: +1 AC for 1 min.)
  • a flattened purple/green flower (Minor: +2 Will SV)



SOUTHERN

COVENANT

  • Walden's cloak of elven-make

CHARMS

  • a scarf, colored as treebark (True:  ?? ) {Thorton}

the world's cosmology

In particular, I’m quite interested in the idea that Izrador's fall to Aryth and his deception of the Gods is not and has never been what it appears to be. Rather, I see it as the old fey gods cutting their losses and casting out the black sheep of the family. Aryth is Izrador's prison, and while the veil is his own work and his own idea, it is not for his benefit (and it is not for his gain).
Having just re-read the divine comedy, i find this idea incredibly appealing. The players really are on their own, since the gods have no intention of ever returning to Aryth. At an extreme, the fey gods are in fact the player's enemy, since they are ultimately responsible for the war.
I also wanted to address why Izrador has not pursued the genocide of mankind: Mankind is not Izrador's enemy, the fey are. As a nod to Grial's back story, he really does intend to eradicate the fey by taking advantage of the Orcs hatred of their distant cousins to perpetuate genocide. Izrador believes that the fey are the only thing sustaining the power of the old gods, so if he can destroy the fey races he will cripple them more completely than he believes he already has. Once he breaches the veil, the elder gods will be easy prey.
But this isn't his ends, merely a means. More than anything else, Izrador wants to return to heaven (again, back to the divine comedy); to do this, he needs an army that the fey gods do not control. The humans are the only non-fey sentient race on Aryth. This is why the church of the shadow is dominated by humans, and why he has not sought to eradicate mankind ... it is also likely to be why he has not waged war on the rest of Aryth.

Izrador needs mankind to storm heaven.

So this is the quandary I intend to throw my players: Izrador doesn't want to rule Aryth, he doesn't even want to be there. In fact, Izrador wants to elevate the entire human race. Izrador might also not have begun evil (at least he doesn't think so), just arrogant and powerful, but it's been a long and subtle trip downhill. He wants out, and he will leave once the fey are destroyed. If the players want an ultimate end to the war, they have the option to help Izrador discover a way to pierce the veil.

Really, once you think about it, it might not be such a hard sell. The fey were toast to begin with. Human expansion and aggression, combined with a low birth rate would seal their fate. Even without the war, the fey wouldn't have had much time left. They are (in Izrador's opinion) the fractured and degenerate remains of the final creation of the gods that abandoned Aryth to shadow and flame. Remember, we're not just talking elves and dwarves here, but also the Orcs. No matter what their birth rate is, the Orcs cannot sustain the kind of losses the elves and dwarves are inflicting.
Humans are, by contrast, the natural product of Aryth. Humans evolved on the planet and it is their birthright. Once Izrador retakes heaven, he will leave Aryth to its proper owners. No more gods, no more elder races keeping secrets from you like condescending parents, and no more war.

It's the classic deal with the devil: everything you want, but in return you must turn against [the] God[s]. This of course, assumes that the party is entirely human.

This line of discourse may be Izrador's most potent logical tool for enslaving humans to his will as Legates for their entire lives. If the goal of the dark god is to breach the Veil and regain the heavens, who wouldn't support him? Doesn’t the world suffer so in its isolation? Wouldn't it be better to support an attempt to regain the heavens for the world, even if that attempt is being led by a being of evil?

I'd certainly agree that Izrador has no real interest in ruling Aryth, and that all his energies are focused on breaching the Veil and gaining freedom. I'd also agree that the Sundering was a form of damage control, and as such arguably an act of extreme callousness by Aryth's deities, who certainly would NOT want to see the PCs breach the Veil, even to beg intervention and redemption for Aryth. In fact, destroying the Grand Mirror or otherwise delaying the Shadow's plans for a century or so is about all the PCs can do in such a scenario, since the only beings capable of freeing Midnight from the Shadow are likely the gods, who have a strong interest against doing so.
In fact, I may allow the PCs to discover this on the verge of implementing a potentially successful scheme to breach the Veil and look for help in the heavens. The solar Anuviel may track them down and tell them why the Veil is really there, and why it, as a truly selfless servant of good, has accepted its imprisonment as a small price to pay for keeping the Dark God chained. The PCs will then have to face a new level of despair. (Of course, I'll be letting them off the hook in a different way, but they'll have to destroy the world to do it!)

It seems to me a great spin from the Shadow. It pits the humans against the fey. It justifies the means for a questionable end. It's exactly the kind of thing the voices of shadow will be shouting in the streets of Baden's Bluff and every where else they go. Perfect!



the Shadow's Hour & the Twilight Hours

The world used to only have 25 hours. The 26th hour was added the end of the Third Age, when Highwall fell.


They will also discover that Aryth used to have 24...before the Veil. On an Earth-like world, twilight is the half hour before sunrise and after sunset. Also called the Fading Time, my Aryth has both twilight times extended to a full hour each -- extra half hour towards daylight and an extra half hour towards darkness. Under this preternaturally long twilight, things get confusing. Solutions are unclear, trails are lost, and memories grow faint. The stars, too, are dimmer and more difficult to make out. Like viewing stars today in the modern world: unless you're far from cities, you will never see the evening or morning stars as crisp pinpoints of fire. They should be at least partially visible, but even the brightest are barely seen until the sun's light is mostly gone. In the morning they nearly vanish as soon as the horizon begins to light.


During the 26th hour, the Shadow's Hour, Legates pray. The stars slow their movements across the sky and grow faint, but they do still move, and they are still visible. Even the beasts of the wild are still for fear of drawing attention. If the moon is visible, it is small and distant, providing little light. This is also when the Lost are most likely to stir. It is said that should the stars ever completely stop, they will fall. And if the sky loses all of its stars, Izrador has won. Some say it is the prayers of Legates that empower the Shadow in slowing the heavens, each nigh trying to rip them apart with his hatred. For PCs travelling at night, I make this time creepy as hell.


All invoked for dramatic impact, not frivolously or all the time. More like superstitions that sometimes come true.


I have allocated the time in a single equinox day -- when the times of darkness and daylight should be half and half -- to have an extra hour of twilight (30m evening, 30m morning) and an extra hour of darkness due to the 26th. The sun struggles to be free of the darkness as it rises, and as a child avoids bedtime and fears what may be under their bed, the sun fears and fights and cries against descending into darkness. When the sun is farthest from the waking world, the Shadow rules. The heavens grow distant, and all are consumed...even light itself.


So, on a day that should have been 12 hours of light, 11 of hours darkness and 1 hour of twilight with 2400=0000:

  • 0530-0600: Morning twilight
  • 0600: Sunrise
  • 1200: Midday
  • 1800: Sunset
  • 1800-1830: Evening twilight


We now have 12 hours of light, 12 hours of darkness and 2 hours of twilight, with 2600=0000:

  • 0500-0600: Morning twilight
  • 0600: Sunrise
  • 1200: Midday
  • 1800: Sunset
  • 1800-1900: Evening twilight
  • 2500-0000: Shadow's Hour


Daylight remains constant, the in between times are extended, and the darkness grows in strength.

Magic

Different spells were more powerful/weaker depending on the time of day. Different arcs are associated with different schools. Or, if it's hours... necromancy for midnight, illusions or enchantments for the Fading Time (perhaps one for dawn, one for dusk), transmutation for midday, lesser conjuration for early morning (healing light of the new day)...


Illicit Activities

RESOURCES

  • GM-Remote.gif

Midnight: North & South Portal