GM Blog: Episode 3 (Patreon)

Episode 3, like episode 2, was a tough one to present. We still had no producer because Erin was off with COVID, so I was running everything myself. 

That meant I didn't bother with starting the calendar (I planned on presenting the Empire calendar and how it worked to the PCs - hopefully more on that tomorrow), and I definitely didn't bother with any maps as that would just have complicate affairs for me. 

So, the sesh was much more about classic roleplaying to deconstruct the fallout from all the Tales of Altdorf City, then back to the campaign to resolve two key scenes: 1) What happened in Weissbruck? and 2) What happened when the PCs tried to claim their inheritance?

So, how did it all go?

Well, the first half was a mostly easy chat with the PCs trying to unravel all the subplots, which was fun as many of them really have no clue what's happening, so it's good for them to try and find their feet. The two scenes for the second half landed largely as expected, and didn't fall too far from the classic script, although some small changes were made. 

What changes? Well, Episode 3 covered Enemy in Shadows, pages 43-54, and there is a few things worth discussing.

Let's do the bullet point thing!

• The Tales of Altdorf City. These pretty explosive side stories replaced Enemy in Shadows, pages 37-42. So, there was no Slumming Toffs and their bodyguards, Max Ernst, Una Mühlmauer, or similar. Instead, we had Trotts, Bright College shenanigans, a hastily organised Sigmarite Games Convention without any games, an avalanche of Undead, Greyseer Thanquol, and ancient Elves shouting at each other. By the end of that, the Bolts in the Dark episode (p38) was reproduced in Gerhardt's Tale just to make sure that plot point was covered. And the frantic pace was set by Yume who wanted out of Altdorf fast as she was being chased by the Purple Hand. All-in-all, a very different set of events (and maybe worth a blog in and of themselves - what do you think? Tales of Altdorf City blog? If so, what would you like me to cover?), but the outcome was the same: Altdorf is crazy and the PCs need to leave.

• Leaving Altdorf. This section was largely handled as scripted because I wanted to introduce the Imperial First Fleet - the navy will likely play a huge part in later events.

• Good Morning, Travellers. I didn't use this small encounter (p44) as it brought nothing extra to the session barring slowing things a little. The group was already tense enough for personal reasons and were enjoying their discussions about the events in Altdorf, so I felt no reason to break their flow.

• Gerhardt's Scar. This manifestation of A Change of Character (p32) was a crucial extra to support Alamennowyth's Tales of Altdorf City and also Elrick's (the reference to the Ancient Library and the 'changes' it was supposedly tracking). Why was the scar important to Alamennowyth in particular? Well, she had already claimed this:
  'I considered slicing his face myself!'
  And then did in this episode.
  Perfect.
  Alamennowyth slicing Gerhardt was a perfect response to finding him inexplicably healed given everything she's prophesied when she was Alamennowyth Rootweaver.
  If any of that is confusing, watch her Tales vid, and if it still makes no sense, drop into the #all-access-lawhammer and ask.

• Weissbruck. There is little to say here that's not obvious. No changes of any significance were made (only two thugs were spotted by Yume and Alamennowyth, for example, rather than three), and the potential fight in the town was dodged by the party deciding to leave before the ambush was staged. All-in-all, this section added to the tension and offered some fun interactions, but did little more. Given what was about to happen, I was cool with that.

• Visiting the Lawyers. This was largely handled as scripted on pages 52-54, with Gideon utterly obliterating Adolphus Kuftsos. However, Gideon's motivations for doing this were very different to those presented on p54. This Gideon is fully aware of the Purple Hand (which is part of its master's plans), the Greater Daemon in Altdorf (who is its master) and quickly deduced what Adolphus was up to. Having Adolphus free was unacceptable given its plans in Bögenhafen and the proximity of Kastor, so he was offed. That means Kastor Lieberung has been saved, the Bögenhafen shenanigans are still safe. Gideon is pleased. It then cast spells to keep eyes elsewhere (or, as I said in the stream, apparently no one heard anything because of terrible rolls! - but, serious, you all heard that scream - everyone should have heard that!).

• Gideon. A small note that our Gideon is much more powerful. Not just a threat to the PCs, but a considerable threat to anyone that crosses it. I'm warning you all now that, should we hit a confrontation, the beefed-up mutants from Session 1 are pretty weak by comparison.
  Further, it's worth noting that Gideon is fully manifested in the Mortal Realms, which is very odd in and of itself. More will be made of this later. 

• Mistaken Identity. It's also worth making it clear that this Gideon is somewhat blinded by its fascination with the Mortal Realms and, because it's not paying quite as much attention as it should, it is quite caught up in the Mistaken Identity subplot. That means it believes Gerhardt is Kastor Lieberung, hence it saving the PCs from Adolphus's arrest. Indeed, unless the PCs obviously out themselves as non-cultists, Gideon will actively protect them if it is aware they are in danger. It assumes they are working to further its master's inscrutable plans.
  Complicating this, Alamennowyth's Mistwalker Talent is blinding Gideon further. If you don't know what that is, let me paste the write-up below - it's core to why the PCs can potentially blindside the otherwise near-omniscient Greater Daemon of Tzeentch in Altdorf.

Mist Walker

Max: 1

Spells, artefacts, scrying, divination, or any other attempt to forecast your actions automatically fail. Amongst other things, this means you cannot be accurately Doomed, Celestial Spells predicting the future do not see you or gain bonuses against you, and Fortune Telling offers you no benefits.

• Adolphus's Letter. I have purposefully left Handout 7 out of the PC's grasp just now. Gideon has lifted it and spirited it away for its own reasons. The handout will be deployed later when the PCs start nosing through Gideon's business. I'll also be editing that letter a little as I want the link to Emmanuelle Nacht to be more transparent (check p50 for more on what that link is).

• The Scream At The End. I apologise to your ears. We have been making adjustments at this side in an attempt to fix our volume issues for future sessions. I'll still likely be screaming, but hopefully we won't kill your ears next time.

And that's it for Session 3!

If you have any comments or questions about this list of notes and changes, or feel I missed some important stuff from episode 3, post here on Patreon, where the PCs can't see, or in the #all-access-lawhammer channel in the LAWhammer Discord, where, again, the PCs can't see!

No spoilers for the party!