Campaign diary: introduction to Bal Jala

I'm back in the GM seat after about a year, about to kick off a new Pathfinder campaign based on Arabian fantasy. Unlike my previous long games, this one's designed to last around two months - so one concentrated adventure with PCs beginning at level six.

Bal Jala is, of course, the jewel of the Sumerland. A ridiculously lavish and architecturally brilliant city of white stone and golden minarets sitting beneath an azure sky and by the river Kish. Because I'm cribbing heavily from Al-Qadim, the streets are awash with all kinds of races (no dwarves though - too hot). Elves, orcs, goblins and humans, among others, live and work side-by-side in relative harmony. The city is governed by the Sultan Harun, a recent instatement as far as sultans go after the passing of his father Abir seven years ago. Harun, a wiry middle-aged man with a kind demeanour and a relaxed style of ruling, has proven popular among the majority of Bal Jalans for his progressive taxation laws and re-opening of spice trade routes with the Ivory City to the north. The last day of Mihla has even come to be known as Yawm Harun, or Harun’s Day. 

Of course, not all in the sultanate support Harun’s methods. Rebel groups have cropped up in and around the city - most of whom are disorganised thugs who like to cause problems for the Sultan’s Wasi, the city guard. However there have been signs that some are becoming a more organised menace following the murders of two prominent nobles - an elf and an orc. Harun has ordered further investigations into these and similar crimes, discovering the organisation’s name: The Black Viper.

Harun is advised by his most trusted Vizier Shar, who was his father’s right-hand man in the past. Shar isn’t one to be meddled with, being a shrewd politician from a line of great scholars. He is, however, a supporter of Harun and lover of his city, even going so far as disguising himself as a common peasant to mingle with the people in the marketplace, embracing the experience of ordinary folk. 

So that's an intro to Bal Jala and my new campaign. I'll be updating weekly to talk a bit about what's happened in that week's session. 

Feats for In Darkest Warrens

When creating your character, you may choose one of the following feats, taking note of any prerequisites. At level 3 you can select another feat.

Sticky fingers

When attempting to pick a pocket, gain +2 to the roll.

Disguise

You can disguise yourself as another humanoid race or another gender. Once per day you can test Person to disguise yourself. If you are successful, you can disguise yourself for up to 7 hours. If you are disguising yourself as another race the test is difficult.

Master appraiser

You know the estimated value of an item by studying it for 10 minutes.

Trapfinder

Gain +1 to rolls when trying to search for traps.

Advanced trapfinder

Prerequisite: Trapfinder

Gain +2 to rolls when trying to search for traps.

Animal tamer

You have an affinity with animals. You gain +1 to rolls when trying to calm a wild animal. 

Adept caster

Prerequisite: magic user

Gain an extra use of one of your spells per day.

Shadow walker

When you blend into the shadows you become almost invisible. When moving in shadow you are counted as invisible. Attacks against you have a 50% chance of failing. Once you attack from shadow you can be seen until you move to another location within shadow.

Inspiring

You can spend 3 minutes per day giving an inspirational speech relating to one attribute. For the next hour, those witnessing the speech gain +1 to all tests involving that attribute.

Dual weilder

You do not receive a penalty for using a second melee weapon.

Bloodlust

You may take a -1 to attack and +1 to wound damage.

Treasure hunter

The value of treasure you find is increased by 10%

Armour proficiency

Gain an extra +1 wound benefit to armour.

Advanced armour proficiency

Prerequisite: armour proficiency

Gain an extra +2 wound benefit to armour.

Knowing the winds

You intrinsically know what the weather will be like in the next 24 hours.

Poison immunity

You do not receive adverse effects from poison.

Tinkerer

You are able to fix objects with the right materials. Test Mind to try to fix an object. Every test counts as a day of attempting to fix the object and it can be attempted multiple times. You require materials of a value equal to 25% of the object's market value.

Streetwise

When trying to gather information in a town or city, gain +1 to the roll. 

The War for the Crown brings political intrigue to Pathfinder

It's funny that I never talk about Pathfinder here, despite it being the main game my group has played for around four years. I started cold to the game, finding it needlessly complex (ok, I still do) but since then it's grown on me like some parasitic game moss. Sure, I still prefer lighter fare, my particular D&D flavour being S&W and LotFP but I still have a place in my callous heart for Pathfinder.

So here we have the announcement of a new adventure path, of which there are at least ten billion now. Ok, so this one is 127 but still, lots of adventure paths. I'm not exactly a fan of them to be honest. I started my first campaign by cribbing stuff from Rise of the Runelords, but after a few sessions used my own homebrew adventure. Despite my dislike of running premade modules, The War for the Crown sounds different enough to intrigue me.

The gist is that there's a conspiracy in Taldor, a big old city in the Inner Sea, where a bunch of nobles and senators are trying to avert some kind of disaster. The Emperor is having none of this so has a load of them assassinated. Apparently then the emperor falls and the players have to save the heir from being sliced up real good.

Cue the Game of Thrones theme music, being the only thing I know about Game of Thrones, having read one book and watched one season. I've heard it's popular and has incest and wolves.

Roght, so this sounds like pretty cool political intrigue, which is a taste I like and you can buy the physical edition of Crownfall, the first adventure, from the Paizo website that, frankly, needs a good overhaul.

Will I purchase? Maybe. As I say, I don't like to run games from the book - the last one I did was Storm King's Thunder and it wasn't great - but HELL do I like to steal stuff from them. If  there's a good premise and characters, I'll be happy to rip them off for a future campaign. This is why there needs to be more setting books a la Dark Veins and Red and Pleasant Land. They contain that chunky meat stuff that's good for growing girls and boys DMs.

The Treeps of the Broog Marshes

I've not written about Tequendria in a while, so I thought it was about time.

The Broog Marshes of Mondath are only whispered of in stories told by the cunning bog people who scribe their prayers in mud to Mosahn, the bird of doom. Only three wary adventurers have set foot in the foggy abyss of the Marshes, yet only one returned with darkness in her eyes, not a sound leaving her lips for ten years.

The Broog Marshes are alive and malignant, plotting against the beauty of the emerald forests and rolling fields, where children play hoops in the spring and all are glad. The adventurer eventually spoke of the Treeps, the haunting guardians of the Marshes - half man, half tree, gnarled and sinister with eyes of crawling dung beetles and smiles like knife wounds. They stand as tall as oaks, walking slowly and humming a song that even the gods detest. They feast on the numerous beasts of the marsh, such as the Hut Hut boar and the Droop Bird, whose eggs are poison to the Treeps.

The adventurer, through fearful breaths, spoke of their whispers that would put the ears of man into a deep slumber. In that deep sleep, their prey would be hung from great branches high above the ground and left to be devoured by the Oog Flies, for the bones of man are sweet to the taste of the Treep.

Treep
Lvl. 8
Type: Monster
Action: d10, Wits: d8, Ego: d6
Hits: 7d8 (28)
Attack: d10+4 (Swipe d8) or Whisper (see special rule)
Defence: d10+4
Specialisms: Camouflage (Action 4), Darksight (Wits 2), Great strength (Action 2)
Special rule: The Treep may attack with a whisper three times per combat. 1d6 targets within 20ft must test wits (hard). If unsuccessful, the target falls into a slumber in 1d3 rounds. They only awaken if harmed.
Treasure: Treep bark (3000 shards), Treep sap (+4 to Action tests for 12 hours).

New tech for Wired Neon Cities

Nullifier: this module can be attached to an android unit to power it down. Once attached to any part of the android, it takes a second to completely power down. The android may make a difficult nimble test (-1) to avoid being powered down. The android is powered down for 48 hours or until the nullifier is removed.

Holo companion: a ping pong ball sized metal sphere that projects a full 3 dimensional hologram of a human AI who can interact verbally with others, but cannot interact physically. The owner can customise the appearance when the companion is first booted. The companion has access to GlowNet.

Shardgun: two handed rifle that fires three spinning razor discs, doing 2 wounds on a hit. On a hit, the target must test brawn. If they are unsuccessful they begin to bleed, taking 1 wound per round for d3 rounds. Available only through the black market.

Purifier: a long red cup. When any water is poured in the filtration system automatically purifies it.

Red Rose: a bracelet that emits a fine spray that makes people more amenable to you. The spray stays on you for 30 minutes and one cylinder has 5 uses. In this time, gain an extra die when you test Person and take the highest result.

Thought scope: a small telescope that scans a person's thoughts if they are within 5ft. The process takes 10 seconds. Emotions and images can be read.  

Wired Neon Cities is a minimalist cyberpunk roleplaying game set in the futuristic 80s. 

5 new magic items for Quill White Box

Quill of the Nethermancer: this black quill gleams gold in the moonlight. Activating the quill summons four netherfairies to do your bidding. You may unsummon a fairy to gain an extra die on any roll. Fairies remain around until unsummoned. The quill has two activations before it can no longer be activated. 400gp

Recharge Stone: a purple gemstone that emanates power. Using it returns all the uses of a single magic item. Cannot be used on other recharge stones. One use. 250gp

Ring of Fortune: a silver ring with a ruby inset. Add 50% to the value of treasure received. 3 uses. 300gp

Radiant Signet Ring: this ring is used to make a mark in a wax seal. It glows white when used. Use at the end of a letter to gain 2 points. 3 uses. 450gp

Demonbind Quill: the first time you use this red quill you bind yourself to a demon. Activating it gives you 5 points. When activated you must lose an item. If you have no items, the demon takes you to the hell dimension.

Top image: Magic the Gathering/ Wizards of the Coast.