Markdoc

Re: What cities do you use in your game? Although it stokes one of my pet peeves - fantasy cities that look like modern cities. Medieval and ancient cities were (in general) not planned out and if planned, were rarely built according to plan. They have randomly scattered squares and markets, important buildings scattered higgledy-piggeldy, where they were built (and converted to other uses, and built on some more) and streets running in all sorts of direction, with weird shapes and random connections and dead ends. Ptolus - and all too many fantasy cities - are laid out with boulevards and public places like they'd been built from scratch to a design laid out by a planning committee. OK, it's not a big deal - it just grates a little every time I see it... cheers, Mark

Re: Order of the Stick

Re: Building Whirlwind Attack

Re: Opinions On Being An "Ex-Viper Member"

Re: Young Gods stride Creation Campiagns? Or alternatively, don't give experience points per session at all. Give 'em 1 XP for every thousand worshippers they gain, and prorate the experience if the worshippers worship a pantheon For example, if your pantheon has 12 dieties, they get 1 XP each for every 12,000 worshippers. You may wish to divide it differently so major deities get more than minor ones and "head of the pantheon" gets the biggest share to spark some intrapantheon rivalry If you lose points when your worship goes down, that could lead to some diety detente - if both sides lose too many worshippers they lose power - so taking out your rival by a spectacular series of meteor strikes on his major cities may not be the preferred method if he immediately retaliates in a similar vein while pumped up with divine worship power. cheers, Mark

Re: build help: regen man Urm. Most of these builds look way too complicated. This is a case where a simpler approach works better IMO. Here's my suggestion: small amount of regeneration + resurrection a Decent amount of healing (self only, 0 END continuous, uncontrollable) Damage reduction (stun only, if you like) A character built like this will go down pretty easily, even with damage reduction: a bunch of agents can hurt him, but he's very hard to keep down. The damage reduction is important since it prevents you having to buy obscene amounts of either regen or Healing. Healing sidesteps all that stuff about GM's option or recovery times: essentially, recoveries are irrelevant, as you have healing chugging away all the time. And then spend lots of points on being useful: either skills and detective stuff or martial arts (or both), since being KO'd all the time is not that much fun to play. I played a character like this (Kestrel) who was essentially "Batverine" - superhealing, a 15 pt VPP gadget pool Utility belt and martial arts/detective skills. He remains one of my favourite characters ever. cheers, Mark cheers, Mark

Re: Favorite Tactics against High DCV? A nasty NPC called Virus, who had damage shield with a small transform - but which was continuous uncontrolled, 0 End - and sticky. Touch him and you start turning into a duplicate of him. Touch anyone he's transformed and ... well, you get the idea. Cheers, Mark

Re: [PAH] 50 years After Well, realistically, any kind of big crash is going to hit the developed world pretty hard. Most people live in big population centres and most population centres draw their food and power from all over. Expect a mass exodus with plenty of violence and lots of death. On the other hand, don't expect mutants or the sudden disappearance of technology. A massive nuclear war or a huge plague or even armies of flesh-eating zombies are not going to suddenly destroy the billions of internal combustion engines lying around. They're not terribly complicated, last for decades with a little care and can be jury-rigged to run just about anything. In places where there isn't oil, expect to see biofuel vehicles. I doubt they'd be common, but neither need they be rare. The only place you wouldn't find them was places with no oil no gas and a climate that was too poor to grow much. Likewise, guns and ammo. There's about a brazilian tons of guns and ammo sloshing about the world. Ammo lasts for decades (when I was a kid I was buying and shooting with el cheapo WW2 ammo. You got the occasional misfire, but it was rare). Properly cared for guns last even longer and again, are not that complicated. Look at Pakistan, where smiths turn out perfectly functional, fully automatic weapons with hand tools. And the same applies to books: they can last centuries and reading/writing is easily transmitted - look at central Asia's traveling teachers, who move from village to village carrying their chalk and blackboard (no, really!) teaching kids to read. What won't be so easy to rebuild would be the political and finacial systems that hold the world together. So... I'd say a pretty good idea of what the world would look like 50 years post apocalypse is a range from say, 1950's central america (functioning countries run by a cartel of tough guys with guns - all the way down to Somalia: gangs of toughs fighting it out). cheers, Mark

Re: And off we go! The characters pass a peaceful night, and after breakfast return to the temple where the priest introduces them to a non-artistic miner, Duras. His brother has been spouting poetry for the last two months, and when pressed, Duras lays the blame on 'the fairy folk'. He tells them about the mine, and is proud of its long history without serious accidents, due to proper knowledge of the stone being worked and skilled traditional techniques. But now there is *carving* going on down there, which Duras feels is nonsense and “not right”. Duras fetches lamps, candles and rope, and leads them through the mine to the area of the carvings, which involves a fair bit of climbing. The mine is well provided with light and air shafts, a bit of comfort to Bellona, who is feeling rather oppressed (having claustrophobia, she had to keep making EGO rolls). They made their way beside a former stream bed, the stream having worn its path a long way further down, and eventually climb down through a series of such former watercourses, cut sinuously through the rock by the stream. All this time they can hear the tapping of stone chisels and hammers at work. At the lowest level the stream is still flowing through a wide cave, disappearing into a tunnel mouth as the roof approaches the floor again. The sound of a waterfall echoes back up this tunnel. In this cave are some 12 miners, all engaged in carving the walls. At their approach they pause in their work, somewhat unwillingly, to talk about it. The pattern they are making is sinuous, and they explain that it is 'a frame, to guide the eye, or tell a story'. What the center of the design will be they have not yet decided, though they reckon it should be finished in a couple of weeks. According to Duras there is carving other places in the mine, but it is more in the way of doodles for fun and grotesques, not this refined and slightly unsettling artistry. The players speculate that the miners are making a shrine, but this seems too esoteric for any cult that they know of, even the Woman of Tides, aka the Keeper of Secrets. The miners say they are working here in the most distant part of the mine because the stone is so perfect to carve, dark and smooth from ages of water. They feel that the darkness down here adds something too. But they get all evasive when they ask them if they really want their sons to be carving sinuous patterns in a cave instead of mining to support their families. They can't say who first started the carving either; several claim that honour. And their inspiration comes from dreams of wonderful things, 'palaces made of words', unwordly and vivid scenes. This is not what they are carving, but they just had to try and bring some of what they were feeling to life. As they talk there, Gen notices a very faint sweetish smell, possibly with a rotten undertone, and possibly coming from the cave the stream runs into. The others don't notice anything apart from fish-oil lamps and semi-washed miner. The miners tell them that it is dangerous to follow the stream further into the tunnel; there is too much water and the stream disappears suddenly into a sinkhole, the waterfall that they can hear. But Duras says that there is _not_ too much water and it's possibly to walk in the stream if careful; after the sinkhole the former streambed is smooth and dry. He has been down there himself. So Gen volunteers to go along the stream and have a look. Khelsan will hold the end of a rope tied around Gen; the miners volunteer to help, but they politely decline. Gen puts on a candle-headband and sidles along the very smooth streambed for 20 or 30 metres to near the sinkhole - which is where he notices a very obvious and sturdy plank laid horizontally on iron spikes hammered into the wall of the tunnel... bridging the dangerous stretch over the sinkhole so it is easy to get to the other side. Here a perfumed scent is quite noticeable coming from further down the passage, while a faint rotten undertone is just noticeable. At this point Gen decides to turn back – and when trying to turn around, promptly falls off the plank and is washed down the sinkhole! But the sinkhole is not deep and he lands on something crunchy and pointy with the waterfall rushing all around him. When Khelsan feels the tug on the rope he hauls Gen back up the streambed again, rather bruised and breathless, coughing up the water he had inhaled. And smelling of something rotting and organic. Is it just miner lunch and waste products, or is it something else?? Could it be blowing back up a second sinkhole from further down the stream? They leave the mine, and once back outside they pay Duras: 20 sp for lunch, candle-headbands, ropes, lanterns, spikes, hammers - everything that they need to go caving - and his services as guide tonight. They go back to the castle and tell the steward of the castle that they are going to investigate the deeper secrets of the mine, but he is barely interested. In the late evening they unload their loose valuables on their ship and put on armour. Duras leads them back down to the carving gallery - the rotten smell is not noticeable this time. Khelsan hammers a spike into the floor to tie their rope to, and Lamoniak heads down the tunnel first. When Lamoniak gets to the far side of the sinkhole, he can see a light ahead! It is a flickering light source from around a bend in the tunnel. He puts out his candle and eases further along the tunnel - now he can hear voices! He signals all this to Khelsan, who is next, and advances as quietly as he can. Now there is a distinct smell of perfumed lamp oil, and when Lamoniak peers around the bend he can see a couple of chests and carpets, and a few cushions on a rug. By then the group have all made it over the sinkhole and advance en masse. Aquila notices another cave off to the left - and there is a miner standing guard in it! The miner says when noticed, "I told you they'd come back". Stepping forward into the furnished cave Lamoniak can now see six miners, all armed with hammers or similar. (They are all ready, having heard the spike being driven into stone, even over the rush of the water). The leader asks him suspiciously "What do you want here?" Lamoniak boldly replies that he wanted to see 'true carving'. Then a woman's voice from further ahead says 'If you're truly a lover of art, come forward.' And Lamoniak does, while extolling the qualities of the carving he has seen and asserting his conviction that there must be more and better hidden deeper in the mine (with a 23 PRE and lots of points sunk into conversation, he can be very convincing when he wants). The female speaker is an elegantly dressed young woman of bewitching beauty, reclining on the cushions. The miners are still hostile, but the young woman seems greatly charmed by Lamoniak, and he by her. After a cultivated exchange of pleasantries and compliments Lamoniak is sitting on the carpet at her feet. Bellona positions herself some distance behind him as his bodyguard, and fearing to look the woman in the face, keeps her eyes fixed on the carpet – and her ears open. But the rest of the party stay back, not daring to face this kind of threat, even though Lamoniak calls them to join him. Only Khatz does so, and he too throws himself at the woman's dainty little feet. Bellona, strangely enough, is unaffected. The cavern where the woman – who calls herself the Lady Arran - resides contains a variety of material comforts, lit by candles, although the far end of it is dark. In a very few minutes Lamoniak is convinced that the Lady Arran is a woman of peerless beauty and irresistible charm. She frankly admits that the outbreak of culture and art in Darkwall is due to her presence, but is that really so bad? Although Lamoniak and Katz agree eagerly that it is not, Bellona points out crushingly that with the soldiers debating philosophy instead of doing their duty, the town now cannot defend itself from attack by hill bandits. Lady Arran's soothing reply is that 'the first outburst of culture can be overwhelming', but she is sure the initial intensity will soon subside and all will return to normal. From here the evening proceeds like a soirée. Khatz declaims a poem of his own composition and a miner is requested to bring wine for the lady's guests. For a brief time Lamoniak comes to his senses (made his Ego roll) and realises that there is something distinctly uncanny about this enchanting woman hiding underground and meddling with the minds of Darkwall's citizenry. He leaps to his feet, proposing an 'acrobat poem' and trying to draw his flauberge – but before he can manage that, some strange compulsion overcomes his intention! The Lady Arran seems startled that he has acted thus. Nevertheless, while Khatz makes flowery toasts to the lady's beauty, Lamoniak – suspecting poison in the wine, tries to spill it all by balancing the bottles on each other, and contrives instead to balance three wine bottles on top of each other! (rolled a “3” on his non-exstent performance skill) Out in the tunnel the rest of them are losing patience. Khelsan takes the initiative and headbutts the miner who was standing guard in the side passage, knocking him out. But before a great fight can break out Lady Arran calls out 'please don't hurt him!’. The miners obey her and restrain their attacks, as do Khatz and Lamoniak, who is once again overwhelmed by the lady's charm and cultivation. And the rest of them are most reluctant to attack non-aggressive opponents. Before an awkward silence blights the evening Bellona proposes that they call it a night and withdraw, and the Lady Arran agrees. When Lamoniak courteously bids her farewell she kisses him lightly on the neck... So they return safely to the carving gallery, where Duras is still waiting nervously, and thence back to the ship, where they spend an unexpectedly peaceful night. In the morning Khatz seems to be his old self and to consider that perhaps he acted rather over-effusively in the presence of the Lady Arran. Lamoniak does not (failing his breakout rolls one after the other), and is still full of the lady's praises. He had vivid melancholy dreams last night, of the sand-covered ruins of an ancient city in a desolate endless plain, and when the players notice a drop of blood on his usually spotless collar, he claims he has cut his neck while shaving this morning. Gen gets both of them to draw pictures of the Lady Arran's face - Lamoniak's is by far the better work - but other than being very lovely there is nothing unusual about her face or eyes. The characters proceed to the steward of the castle and give their report, letting Lamoniak run on at length about the enchanting lady living in the mine. They give every indication that they believe he is mad, but he is vexingly convincing in espousing the Lady Arran's charm and benevolence. Using Magic, Castor confirms that Lamoniak is telling the truth (as he sees it) and is not compelled by magic (as Castor sees it) (GM’s note: having achieved the requisite mind control the “Lady Arran” has chosen to make Lamoniak think his actions are all his own idea – hence his increasingly odd justifications). Even when Khatz tells his tale of being utterly bewitched by the lady and then realising how irrational this was, he does not give a true impression of how sorcerous and dangerous the rest of them found her. They tell their side of the story, desperately, but the steward doesn't know what to think: or more what to do. He’s convinced that something nasty is in the mine, but fears that if he sends soldiers into the mine, they will simply be charmed too. Their options seem to be making an unprovoked attack on a charming, beautiful and peaceable (if slightly eccentric) woman - or letting the entire town of Darkwater sink under her strange artistic influence and hope that it is ultimately as benign (and perhaps as profitable) as she had implied. Their last thought is that they should visit the witch in the swamp, on the grounds that one beautiful magical woman should know how to deal with another. It is then that they recall the merchant's words about the witch from his overnight visit 15 years ago - 'I _thought_ she was comely.' Lamoniak's plans are quite different. This very day he rents a house in the town. It has a large first floor room which he proposes to use as an atelier where Darkwall artists can display their works, and where those works can be marketed to a larger world, which will undoubtedly be profoundly impressed by their quality and pay well to acquire them. The next day, the cut on his neck has still not healed, and continues to bleed weakly….. cheers, Mark

Re: Tuala Morn questions OK, I guess art is more subjective than I had realised! There are some nice (to my eyes) clean pieces of line art and many pieces (again to my eyes) with bizarre anatomy that are dark and sort of "blobby". Likewise, the style of the maps - although they were clear enough - I found off-putting. (To me, they look like they'd been hacked together in a hurry using a really cheap drawing program). Although I had been waiting eagerly for the release, I found the whole so offputting that I almost didn't buy it. Looks like it's a minority view, though. Anyway, presentation issues aside, I'd still recommend the book to a FH GM - there's lots of detail, plenty of plothooks hanging and it'd be easy to set a campaign there. Even if you don't, there's idea's a plenty to harvest for other games. So I'm glad I bought it - I simply hide it from my players so they don't accidentally look inside. cheers, Mark

Re: Faerie's Tale

Re: Combat Skill Levels vs Martial Arts :D Mark

Re: Combat Skill Levels vs Martial Arts

Re: Faerie's Tale Well, it's a "300" in-joke. If you haven't read the TPB or (especially) seen the movie, it will be meaningless. If you have however ... let's just say that I only kept my keyboard coffee-free by a supreme effort of will. cheers, Mark

Re: Doubling Damage Question Personally - and speaking from experience - I wouldn't add deadly blow in at all. It's confusing, contradicts the stated rules and way unbalanced. Stick with the basic rule: you can't do more than double the weapon's base damage - everything else (Damage classes, STR over the STR min, CSLs, etc) adds to that. If the player wants a lethal attack, let them buy it with points as a fighting trick: I had a player who wanted a deadly knife fighter. He bought a 1d6 HKA, 0 END with weapon of opportunity (any knife, -1/2), real weapon (-1/4) for 12 points. That let him do 2d6HKA with 15 STR. That costs more than Deadly blow, but reflects its actual utility. cheers, Mark

Re: Tuala Morn questions

Re: Combat Skill Levels vs Martial Arts Speaking of things long dead - in one of the first posts you said I meant to answer - but never got around to it before the thread moved on. But now, the sudden revivification of the thread reminded me Anyway, I've been using "martial arts multipowers" in FH games for ... oh ... a couple of decades now. They work great. At heroic levels, it works better than the standard system, which is only really balanced/fun in that sweet spot around 20-40 points. More than that is almost always a waste of points, less than that gives you only a few maneuvers which can be both unbalanced (since you can get a lot for your points if you only buy a couple of maneuvers) and yet unsatisfying from a game perspective (since you usually get 3-4 maneuvers, which feels a bit thin). In a Supers game, if ElectroLad can have an "electric powers" MP, I can't see that it's unbalancing for FistLass to have a "Punching, Kicking, Bone-breaking and Eye-gouging" MP. Likewise, in an FH game if Mong the Mysterious can have an "Arcane spells" MP, it hasn't proved unbalancing for Thrud the Massive to have a "Barbarian Rage" MP and Murata the Enigmatic to have a "Flashing Sword" MP. In the current game we have three highly effective fighters - one with a martial arts MP, one with an exotic attack ("autofire" to represent a whirling two sword attack) and one who's just tough and fast (spent his points on STR, DEX and SPD). They're all balanced. Lamoniak (MP guy) can generate more damage, higher DCV or higher OCV than either of the other two - but only one of those things at at a time. Bellona - the two sword lass - can't match the best of Lamoniak's numbers, but she rarely matches his worst, either, goes before him and can dish out hurt on multiple foes. Aquila (the shortsword guy) didn't bother with any of that - he does less damage, but he's got a high DEX and for a long time was the party's only SPD 4. With the purchase of some levels, he consistently fights as well as the other two. In the last campaign, which ran for several years of weekly play, we also had a mix of martial arts MP and non MP fighters and they also scaled well. In the game before, which went for 2 years or so the same. So, yeah, balance doesn't seem to be an issue. It takes a teeny bit more work to set up, but once you're used to the design and play freedom of MP martial arts, going back to standard martial arts rules is little like putting on the ski boots you had a good workout in the day before: terribly restricting and it reminds you of all the places it hurt in before. cheers, Mark

Re: Combat Skill Levels vs Martial Arts

Re: Faerie's Tale Awww mannn! I'm gonna be late home tonight. Because that link led to another link and I just wasted an hour reading PvP instead of ... um... designing a spreadsheet. OK, so maybe it wasn't wasted, per se. Anyhow, I forgive you, because my heart is big, but also (actually pretty much entirely) because of this. cheer, Mark

Re: Okay, what do I need here ... You sound like a GM after my own heart. By and large, I don't do "monster races". I do Monsters. Yes, folks, every one unique - never seen before, never seen again! (or pretty close to that*). I just feel that "monsters should be monstrous" . If the players feel they know a creature, it becomes a little bland, regardless of what you do: you know, like in the old joke, "A troll an Otyugh and a Modron go into a bar...". It's actually not that hard. The key is "mash-ups". And the way to do it (for me at least) is to have an idea of what I want - "a bitey, rippy monster" or "a really hard to kill monster". I then make those by taking a basic template and adding or removing bits. Last session the players faced off against "a sneaky, seductive, but also tough monster". I took the lamia template out of the .... MM&M, I think ... slapped an area effect mind control on it (spread by her scent, with gradual effect - the longer you spent close to her/it the larger the effect). However, I also - inspired by "The stress of her regard" - gave it wings, a reptilian appearance and a protective attitude towards the men (and women - the players don't know about that yet:D) she/he/it has seduced. Lamia as depicted in the FH book are actually suprisingly tough, so I didn't need to tweak that. And that's it, good to go. Total work-up time .... um ... 2 minutes. And the best part - played and described differently I could use the same basic template again and the players would never know. Each monster inspires a certain amount of trepidation, because the players never know exactly what it's got. Previous monsters include an animated statue/gargoyle. Made of stone, returned to normal form, position at daybreak - I used a stone golem template with prodigious amounts of leaping and since it was a statue of a satyr, I gave it a certain ... attitude . That monster was basically unkillable with the abilities the players had to hand (and luckily for them, killing PCs was not its priority - it merely hurt them every time they got in its way) - they had to find its eyrie and destroy it while in statue form. It's a solid, basic, not very imaginative monster, but because of its role in the story and its attitude, it's never going to be just "Oh, yeah, that stone golem". cheers, Mark *there are exceptions - zombies, for example. For some reason I just can't do without zombies Or vampires. Or Dragons. Or giants. But all of those last three are customizable.

Re: Ideas for a new fantasy campaign If you're looking for ideas, you can also check my site out: http://www.rpglibrary.org/settings/gothick_empires/ It also has the "shapeshifting reptile men from elder days trying to undermine human empires and restore their supremacy" meme, though in my case, it's never been the focus of a campaign - more a source of occasional bad guys and an excuse to "soup up" ordinary monsters - the serpent men in my game are not only shapeshifters, but also powerful enchanters (Possessors of eldritch sorceries from the days before the moon was green...). A favoured tactic is to enhance monsters or (through proxies) human villains to give human heroes trouble. cheers, Mark

Re: HTH combat questions Or, abort to block - if the character has a good OCV, this works better. In either case, work out if your opponent is high OCV or high DCV, place your levels appropriately and counter attack. Or, switch levels onto DCV and dodge (half move) and delay (half move). After they attack, if you are still standing switch levels into OCV and then Whap! You move first, so you can switch them back again, prior to attack. Alternately, if you are faster, throw your levels on OCV and moveby, so that after you've done your damage you are far away from your opponent, and he has to make more than a half move to reach you. If he throws all of his levels into OCV to try and hit you with a moveby/through, you should have an easy shot, when it's your turn. Next turn, take advantage of moving first to do it again. Also remember that you get to move first and your opponent can't assign levels (if they have any) until their action unless they abort. Take advantage of that to get in shots at a balance that you want. There are lots of alternatives to "stand there and take it". cheers, Mark

Re: Overthinkers Anonymous: the Point Points 1 and 2, I'd agree with (I'd go so far as to say "We hold these truths to be self-evident"). There's a third aspect though. By its very nature, a points-buy system requires some sort of metasystem that you can use to customise and/or assess the effects of changes system outside of what's presented (much as you have done with Indirect). For my taste, the indirect example is way too granular/complex, but with a robust and explicit metasystem (something most games lack) it's a snap to make those changes and assess their potential effect. It's different from point 1, because it's not all about players and it's not all about balancing - in some games, I've made changes to deliberately *unbalance* powers to shift the game in a desired direction. cheers, Mark

Re: If *you* were the Spectre... I got a laugh - a sad laugh it's true - out of the Spectre in Kingdom Come (his appearance was an inspired narrative plot device, though). He spends the entire series going round saying he's going to punish the Evil, and as the series builds to a climax, his guide is going "Now? Can we punish them now? OK, well how about now?" while the Spectre waits. "No, not yet, I need to see who's really guilty" And then when it's all goes down and people die by the hundred, the Spectre goes "Oh. I guess there's no guilty parties, actually. OK, I'm done here, THNXBY" and disappears. So if it was me? I'd get the guy who came up with the idea of the Spectre in the first place. It's a cool idea, but an editor - like a GM - has to know when to say "That's a cool concept, but it's unplayable. Maybe if you dialed the powers back a notch or two." cheers, Mark

Re: Building Intrugue Into a Game Generally, to make an intrigue game fly you need a major thread for the players to unravel and nothing too complicated- everything else is colour, red herrings and subthreads. Unlike characters in a novel, players tend to have poor memories, develop bizarre theories and treat obvious clues with disdain. They're like crime-solving kittens: "OK, if we look at the body, we should be able to see ... ooh! pretty butterfly!" That said (and just off the top of my head) Lord Thornblood is in charge. He simply wants the succession go off smoothly. His younger brother, who has always played second string is planning to make a power play by revealing that Lord Thornblood's wife had an affair and that his "son" is in fact the son of Lord Oldblood. The evidence is letters exchanged by the lovers, obtained by the second Thornblood, which can be stolen to foil the plot: his agent has took them from Lady Thornblood's possessions and she is now very nervous because she doesn't know who else knows. Lord Oldblood doesn't know one of the Thornbloods knows, but he sees the potential in having his son ascend to power. He is therefore seeding the town with agents to make sure nothing interrupts the succession. The young Lord Cherishblood (who recently succeeded) is attempting to seduce the daughter of Lord Moonblood. He also has agents in the town, though they are mostly there to mask his movement. Several of them have masks and copies of his clothes, so they can provide alibis - but the players may find it strange that the the young Cherishblood seems to be in several places at once. He and his retainers will also be skulking about and trying to get into places at times they should not. Major plot: Lord Stoneblood has had it up to here with Thornblood and his lackeys. He has made a deal with Naugrim the Black, biggest and baddest of the Dragons, to soar in and spray the reviewing stand at the coronation with caustic fire at the conclusion of the succession, killing the head of every major family - at which point he will step in to "restore order". To this end he is infiltrating the town with soldiers. He plans not to be on the stand, sacrificing his "beloved" brother to prove his own innocence. His excuse will be a faked duel with a minor noble, leaving him with a minor wound. Clue: he is a noted duelist and his opponent much less so. His opponent can confirm the fix (though he doesn't know the reason) if the players get to him before he suffers a "fatal accident". The players should not be tough enough to take on the dragon, but the plot can be foiled by simply revealing it - the great houses will take their own action, if they know. There are people in Lord Stoneblood's own house who know (or suspect) and not all of them are entirely in agreement. There is also the pact itself, sealed - as these things usually are - in blood, hidden safely among Lord Stoneblood's things. The Venombloods have no plots going, but are simply going to be rude to everyone, and enjoy gambling on dogfighting, getting drunk, etc as they normally do at these get-togethers - everyone dislikes them because of their name and history anyway, so they are bound to attract player attention. The Halfbloods, the weakest of the families are pursuing a feud with the Cherishbloods after the death of an heir in a duel, years past. Outright war is out, but they will seek to embarrass or annoy leading members of the Cherishbloods, hire commoners to pelt their carriages with mud and stones, bribe servants to drop the soup and (if possible) provoke a duel involving the new husband of one of the family. He's lowborn and raaather coarse, but an excellent swordsman. If he kills a prominent Cherishblood during a legal duel, honour is avenged and if he dies, well, it's no big loss - just another excuse for a grudge. That should be enough to keep the players going. cheers, Mark