The Alexandrian

Ptolus

IN THE SHADOW OF THE SPIRE

Ptolus - CityscapeSTARRING

Justin Alexander . . . . The Dungeon Master
Seth Bacon . . . . Agnarr / Ranthir
David Blackmer . . . . Agnarr
Preethi Gupta . . . . Elestra
Andrew Holmberg . . . . Dominic
Sarah Holmberg . . . . Tithenmamiwen (Tee)
Sarah Martin . . . . Tor
Jacqueline Wegscheid . . . . Nasira
Sasha Myhrom . . . . Alysta (Elestra)

CAMPAIGN JOURNAL

PRELUDE: AGNARR AND TEE
Character Background: Agnarr
Character Background: Tee
Prelude 1A: The Lost Vaults
Prelude 1B: The Lost Vaults Continued

RUNNING THE CAMPAIGN

PRELUDE 1
Starting the Campaign
Designing Character Backgrounds
Inside the Campaign Journal
Purpose of the Preludes

PRELUDE 2: THE AWAKENING
Character Background: Dominic
Character Background: Elestra
Character Background: Ranthir
Prelude 2A – The Awakening: Ranthir
Prelude 2B – The Awakening: Dominic
Prelude 2C – The Awakening: Agnarr
Prelude 2D – The Awakening: Tee

PRELUDE 2
Non-Standard Groups
The Retcon
Low Level Specialists
Play By E-Mail
World-Building by Players
Graphical Resources
The Best Laid Plans

SESSION 1: INVESTIGATING THE PAST
Session 1A – Investigating the Past
Session 1B – Tee’s Homecoming
Session 1C – Meeting Elestra
Session 1D – The Common Room at Night

SESSION 1
Meta-Scenarios
Player Secrets
Player Absences
Electronic Game Table

SESSION 2: WELCOME TO THE CITY
Session 2A – Around Town
Session 2B – A Woman Assaulted

SESSION 2
Between the Sessions
Foreshadowing Encounters

SESSION 3: ON THE MURDERER’S TRAIL
Session 3A – On the Murderer’s Trail
Session 3B – Questioning Cran

SESSION 3
Custom Game Structures
Deciphering Scripts

SESSION 4: RIOT IN OLDTOWN
Session 4A: Riot in Oldtown
Session 4B: Research and Developments

SESSION 4
Mob Rule and the Fear of Railroads
The Role of a Campaign Journal

SESSION 5: THE TROUBLE WITH GOBLINS
Session 5: The Trouble With Goblins

SESSION 5
Guaranteeing Failure

SESSION 6: BLOOD IN THE DEPTHS
Session 6A: Blood in the Depths
Session 6B: Return to the Depths

SESSION 6
From Table to Page
Reinventing Zombies

SESSION 7: BLOOD IN THE WATER
Session 7A: The Aristocrat’s Table
Session 7B: Blood in the Water

SESSION 7
The Secret Campaign Journal
Thus Endeth the Campaign

INTERLUDE
Visions on the Edge of the Void

INTERLUDE
Flashback Visions

SESSION 8: WAKING IN CHAINS
Session 8A: Waking in Chains
Character Background: Tor
Session 8B: A New Companion

SESSION 8
Listening to the Cleromancy
Adding a New Player
High Level Intimidations and Intimations

SESSION 9: GOLD AND JADE
Session 9A: Gold
Session 9B: In the House of Helmut
Session 9C: Jade

SESSION 9
Rolling for NPCs
Using Prophecy
A Miscellanea of Session 9

SESSION 10: THE LABYRINTHS OF GHUL
Session 10A: Labyrinths of Ghul
Session 10B: Retreat to the Surface
Session 10C: Back to the Labyrinths
Session 10D: Clan of the Torn Ear

SESSION 10
Exposition Dump Handouts
Emergent Character Traits
Treasure With Context
Prepping Situations is Cool

SESSION 11: GOBLIN CAVERNS OF THE OOZE LORD
Session 11A: Into the Caverns
Session 11B: Garden of the Sickstone
Session 11C: A Weary Twilight

SESSION 11
Symbiotic Tactics
Running Gags
Looting the Bestiaries

INTERLUDE: HARVESTTIME
Harvesttime 1: Tor at the Tourney Fields
Harvesttime 2: The Guidance of Vehthyl
Harvesttime 3: Greeting of Old Friends

INTERLUDE: HARVESTTIME
Bluebooking
An Interstice of Factions
Gray Spaces in World Design

SESSION 12: A PARTY AT CASTLE SHARD
Session 12A: Awkward Introductions
Session 12B: A Party at Castle Shard
Session 12C: To the Aid of Goblins

SESSION 12
Managing Your Supporting Cast
Party Planning in Actual Play
NPC Allies

SESSION 13: END OF THE OOZE LORD
Session 13A: At the Sinkhole’s Edge
Session 13B: The Tragedy at the Door
Session 13C: The Tale of Itarek
Session 13D: A Time of Tragic Rest

SESSION 13
Simple Simulationist Tactics: Half Across the River
Dynamic Terrain
Behind the Tale of Itarek
Kill the Dog

SESSION 14: MANY UNHAPPY RETURNS
Session 14A: Many Unhappy Returns
Session 14B: Malkeen Dawning
Session 14C: The Temple of Ebony
Session 14D: In the Beast Pits

SESSION 14
Adventure from Gear Management
Antecedent Magic
Dungeon Sequencing
Whoops, Forgot the Wolf

SESSION 15: THE TAINT OF GHUL
Session 15A: The Labyrinth’s Machines
Session 15B: The Ghostly Minstrel Plays
Session 15C: The Taint of Ghul

SESSION 15
Unsolved Mysteries
Tavern Time
Developing Taint

SESSION 16: LABYRINTH’S END
Session 16A: To Labyrinth’s End
Session 16B: The Sanguineous Drinker
Session 16C: The Black Centurions
Session 16D: Zavere’s Need

SESSION 16
On the Use of Collapsed Tunnels
Fair Peril
The TPK Gamble
Buying Magic Items

SESSION 17: SHILUKAR’S LAIR
Session 17A: Shilukar’s Lair
Session 17B: The Coming of Shilukar
Session 17C: Shilukar’s New Friends
Session 17D: Shilukar’s Secrets

SESSION 17
Cross-Campaign Continuity
Externalizing Tactical Interest
Roleplaying Ability Damage
Commentary on the Info Dump

SESSION 18: KEY TO THE PAST
Session 18A: Key to the Past
Session 18B: Missed Opportunities
Session 18C: The Smoke of the Foundry

SESSION 18
Beginning Act II
Gather Information vs. Knowledge (local)
Simple Dramatist Tactics: Hear the Reinforcements

SESSION 19: THE END OF SHILUKAR
Session 19A: Routing the Shuul
Session 19B: Beneath the Foundry
Session 19C: Shilukar’s End

SESSION 19
Improvising a Raid
Firewalling Player Knowledge
Meta-Knowledge & Meta-Skill

SESSION 20: PYTHONESS HOUSE
Session 20A: Funeral for a Python Viper
Session 20B: Tee and the Silver Fatar
Session 20C: Dominic and the Silver Fatar
Session 20D: The Talk of the Town
Session 20E: Into Pythoness House
Session 20F: The Ghost Appears

SESSION 20
Opportunistic Foreshadowing
Magic in the Set Dressing
The Unique Path of Actual Play
Not Available Right Now
Character Crucibles
Post-It Mapping

SESSION 21: THE SAINT’S SCHISM
Session 21: The Saint’s Schism

SESSION 21
Fictional Rituals
Fantasy Materials

SESSION 22: RETURN TO PYTHONESS HOUSE
Session 22A: Return to Pythoness House
Session 22B: Atop Pythoness House
Session 22C: Workings of the Chaos Cults

SESSION 22
Dungeon as a Theater of Operations
In-Jokes
Using Lore Books

SESSION 23: COMING OF THE CULTS OF CHAOS
Session 23A: Let Slip the Dogs of Hell
Session 23B: Binding Foul and Fair
Session 23C: Beneath Pythoness House
Session 23D: The Chaos Cultists
Session 23E: With Nought But Their Lives
Session 23F: The Pale Tower

SESSION 23
Cliffhangers
Dungeon Clues
Dungeon Cycles
The Price of Magic
Diegetic Mechanics
Detritus of the Dungeon

SESSION 24: LET SLIP THE HOUNDS OF GHUL
Session 24A: The Squire of Dawn
Session 24B: The Meeting of All Things
Session 24C: The First Hound of Ghul
Session 24D: The Second Hound of Ghul

SESSION 24
Player-Facing Mechanics
Lore Book Meetings
Back, Back to the Dungeon
Magic Item Wish Lists

SESSION 25: SECOND END OF GHUL’S LABYRINTH
Session 25A: The Second End
Session 25B: Blood on the Orrery

SESSION 25
Re-Skinning
Player-Initiated Vectors

SESSION 26: THE RIDDLE OF ILTUMAR
Session 26A: Tor’s Training
Session 26B: A Disposition of Treasure
Session 26C: The Riddle of Iltumar
Session 26D: Elestra Digs Deep

SESSION 26
Urban Splits
Treasure Logistics
Background to Foreground to Background
Counterintelligence Vectors

SESSION 27: THE SAINT OF CHAOS
Session 27A: The Midnight Meeting
Session 27B: Sights of Venom
Session 27C: The Saint of Chaos
Session 27D: The Maw Opens

SESSION 27
Missing Clues
Improvising Floorplans
Playing to the Crowd
Trigger & Stitch

SESSION 28: INTO THE BANEWARRENS
Session 28A: The Maw Beckons
Session 28B: On the Eve of the Banewarrens
Session 28C: Into the Banewarrens

SESSION 28
One Job, Multiple Patrons
Multi-Threaded Campaigns
On the Efficacy of Burning Oil

SESSION 29: INTRUDERS IN THE BANEWARRENS
Session 29A: Wraiths and Wards
Session 29B: A Knight in Mourning
Session 29C: Skirmish in the Cauldron

SESSION 29
Clever Combat
Abandoned Dungeons
Looting Consumables

SESSION 30: BREAKING OF THE DAWN
Session 30A: The Breaking of the Dawn
Session 30B: Golems & Ghouls
Session 30C: The Two Letters
Session 30D: A Plague of Wraiths

SESSION 30
Cut on the Cliffhanger
Spray Your Bullets
Honor Choice With Judo
The Undead Sequel

SESSION 31: KABEL IN HIDING
Session 31A: Kabel in Hiding
Session 31B: Vaults of Forgotten Evil
Session 31C: The Obstinate Prisoner
Session 31D: The Midnight Watch
Session 31E: Kabel’s Tale

SESSION 31
When Players Reincorporate
PC vs. PC Social Checks
Let It Ride Interrogation
Roleplaying NPC Scenes
Gore-Spattered Reactions

SESSION 32: ENTHRALLED IN OLDTOWN
Session 32A: Enthralled in Oldtown
Session 32B: Shaped by Venom
Session 32C: Enter Arveth

SESSION 32
The Traps That Move You
Death at Tier 2
Non-Combat Goals

SESSION 33: MAGGOTS & RATSBANE
Session 33A: Down the Sewer Hole
Session 33B: The Interrogation of Arveth
Session 33C: Secret Doors & Sentries
Session 33D: The Hell Hound at the Door
Session 33E: Maggots & Ratsbane

SESSION 33
Fantasy Sewers
Bond. The Opposite of Bond.
Action Schticks
NPC Spellbooks
Battles at the Door

SESSION 34: DUST OF THE OLD CITY
Session 34A: In the Dust of the Old City
Session 34B: Webs of Ambush & Betrayal
Session 34C: Back in the Tower Again
Session 34D: The Battle Turns Again

SESSION 34
A Confusion of Names
Faction v. Faction
Ornate Chokepoints
Combat Verticality

SESSION 35: BLACK FEATHERS & RESTLESS KNIGHTS
Session 35A: Birds of a Black Feather
Session 35B: Letters of Mysterious Motive
Session 35C: Ambush in the Banewarrens

SESSION 35
Withdrawing in Victory
Weaving the Background
Ambushing Your Timelines


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