Go to Red Company of Magi

AREA 1 – ENTRY HALL

The white marble floor of the entry hall is perforated with dozens of tiny holes.

PRESTIDIGITATION HALL: Anyone stepping onto the floor of this room will have dirt, grime, blood, or other filth sloughed off their bodies due to a permanent prestidigitation effect. The filth disappears down the holes in the floor.

• GM Background: The paving stones of similar function in the Temple of the Ebon Hand were commissioned from the Red Company of Magi.

AREA 2 – MAIN HALL

A cross-shaped crimson carpet runs across the width and breadth of this large hall, with one leg crossing from Area 1 to Area 9 and the other leg running from a pair of double doors flanked by statues (leading to Area 6). On the wall opposite the statues, a golden disc has been inlaid in the floor.

CARPET OF SERPENTS: The red carpet is embroidered with four snakes which twist and twine around each other. Any Red Magi can speak a command word which will cause the snakes in the carpet to become animate as fiendish giant constrictor snakes.

Fiendish Constrictors: Use giant constrictor snake stats (MM 2024, p. 351) with the following abilities:

• Devil’s Sight: The fiendish constrictor has darkvision 60 ft. which is not impeded by magical darkness.
• Damage Resistance Cold, Fire; Nonmagical Attacks That Aren’t Silvered
• Magic Resistance: The fiendish constrictor has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
• Fiendish Fangs: Bite attack is considered a magical weapon.

STATUES: One statue is of a strong, muscular man and purports to depict Vladaam, the founder of House Vladaam. The other depicts a beautiful woman in swirling robes holding an orb which glows with a faint blue light. This second statue has a plaque naming the woman Flambara of Ossyr.

• DC 16 Intelligence (History): Ossyr is the name of what was once one of the small Sea Kingdoms.
• GM Background: Flambara founded the Red Company of Magi with Aliaster in 691 IA and was his mistress. She was assassinated in 698 IA.

GOLDEN DISC: This disc displays an embossed map of the Empire, including the Whitewind and Southern Seas.

• True Seeing: Anyone looking at the disc with a see invisibility or true seeing effect will see small, glowing points of light which indicate the physical location of anyone carrying the badge of the Red Magi. Anyone touching the disc and naming someone with a Red Magi tattoo can contact them as per a sending spell and receive a response in return. Use of the disc while casting scrying on Red Magi causes inflicts a -5 penalty on their Will save against the scrying.
• Inscription: Engraved in an elegant script of Draconic around the perimeter of the disc. “A gift from the Red Company of Surveyors to our Brothers in the True Pursuit. Let us hold and send forth the eye of all knowledge.”

AREA 3 – DINING HALL

A well-worn dining hall.

CABINETS: Contain dishes, glasses, and silverware. All of that is normal, but the cabinets themselves are magical: If they are opened, telekinesis effects will set the table with a number of place settings equal to the number of people currently in the room.

CHEST OF SUSTENANCE: A simple cantrip on the large chest under the window on the south wall keeps food placed within it fresh.

AREA 4 – SUPPLY CLOSET

Contains alchemist’s supplies and spell components.

SPELL COMPONENTS: A generous supply for any spell of 5^th level or below, including:

• 100 gp pearls for identify (x12)
• lead-based ink for illusory script (100 gp worth)
• diamond dust for stoneskin and nondetection (1,500 gp worth)
• gold dust for arcane lock (300 gp worth)
• ruby dust for continual flame (600 gp worth)
• jade dust for magic mouth (100 gp worth)
• gilded skull for summon undead (300 gp)
• crushed black pearl powder for circle of death (1,000 gp worth)

AREA 5 – KITCHEN

A perfectly ordinary, well-stocked kitchen.

CELLAR DOOR: Trap door in the floor leads down to Area 24.

GM Background: The Red Magi keep trying to convince Madame Hammala (their cook and housekeeper) to let them “improve” the kitchen with various magical accoutrements. She refuses.

AREA 6 – GUILDHALL

A life-size jade statue of Kharos, God of Magic stands at the end of the hall before several rows of pews. It holds a tri-forked wand in his left hand and cradles a silver cat in the crook of his right arm. A crackling disc of blue energy three feet across stands directly in front of the statue. A basin stands in one corner of the room.

• DC 15 Wisdom: The cat is actually made from mithril and is worth 10,000 gp.

DISC OF BLUE ENERGY: A permanent floating disk on the floor in front Kharos’ statue. Anyone stepping on the disk will cause it to float 3 feet into the air.

• GM Background: Guild members will step onto the disk and become elevated while they speak to their fellow Red Magi.

BASIN OF WATER: A small basin filled with crystal clear water stands in the corner of the room. The basin is formed from the open mouth of a gaping, stylized dragon. It will purify any water placed within it, as per a purify food and water spell.

• GM Background: During guild meetings, members will ceremonially wash their face and hands at this basin before taking their seats.

AREA 7 – ARCHMAGE USTALLO

A long workbench stands along the western wall next to a low-slung divan with a hookah stand beside it. Several chests sit below the curve of the wall opposite. Two long bookshelves meet in the corner of the room beneath two paintings — one depicting a black dragon; the other a white dragon.

HOOKAH: Has 6 doses of abyss dust.

• GM Background: Ustallo is not yet addicted, but he does enjoy it.

PAINTINGS: DC 14 Intelligence (History) to recognize them as the work of Hashi, a very popular painter in the 620’s. They belong to a longer sequence known as the Chromatic Lightning, which features depictions of every type of dragon, each flying in a thunderstorm. Each painting is worth 500 gp.

BOOKS: An extensive research library on humanoid physiology. Grants advantage to diagnostic Heal checks.

SEARCH – DC 18 Wisdom (Perception): To detect a section of the wall brimming with magical potential. Pressing firmly against this magical potential causes a section of the wall to transform into a large, comfortable bed. Pressing the wall above the bed’s headboard causes the bed to re-merge with the wall.

GM Background: Archmage Ustallo also works as Guildmaster Arzan’s personal assistant.

AREA 8 – GUILDMASTER ARZAN

ALCHEMICAL LAB: A bubbling array of glass, copper, and alchemical concoctions are arrayed across two tables which fill the far wall of the chamber.

• There are notes detailing an effort to create an improved antitoxin (which would grant advantage to saving throws against poison for 1 day) based on a synthesis of chemicals found in the sting glands of a wyvern.
• DC 25 Intelligence (Alchemist’s Supplies): The entire approach is inherently flawed and was first tried by the Master Alchemist Tirnet Kal several centuries ago (although this is only detailed in obscure partial quotations from the Observations of Alchemical Reductions and the Deductions Therof, a book that was lost several centuries ago). (This check is made with a +10 bonus if the character has studied a copy of this lost work, which is available in the Complex of Zombies.)

DESK: A massive, curved desk with a high-backed chair of red velvet topped with a gold-gilted dragon stands before a broad window looking out across the front lawn of the manse.

• On the desktop are Reports from the Researchers on Crossing Street.
• SEARCH – DC 12 Wisdom (Perception): A false bottom to one of the drawers contains an iron lockbox (DC 16 Dexterity (Thieves’ Tools)). It contains 60 gp, an alexandrite (300 gp), a chrysoprase (20 gp), a white opal (6,000 gp), a red-brown spinel (80 gp), a moss agate (11 gp), and a violet garnet (800 gp).

FIRETHORN BONSAI: On a decorative table in the corner near the window, there is a bonsai tree with small, dark red fruits. This is a firethorn bonsai. At night, the fruits have the appearance of being on fire.

• GM Background: This tree was taken from a cutting of the firethorn tree on the front lawn of the manse.

SEARCH – DC 18 Wisdom (Perception): To detect a section of the wall brimming with magical potential. Pressing firmly against this magical potential causes a section of the wall to transform into a large, comfortable bed. Pressing the wall above the bed’s headboard causes the bed to re-merge with the wall.

AREA 9 – RESPITE UNDER THE STAIR

A circular table with a scarred surface and several equally well-worn chairs are gathered in the corner of the open room at the base of some stairs heading up. A silver pitcher with a mouth formed like the head of a swan sits in the middle of the table, surrounded by some wooden cups.

SILVER EWER: Magically enchanted so that it is always full of a sweet, strawberry-tinted mead.

BROKEN BOOKCASE: Stored back behind the stairs.

AREA 10 – THE LOWER TOWER

Several large crates have been stacked at the base of a spiral staircase of white sandstone.

CRATES: Contain three set of alchemist’s supplies and 20,000 gp worth of material for creating magical items.

Go to Part 13C: Magi Guildhouse – 2nd Floor

Go to Table of Contents

The Red Company of Magi is a wizard’s guild directly under the control of Aliaster Vladaam. Although relatively small by some standards, in the shadow of the Inverted Pyramid, the Red Company of Magi is one of the largest groups of organized spellcrafting in Ptolus.

The group is ostensibly dedicated to research, but the junior members of the company are deeply enmeshed into the illegal activities of the Vladaam family (providing arcane might where and when it’s necessary). The company’s dedication to research is not entirely a sham, however: The senior members of the company – referred to as “Archmages” – are often pursuing arcane research.

IMPERIUMS

Any Archmage (including Aliaster) can issue an “imperium” to a junior guild member which they must obey.

This concept, however, is also a broader invocation of the lines of authority that exist within the guild: One who has “imperium” over another in either a specific field of study; their mastery of the arcane arts; or within the guild hierarchy itself. It’s a core philosophical underpinning of the Red Magi which dates back to Flambara.

GUILD MEMBERSHIP

GUILDMASTER ARZAN

ARCHMAGES (7)

• Verack (out of town)
• Cretai
• Ustallo
• Tiant
• Imogen
• Aldyck
• Arawa (keeps a house in Rivergate)

VLADAAM MAGES (15)

• 4 at Red Company of Magi
• 3 at Curse Dens
• 1 at Red Company of Fletchers (Part 10: Dreadwood Grove)
• 2 at Red Company of Goldsmiths (night guards)
• 3 on Slave Trade Ships
• 2 at Slave Trade Warehouse

VLADAAM RESEARCHERS (8)

• 4 at Red Company of Magi
• 4 at Oldtown Apartments

DENIZENS – RED COMPANY OF MAGI

GUILD GATHERING: 10% chance that the entire guild (+5 Vladaam Mages, +2 Vladaam Researchers) are present in Area 6 for a guild meeting.

¹ Any given archmage has a 75% chance of being present.
² 50% chance that Archmage Cretai is intoxicated on abyss dust.
³ 25% chance that Archmage Arawa is present.

Vladaam Mage: Use mage stats, MM 2014, p. 347.

Vladaam Researcher: Use acolyte stats, MM 2014, p. 342.

Archmages: See Volo’s Guide to Monsters.

GUILDMASTER ARZAN

Guildmaster Arzan: Use archmage stats, MM 2014, p. 342.

• Lawful Evil
• AC 15 (18 with mage armor)
• Languages: Common, Old Prustan, Draconic, Elvish, Elder Elvish, Orcish
• War Caster: Arzan has practiced casting spells in the midst of combat. He gains advantage on Constitution saving throws to maintain concentration on a spell when taking damage. He can perform somatic components of spells even when he has a weapon or shield in one or both hands. When a hostile creature provokes an attack of opportunity from Arzan, he can use his reaction to cast a spell at the creature, rather than making an opportunity attack. (The spell must have a casting time of 1 action and must target only that creature.

Combat Equipment

• potion of healing (superior)
• wand of magic missiles
• scrolls: cone of cold (7th level), dispel magic, polymorph, wall of ice

Other Possessions: bracers of defense, ring of protection, cane, hand crossbow (20 bolts), scroll case, diamond dust (250 gp), 100 gp pearl (x2), 100 gp, Vladaam deot ring, Red Magi tattoo

Oldtown
End Street – C8

EXTERIOR

The view from the guildhouse is beautiful, directly off the edge of Dalen’s Cliffs and out across the vast expanse of southern grasslands.

MANSE: The manse itself is built of pale blue stone.

YARD: The yard is planted with ghost grass – a pale, translucent grass of remarkable strength. (A shirt woven from properly treated ghost grass is as protective as a chain shirt.)

JADE ROSES: The path leading from the street to the front of the manse is lined with jade rose bushes. (Jade roses are a dark green in color and the petals of the bloom are as hard as the stone from which they take their name.)

FIRETHORN TREE: A single tree stands a few dozen paces from End Street (as shown on the street map). At night, the small, dark red fruits of the tree had the appearance of being on fire (due to the magical evolution of the tree itself).

FRONT ENTRANCE

The front doors, located beneath an upper balcony (Area 15), are flanked to either side by a pearl golem. Each golem has the appearance of Guildmaster Arzan, except that the face is a flat, blank, polished plane.

GUILDMASTER’S EYES: These golems are synced with the current guildmaster. By uttering a command word, they can look through either or both of the golems’ eyes. When he does so, his features replace their blank faces.

Go to Part 13B: Magi Guildhouse – 1st Floor

DISCUSSING
In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 45C: Long Reign of the Sun

Ranthir was examining the magical guards laid upon the plug. Eventually he concluded that their initial suspicions had been correct: Only at night could the plug be opened. The spell was ancient, but still potent – only a powerful wish would remove the plug.

“So when we get the wish spell from Rehobath do we use it on the sealed door at the Banewarrens?” Elestra asked. “Or do we use it here?”

“I think we need to use it at the Banewarrens,” Tor said. “We know how to get through this plug. We just have to wait for dark. But there may not be any other way through the sealed door.”

“Except the key,” Tee said.

“A key that may not exist any more. Or that we may never find.”

They debated staying until nightfall and then going into the tomb. But there was trepidation about staying in the Necropolis after dark without proper preparations.

And then Tee realized that they couldn’t stay: The note they had discovered in the Temple of the Rat God describing some sort of shipment at Mahdoth’s Asylum was dated for midnight. They couldn’t afford to be trapped inside the Necropolis while that kind of known activity was happening.

A dynamic I’ve found it can be difficult to understand if you’re only familiar with linear forms of play is the mixture of pressure and opportunity created when the PCs are pursuing multiple agendas.

At the beginning of this session, for example, the PCs had just barely managed to escape from overwhelming opposition at Porphyry House. In a linear campaign or scenario, they would’ve needed to immediately turn around and attack Porphyry House again. If they were clever, they might find some new way of tackling the problem, but ultimately this would be the one and only thing available for them to do.

In this case, however, the PCs have a bunch of irons in the fire. To mix idioms a bit, they’re free to let Porphyry House simmer for a bit while they pull a different iron out of the fire. It’s a powerful dynamic because it prevents the campaign from slamming to a halt when it meets an unexpected roadblock. By exploring other options, maybe the PCs can find resources or opportunities that can remove the roadblock. Combined with something like node-based scenario design or xandered dungeons, the PCs might find some way of routing around the roadblock. When you’re playing in a system like D&D where the PCs can become much more powerful, they may just level up to a point where the roadblock ceases to be an impediment.

On the other hand, at the end of this session, the PCs are forced to put a pin in their plans to explore Alchestrin’s Tomb because they have other agendas that are demanding their attention. They need to prioritize their goals and figure out the most efficient way they can be pursued with the time and resources that they have.

Linear adventures and single-threaded campaigns, of course, can be designed to include some form of time pressure. (“You have to rescue the princess before the blood moon rises!”) What’s most notable about the multi-threaded campaign, though, is that the GM doesn’t actually have to plan this stuff. At no point in my prep, for example, did I ever say, “Ah! I’ll schedule the shipment to Mahdoth’s Asylum so that it arrives at the same time they’re checking out Alcehstrin’s Tomb!”

Because, among other reasons, I had no idea when the PCs might actually go and check out Alchestrin’s Tomb. There’s another version of reality where their assault on Porphyry House didn’t turn into a clusterfuck. In that other world, the PCs might have spent the whole afternoon burning through resources while clearing out the whorehouse, only to reach the evening and realize that they would need to deal with whatever was happening at Mahdoth’s while being severely depleted by the day’s events. Or maybe they’d realize they couldn’t shoot both barrels into Porphyry House and instead pull out early (puns intended) to conserve their resources for Mahdoth’s. Either way, those are also compelling strategic choices and consequences!

So if I’m not planning specific pressure points or forcing specific choices, what am I doing to make this happen?

1. Any time there’s an upcoming event in the campaign, whether the PCs know about it or not, I make sure to assign it a specific date and time.
2. I keep track of the passage of time.

That’s it.

When scheduling events, I notably don’t really think about how they interact with unrelated events in the campaign. I don’t need to. The various scheduled events and the actions of the PCs will naturally combine and interact with each other during play, and pressure will simply emerge organically from the mix.

This principle is a good example of how, in my experience, loosening your grip on the campaign, empowering the PCs, and actively playing the game world is actually a lot easier for the GM than trying to force a single-threaded chain of events. Partly because you don’t need to force it. Mostly because you’re no longer solely responsible for everything that happens.

The other effect of multi-threading like this, of course, is that stuff will tend to hang around. The PCs first learned of Alchestrin’s Tomb in Session 35. They tried to visit in Session 36, but got waylaid by a false crypt. Then they got waylaid by other pressing concerns for several days, only returning here in Session 45. And it won’t be until Session 48 that they can come back and actually get inside for the first time.

Can this be frustrating? Yes. But it’s a good frustration. It’s the frustration of solving a puzzle or plotting out the perfect turn in a board game. And, of course, it’s not like nothing was happening during those other sessions! During that time, the players were pursuing and achieving other goals that were important to them.

But even as they’re doing those other things, the sense of anticipation is building. Content isn’t being chewed up as soon as it’s introduced. It naturally endures, weaving its way into a more complicated narrative. It was a full year of time in the real world from when they heard about Alchestrin’s Tomb to when they actually entered into the tomb. Which meant that entering the tomb felt momentous.

Which, in turn means, that the feeling of reward when these long-lasting goals come to fruition is also greater.

This dynamic also has an interesting effect on things like the Principles of RPG Villainy. Extending the players’ relationships with villains over time just naturally gets them more deeply invested in that antagonism. The agenda pressure that naturally emerges from multi-threaded campaigns also means that truly memorable villains also just kind of naturally develop themselves. (As do relationships with faction, NPCs, and other facets of the campaign.)

Campaign Journal: Session 46A – Running the Campaign: TBD
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

SESSION 45C: LONG REIGN OF THE SUN

October 31st, 2009
The 25th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

After several long minutes, the homunculus emerged from the cloud of black pollen that blotted out much of the hill. They waited the better part of half an hour for the last of the poisonous vapor to blow away.

Mounting the hill again, they easily reached its apex. Set into the ground at the center of the stone circle they found a large iron plug etched with bronze and set into the earth. The bronze etching detailed Alchestrin’s sigil. Around the perimeter of the plug was an inscription written in characters Ranthir identified as ancient Arathian. With the aid of a spell he was able to translate the passage:

Forevermore shall the sun be my foe.

From its light I pass forever.

The doors of my realm shall not open as long as its reign lasts.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” Tor asked.

“That we can’t get in unless it’s night?” Tee said. “Yeah. I think so.”

Indeed, the plug wouldn’t move. Ranthir tried bathing the area in a magical darkness and they experimented with other coverings to block the sunlight, but none of it worked. Elestra then tried to send her homonculus down into the ground, in an effort to circumvent the plug, but they weren’t able to clearly communicate with it or determine if it had found anything.

Eventually they hunted down a shovel from a gravekeeper a fair distance away. Returning to the hill they dug down around the edges of the iron plug, only to find that it was set into a smooth-faced iron shaft that also resisted their efforts to penetrate it.

Meanwhile, Ranthir was examining the magical guards laid upon the plug. Eventually he concluded that their initial suspicions had been correct: Only at night could the plug be opened. The spell was ancient, but still potent – only a powerful wish would remove the plug.

“So when we get the wish spell from Rehobath do we use it on the sealed door at the Banewarrens?” Elestra asked. “Or do we use it here?”

“I think we need to use it at the Banewarrens,” Tor said. “We know how to get through this plug. We just have to wait for dark. But there may not be any other way through the sealed door.”

“Except the key,” Tee said.

“A key that may not exist any more. Or that we may never find.”

They debated staying until nightfall and then going into the tomb. But there was trepidation about staying in the Necropolis after dark without proper preparations.

And then Tee realized that they couldn’t stay: The note they had discovered in the Temple of the Rat God describing some sort of shipment at Mahdoth’s Asylum was dated for midnight. They couldn’t afford to be trapped inside the Necropolis while that kind of known activity was happening.

“We were just deputized, after all.”

Running the Campaign: Agenda Pressure – Campaign Journal: Session 46A
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

DISCUSSING
In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 45B: On a Hill of Corpse Flowers

Several stone sarsens jutted up from the ground, forming a rough and imperfect circle. Each of the sarsens bore the sigil of Alchestrin and were worn with age and crept-over with moss. The grass had grown tall around them, and here and there even taller plants had sprung up with broad, shiny leaves and brightly-colored flowers. More disturbingly, they could see the corpses of small animals scattered here and there around the sarsens.

A faint whiff of pungent decay wafted down the hill towards them, but they decided to brazenly ignore the animal carcasses and head straight up the hill towards the sarsens. As they drew near the circle, they could see in its center a large iron plug etched with bronze and set into the earth….

In my experience, it’s difficult to take a simple environmental hazard and turn it into compelling gameplay at the table. Not impossible. The same principles that make for compelling traps can also apply to natural hazards. I just find, without the element of human ingenuity behind the construction of a deliberate trap, that it’s harder to justify those principles.

With that being said, this session demonstrates a fundamental design principle that I find incredibly useful: If you have an environmental hazard, you can add almost literally any creature to the encounter and you’ll instantly make both the hazard and the creature more interesting.

If I had just added corpse flowers around the entrance to Alchestrin’s Tomb, it would have taken, at best, a trivial effort by the PCs to burn them away. Similarly, if they had found nothing except a coldsnake curled up on top of the iron plug, the result would have been a pretty perfunctory combat encounter. Either way, it would have been a pretty forgettable experience.

But put the two together and… Presto! You’ve got a unique experience.

This principle works, in part, because it can:

• Force target selection. Which problem are the PCs going to deal with first? (If they only have one target — or their targets are indistinguishable — then there’s no meaningful choice. As soon as you have multiple options, however, there’s an opportunity for tactical choice.)
• Create weird and unexpected interactions and/or synergies, potentially giving a fresh spin to even familiar abilities.
• Offer tactical opportunities that can be taken advantage of by either the bad guys, the PCs, or both.

You get similar results from combining multiple monsters of different types into the same encounter.

Fortunately, Tee – trying to suppress a cough that seemed as if it would rip out her lungs – spotted one of the tall, brightly-colored flowers turning towards them with an almost sadistic purpose. Making an intuitive leap she realized that the flowers – not the serpent – were the true source of the noisome plague. She shouted out a warning to the others while lurching towards the nearest flower, but her weakly-swung sword failed to produce any effect on its thick, armored stalk as she collapsed.

In this case, I hadn’t actually planned for the PCs not to realize the source of the poisonous malaise afflicting them, but it’s exactly the sort of thing that can just spontaneously emerge from encounters like this.

LOOTING BESTIARIES, REDUX

I’ve previously discussed how I’ll systematically loot bestiaries as part of the development cycle for a campaign. In this case, as I prepared Alchestrin’s Tomb, I went on a mid-campaign survey looking for stuff that would be cool to plug into the adventure:

• Corpse Flowers are from Creatures of Freeport.
• Coldsnakes are, unfortunately, from a disreputable publisher I won’t direct you towards because they scammed me.
• The iron plug and its riddling inscription is taken from the brief description of Alchestrin’s Tomb in the Ptolus)

I love RPGs with lots of high quality adventures, because those can be plugged directly into a campaign structure. But even better is an RPG with tons of modular material that can be plugged directly into scenario structures and scene structures (i.e., encounters). It’s just so much fun to go browsing through these toys, grabbing the coolest ones that catch your eye, and then seeing how they can be combined into cool stuff.

Campaign Journal: Session 45C – Running the Campaign: Agenda Pressure
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index