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This is a brief overview of the entirety of House Vladaam, including its members, citizens, business affairs, and criminal enterprises. You can use it to orient yourself as you explore and run the adventure.

LORD VLADAAM

IRISTUL VLADAAM: Leader of the Vladaams. Currently searching the world for hungerswords. (Ptolus, p. 100)

HEIRS

ALIASTER: Eldest brother. Specializes in arcane magic and alchemy.

GATTARA: Eldest sibling. Given to fits of irrational rage. She abandoned arcane studies to become a priestess of the Galchutt.

GODFRED: Younger brother. A lumbering oaf who enjoys violence.

NAVANNA: Younger sister. The de facto leader of the family in Ptolus. Mostly keeps out of the public eye.

The heirs are described in more detail in Part 2: The Vladaam Family.

HOUSE ESTATE

Vladaam is one of the smaller houses, claiming a total deot of 636 citizens. (However, it’s suspected that their actual total may be higher due to shadow members of the deot who participate in criminal activities.)

NOTABLE PROPERTIES:

The Vladaams own dozens of properties throughout Ptolus and many more through their various guilds (see below). Notable properties include:

• Vladaam Family Estate (Part 5)
• Abandoned Temple of the Great Mother (Part 6)
• Alchemical Labs (Part 7)
• Oldtown Apartments (Part 15)

PROPERTY LEASES:

If a search of a property’s deed is made at the Administration Building — DC 25 Charisma (Investigation), -1 per 5 gp of bribe, minimum DC 15 —the following ownership can be discovered:

• The ownership of any guild’s properties is generally in the name of the guild (and these guilds are recognized as being part of House Vladaam’s deot).
• The deed for the Abandoned Temple of the Great Mother is held by the Red Company of Goldsmiths.
• The Alchemical Labs are all directly owned by House Vladaam, except for the Storefront on Guilder Street (which is officially the Red Company of Alchemists).
• The Curse Dens are all owned by Marcus Corellius (Curse Den Master).
• The Oldtown Apartments are all directly owned by House Vladaam.
• The Slave Trade Warehouse is owned by Marcus Corellius (Curse Den Master).
• The Undead Shipping Warehouse is officially owned by the Guild of Silver Seamstresses (an organization that doesn’t actually exist, but pays its taxes regularly).

NOTABLE HOUSE GUILDS

The house guilds of the Vladaams are also known as the Red Companies. (The Red Company of Glaziers, for example.) The house controls a couple dozen guilds of various sizes and importance. Notable red companies are listed below.

RED COMPANY OF ALCHEMISTS

Red Company of Alchemists. Officially operating out of a building on Guilder Street, the Red Company of Alchemists maintains a network of secret alchemy labs around the city for making illicit substances. (Part 7: Alchemical Labs)

RED COMPANY OF FLETCHERS

Well-known for the distinctive black shafts of their arrows. These arrows have become particularly favored by assassins in Ptolus, although the Vladaams deny any direct connection. After all, anyone is free to purchase their guildcraft; they have no control over what they do with it after that.

The Red Company of Fletchers also maintains a black market in dreadwood arrows. They harvest the wood from an underground grove maintained by the guild. (Part 10: Guild – Dreadwood Grove)

RED COMPANY OF FOUNDERS

Publicly a guild of brass and bronze workers. In practice, however, this guild has become the focal point for Vladaam research into chaositech.

Word on the street is that the Shuul believe the Red Company of Founders is responsible for a recent theft from the Foundry. They have been unwilling to make an official complaint due to the prestige of House Vladaam, but they are currently looking to hire some mercenaries to steal their goods back. (Part 11: Guild – Founders’ Workshop)

RED COMPANY OF GLAZIERS

Essentially the only guild in Ptolus specializing in paned glass. They achieve this distinction – and the monopolistically high prices that come with it – by virtue of violently shutting down competitors. (The term “glass-shatterer” has become common slang in Ptolus for guild-on-guild violence.)

The company also supplies alchemical glassware.

RED COMPANY OF GOLDSMITHS

A small metal-working guild. The Vladaams use it to launder stolen funds and goods from their other enterprises. (Part 12: Guild – Goldsmiths)

RED COMPANY OF MAGI

This 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. (Part 13: Guild – Red Company of Magi)

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.

RED COMPANY OF SURVEYORS

This company of mapmakers rose to prominence nearly three centuries ago when they began producing incredibly detailed maps of the Teeth of Light based on the exploration ships that were sent into the southern reaches of the island chain by Yrkyth Vladaam. These charts greatly expanded trade throughout the Whitewind Sea during the decades leading up to the Great Sea War.

The Red Company of Surveyors still uses as its mark the great seal Yrkyth used when he was head of the household. It’s also said that the company was intimately involved in the creation of Yrkyth’s “Enigma Engine”. The company’s influence considerably declined following Yrkyth’s disappearance in 651 IA, but continues to be known for their accurate navigation charts.

The company’s chart-making workshop is located in Oldtown. Their apprentices work as boy messengers on the Docks, purchasing interesting chart data from docking ship captains. (Some of these apprentices are part of Part 18: Vladaam Drug Running.)

The guild uses a diamond-feather badge (representing the quills of the cartographers, but also having deeper meanings for the Brotherhood of Yrkyth).

See the Brotherhood of Yrkyth, below, and Part 14: Guild – Surveyors’ Headquarters.

RED COMPANY OF PAINTERS

Colloquially known on the streets as the “Forgers’ Guild”. They provide portraiture and murals of all kinds, but fifteen years ago they were involved in a minor scandal involving their forgeries. The company was able to successfully weasel their way out of it by claiming that the works were merely imitations and were never meant to actually deceive anyone.

RED COMPANY OF PAVIORS

Responsible for laying much of the original roadwork for Rivergate, the company still holds license for maintaining most of those paving stones and also the maintenance of the Rivergate Bridge.

A century ago, the Red Company of Paviors was involved in a scandal involving repeated sabotage of the Wings Fall Bridge. Their tolling rights for the Rivergate Bridge were stripped from them, but the Vladaams responded by getting all bridge tolls banned within the city.

OTHER ACTIVITIES

BROTHERHOOD OF YYRKYTH

The Brotherhood of Yyrkyth is a secret society founded by Yrkyth Vladaam in 600 IA. Its membership is primarily made up of the senior members of the Red Company of Surveyors and the captains of the Fleet of Iron Sails.

In the early decades of the 7^th century, the Brotherhood coordinated the gathering of arcane knowledge from the arcane isles of the Whitewind Sea using the Fleet of Iron Sails and the Red Company of Surveyors. They were also involved in the creation of Yrkyth’s “Enigma Engine” (the plans for which are still held in their secret headquarters beneath the Red Company of Surveyors). Following Yrkyth’s disappearance in 651 IA, the Brotherhood withdrew itself into a greater cloak of secrecy.

The Brotherhood is deeply tied to a variety of Vladaam activities, but is notable because none of the current Vladaam family are members. It’s a secret within a secret. However, the Brotherhood does arrange for certain arcane information gathered by the Brotherhood to be transmitted to the family for its benefit. (For example, the Brotherhood was responsible for forging the family’s connection with the dark dwarves in Catar, which resulted in the family gaining the services of the dark dwarf alchemy masters. See Part 7: Alchemical Labs.)

The sign of the brotherhood are four quills laid over each other to form the pattern of a diamond.

See Part 14: Guild – Surveyor’s Headquarters.

CURSE DENS

These dens of iniquity feature a rich drug culture mixed with strange curse magicks and gambling. (Part 8: Curse Dens)

DRUG RUNNING

The Vladaams deal primarily in three drugs. The Fleet of Iron Sails (see Part 9) is used to smuggle in Snakeweed and Abyss Dust from Freeport, while the slave trade (Part 16) is used to create Liquid Pain. (See Vladaam Drug Running.)

ITHILDIN COURIERS

The Vladaams also run one of the many companies of couriers in Ptolus. The Ithildin Couriers carry small badges of ithildin (a decorative silver that glows at night but is dull and almost invisible during the day) and are notable for three reasons: First, they operate primarily at night, a time when most other courier services are either shut down or operating at a reduced capacity. (This has also earned them the nickname of “the night couriers”.)

Second, the ithildin badges they carry provide a rudimentary form of message authentication. The message sender takes the badge and speaks a password to it. The receiver can then speak the same password and the ithildin will flash brightly.

Finally, they carry the full and brutal protection of House Vladaam. No one dares to interfere with an Ithildin Courier, and that includes the Watch.

As a result, the Ithildin Couriers are one of the most secure methods for sending a message in the city.

FLEET OF IRON SAILS

The Vladaams maintain a fleet of trade ships which are active throughout the Whitewind Sea. They are notable for their dull grey sails. The current Fleet of the Iron Sails contains 18 ships. See Part 9: Fleet of Iron Sails and Part 16: Slave Trade Ships.

Note that all ship captains of the Fleet of Iron Sails are members of the Brotherhood of Yrkyth.

SLAVE TRADE

The Vladaams are involved in the slave trade in two ways.

• The Fleet of Iron Sails – specifically the Pride of Morrain, Eye of the East, and Sarathyn’s Sail – are regularly used to transport slaves for the Ennin. These ships collect slaves from the Teeth of Light and deliver them to the Ennin Headquarters (Ptolus, p. 168).
• The Vladaams maintain a warehouse as a place where the Ennin can temporarily store slaves who are going to be sold at the Ennin Slave Market (Ptolus, p. 399). It’s used as either an overflow storage facility or as a place to move the current stock of the Slave Market if  it’s threatened by law enforcement. The Vladaams offer this service gratis in exchange for being allowed to use the slaves to process Liquid Pain (see Drug Running, above).

See Part 16: Slave Trade.

UNDEAD SHIPPING

The Vladaams maintain a black market for undead in Ptolus based out of a warehouse in the South Market. See Part 17: Undead Shipping Warehouse.

Go to Part 2: The Vladaam Family

SPOILERS FOR PTOLUS: BANEWARRENS

In Monte Cook’s Ptolus, the Vladaams are one of the noble families who rule the city. They feature prominently in the Banewarrens campaign, where they hold the Banewarrens Key in their vault (see Chapter 4 of the campaign book).

In my own Ptolus: In the Shadow of the Spire campaign, the PCs became increasingly interested in the Vladaams. In response, I developed The Vladaam Affair, a node-based mini-campaign of massively interlinked scenarios that fully describe the arcano-criminal network of the family.

You can easily incorporate The Vladaam Affair into your own run of the Banewarrens by keeping Navanna Vladaam’s involvement in those events at a high pitch. Because the Vladaams are a major faction in the city, it would, in fact, be relatively easy to incorporate this material into almost any mid-tier campaign set in Ptolus. (There are also, for example, connections to the Night of Dissolution campaign to be found here.)

These notes were developed for use in my Ptolus: In the Shadow of the Spire campaign. They’ve been adapted to 5E for use with the newly adapted release of the Ptolus sourcebook and campaigns.

My own version of Ptolus was integrated into my campaign world, where it was excised from the Empire of Tarsis and instead incorporated into a merchant empire. References to my campaign world have been stripped out to make this material easier to use for a standard Ptolus campaign (or more easily cross-converted to your own variant of the city).

The one exception is the use of the term deot, which is used to describe the total holdings and the vassal “citizens” of a noble house. The Vladaam Affair is more or less the description of the Vladaam deot, and so I found it convenient to leave references to the deot intact. The concept of the deot can be pretty easily added to a standard Ptolus campaign, or it’s easy enough to just ignore the term while running the adventure.

Even if you’re not running a Ptolus campaign, you may find The Vladaam Affair useful for any arcano-criminal conspiracy in your setting.

GETTING STARTED: INFINITE SCENARIO HOOKS

The Vladaam Affair doesn’t have an initial node (i.e., a specific scenario hook from which the rest of the scenario flows). It doesn’t even really have specific entry nodes. The deot’s design is much more organic than that, with the Vladaams affairs all being intermeshed with each other. No matter where the PCs get involved with the Vladaams, they’ll find a path of clues and leads that will lead them through the family’s entire criminal network.

Generally speaking, there are a couple ways to get the ball rolling.

Gather Information: The Vladaam Affair was originally designed for PCs who were already interested in House Vladaam and were looking to investigate their affairs. There are obviously many ways this could happen, including the Vladaam’s involvement in the Banewarrens. Once it does, you can use the information tables in Part 4 to feed the PCs information about one or more of the Vladaam’s ventures.

Scenario Hook: Alternatively, or in addition to the method above, simply pick any one of the Vladaam’s ventures and create a scenario hook pointing the PCs in that direction. At this point, the PCs may not even realize that Vladaams are involved until they start digging deeper.

• While dealing with cultists, the PCs encounter an evil mage. Investigation reveals that she was a member of the Red Company of Magi (Part 13).
• A slave escapes from a Vladaam warehouse (Part 16) and begs the PCs to help her.
• The PCs are investigating gang activity, and one of the members leads them to a curse den (Part 8).

And so forth. A few surprising scenario hooks never hurt anybody. For more on this technique, check out Juggling Scenario Hooks.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Part 1: House Vladaam
Part 2: The Vladaam Family
Part 3: Clue List
Part 4: Gathering Information

THE DEOT OF HOUSE VLADAAM
Part 5: The Vladaam Estate
Part 6: Abandoned Temple of the Great Mother
Part 7: Alchemical Labs
Part 8:Curse Dens
Part 9: Fleet of Iron Sails
Part 10: Guild – Dreadwood Grove
Part 11: Guild – Founders’ Workshop
Part 12: Guild – Goldsmiths
Part 13: Guild – Red Company of Magi
Part 14: Guild – Surveyor’s Headquarters
Part 15: Oldtown Apartments
Part 16: Slave Trade
Part 17: Undead Shipping Warehouse
Part 18: Vladaam Drug Running

ADDENDUMS
Alchemical Lorebooks
Dragonscales
5E Drugs

Numenera, the Cypher System, No Thank You, Evil!, Invisible Sun, and their respective logos are trademarks of Monte Cook Games, LLC in the U.S.A. and other countries. All Monte Cook Games characters and character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are trademarks of Monte Cook Games, LLC. Content derived from Monte Cook Games publications is © 2013-2022 Monte Cook Games, LLC.

SESSION 31B: THE VAULTS OF FORGOTTEN EVIL

November 9th, 2008
The 17th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

WORD ON THE STREET

They decided to head back to the Banewarrens and rejoin Kalerecent’s watch. On their way, however, they passed down Tavern Row. Here they found a dozen ravens perched here and there on various buildings.

“What’s going on?” Tee asked.

“Could it be the Killravens?” Ranthir said.

“I’ll find out,” Elestra said.

While the others continued on, Elestra put her ear to the street. She heard a few people talking about an incident on Tavern Row: The day before, a centaur named Unos, the owner of the Old Goose tavern, had been found murdered in the common room of his tavern at dawn.

Drowning out the affair on Tavern Row, however, were the varied reports surrounding the events at the Cathedral. There seemed to be a good deal of confusion surrounding the exact details. Public opinion was still split fairly evenly on the issue of Rehobath claiming the mantle of the Novarch, but that opinion was beginning to slowly shift in his favor.

THE EMPTY VAULTS

Elestra rejoined the others in the excavated cave outside of the Banewarrens. Kalerecent reported that everything there had been quiet during their absence, and so they headed down to continue their exploration of the farthest vaults.

Passing down a wide hall they came to a T-intersection. The narrower corridor they entered was lined with more than a half dozen of the now familiar warded doors.

One of the doors stood ajar. Inside the chamber beyond this door was a long, metal box, not unlike a lidless coffin. On each of the four corners of the coffin-like receptacle a large amethyst has been inlaid. The inside of the box was lined with six heavy leather straps, arranged in such a way as to bind someone within.

Tee was tempted by the obvious worth of the amethysts, but cautious as well. (They’d already encountered one cursed jewel in this place.) Ranthir examined them closely and determined that the gems had been used to focus several enchantments onto the inhabitant of the box. Some of these appeared similar to those found in a stasis box while others appeared to have some form magical negatement as their purpose.

“Would these enchantments have held Tavan Zith’s abilities in check?” Tee asked.

“Yes, I think so,” Ranthir said. “But they’re harmless now. The spells were broken and the magical energy has dissipated.”

That’s all Tee needed to hear. She pried out the valuable gemstones and dropped them into her bag of holding.

They went back out into the hall. A careful examination of the remaining doors revealed that the wards on one of them had been broken. They opened this door to reveal an empty vault with a large, circular depression in the center of the floor. This depression was filled with water and large patches of the rest of the floor were damp as well.

Tee discovered runes worked into the inner edge of the circular depression and Ranthir was able to identify them as part of enchantments designed to bind something to both the material and ethereal planes. He hypothesized that this chamber might have been used to contain the ethereal-shifting, blue-skinned troll-spawn they had fought before.

THE VAULTS OF FORGOTTEN EVIL

After a brief debate they decided to break open the remaining vaults. Opening the first of these released a blast of chilled air. A large block of ice filled the center of the room, extending from the floor to the ceiling. A careful inspection of this ice revealed that it was laced with thin filigrees of golden thread and Ranthir was able to discern that these threads were minutely etched with tiny runes. Unfortunately, he had no idea what purpose the threads or runes might serve. Large bulbous shadows could be seen within the ice, although making out any sort of detail was quite impossible. When Ranthir was satisfied that he had learned all that he could learn (which was little), he stepped back. Tee started blasting away at the ice using her dragon pistol.

After only a couple of shots, the ice had already cracked badly. Tee lined up her third shot—

—and the ice shattered! A slimy, writhing tentacle burst free. It was followed moments later by more. Tee fired blindly into the ice and then the creatures within were free.

There were three of them – blobs of soft tissue and pulsating gray matter; long tentacles writhing in levitative air; numerous, bulbous, yellow, feral eyes and befanged mouths scattered haphazardly within the folds of flabby flesh.

Tor, who had been standing on guard, dashed forward and slashed his sword across the eye of one. Tee, switching her dragon pistol to her side, drew her sword and lunged forward – stabbing through the eye of another and feeling the familiar thrill of it (although this eye was larger than most).

And then Agnarr stepped forward and with a single mighty swing his flaming greatsword cleaved its way through all three of the creatures in a single blow.

As each died in a deflating, wet heap of protoplasmic flesh, a wave of horrific terror swept across them – but each, in their own fashion, found a way to steel their soul against it.

Elestra, thinking of the wraiths they had fought before, took the time to burn the corpses thoroughly.

THE VAULT OF THE PAIN DEMON

They broke the wards on the next door, finding a vault not dissimilar in character but smaller than the last, with a pillar of ice suspended between floor and ceiling.

From a slightly safer distance, Tee again used her dragon pistol to blast away at the ice. Obviously her shots were disrupting whatever magicks had been laid upon the ice because it was not long before the shadowy form within began to shift and move.

As the ice began to crack, waves of hate-filled pain radiated from it. Grimacing against the pain, Tee continued firing. The demon trapped within finally burst free. Its skin was a glistening ebony. Its eyes were a blood-red crimson. Its mouth was a toothless maw with razored lips. Chains were fused about its wrists, each animate with hatred.

As it came free, Tee fired a shot, but it ricocheted harmlessly off the demon’s chitinous shell. The creature howled and the waves of psychic pain battering them seemed to intensify.

Ranthir recognized the thing: It was a naturally demonic creature. Its chains had been soul-bound to its demonic essence – binding its own pain sympathetically and allowing it to reflect that essence back in the psychic waves which were assaulting all of them (although Ranthir tasted only the edge of it from his relatively safe haven in the hall).

Agnarr and Tor had fallen back before its first assault – the waves of pain overwhelming their minds and the animate chains harrying their defenses – but now they rallied, pushing it farther and farther down the length of the narrow chamber. Step by step the pain demon was forced back.

Agnarr suffered grievous wounds from the chains – the cold pain of them numbing his limbs. And the assault of primal pain was strengthening. Those nearest the creature could feel it now as both a psychic and physical thing. The manifestation of pain itself was intense enough to open cuts upon their bodies.

In the end, they were able to beat the creature down.

Tor was left with a single, dramatic cut upon his cheek… But Agnarr welcomed the warming touch of Dominic’s healing.

THE CHITTERING SWARM

The next few vaults proved to be empty. There were no signs that they had even been used.

But then they unleashed the demon swarm.

As the ice of this third vault shattered, the chittering creatures boiled out. Agnarr and Tor had held the chokepoint of the door, but it mattered little as the creatures swarmed around them in every direction.

They found it difficult to fight the swarm. There was a pervasive aura around the dozens of demonlings that seemed to muddle their minds and the tiny creatures would hop from place to place, crawling over them and slipping into their clothes and armor. Some even tried to pry their way into mouths.

Tee fired several blasts ineffectively into the carpet-like mass of demonlings and then fell back before their indomitable advance. The party, in general, split awkwardly in two – with some retreating one way down the hall and others retreating in the other.

The creatures, despite their small size, had vicious claws that ripped and tore as they leaped and scuttled here and there in a chaotic, eddying swirl of motion. And the party discovered, to their horror and disgust, that the creatures were exuding some sort of unnatural black thread – iron-like in strength and binding to the wounds they dealt. The demonlings were literally stitching their limbs together.

Seeaeti howled in pain. Dominic quickly found himself mobbed by the creatures and rendered almost immobile within a cocoon of their black thread.

Ranthir poured flame from his hands and this had some limited success, but still the creatures came. Elestra called down bolts of lightning from thin air, but the demonlings seemed to dance around the scorching blasts.

They were going to be overwhelmed.

“Run!” Ranthir cried.

Elestra did. The others dived for cover.

A bead of fire flew from the tip of Ranthir’s finger into the midst of the chittering swarm. It blossomed into a ball of flame…

And in its wake were left the charred and stinking corpses of the demonlings.

Agnarr stepped forward and put the last of the little fiends out of their well-deserved misery.

This, however, still left them with the difficult task of undoing the demonic, black thread that had been sewn randomly across their bodies. Tee tried to simply rip her way free, but this opened some grievous wounds that sent black spots dancing across her vision.

They started carefully cutting each other free of the stuff. Only Elestra seriously botched this procedure, ripping a gaping wound in Dominic’s side. (The others dissuaded her from helping them with their own extrications.)

THE ABANDONED CAVES

They had now explored this entire section of the Banewarrens and made it as secure as they could (largely by killing everything in sight). Without passing through the sealed door, there was nothing else for them to do here. And so they were left with waiting for the emergence of whatever creature had slipped through the door before Kalerecent had shut it.

They decided to complete their explorations of the caves in which they had fought the umber hulk. Some of them were anticipating the possibility that the creature had returned (affording them with an opportunity to finish it off), and although others were skeptical that it would, if nothing else, eliminate the possibility of a second, unknown entrance to the Banewarrens.

It was an easy matter to return to the caves. Pushing farther into their depths, the group spotted a second passage that had been concealed by a boulder. A little distance further on, Tee saw that the passage they were in opened up into a larger chamber and that, out of that chamber, a second passage appeared to turn in the same direction as the concealed passage behind the boulder.

“Why would it put these boulders everywhere?” Elestra asked.

“I don’t know,” Tee said. But she decided to head down into the larger chamber to see if it did, in fact, meet up with the concealed passage in the way that it appeared to…

And narrowly avoided falling into a pit of loose gravel as it suddenly gave way beneath her feet.

From that they concluded that these boulder-hidden passages had been used by the umber hulk to bypass the traps and snares that it had laid out for the unwary.

With grunts of exertion, Tor and Agnarr managed to leverage the boulder out of the way and they headed down the passage it had concealed.

In the twisting passages beyond they found what appeared to be the creature’s lair: A large bed of stone had been crudely constructed in one corner of a cave in which other stones had been arranged and shaped towards some strange purpose.

“Could it be some form of art?” Ranthir said.

Tee briefly considered the possibility of taking this “umber hulk statuary” and selling it, but she eventually decided that there was unlikely to be any sort of meaningful market for it. Certainly no market worth hauling around several tons of stone for. “I might be able to hustle it… But it’s just not worth the effort.”

Hidden behind some cleverly arranged stones in another corner of the cave they found a surprisingly rich stash of gemstones and gold.

In the next cave they discovered the creature’s “larder”. A horrible stench permeated the air and the walls were slick with moisture. In a low spot near the center of the cave was assembled a grisly, bloody mess: The partially dismembered corpse of a goblin and a half-devoured corpse, greenish white with bloating and decay, that looked as if it might have once belonged to a man.

Tee was disgusted by the sight and wanted no part of it. But as she turned to leave, Agnarr stopped her. “Aren’t you going to search the cave?”

Tee bluffed him into thinking that she had already searched the bodies, but the others eventually convinced her that she should.

“There might be some sort of identification,” Elestra pointed out. “We could let people know what happened to him.”

Tee sighed and started searching.

“Wait,” Agnarr said. “I thought she already searched them?”

“I’m just making sure I didn’t miss anything.”

“Oh. Okay.”

There were no identification papers, but the man was carrying a small coin purse drenched in sickly decay. Tee left it where it lay.

Running the Campaign: PC vs. PC Social Checks  – Campaign Journal: Session 31C
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

DISCUSSING
In the Shadow of the Spire – Session 31A: Kabel in Hiding

This is a trap. Head to Pythoness House, a manor house overlooking the King’s River Gorge in Oldtown. I will contact you there. Go now. They are coming.

Creative elements — characters, locations, actions, items, etc. — can manifest in a roleplaying game through:

• Introduction, when an element first appears.
• Repetition, when an element reappears.
• Reincorporation, when an element reappears in a new context and/or with connections to other pre-existing elements.

The distinction between repetition and reincorporation is a finicky one, and arguably often doesn’t have any practical effect. But the key thing we’re talking about here is setup and payoff.

It is narratively satisfying to our “evolved to deliver a dopamine hit whenever we identify cause-and-effect” brains when we recognize patterns and see the connections. We’re hardwired to fundamentally believe that the world makes sense, and that’s why we find deus ex machina so unsatisfying. (Plus, the payoff makes it clear we weren’t just wasting our time watching the first half of the film.)

There’s a whole gaggle of writing and improv techniques you’ll find clustered around this concept. You’ve got Chekhov’s Gun (if you make a big deal about something at the beginning of the story, it should have a payoff at the end) and the Rule of Three (you set it up, you remind the audience of what you set up, you get the big payoff by bringing it back a third time). All kinds of stuff.

Of course, the advantage a writer of a novel or movie has is that they can go back and revise the script to setup the stuff they need: If Jayhawk needs a gun in the final scene, for example, they can go back and hang it above the mantlepiece.

In a roleplaying game, though, you can’t go back and insert the gun. (Unless you’ve got a time machine. And if you have a time machine, please get in touch.) This is why it’s usually more useful to draw our inspiration from improv theater techniques, and think primarily in terms of:

• What has already been established in the fiction?
• How can I use those elements to fulfill my current creative needs?

(Unlike pure improv, though, the GM’s scenario design does afford some opportunity to plan ahead. So don’t discount that entirely.)

You can see this, for example, in the Principles of RPG Villainy, where simply asking, “Instead of a new villain, is there an existing villain I can use again?” can add great depth to your campaign.

Another way of thinking about this is that, each time you reuse an element of the campaign world, you are building up the players’ (and PCs’) relationship with that element. It’s kind of like applying lacquer. It’s all about the layering.

You’ll usually not even know what all those layers are adding up to. The mere act of adding the layers is enough. You’ll find the destination once you get there.

The flip side of this technique begins when you first introduce the element. A key trick here is making sure you drop enough specific detail so that you CAN reincorporate that element in the future. This doesn’t have to be a lot. In fact, to start out with, you may not need anything more than a label. For example, when the PCs go shopping for supplies, make a point of giving the shopkeep a name.

The name gives you handle that you can grab. If you don’t give the shopkeep a name, you won’t be able to easily refer to them as being the same shopkeep the next time the PCs go shopping.

Of course, giving the shopkeep a name doesn’t obligate you to reincorporate them in the future. There’ll probably be lots of random details that get scattered into your campaign that will never be revisited. That’s just fine.

WHEN PLAYERS REINCORPORATE

As you make a point of establishing these handles, though, you’ll likely discover that the players also start picking them up.

You can see a very large example of that in this session, as the PCs decide to offer Pythoness House — which they know to be long-abandoned — as a safehouse for Sir Kabel and his knights. But you’ll see it at every scale of interaction: They might choose to specifically go to that shopkeep you mentioned. Or hit up an NPC they met a half dozen sessions ago for a favor in solving their current problem.

Or it might even be a blink-and-you-miss-it reference in casual conversation.

If you’re a player reading this: Do more of this! You’re helping to make the campaign something more than the sum of its parts, gently tugging it into a comprehensive whole.

As a GM, when this happens, you’ve basically got two responsibilities:

First, get out of the way. For example, I had a different idea in mind for Sir Kabel’s plans. I could have easily had Sir Kabel say something like, “Thanks for the offer, but I have other plans!” But that would obviously be a terrible idea.

This is largely just another example of default to yes, but I find it to be particularly vital here. Reincorporation is a really important way of giving meaning to events. (Pythoness House is available to serve as a safehouse because you cleared it out.) It’s also a great way of demonstrating that the game world is persistent; that it continues to exist even when the PCs aren’t looking at it. (Pythoness House didn’t cease to exist the minute you looked away from it.) So unless you have a strong reason not to embrace reincorporation, you should try to avoid stripping your campaign of meaning and verisimilitude.

Second, lean into it. If a player cares enough about a past event, person, place, or thing to spontaneously attempt to re-engage with it, they’re sending a clear signal that it resonated with them. Maybe they like it. Maybe they hate it. Regardless, it mattered to them. It interests them. So take your cue and run with it:

• Drop that location into your campaign status document so that it can develop over time.
• Next time, have that NPC reach out and initiate contact with the PCs (instead of vice versa).
• Flesh out that shopkeep with a universal NPC roleplaying template or some sort of unique twist to their merchandise; or maybe use them as an adventure hook.

In the case of Pythoness House, I just needed to completely embrace Sir Kabel’s use of the location: Not just a safehouse for tonight and a meeting place for tomorrow, but the headquarters of the Imperial Church loyalists during their rebellion against Rehobath’s false-novarchy.

A one-and-done dungeon would now be a major centerpiece for the entire next phase of the campaign.

Thanks, players!

Campaign Journal: Session 31B – Running the Campaign: PC vs. PC Social Checks
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index

SESSION 31A: KABEL IN HIDING

November 9th, 2008
The 17th Day of Kadal in the 790th Year of the Seyrunian Dynasty

After leaving the Banewarrens they went first to the Temple of Asche. There they had the wraiths’ malaise cleansed from their bodies. Then they crossed the Temple District to the Imperial Cathedral, hoping to claim Brother Heth Neferul’s promise of covering their expenses.

They were looking for healing resources – divine energy reservoired into wands or healing totems. Unfortunately, as Heth explain to them, such resources were not available in a limitless supply – not even from the Church. However, they were able to obtain three such wands for a minimal tithing.

From there they returned to the Ghostly Minstrel. Tee took a brief detour to the Delvers’ Guild offices in the Undermarket to see if “Laurea” had received any messages from the cultists, but she had not.

When Tee joined them in Elestra’s room, Tor once again raised the idea of having Dominic assassinate Rehobath.

“We shouldn’t be saying that in front of everyone,” Tee said.

“We shouldn’t be saying that in front of each other,” Dominic said with a worried look.

Tor nodded. “You never know who might be listening.”

“That’s true,” Shim said, slipping through the wall. He looked at Tor. “Are you okay with me talking in front of them?”

Tor nodded. “Go ahead. Anything you can say to me you can say to them.”

“All right,” Shim said. “My man found Kabel. He’s at a place called Nadar’s Pub in Rivergate. It was tough. He was well hidden. In fact, the only reason we knew he was there was because Sir Gemmell knows where he is. The Order of the Dawn is assembling a posse out of the Godskeep to arrest him.”

Tor’s heart sunk. The letter from Sir Kabel had been real. He’d unwittingly betrayed him.

“Kabel sent you answer: ‘I am glad that the eyes of Vehthyl see clearly. Such sight will be needed in the morning light.’”

No one said anything for a long moment.

“Do you want me to do something more?” Shim asked.

Tor shook his head slightly, deep in thought. “I shouldn’t go there.”

“No,” Tee agreed.

“I could go,” Elestra said. “I could transform into a bird and fly there with a message.”

Shim took his cue and bowed out. “I shouldn’t be hearing this.” He slipped back into the wall and disappeared.

(“How do we know he’s not still listening to us?” Dominic asked. “We don’t,” said Tee.)

They eventually agreed that Tor should write a letter and have Elestra deliver it.

This is a trap. Head to Pythoness House, a manor house overlooking the King’s River Gorge in Oldtown. I will contact you there. Go now. They are coming.

“Should we tell him about the evil ghost?” Elestra asked.

“He’ll figure it out,” Agnarr said.

Elestra called upon the Spirit of the City, allowing it to flow into her body and transform it into the shape of a crow. When the transformation was complete, they tied Tor’s message securely to her leg and opened the window.

ESCAPE FROM NADAR’S PUB

Elestra flew straight to Nadar’s Pub, covering the distance to the Rivergate District quickly through the air. She took a moment to circle above it and then landed on the ledge outside the front window.

Peering inside she saw the barkeep tending to two customers. Clearly the mid-afternoon trade was slow.

There was no sign of Sir Kabel, but that made sense. It was unlikely that a hunted man would be supping openly in a public tavern.

Elestra flew around to the back. She found the kitchen window open and peeked in: There were several shelves packed with various foodstuffs, a modest cast iron stove, a pump for water, and a large fireplace for roasting. There was also a pair or large cellar doors set at an angle into the floor.

Elestra cautiously flew into the kitchen, tapped lightly on the cellar doors, and then flew back up to her kitchen window perch. She waited several minutes. There was no answer.

Elestra was still thinking over her next course of action (should she turn back into human form? but if she did that how would she get out again?) when the barkeep came into the kitchen to fill a pitcher of water.

She waited until he left and then flew back down to the cellar doors again. She tapped louder this time and then hopped up onto a nearby shelf to wait.

A few moments later, Elestra heard the cellar doors being unbarred from the far side. One of the doors was eased open and an armed woman looked out. (Elestra didn’t recognize her, but Tor later identified her as Sera Nara.)

Not immediately seeing anyone, Nara emerged cautiously into the kitchen. Elestra seized her opportunity: Swooping past Nara she flew down into the cellar. There she found Sir Kabel and two other knights sitting around a small, well-worn table.

Elestra landed in the center of the table and cocked her head towards Sir Kabel, trying to look as innocent and harmless as possible. Sera Nara came rushing back down the stairs. One of the other knights turned to Kabel with a quizzical look on his face. “Why would Killraven be contacting you?”

“I don’t think it’s one of hers,” Kabel said. “It’s too small to be a raven.”

Kabel reached out and untied the note from Elestra’s claw. He unrolled it and read it, his face drawing immediately into lines of concern. He looked up sharply. “Gather your things now. We have to go.”

As the others grabbed their weapons and several large packs, Kabel looked at Elestra. “Thank you, whoever you may be.”

Kabel and his knights headed up the stairs and out the kitchen door. Elestra flew up and watched them head south towards Oldtown, following them long enough to be certain of where they were heading. Then she turned back and circled high above the pub for about fifteen minutes, waiting to see if there would be any sign of covert pursuit or the like.

She saw nothing. Turning east she flew towards the Temple District. As she was passing over the bluffs she spotted them: Sir Gemmell leading a war party of twelve mounted knights up the Wash Street ramp.

Veering aside, she followed them from above. She watched as they surrounded Nadar’s Pub. Sir Gemmell rode forward and called out in a loud voice, demanding that Kabel surrender.

A few moments later the door of the pub swung open. The barkeep yelled out that no one by that name was in the pub. Sir Gemmell gave a sharp gesture and two his knights dismounted and entered the pub. Several minutes later they emerged with no result.

Gemmell and several more knights dismounted. Angry words began to be exchanged… and that’s when the watchmen arrived. From her height, Elestra couldn’t hear what was being said, but a few moments later Gemmell – clearly furious – mounted his horse and rode off, heading back towards the Temple District.

Elestra followed the knights long enough to be fairly certain that they were heading back to the Cathedral and then winged it back to the Ghostly Minstrel.

Returning to her room, where the others had been anxiously awaiting her, Elestra let the Spirit of the City depart her. Her body resumed its natural form.

She quickly explained what she had done and what she had seen. Tor embraced her at the news that they had (just in the knick of time) averted disaster. A weight of guilt had been lifted from his conscience.

Running the Campaign: When Players Reincorporate  – Campaign Journal: Session 31B
In the Shadow of the Spire: Index