The Guilty Will Not Judge Themselves (Class: Seraph)

    This post is intended for Vayra's Cannibal Kings setting. Thanks for the inspiration.

Seraph

The High King rules over all, even the Petty Kings. He lets the other Kings war amongst each other as long as they follow two simple rules: 1) recognize him as the ultimate Kingly authority and 2) prevent the spread of Kinghood to those unworthy to have it (also known as peasants). The High King mostly leaves his vassals alone, trusting them to follow his mandates. Except, for, y’know, maintaining an organization of secret operatives that keep watch on the Kings and prevent the spread of Kinghood through assassination.

The seraphs of the High King are his agents within the Arcadian kingdoms, rooting out potential Kings and killing them before they start to cause unrest. They operate completely alone, receiving dream-messages* from the High King whenever they are needed. The process of selecting a seraph is unknown, as is whoever is making the decisions involving their training; what is known is that all who know the seraph disappear or die, leaving no one aware of their past identity.

Seraphs also bypass the Petty Kings' authority, and, in one rare case, were allowed to kill one. Obviously, this means the seraphs aren’t popular with the lesser Kings, and if they are found they will be tortured and consumed by the Petty Kings.

Jongmin Ahn
One of these people is a seraph. But who?

Starting Equipment: 2 disguises [decided below]. 1 medium melee weapon. Bow and 20 arrows.

Starting Skill [d4]: Deception, Persuasion, Intimidation, Stealth,

Level 1: Identify, Hidden Ways, +1 HP,

Level 2: Answer To No One, Advantageous,

Level 3: Observant, +1 HP,

Level 4: Schemer, +1 AB,

Identify

You are trained in the ways of recognizing cannibals, ghouls, and potential Kings. A seraph can do this by looking at a person’s teeth, which grow sharp and durable after eating human flesh. As a premier King-hunter, you have a [templates]-in-6 chance of instantly identifying a potential King upon meeting them. You also have Advantage on every roll related to finding out if someone is a potential King.

Hidden Ways

You have [templates] hidden Inventory Slots. Items in these hidden Inventory Slots can’t be discovered unless you want them too.

Answer To No One

You aren’t affected by Kings’ Majesty Dice, although it might be in your best interest to act like you are. You can still be commanded by the High King.

Advantageous

You always seek an advantage over your opponents. Whenever you have Advantage, you roll three times and take the higher number.

Observant

Seraphs are patient. They gather information, wait, and strike their target with deadly efficiency. The number of facts you gather about a target is written as [facts]. You can’t have more than 3 facts, and they must be something you couldn’t find out from looking at a snapshot of the target. When you try to hit the target, subtract [facts] from their armor class; this is their new armor class, which only applies to your attacks.

Schemer

Seraphs rely on elaborate traps and schemes to ensnare their (possibly quite powerful) opponent. Once per rest, you may declare that you have laid a trap for your opponents. The trap can have two of the following characteristics:

• Lasts for 1d6+1 rounds.

• Causes 2d8 damage.

• Begin an effect (poisoned, stunned, incapacitated, etcetera)

Mike Chan
A Seraph

d6 Disguises

1. The Criminal. You have rough clothing and a dagger.

2. The Merchant. You have fine clothing and a log of mundane transactions.

3. The Servant. You have fine clothing and a bottle of wine.

4. The Soldier. You have a military uniform of your choice and a shield.

5. The Traveler. You have traveler’s clothing and a walking stick.

6. The Villager. You have rough clothing and a farming implement.

*No one knows how the High King does this, but in every single dream, crows appear. Whatever the hell that means.

The Heroes of Gralion - Session 1

Vincenzo Riccardi
The Dragon is coming...

The Party

• Earna Thorne (Level 1 Fighter). A grizzled house-shield of Brocdwell, Earna is strong but envious.
• Kingsley of Brocdwell (Level 1 Fighter). A ranger who hunts in the Black Forest, Kingsley is perceptive but lazy.
• Father Wesley (Level 1 Cleric). A sword cleric who travels the land slaying monsters for money. Father Wesley is fearsome but greedy.
• Mother Wren (Level 1 Cleric). An old lady and a sword cleric, Mother Wren is fast but cruel. She has 1 HP.

The Prelude

    The Dragon has awoken from his century-long slumber and is now terrorizing the kingdom of Gralion. Terrible creatures are crawling out of Fire Mountain, including drakes (basically kobolds), drakehounds, and skorns, eight-foot tall draconic spellcasters. The king sent his four greatest knights, the Paladins, to stop the Dragon, armed with the legendary shield Artus, which is immune to the Dragon's dreaded flame.

    The Paladins disappeared upon entering Fire Mountain, so the king put together a secondary, lesser team composed of Earna (his childhood friend), Kingsley (the best tracker in the Black Forest), Father Wesley (a local folk hero), and Mother Wren (Arloch's old nanny who he wanted to get rid of).

    They are the kingdom's best hope last hope.

The Session

    The Last Hope sets off from Lindum, the capital of Gralion. After debating between the Black Forest and the port city of Valburn, the Last Hope decides to head to Valburn. On their way there, the party spots a fancy looking carriage being robbed by a dozen bandits. Hoping to get gold and more valuables, the group sets into action. Kingsley sneaks by the bandits and sets himself up atop a tree, before shooting one straight through the head with his bow. Mother Wren charges into the middle of the bandits and is stabbed to death. Father Wesley intimidates some of the bandits by bashing in the skull of one of their fellows, causing some of them to flee. Finally, Earna kills two bandits and rescues the noblewoman trapped in the carriage.

    The noblewoman introduces herself as Aldora of House Belle. She gives them each a single copper piece for rescuing her, but the cleric demands more. She relents and gives them a second copper piece. The group escorts Aldora to Valburn, but find the city burning; two massive armies, one composed of the house-shields of House Fisc and the other composed of half-draconic flesh abominations.

Jacob Portillo
The Drakes of Fire Mountain

    The group hurries into the port-town, where Father Wesley steals the coin satchel from Aldora and threatens to kill her. Swearing revenge, Aldora flees. The group notices that the denizens of Valburn look sickly and discover that a sickness has hold of the city. Father Wesley visits the local church of Aeon and reads there about the ways to kill the Dragon. Long ago, the first king of Gralion slew Maw, a colossal dragon. From its body the king created four draconic artifacts: the shield Artus (lost in Fire Mountain), the sword Lankyr (currently missing in the northern highlands), the dagger Marlian (possessed by the mage Marigold), and armor Morgded (in the treasure horde of the Dragon). As Wesley is reading, Earna and Kingsley get drunk at the local tavern. Kingsley catches the sickness and starts violently vomiting.

    The Last Hope decided to venture to Fire Mountain, recover Artus and Morgded, and somehow use those to slay the Dragon. As the group continues to Fire Mountain, they stop at a village to rest one evening. The small hamlet is empty of people, but Kingsley could here screams coming from the woods around the village. He investigates, only to find himself pushed into a ring of ancient stones, where he is confronted by an eight-foot tall skorn and its two drake minions. He is sacrificed to the Dragon amid the terrified whispers of the townsfolk of the village, who seek to placate the dragon through human blood.

    Father Wesley breaks into a lonesome cottage near the village and discovers a spellbook. Suddenly, an old man appears at the doorway of the cottage." What have you got there?"

Notes

    For the beginning of this campaign (Four-shot? Five-shot?) I am running Our Is The Kingdom by Old Raging Barbarian. I am testing out a new OSR system for this campaign, which I might post about if anyone shows any remote interest.

Land of Wolves - Session 2

 

Lev Vladimir Goriansky, 1938

The Party

• Odysseus (Level 1 Assassin / Level 1 Ghoul). An elf and the last member of the Company of the Blue Banner. Two weeks ago, he became a ghoul and traveled to Northpoint, the center of Church power in Wolfland. He has now been caught by Archpriest Vlad.
• Maurice (Level 1 Dwarf Fighter). A dockside mercenary hired by Archpriest Vlad as the muscle of the group.
• Nina (Level 1 Human Traditional Wizard). Nina's family has served Vlad for centuries. She is here to contribute magic to the plan.

The Prelude

    The party is called before Vlad, a vampire archpriest of the Church of the Authority. He says his most powerful religious rival, Cardinal Ricardo, is leaving for the main continent in two days. He needs the party, who can operate under the nose of the Church, to sneak into the Castle of Saint Alberto, abduct the Cardinal, escape to the docks of Northpoint, board the ship The Authoriy's Wings, and deliver him to a secure location on the south coast of Wolfland. Unfortunately, Cardinal Ricardo has hired the Order of the Beetle, an organization of vicious foreign mercenaries, to protect him and enforce the Church's laws on the chaotic streets of Northpoint. 

    If the party didn't comply, Vlad would kill Maurice and Nina and expose Odysseus as a ghoul to the common folk of Northpoint. He promised them each one hundred gold (which in my setting is equivalent to one million dollars).

    They have forty-eight hours. Go.

The Session

    Day 1. The party spends the first twelve hours of Day 1 arguing over the plan in the Sober Monk Inn and Tavern. Eventually, the group settles on a plan to capture the Cardinal. Nina approaches the innkeeper and seduces him, bringing him upstairs to question him on the layout of the town. She learns that the walls are scalable if dry. She later purchases one dose of sedative from a unscrupulous looking seller.

    Meanwhile, Odysseus goes around collecting the scant information about the Order of the Beetle, formulating ways to more efficiently kill them. He also buys around one hundred feet of rope and a grappling hook.

    Maurice gets a custom-built grappling crossbow built by the greatest craftsman in Northpoint and secures a boat tour on the river around the castle by bribing a fisherman named Dan. Their plan coming together, the party rests in the Sober Monk Inn, dreaming of castles and coins.

    Day 2. The group gets up at sunrise and haves some breakfast, with Maurice making sure to drink lots of beer. He talks to some of his contacts on the docks and gets bloody three guard uniforms.

    That night, Maurice, Nina, Odysseus, and Dan sail around the castle, stopping at its eastern wall. Odysseus silently kills and cannibalizes Dan. All three of the party put on their bloody guard costumes and - using the grappling crossbow, rope, and the grappling hook - climb to the top of the wall.

    The trio then grapple onto a third floor window, and stumble into the Cardinal's study. Nina searches the room and finds the Cardinal's signet ring. Maurice and Odysseus ambush and accidently kill the Cardinal's elderly butler. The soon-to-be kidnappers walk into a long corridor with an unlocked iron door at the end. Pushing open the creaky iron door, the group faces a deadly member of the Order of the Beetle.

    A fight commences and the Beetle gets his massive axe stuck in the castle stone. The group takes many potshots at him, and Maurice eventually manages to kill him. Taking the exoskeleton armor, Maurice and his crew loot the Cardinal's private chapel. Odysseus manages to find a blackened iron key, which he pockets.

    The group explores the rest of the floor and find the Cardinal sleeping in his lavish bedroom. Nina administers the sedative and the Cardinal falls unconscious. She searches the room and finds a secret passage behind a painting. Inside is a small, locked chest. Finding a small key on the Cardinal, she unlocks the chest and finds a medium-sized metal orb. She pockets the orb and escapes towards the window. Odysseus, carrying the Cardinal, and Nina grapple down to the shoreline.

    Maurice drunkenly stumbles out the window and plummets towards his almost-death; the exoskeleton armor saves him and cracks all over. A guard approaches him and he, dressed as a Beetle, says he saw intruders trying to kidnap the Cardinal on the third floor. The guard salutes him and rushes towards the third floor, gathering his comrades along the way.

    Maurice walks out the front gate and joins the two other kidnappers in the boat, where they sail off to the docks and board The Authority's Wings and travel to the secure location.

Note

    I used Skerples' Kidnap the Archpriest for this adventure.

Land of Wolves - Session 1

John Constable, 1829

The Party

• Lawrence the Great (Level 1 Human Fighter). A mercenary and the leader of the trio of adventurers.
• Odysseus (Level 1 Elf Assassin). A cowardly elven explorer.
• Ozark Dark (Level 1 Dwarf Thief). A dwarven treasure seeker.

The Prelude

    The party is all that's left of the Company of the Blue Banner, a mercenary company hired by the Church of the Authority in their takeover of Wolfland, an island north of the main continent. For two years, the Northern Crusade has pushed back the Northlander pagans, "justly" burning their villages and slaughtering their families.

    A certain stretch of coast had been protected by an ancient fortress built into the crags. The Company of the Blue Banner was assigned to take out the fortress and its garrison. After six failed assaults, the company wizard (a magic-user who specialized in diseases) cast a deadly blood plague upon the building. The wizard was killed in the next assault and his book was confiscated by the Northlander warriors.

    The three remaining Company members are tasked with killing the garrison, securing the fortress, and rescuing three Monks of the Illuminating Pyre. They are supposed to meet up with a Church ship on the shore to be taken to the nearest Church military base.

The Session

    Deciding not to go through the front entrance, Ozark and his companions enter through the sewer beneath the fortress. Inside the sewer tunnel, they encounter a large diseased wolf, who, before being killed, spreads the blood plague to Odysseus.

    They burst through the floor into a prison cell containing the half-eaten corpse of a Monk of the Illuminating Pyre. After remembering that magic-user's organs can be consumed for magic, the trio begins a gluttonous feast on his flesh. Odysseus gains the spell Wall of Fire, Lawrence gains the spell Fireball, and Ozark gains the spell Ignite. They realize too late that they were within view of another two monks inside a cell across from theirs. The monks start screaming curses at the party. Ozark gets annoyed and tells them to shut up.

    The three mercenaries advance to the next floor and spot a half dozen soldiers, blood leaking from their eyes. Lawrence casts Fireball in a small, contained room. He and Ozark are half-incinerated along with all of the soldiers.

    Odysseus is the only one left standing.

    He quickly cannibalizes all the corpses in the room and suffers a cursed transformation, becoming a ghoul. He ventures upstairs and discovers the wizard's magical tome of diseases. Odysseus then uses his disguise kit to appear as a wounded traveler, frees the two monks, and takes them back to the ship. Odysseus' disguise holds and he and the two monks are taken to the sick bay. One of the monks suggests using the book of disease spells to cure themselves and all three agree to use it. After being cured, Odysseus murders the two priests. He claims that he was defending his faith in the Authority by killing the two monks, who were going to use dangerous wizard magic. The crew buys his lie and he sails for the military outpost.

Note

    I used velexiraptor's Goblinplagued Barracks for this adventure, with some slight re-skinning.