Adventiures in Freeport

[JymB]

I finally caught my break and looks like after our Pathfinder game I am going to be running a FC game, and seeing as I just scored the "Pirate's Guide to Freeport, I am going to be setting up mine for some swash and buckling.
I have, for the most part, got a good chunk of the crunchy bits for the setting down, but would like to hear from others who have been using Freeport with the GC rules and all. (I am looking at you Psion)

[Psion]

I finally caught my break and looks like after our Pathfinder game I am going to be running a FC game, and seeing as I just scored the "Pirate's Guide to Freeport, I am going to be setting up mine for some swash and buckling.
I have, for the most part, got a good chunk of the crunchy bits for the setting down, but would like to hear from others who have been using Freeport with the GC rules and all. (I am looking at you Psion)

Who me? 

I could throw some stuff down, but I'm not too sure specifically what you are looking for. "GC rules and all"? Are you talking about campaign qualities and that sort of stuff? I'm running pretty campaign qualities light (mostly the standards like Sorcery and Miracles), though I will be pulling in a few Fragile Minds rules bits. I find the game is progressing a bit fast for me, so I may retro in the slow advancement quality soon.

For the Freeport deities, I'm using Green Ronin's book of the Righteous. I haven't done the paths for them. The priest player is an elf, and I chose to use the idea of the multi-aspected world tree from Green Ronin's Bow & Blade and converted that to a path and alignment set.

I'm using mainly the adventure seeds from Cults of Freeport and Buccaneers of Freeport. The NPCs I am making for the cults take advantage of the looser treatment of the divine/arcane division; I have a few "cult sorcerer" types that use the spellcasting skill in addition to paths (mostly the evil path makes sense for the Cult of the Yellow Sign, though looking at the other cults different paths make sense.)

That FC has firearm rules built right in is convenient. I play assuming Renaissance gear is available for the most part.

I'm pretty much making NPCs as need arises. As mentioned in mach's thread, I often use conversions of d20 freeport stuff as a starting point for many PCs when available, but often do lots of tweaking to get what I'd like out of them.

It's late, anything else in particular you are interested in chatting about.

[JymB]

OK, ya covered most of my questions right off the bat, cool thanks.

[Psion]

I have a new post up on my blog about converting NPCs for Freeport. It's written more to an audience waiting to be sold on FC, but you might take a look. Or I might repost it here. (But I'll probably repost my all my freeoirt NPCs here at some point with less salesmanship... preaching to the converted and all that.)

My blog is at (let's see if I can remember...)
http://thesecretvolcanobase.blogspot.com

[mach1.9pants]

Nice blog. 

[Psion]

A little update on how the Freeport game is going. The PCs have just reached 7th level, and three characters now have melee supremacy feats, and the super lucky chance-feat fiend that is the group's explorer decided to take a level in sage so he could "share the wealth" with all his action dice. All in all, this made a Menace IV adventure seem less of a challenge for the adventurers than I anticipated.

Dramatis Personae...

The PCs:

• Eldon Bray: The super-lucky investigator (Male Human, Unpredictable Adventurer, Explorer 6/Sage 1)
• Na'eem: Knife wielding ne'er do-well (Female Human, Nimble Rogue, Burglar 7)
• Dartagnen: Romantic sell-sword (Male Human, Agile Fencer, Assassin 5/ Swashbuckler 2)
• Ruaelyn: High born socialite and elven exile (Female Elven Bard, Courtier 7)
• Celeste Sharid: Bold Warrior-Mage (Female Human, Svelte Fighter, Mage 4/ Rune Knight 3)

Other folks of note

• Regina Meyer: Mysterious leader of the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign.
• Order of the Yellow Sign: Cultists and generally not nice folks.
• Mendor Maeorgan: Leader of the Rakeshames and vessel of the Unspeakable One's power.
• Rakeshames: Gang of thuggish youth of high born folks.
• Mister Wednesday: Crime boss in the Warehouse district of Freeport.
• Vikki Tarjay: Rakeshame saved by the PCs in their first adventure; having doubts about Mendor's occult activities, but still not the sort of girl you'd take home to mother. Unless you wanted mother dead.

I finished up the Brotherhood of the Yellow Sign story arc (from Cults of Freeport) today. 2 weeks ago, I ran an adventure in the Saffron House, the hangout of the Brotherhood. Semphi Tiersten, a grotesque abomination of a woman that is a seer to the Brotherhood, suitably grossed out the players, and I was even skirting around some of the skeevier stuff in the book.

The final Yellow Sign adventure seemed a bit weak to me. So I spruced it up a bit for yesterday's session. It was going to be longer, but one player is leaving for 4-6 weeks for surgery, so I rushed through it.

I decided Mendor and Regina (who the party still hadn't met)'s meeting at the lighthouse was more than a meeting to discuss terms, it was a necessary starting point in a ritual that would become the theme for the final session. Though all the sorcerous items have been removed from the lighthouse, the serpentsteel structure still serves as a focus for cosmic arcane energy. Using Regina's occult knowledge, the group broke in and performed a ritual that would serve to awaken the dark power that exists in Mendor Maeorgan.

The PCs followed them there... of course, Mendor and Regina were gone. As they approached, they saw a pair of Freeport watch stationed at the entrance. Or so they thought.

Dartagnen blustered his way in to the tower without figuring out that the guards were really Rakeshames in disguise. The group started a bit of a discussion with Roscoe, the lighthouse keeper. It didn't take them long to figure out that Roscoe was under some sort of magical influence.

When the newly introduced Rune Knight character (fighter-mage type) started to dispel the enchantment, the Rakeshame plants (including some waiting in a nearby chamber) leap into action. But the group just leveled up and 3 of them took options that were utterly devastating against mooks, and the fight goes quickly.

The group interviews the freed-from-magical-influence Roscoe, who describes the Ritual that Regina and Mendor performed, and points them to the remains of a rug that they had painted runes on for the ritual. The rug is destroyed, but the group recognizes some runes match those on a skull the group found back in the Saffron House. The eventually piece together that the runes on the skull refer to places in freeport, one being the Block-and-Tackle.

I had planned on running a longer adventure at the waterfront inn called the Block & Tackle using a plot seed from the Pirate's Guide to Freeport book, but I had to make it really short. In short, "Mendor" and some Rakeshames show up, and Autumn (Mr. Wednesday's eyes in the tavern) ducks out back to tell Mr. Wednesday. Mendor exhibits the first sample of his newfound power by unleashing a beast on the tavern that resembles nothing more than a mass of living cancerous flesh. "Mendor" withdraws. Na'eem follows and lays the smack down on him, but with unexpected results... his body falls apart into a mass of viscera. However, she spies a vision through the pool of blood... she can seen Mendor and Regina in the Jaundiced altar room in sewers, a momentary result of the retreating dark magic.

The group has no clue as to the location of the room Na'eem spied, but Dartagnen secured a meeting with Mr. Wednesday, who clue him in to aspects of Mendor's operation, including the Rakeshames' hang-out in the Merchant District.

They make haste there, and are all ready to go in with pistols blazing, but run in to Vikki Tarjay (who owes them a favor). Vikki was my avenue to shorten the game enough to finish up today. I decided it was she that was shaken up by the jaundiced altar, not Regina. (Regina is still almost killed, however. Mendor attacks her in fury when the bid to take out the PCs at the Block and Tackle fails.) Vikki shows them to the cellar, to the secret door to the sewers, and to the room with the Jaundiced Altar.

There the see Regina lying in a pool of blood at Mendor's feet in front of the jaundiced altar. He's a fierce combatant, but that alone is no match for this party. His newly found malevolent powers include animating creatures from his very blood as it spills (so called "Blood Monsters" or "Blood Fiends" that the group has been running in to for a while; they are really just reskinned summoned creatures out of the summoned creature list.)

They kill Mendor and his blood fiends, only to have to face a cancerous mass of flesh that grows from his corpse as a final challenge. Signature moment... when Dartagnen fumbles attacking the creature, and his sword gets stuck in it. He wastes a round trying to pull it out before he gives up, pulls out a pair of pistols, and guns the thing down in what turns out to be its final blow.

Signature metagame quip, by Eldon's player as Na'eem's player complains she can't sneak attack the formless mound of flesh: "You stab it with your steely knives, but you just can't kill the beast."

Eldon decides to save Regina's life. What I'm given to wonder now is what happens to Regina now, and how can I make this come back to bite them.   Perhaps I can turn her into a Hannibal Lector type character in the Freeport prison.

Anyways, I'm pretty exhausted with the Cult of the Yellow Sign and wonder where to go from here. They already have adventures leading them into conflicts with the Esoteric Order of Starry Wisdom (from the Cults of Freeport systemless book), Hian Li, and Scevola Hest (both from Buccaneers of Freeport). I may try for something with more intrigue or straight up criminal capers.

[Psion]

Here's some NPCs I used in the adventure. I took "hand of death" for many of the cultists, as they are drawn from the ranks of common and are adept at just blending in to society around them, and they are fanatical (=resolve.) That this help against the priest PC's too-good stress attacks was a bonus. 


Rakeshame Lackey (Medium Folk Walker — 28 XP): Str 12, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 10; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init III; Atk V; Def V; Res III; Health III; Comp I; Skills: Athletics III, Intimidate III;
Attacks/Weapons: Club (1d8 subdual, threat 20)
Treasure: 1A, 1C


Rakeshame Bouncer (Medium Folk Walker — 61 XP): Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init IV; Atk IV; Def III; Res V; Health VI; Comp II; Skills: Athletics V, Intimidate V, Notice III, Resolve III; Qualities: feat (two hit combo, wrestling basics, wrestling mastery), menacing threat, tough I.
Treasure: 1A, 1C

Cult Enforcer (Medium Folk Walker — 58 XP): Str 12, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 10; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init IV; Atk IV; Def IV; Res VI; Health IV; Comp IV; Skills: Athletics IV, Blend IV, Bluff III, Resolve V; Qualities: fearless I, feat (Ambush Basics, Club Basics, Wolf Pack Basics, Wolf Pack Mastery).
Attacks/Weapons: Unarmed (1d3 subdual or 1d4 lethal), Club (1d8 subdual)
Treasure: 1A,1C

Cult Sorcerer (Medium Folk Walker — 78 XP): Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init V; Atk III; Def IV; Res VI; Health VI; Comp V; Skills: Blend V, Bluff V, Intimidate V, Resolve V, Spellcasting V; Spells: Call From Beyond II, Deadly Draft, Mage Armor, Polar Ray I, Scare II; Qualities: condition immunity (baffled, frightened), feat (Casting Basics, Glint of Madness, Spell Conversion-Area, Spell Conversion-Time), menacing threat.
Attacks/Weapons: Club (1d8 subdual)
Treasure: 2M, 1T

Vikki Tarjay (Medium Folk Walker — 82 XP): Str 10, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 12; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 40 ft. ground; Init VI; Atk V; Def VII; Res IV; Health IV; Comp V; Skills: Acrobatics VI, Athletics VI, Blend VI, Notice VI, Prestidigitation VI; Qualities: class ability (Explorer: tomb raider, Scout: sneak attack 1d6), feat (Ambush Basics, Ambush Mastery, Basic Skill Mastery-Actor, Lightning Reflexes).
Attacks/Weapons: Short Sword (1d8 lethal, TR 19-20, keen 4, upg: finesse), Buckler (1d3 subdual, guard +1, upg: grip, finesse), Light crossbow/std bolts (1d6 lethal, TR 19-20, poisonous, AP2, load 5, range 50 ft. x 6, ammo 30)
Gear: Partial Studded Leather Armor (DR 2, upg: fitted, no DP), fast acting debilitating poison (3 doses, 2 con damage)
Treasure: 1A, 1C, 1G

Petty Assassin (Medium Folk Walker — 58 XP): Str 12, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 10; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init V; Atk V; Def V; Res V; Health III; Comp III; Skills: Acrobatics IV, Athletics V, Blend V, Sneak VI; Qualities: feat (Ambush Basics, Ghost Basics).
Attacks/Weapons: Dagger (1d6), Hand Crossbow (1d6, TR 20, poison, AP2)
Treasure: 1C, 1L, 1M
 
Corrupt Guard Captain (Medium Folk Walker — 64 XP): Str 12, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 12; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init V; Atk VI; Def IV; Res IV; Health IV; Comp III; Skills: Athletics IV, Bluff V, Intimidate V, Investigate V, Sense Motive IV; Qualities: feat (Armor Basics), treacherous.
Attacks/Weapons: Longsword (1d10 lethal)
Gear: Armor (Moderate Studded Leather DR 3)
Treasure: 1A, 1C, 1G

Serpent Person Captain (Medium Folk Walker — 94 XP): Str 12, Dex 14, Con 11, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 14; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init VII; Atk VI; Def V; Res V; Health III; Comp V; Skills: Athletics VI, Disguise VI, Sneak VI, Survival VI, Tactics VI; Qualities: class ability (Captain: battle planning I, Scout: stalker, Soldier: armor use I), feat (ambush basics, greatsword basics, surge of speed, wolf pack basics, wolf pack mastery), shapeshifter I.
Attacks/Weapons: Falchion (1d12 lethal, TR 19-20, AP 4, Cavalry)
Gear: Light Partial Scale Mail (DR 3, Edged Resistance 2, -1 defense)

Pirate (Medium Folk Walker — 46 XP): Str 12, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init V; Atk IV; Def IV; Res III; Health IV; Comp II; Skills: Acrobatics IV, Intimidate VI, Ride VI; Qualities: menacing threat, tricky (Cheap Shot).
Attacks/Weapons: Short sword (dmg 1d8 lethal; threat 19– 20; qualities: keen 4)
Mounts and Vehicles: Ship
Gear: Partial leather armor (DR 1; Resist Fire 3; DP –1; ACP –0; Spd —; Disguise +0), saddlebags
Treasure: 1A, 1C, 1L
 
Lucius (Medium Folk Walker — 36 XP): Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 12; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init II; Atk II; Def III; Res V; Health III; Comp III; Skills: Crafting IV, Investigate IV; Qualities: feat (basic skill mastery-investigator), interests (ancient history, arcane arts, continental history, freeport history, geography, librarian, the planes).

Competent Assassin (Medium Folk Walker — 78 XP): Str 12, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 10; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init V; Atk V; Def VI; Res V; Health III; Comp III; Skills: Acrobatics IV, Athletics V, Blend V, Resolve IV, Sneak VI; Qualities: class ability (Assassin: hand of death), feat (Ambush Basics, Bow Basics, Ghost Basics, Knife Basics), treacherous, tricky (Mix Up[Distract], Mix Up[Feint]).
Attacks/Weapons: Dagger (1d6), Hand Crossbow (1d6, TR 20, poison, AP2)
Treasure: 1C, 1L, 1M

Seasoned Cultist (Medium Folk Walker — 59 XP): Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 10; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init III; Atk V; Def IV; Res V; Health III; Comp III; Skills: Blend III, Bluff IV, Crafting III, Notice IV, Resolve V, Spellcasting III; Spells: Call from Beyond II, Scare I, Ray of Enfeeblement; Qualities: class ability (Assassin: hand of death), condition immunity (baffled), devoted (evil II).

Regina Meyer (Medium Folk Walker — 109 XP): Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 14; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init VI; Atk V; Def VI; Res VI; Health V; Comp VI; Skills: Blend VII, Bluff VI, Impress VII, Notice V, Resolve VI, Spellcasting VIII; Spells: Call from Beyond III, Charm Person, Counter Magic I, Flawless Fib, Insanity I, Mage Armor, Phantasmal Killer, Scrye II; Qualities: attractive II, beguiling, cagey II, class ability (Assassin: hand of death), condition immunity (baffled), devoted (deceit II, evil III), story-critical, veteran II.

Brawler II "Blood Fiend" (Large Outsider Walker — 56 XP): Str 16, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 10; SZ L (2×2, Reach 2); Spd 40 ft. ground; Init II; Atk V; Def V; Res II; Health V; Comp I; Qualities: contagion immunity, damage reduction 1, darkvision II, menacing threat, superior jumper II, unnerving.
Attacks/Weapons: Broad Axe (dmg 1d12+3, tr 19-20, q massive, ap 2)

Mendor Maergon (Medium Folk Walker — 96 XP): Str 17, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 12, Wis 12, Cha 14; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init IV; Atk IV; Def III; Res VII; Health IV; Comp III; Skills: Bluff IV, Impress IV, Intimidate VII, Investigate IV, Resolve IV; Qualities: cagey III, feat (all out attack, cleave basics, cleave mastery, followers, iron will, rage basics, rage mastery), natural spell (charm person II 3, command I 2), unnerving, veteran I.
Attacks/Weapons: custom longsword (1d12+1 lethal, ap 2)
Gear: Hardened Leather Armor, partial, lightweight - DR3

Anwaad Foustaff (Medium Folk Walker — 91 XP): Str 10, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 12; SZ M (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 30 ft. ground; Init IV; Atk V; Def IV; Res V; Health III; Comp III; Skills: Blend IV, Bluff IV, Impress VI, Notice IV, Resolve V, Spellcasting IV; Spells: Call from Beyond II, Mage Armor, Ray of Enfeeblement, Scrye II; Qualities: beguiling, class ability (Assassin: hand of death), condition immunity (baffled), devoted (deceit II, evil III), feat (basice skill mastery-actor, casting basics, repartee mastery, spell conversion-casting time), interests (a: evil, s: yellow sign), veteran I.
 
Semphi Tiersten (Large Folk Horror Walker — 105 XP): Str 14, Dex 8, Con 13, Int 14, Wis 14, Cha 12; SZ L (1×1, Reach 1); Spd 20 ft. ground; Init IV; Atk V; Def IV; Res VI; Health V; Comp III; Skills: Athletics III, Intimidate V, Notice IV, Resolve IV, Spellcasting IV; Spells: Call from Beyond II, Mage Armor, Ray of Enfeeblement, Scrye II; Qualities: condition immunity (baffled, frightened, shaken), devoted (evil III), fearsome, feat (glint of madness), interests (a: evil, s: yellow sign), unnerving, veteran I.
Attacks/Weapons: Claw II × 2 (grab)