IT IS ALIIIVE! Reviving the Cadaverous Earth Campaign

[TheMeanestGuest]

Should have mentioned that! I'll be able to play again with the group in early July. I of course will also be at the next three games.

[Steerpike]

We'll see whether we can tweak the schedule, but if not, I can run some solo sessions at a time more amenable to you, TMG.

[TheMeanestGuest]

Well, I don't want the whole group to change just for me. I know it was hard to even find a time and day that worked for everyone.

[Steerpike]

I was reviewing the negative level rules and I've decided to house-rule them a bit due to CE's almost total lack of magical healing.  Normally characters have to make a Fortitude save after 24 hours for each negative level they possess; on a success, the negative level is removed, on a failure, you permanently lose a level.  Of course, magical restoration removes negative levels automatically.

As CE's lack of clerics/paladins makes this trickier, I've decided to alter the mechanics of saving.  You still have to roll a Fortitude save to remove each negative level after 24 hours, but on a failure you simply keep the negative level for now and can try again in 24 hours.  Only on a critical failure do you lose a full level.

Truly, am I not kind and merciful?

[Kindling]

Truly! I have to say I was worrying a bit about those saves.

[CoyoteCamouflage]

Makes me all the more happy I was busy out-running the Pack (and Carver :D) instead of hanging around to get hit with negative levels. :P

[Steerpike]

So, now that we're a few sessions in I'd like to take the group's temperature, as it were.  The sessions so far have been a bit action heavy, something that may diminish a bit fairly shortly (though there'll still be plenty of action throughout).

A few questions for the group - especially the new players, since I have a better sense of the tastes of the older players, though I'd definitely like to hear from the older players as well if they like:

1) What would you like to see more or less of, if anything?

2) Favorite bits so far or things that added to the experience, or things that annoyed you or detracted from the experience?

3) The original players probably had more time to get to know the city; do you have a good feel for Macellaria (and CE more generally) or are you a bit lost?

4) Any other comments/questions/issues?

5) Has your schedule changed at all?

[Nomadic]

Question. Does the game have to be on a Monday or Wednesday? Cause if it was on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, or Saturday at it's current time I could play.

[Steerpike]

If everyone's schedules are the same as the were before (i.e. haven't changed due to school or something), then Tues/Thursday do not work, but Friday just might.  Let's add a 5th question to that list:

5) Has your schedule changed at all?

EDIT: Nomadic, we should probably wrap up Eareg's quest before he rejoins the party.  I will have some time this coming week and lots of time later - when would be ideal for you?

[Nomadic]

Nomadic, we should probably wrap up Eareg's quest before he rejoins the party.  I will have some time this coming week and lots of time later - when would be ideal for you?

Next week I'm available Tuesday/Thursday From 11am-5pm. Friday/Saturday I'm available all day.

[Kindling]

1) What would you like to see more or less of, if anything?
I really don't know what to say... it's all been great really, so far :)

2) Favorite bits so far or things that added to the experience, or things that annoyed you or detracted from the experience?
I've loved the panicky frantic action in the catacombs, but everything else has also been super-cool, just I found that bit the most fun.

3) The original players probably had more time to get to know the city; do you have a good feel for Macellaria (and CE more generally) or are you a bit lost?
I have a good "feel" for it in terms of the mood and atmosphere, I think, but I'm still a little hazy on the geography or whatever - the more solid details. But that's not a problem so much as just something that will let me enjoy exploring the city fully more!

4) Any other comments/questions/issues?
I don't think so.

5) Has your schedule changed at all?
Not really. Mondays are still best for me, but I could do any other weekday, it just wouldn't be as preferable.

[Ghostman]

1) Less of splitting the party in the future please (this I guess goes for players as much as SP) - or at least some less confusing way of handling such splits. Might be less of an issue if these incidents could be kept brief and low on the action.

2) The thematic Youtube/music links have been a nice touch.

4) It could be useful to have a short glossary of names and things relevant to the game, for quick reference. Maybe put it up on the wiki so that all players might contribute to keeping it up to date?

5) No schedule changes for me so far.

[CoyoteCamouflage]

1) What would you like to see more or less of, if anything?
Dunno. I like diversity, and we've been getting plenty of that, so it's all good to me.

2) Favorite bits so far or things that added to the experience, or things that annoyed you or detracted from the experience?
The catacombs were hilarious for different reasons (one, because given the kinds of checks, I was not very concerned about my ability to survive it), both in the flight from the ooze and in running from the Pack and trying to find someone good at tanking...

3) The original players probably had more time to get to know the city; do you have a good feel for Macellaria (and CE more generally) or are you a bit lost?
The tone and atmosphere of the setting I am picking up pretty quickly. The details of names and locations and such? Not so much. But I am terrible with them at the best of times.

4) Any other comments/questions/issues?
I second Ghost's comment about a reference sheet for names and places.

5) Has your schedule changed at all?
Sort of? I'm trying to clear up Wednesdays in the hopes of finding room for Rogue Trader. Otherwise, It's only gotten more crowded. So far, the only nights I know that absolutely do not work are Tuesday and EITHER Thursday or Friday (I will likely be able to pick which one it is. However, once chosen, it is likely to be set in stone, so further rescheduling will be impossible for that day).

With some warning, I could probably make anything but Tuesdays work. May not be pretty, though.

[Weave]

1) What would you like to see more or less of, if anything?
It's been pretty great so far, so I can't really say what I'd like to see less of... I would like to see more of CE "in general," though, but I assume that is to come. I'm very interested in seeing how places outside of the city are, and what sea travel might be like, or even just knowing what a CE'd forest is like. I want to explore the world more, basically. I have a great feel for what the setting is like where I am right now, and I can definitely identify if something is "CE" or not; I want to see how consistent this is across the setting (I have no doubt it is, I just want to see it all :))

2) Favorite bits so far or things that added to the experience, or things that annoyed you or detracted from the experience?
Definitely the chase with the ooze thing. That's something that can't easily be replicated with a grid, which is something I'm very accustomed to. Going back to more flavorful, descriptive action sequences like that really allows me to enjoy a facet of "combat" (if you will) that I otherwise don't get to. It keeps me from thinking of what might be lacking by there not being a grid and rather thinking what is enhanced without one. Keep it up!

3) The original players probably had more time to get to know the city; do you have a good feel for Macellaria (and CE more generally) or are you a bit lost?
Well, no, I don't have a great feel for everything just yet, but don't take that as a negative thing; I can identify the atmosphere of the place, but geographically I'm a little lost as to where everything is now and then... and that's okay. I expect to pick up on it as a I go. It hasn't ever been an issue for me not to know just how far the Firesong Marches are away from everything else, or something.

4) Any other comments/questions/issues?
Yes, I have a slight comment: I'm not sure what to do with my money. As a player, I've hated going through book after book to find the perfect item or something, which I realize might be a little weird compared to the average player, and often prefer to have things presented to me as options to purchase (I guess that might come off as sounding lazy, but I don't intend to!). I find myself overwhelmed when there's veritable tomes of information I can be fiddling through to find what gives me a bonus to X or improves Y. That said, I'm glad there doesn't seem to be something like that for CE so far, but I also find that I don't know what is available, short of a handful of grafts I've seen. It also doesn't help that I know the IH system doesn't require as much magic item attachment as 3.5 or PF, which is my traditional system. I just want to know what people spend their money on, and what, if anything, I should be looking into.

5) Has your schedule changed at all?
Nope! So I'm still limited to Mondays, Fridays, and Weekends. Tuesdays I have some ASL related activities, Wednesday evening I have my own IRC game, and Thursdays I have classes.

Hope this was helpful :).

[Steerpike]

Great responses, thanks for the feedback guys!!

I'll have to prepare a more thorough glossary at some point, but for now here are some excellent sources of info for place names and the like:

Places in Macellaria - scroll down on the first page past Dramatis Personae and the Quest Log for a list of locations in the City.

Glossary of general CE stuff, though a bit out of date.

Slang and Factions - the original thread for the campaign, lost in the mists of time.

And here's a rough map of the city for reference  note that the shaded areas are NOT individual buildings but rather individual neighborhoods: the spaces between aren't the only streets, only the major ones.  This map is for orientation, not for street-by-street navigation, if that makes sense.  Generally I'll let you move from district to district without navigating every street and alley.



Finally, on the subject of money, some stuff to spend it on:

1 - Grafts for sure, both organic and clockwork.

2 - Glyph tattoos - basically 1/day spells available at a wide range of prices, and usable by anyone (not just Witches).

3 - Potions - not so much Healing potions and the like, since CE doesn't have divine casters, but the alchemists in Hexwarren sell all sorts of other stuff.  Often found in syringe form rather than in your typical flasks.

4 - Alchemical gear - Thunderstones, tanglefoot, acid, etc.  Tarim can manufacture some of this stuff.

5 - Upgrades to equipment. These take some creative thinking, but Kaius is slowly upgrading his armour, piece by piece.  I'm flexible and open to ideas.

6 - Eldritch weapons/armour or eldritch augmentations to your weapons/armour.  I'm handling magic weapons in a slightly unorthodox way in this campaign.  Magic weapons/items never give a direct bonus to attack or damage, but they can have abilities.  I'd consider allowing players to add eldritch abilities to their weaponry, but they'll have to negotiate with avaricious artificers to do so.

Also, eldritch ammo for firearms/missile weapons.

7 - Wondrous Items.  A note on magic stuff: you have to go looking for these things, you can't just pick something from the DMG and say "I want this."  However, the Curio Bazaars are full of guys hawking ancient talismans and jewel-encrusted weapons and techno-arcane weirdness some scavenger pulled out of the Slaughter-lands.  Detritus!, a shop in the Bazaars, is a good place to start.

8 - Real Estate.

9 - Mounts.

10 - Drugs and poisons.  Imagine your weapon dealing an extra 1d4 Con or Str damage with a successful hit.  There's an entire market dedicated to poisons in Hexwarren.  Mr. Carver can also produce some basic poisons.

11 - Hirelings.  The group has employed some low-level mercenaries before (such bravos usually hang around the Butcher's Gate).  Kaius also has a working relationship with a bandit-turned-merc called Yerroch, a magus specializing in serpent witchcraft.  Servitors can also be purchased.