Looking to Add Patron Players to My Campaign- The Pitch

 Patron Pitch

I’m looking to add patrons to my home campaign.  I have a dedicated group of PCs who have been playing solid for 2 years, and the game is about to go into 1:1 time play.  This is the perfect opportunity to add patrons, because the player's main PCs will be pulled off the map for a while, and that will give patrons time to get established.  It also will give the players the option to start up a secondary party and play some sessions with those PCs.  

The map below depicts the “Nappendixia” region.  It is located in Greyhawk, but very loosely, there is nothing of note relative to Greyhawk in this part of the map, so it is open for total creation and exploration.  Note the red line on the map denotes a change in hex size, the NW corner of the map connects to a different section of the campaign friendlier to PCs and others who are more prone to walk places.  The Nappendixia region is much more unexplored and expansive, so the hex size increases to 20 miles.  The big chunky things at the bottom represent massive mesas that will be the home location for most of the patrons.  Each mesa will start with only one way up/down into the jungle terrain in between the mesas.  Any further paths down will have to be constructed, if desired.  

I was thinking about how to provide resources to incoming patrons, and I was thinking of how to incorporate modules in a less stagnant way into 1:1 campaigns.  I came upon the idea of giving patrons modules wholecloth, and a location on the map and say have at it.  You have all the resources in the module-  all the monsters, treasure, magic items, all the map locations, you place them however you want in your area.  You can keep things located as stated in the module or you can totally reorganize whatever you want, barring a few alterations that a few modules required.  

So that’s it.  That’s the pitch.  I’m looking for people who want to play patrons in the Nappendixia campaign.  The patrons will be released in an order, a few will be available, and when they are claimed a few more will “unlock”.  If there is interest among the patrons, or among any others, I would be agreeable to running online sessions for anyone who wanted to adventure in Nappendixia as a PC.  The flavor/inspiration of the campaign world is obviously Appendix N Canon, More of a Howard/Vance/Lovecraft slant with some Den of Earth/ Heavy Metal/ Science Fantasy added.  The volcano located at the center of the map is frequently belching out weird gases and projectiles, making this a weird colorful hazy environment a lot different from a more straight Greyhawk flavored game.  Here’s what the patrons will be and how they will unlock-

First 3 Patrons-  All patrons will get 250,000 xp to build their own “Patron PC” who should make sense in connection to the module given, there would be some good reason he is connected to the module and able to move pieces around and direct things, not necessarily everything as there will be powerful leaders in each module.  Patrons will also get 110,000 xp to build henchmen and 1 magic item of their choice.  See the map for the corresponding mesa for each module.

1-  *Taken* Lawful Good Humans- will get the top NW corner of the map.  The Capitol City, the road, the riverside village, and a caravan will all be provided.  The general goal will be to guard the NW corner from evil and hopefully try to make alliances with other good or possibly neutral patrons/PCs.  The patron will receive all the keep resources from B2 Keep on the Borderlands, and all the village resources and Burne’s Tower and troops from T1 Village of Hommlett, and additionally a caravan and adventuring party from The Rogues Gallery.

  

2-  *Taken* Chaotic Evil Hill Giants-  You get G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief.  Your goal is to be gross hill giants.  

3-  *Taken* Neutral Primitive jungle land with dinosaurs and weird creatures and primitive people.  You get X1 the Isle of Dread converted lightly to the terrain,  the jungle areas in between all the mesas is your area, as well as the marked mesa.  You can place things from your module wherever you want, and water based stuff can become based along a river in the jungle terrain.  You're neutral so you have options if you want to try to make alliances or just manage your terrain.

After those 3 are claimed more will unlock-

4-  Chaotic Evil Frost Giants-  You get G2 Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl.  Be frost giants.  Good treasure in this one.

I (DM) will be running G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King

5-  Good Demi-humans-  You get S4 Lost Caverns of Tsojcanth.  You really get the demi human and human troops and resources on the surface/ wilderness part of the module, and a few of the evil wilderness monsters are converted to good monsters.  You get to place the lost caverns on your mesa and either you can recruit PCs to delve it for you, or you can run your own mini game delving the caverns with your own resources.

6- Evil Slavelords- You get A2 Secret of the Slavers Stockade and A3 Assault on the Aerie of the Slavelords. you get no home area on the map, you have to secret all of your locations and resources in other peoples territory or on neutral areas of the map. Being a slavelord is sneaky business, act accordingly.

7- Final Big Bad type evil cleric with legions of dervishes and weird magical races.  You get X4 Master of the Desert Nomads, and X5 Temple of Death.  This could possibly pan out to be a “Big Bad” in the campaign, and it will be last to unlock.  It will require the most coordination with the DM but could be very rewarding.

If there’s real interest the final modules that would be given out as a patron would be S3 Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, and GW1 City of Gold (Gamma World).  Crazy Sci-Fi complex with robots and rayguns.

The very last mesa is S1 Tomb of Horrors, suicide for any who dare to enter.  It will not interact, only accept entrants

Mar-Millor Campaign 1.0 Sessions 23-24

 Session 23-  Good Old Fashioned Dungeon Delve

Day 59  4pm.  The party is much more comfortable delving into dungeons, and they prepare to raid this one with precision.  They start with rest, having traveled all day.  But without any other dry ground, they are forced to camp right on the mound containing the pit that opened to the naga’s lair.  A careful watch quickly noticed a patrol of trogs returning to base, but the party quickly dispatched them without rousing any interest from the mouth of the dungeon.  Stashing the bodies over the levee wall and finishing the night's rest, the delve first thing in the morning.  Tactfully using invisibility and Silence cast on a stone, Thantas gets intel on the guards in the opening chamber at the base of stairs that begins the dungeon.  They party silently rushes in on them and takes them out silently.  Faced with 3 directions, they go west to a large water filled chamber containing 2 large frogs.  They are aggressive but not poisonous, and Mandigor takes them out while the rest of the party navigates the edges of the water filled room, finding a secret spot where a pile of sand and the wall meet, and a passage to another chamber is revealed.  It revealed a couple of chests, some which were unlocked, others smashed open, and a fair amount of coin was harvested.  Moving south out of the water filled area, The party found the southern passage to become semi collapsed, just past a left turn in the hallway.  Deciding not to mess with partially collapsed areas, they take the left which ends at a T.  At the left is a door and they listen, and suspect an ambush.  To the right the corridor goes south then east and they follow.  Getting to a turn in the hall north and a southern door, they try the door.  After much effort, the door is forced open, taking up time, but fortunately still under the silence stone.  Behind the door was only a small room containing  alcohol, some ales and wines, some valuable, but difficult to carry.  The session ends there.  Day 60  11am.

Session 24-  Culling the Naga’s Troops/ Death Song

Day 60 11am.  After a quick respite in the small keg room the party weighs its options.  Ahead there is another area of the dungeon that looks particularly muddy and the wall on one side is collapsed revealing a pool or water.  So far the party has been unwilling to pass through any of these muddy or partially collapsed areas, fearing further collapse or traps.  They consider the door they left behind and did not try to open, sensing some kind of ambush.  They decide to go back to that door, continuing to avoid all muddy parts of this dungeon.  They return to the door, after a quick random encounter with a giant weasel.  Despite being heavily barred, Mandigor bashes through in one try and finds himself crashed through the door with a roguish human on either side of the door.  They immediately attack and call out for their likely leader Jarvis.  The rogues are unable to harm Mandigor, and he goes to attack them back, but the curse of his dagger of opposite alignment has strengthened due to his refusal to have the curse removed.  Now the dagger has the strength to require him to wield it in every battle for at least 1 round.  Again shirking off the curse, Mandigor guts one of the rogues with the dagger, only to promptly remove it from one foe, and slay the one on the opposite side of the door too.  Jarvis, their fighter leader is also quickly dispatched, and the party closes the door and hopes they did not make too much noise.  They find themselves in a small cluster of rooms that have no other exit.  It’s mostly the quarters of the human leadership of the cult, the nicest rooms the party is yet to come across.  There are a couple of fine looking weapons that are kept by the party for further investigation and they find a jade Naga bust which Malden promptly smashes, and 2 scrolls of Cure Light Wounds.  Again the party strains to think of a way to proceed in this dungeon without touching any of the very muddy parts, and they recall that one corridor of the 3 that branched off the first vestibule in the dungeon was still unexplored.  Tracing their steps back to that first room they find the passage east they had yet to explore.  It quickly branched east and north, but before being able to investigate, several spearmen appeared from the eastern passage and began combat.  Assessing the combat, Draden saw that it was about 8 spearmen, weaker fighters they had battled before.  A perfect scenario for a Sleep spell.  The magic was effective and all 8 went down.  Again, this area is a corridor of the quarters of the Naga’s lowest minions and their women, who the party left alone.  Traveling south from this area, the party curiously discovers two empty rooms with muddy piles in the corners, nothing of note, and they reconnect with that muddy area they were unwilling to go down by the keg room.  Still avoiding this they head further south.  To a passage that led to an underground larger body of water.  It was briefly investigated, but because the cavern twisted, they couldn’t see very far down, and left it to go investigate a door.  The door led to a large room with a much higher ceiling supported by wood beams.  The room had a wide path leading south out into another room.  The path was filled with waist high mud.  Not liking mud, they thought they may turn back, but before they could react, a haunting song began that enthralled all, well almost all.  Thantas the elf was highly resistant to charms and was able to avoid the magic.  The rest of the party helplessly marched forward getting themselves stuck in the mud.  In an instant a horrible Harpy flew down and began attacking the charmed party.  Starting with poor Gunter the dog.  Thantas thought for a moment that all was lost, but reacted with a bow shot to the harpy, wounding it and getting its attention from the party.  It leapt at Thantas thinking the agile elf would go down fast, but he held firm in combat, took several serious wounds and finally slayed the harpy and narrowly saving the party.  After dragging the party from the mud and getting their senses back there was much appreciation for the heroic deed.  The party looks around, realizes that they have been down in this muddy dungeon for at least 7 hours, and they are feeling tired and hungry.  Day 60 4pm

Mar-Millor Campaign 1.0 Adventure Log Sessions 21-22

 Session 21-  Final Confrontation With The Master

Day 43 4pm.  Agreeing that time is of the essence, the party elects not to rest and recover much needed healing spells in order to find and confront The Master in his lair before any more prisoners can be moved along the kidnap chain.  Based on their recollection of the dungeon complex, and the information given to them by Zara the ranger, they locate the last corner of the dungeon they have not yet explored.  There are 2 passages not yet searched, one leading to what Zara described as a large creature guarding some treasure, and the other passage which could only lead to Lareth’s inner sanctum.  Choosing not to mess with the large creature, the party decides to prepare for the upcoming battle.  They cast invisibility on Thantas the assassin, and cast Silence 15’ on a rock which he will hold.  He settles into the middle of the marching order hoping somehow he will be able to get off a backstab on an enemy.  With the effect of the silence spell, the party can kick in any doors without making noise, and do just that to the first door they come to in the passage leading to Lareth.  The party silently observes that through the door.  Also, just to the party’s left on the north wall is another door, which is again burst open with a silenced kick.  This time the scene reveals enemies however.  The party sees a long hallway with a guard positioned right at the open door, and 2 more spaced back down the corridor.  With fighting restricted in the corridor not everyone can engage in melee and missile fire is difficult.  Mandigor manages to push past the first guard to try to get more combatants in melee, but the party is largely off its game and few good hits get through to the bandits.  Eventually some effective melee and Draden dropping a Sleep spell puts down the guards in the hall, and likely a few more in the room beyond, but suddenly an invisible fighter appears at the party's rear and begins attacking the clerics and magic user.  Also, a spell caster on Lareth’s crew appears in the hall from the front, and casts a spell of Scare on Malden the Paladin, making him unnerved and unwilling to attack.  This is when the silent and invisible Thantas makes his move and approaches the magic user and silently stabs him completely by surprise, slaying him there.  Right when the party thinks they may be getting the upper hand, the fighter in the rear drops Rev. Ramsey to death’s door, and finally Lareth, the Master himself finally reveals himself at the end of the hall.  Several combatants charge him and one of the clerics hurls a Hold Person spell at him, but a magic phylactery wrapped around his arm seems to absorb the paralyzing magic.  He takes some wounds in combat, but charges up his magic Staff of Striking and lays a vicious blow on one of the party.  Malden, unable to fight, mustered enough courage to run back to Rev. Ramsey and apply a Lay on Hands before he perishes.  Before the party can react again, he drops a magic spell of darkness on the party, but again, Malden, unable to fight, is able to draw his sword with Continual Light cast on it and he is able to cancel out the magical darkness by centering his sword over the place the darkness spell was cast.  Finally, as the party is about to mount its last charge the party notices that Zara the ranger is in the rear room at the end of the hall and she has dispatched Lareth’s sergeant and another bandit.  Lareth gets a few more hits in on the party, but the weight of blows on him is too great and Lareth, the Master, the ringleader of the kidnappers plaguing the area, is no more.  The party searches the rear rooms of Lareth’s area and find 3 prisoners-  2 travelers from Hookhil to the north, and Solomon Stonefist, a dwarf.  Immediately, Belgium the cleric is taken by the dwarf, telling about the dwarven stronghold of the same name the party encountered many months ago.  This seems to be the henchman Belgium has been looking for, and they decide to travel together back there to see if they perhaps return it to its former glory.  Rev. Ramsey is grateful for Malden’s laying of hands, but is in need of a weeks thorough rest due to his trauma.  The party finds Lareth’s treasure, many coins and pieces including a very valuable gold necklace with 10 onyx, Lareth’s items, the magic users spellbook and magic bracers, and a fine cloak from the fighter.  The passage that sloped up and smelled of fresh air is a passage that leads back to the surface on the back side of the hill with the ruined tower.  They also find Lareth’s Journal, which should reveal a lot, should they be able and interested in reading it-  next time…  end session Day 43 6pm

Session 22-  Rest, Recovery, Revelations, and Reunions

Day 43 6pm. The session resumes with the party having just defeated Lareth and his minions.  The treasure from Lareth’s inner sanctum has been gathered, along with his journal, and Rev. Ramsey, still recovering from his near death experience, is in need of one weeks rest.  Not considering leaving him behind, they decide that convalescing in this dungeon for a week is not safe.  They know there is at least one large creature still living here, so they elect to go back to the nearest safe haven-  the forest abode of Ramne the old mystic.  They are also hopeful that perhaps Ramne’s forest creatures were finally able to get a message to the other companions still in Cedar Crossing, and they can all be reunited at Ramne’s.  It takes 3 days of relatively uneventful travel back west, out of the Dim Forest, around Orlane, and back to Ramne.  In the evenings as the reverend convalesces, Draden and others begin reading Lareth’s journal and it reveals quite a lot.  It is the journal of a young vain evil cleric and his descent into chaotic madness.  He talks of discovering the existence of the Slavelords, a powerful group of raiders currently attacking the Wild Coast, Draden’s and Ramsey’s home area.  Lareth desires to gain power and join this cabal.  He is able to make contact with them via a mysterious individual referred to only as EH.  EH brokers an audition for Lareth to the Slavelords; Lareth vows to begin capturing humans in the Orlane area and trafficking them west in the boats of corrupt loggers to Niole Dra, where EH will receive them and complete their journey to the Slavelords.  If he can successfully and consistently provide them with fresh humans, he will be made a full member of the Slavelords, enhancing his power. He selected Orlane as his criminal grounds because upon arriving in Orlane, he could tell the town was under the thrall of an evil corrupting presence.  He was able the trace the source of the corruption by following the trogolodytes back to the Naga’s lair and negotiating a truce between the 2 evil forces.  Both benefit from each other's malfeasance, and are doubly protected should any force of good try to upset either of their evil plans.  He further established his kidnapping ring in Orlane by blackmailing the good ranger Zara, a protector of the area.  He was able to kidnap her sister and deposit her in the Naga’s lair, using her as a bargaining chip to control Zara.  He forced Zara to join his companions-  an evil magic user and a fighter, the three inserted themselves in an abandoned farmhouse in Orlane and used it as a base of operations to traffic victims through and out of Orlane and on to Lareth’s main lair in the Dim Forest.  In the days resting at Ramne’s and reading Lareth’s journal, a stealth team of Mandigor, Thantas, and Grumush travel back to Orlane to observe and see the state of the village.  They spy the roads going in and out, and no longer see the 2 large mobs that were aggressively searching for the party some days ago.  Now they still see groups of cultists watching the roads, but also Orlane seems to be largely back to its normal state-  sedate but creepy.  Upon the stealth teams return to Ramne’s, the party’s companions-  Lasalle, Lance, and Phillip the Squire return with the cart of the party’s possessions, and have Father Charleston, The head of the Temple of Heironeous in Cedar Crossing.  He is pleased at the efforts of Malden the Paladin, and impresses upon him the importance of ending the Naga’s reign over Orlane.  He also entrusts the young paladin with his first big quest.  He tells him that should the party be successful in defeating the Naga, he must next travel to Highport, on the Wild Coast in the Pomarj.  There is one of the hubs of the Slavelords-  a former temple of Heironeous that was lost to chaos and is currently being used as a base for the Slavelords.  The evil must be cast out of the former temple/fortress, and only then will he be able to move on to his next stage in paladinhood.  Reunited with their cart and full complement of companions, the party elects to travel east along the road to the Rushmoors where Ramne’s weasel will be able to lead them to the Naga’s lair.  After 4 days of mostly uneventful travel, the party enters the Rushmoors, and narrowly avoids an encounter with likely a patrol of trogs.  Shortly after that they come upon an area dredged and drained somewhat of swamp water.  A circle of log palisade reinforced by piles of mud create a dryer area of the swamp upon which is a mound with a visible entrance leading down into the moist earth.  The weasel indicates that this is the Naga’s lair.  The time span for this session lasts 16 days.  End Day 59  4pm.