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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
 Posted - 08 May 2006 : 00:28:47
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Hello fellow scribes . . . what in the Nine Hells are Scribes' Field Reports? Well, what I would like to do in these threads is to come up with some examples from campaigns that you have either run or have played in of how various power groups have been used.
Not only would this be good for showing others some new ideas that they might mine for their own campaigns, but it might help scribes that want to use a given power group that might seem really cool or exciting for them, but that they can't quite get a handle on without some examples.
So, with that introduction, I thought I would start off with the Zhentarim and how they have been encountered and used in campaigns that you may have played.
I'll give some examples in my next post, and thank you for your contributions. Feel free to start off ones for your own favorite power groups that you have used or run into, and thanks for any contributions!
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KnightErrantJR
Great Reader
USA
5402 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 00:38:13
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In my campaign, the Zhentarim have come into the campaign a few different ways.
One of the first encounters in my most recent campaign was when the PCs were hired to act as a bodyguard to Noristuor from Ashabenford as he travelled to the Thayan enclave in Scardale. When they were on the road with him, they were attacked by Groundlings. Noristuor was never a major player in the Zhentarim (in my campaign) but he did some work for a mysterious employer, and he managed to figure out that employer was a Zhentarim agent. It was a minor connection, but it was fun to play with, and to explain why Noristuor lives in a relatively secluded place.
Another plot had to do with a child that Fzoul was interested in due to his connection to Xvim/Bane (which I won't go too much into here), but various Zhentarim agents found out that the PCs had contact with the baby, and tried to capture and interrogate them. A Monk of the Long Death that the PCs had disgraced was one of the agents that the Zhentarim hired, as was a Gauth (beholderkin). None of the Zhentarim agents wanted to share the information on where the PCs or the child was, because each of them was trying to find the child and get all of the prestige and reward from Fzoul themselves.
Finally, they never figured this one out, but the PCs kept running into caravans near Ashabenford and Shadowdale that were running afoul of bandits and orcs and ogres. They had figured that there was just an upswing in bandit activity, and didn't connect that there was a Zhentarim Spy (with the PrC) that had identities that allowed him to work with several caravans (including the Black Eagle Coaster out of Ashabenford) and to sell information to several orc and ogre tribes, as well as some bandits, while taking a cut for himself and the Zhentarim, and misleading the same bandits and tribes about the movements of Zhent caravans.
I know I used them more in the past, but my memory is failing me as far as my older campaigns went. |
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
United Kingdom
5695 Posts |
Posted - 08 May 2006 : 08:19:05
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Well met
These are great ideas, KEJR. I'll certainly look forward to seeing expansion to these threads and new threads for other organizations. I'd also like to feature elements which arise from these scrolls on the site proper as they'll be invaluable to many DM's, i'm sure  |
Alaundo
Candlekeep Forums Head Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
An Introduction to Candlekeep - by Ed Greenwood
The Candlekeep Compendium - Tomes of Realmslore penned by Scribes of Candlekeep
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Mace Hammerhand
Great Reader
Germany
2296 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 11:13:44
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So far the characters in my campaign had only one prolonged encounter with the Zhentarim, parts of it are yet still unresolved. I based the encounter around the first adventure from the Ruins of Zhentil Keep boxed set. Since at that time I was basically stringing together various published adventures, due to lack of a consistent group, I will now use those Zhent encounters and others to spin further tales.
My plans, as always, shift with the decisions of my players. Hopefully they will get around to exploring (and stepping on various feet) on their own initiative.
However, since they stepped on Zhentish feet before they will most likely see more of them sooner than they like. |
Mace's not so gentle gamer's journal My rants were harmless compared to this, beware! |
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Scribes' Field Reports: The Zhentarim
