Pavis & Big Rubble Companion: The Directors' Cut Relaunch

[Minlister]

Hi, since we were speaking about Chalana Arroy, I try my luck at resurrecting my previous query which ended up swallowed up in poo and jazz.

Hi, 

sorry, I have a Big Rubble question. Is there any description somewhere of what there is on top of the Great Wall? The walkway must be very large (ca. 6 m wide?). Is it possible to walk unimpeded from, let's say the towers in Wyvern gate to the Garden? Is there something living up there? Like flocks of gargoyles? bird-hunting Cliff toads? Dwarven sun bathers? Colonies of aldryami lichen philosophers? A secret coven of Orlanth cultist enjoying the windy highs?

Any inklings? 

[Joerg]

While I wouldn't expect to find Professor Tolkien or C.S.Lewis on the Rubble walls, there might be some features up there that could support small patches of vegetation, but given the general dryness of Praxian climate, lichen would have a hard time, and so would mosses. Around the Garden I would expect a thorough invasion by vines, and after years of neglect also a bit of topsoil protected by such vines, possibly allowing some stunted tree growth, or possibly Angkot-Vat like formation of roots reaching down on both sides of the wall.

Much of the surface material will be processed Giant Jolanti material, with only occasional bits of Paragua's stone slabs peeking through at the surface, possibly cropped by the Flintnail cult to provide a sufficiently smooth surface. I don't recall any crenelation on the Rubble Walls, but there might be some uniform raised balustrade on both sides, though not necessarily more than a meter.

Flying creatures would perch on the wall before swooping down onto any prey. Whether any of the creatures that named the old Rubble Gates will be present in the Modern Age is a different question. Gargoyles are possible, as are meditating dragonewts. On the troll-adjacent walls, trollkin may keep the top of the wall clean.

[Ian A. Thomson]

The PDFs have just been updated for Vols. 1 & 2

Change notes for Vol. 01:

Just after the P.O.D. layout was complete we noticed that the titles for Zebra Stockade, Zebraside and (in one case) Badside were confusing as to which entry belonged to which location. This has been corrected in this final version of the pdf, and an errata note placed prominently in its early pages to clarify what the mistakes were and how to update them.

 

Change Notes for Vol. 02:

A number of corrections and clarifications; plus two revised Rubble locations in the Gazetteer - inspired by the creation of the Vol. 04 scenarios.

[Minlister]

@Joerg thanks a lot! That is more or less what I envisioned, although I had missed the meditating dragonewts. there is a whole potential playground there, I will try to do something with it for the JC (I am working on a Pavis scenario)

[Ian A. Thomson]

6 hours ago, Minlister said:

@Joerg thanks a lot! That is more or less what I envisioned, although I had missed the meditating dragonewts. there is a whole potential playground there, I will try to do something with it for the JC (I am working on a Pavis scenario)

There are the dwarf-carved parapets and internal and external stairs, with of course rooms above the Gatehouses. I would say also occasional small blockhouses so they may well have things living in them. Time to write the 'Big Rubble Walls' piece today for Vol. 04 then! :)

Edited September 4 by Ian A. Thomson

[Minlister]

@Ian A. Thomson Great news! That would be perfect!

[Ian A. Thomson]

31 minutes ago, Minlister said:

@Ian A. Thomson Great news! That would be perfect!

Lots of good timing happening at the moment with seeing things discussed here, as Vol. 04 is largely the second volume about the Old City (Big Rubble) - a companion book to Vol. 02

With a primary aim to detail all major incidental locations with civilized inhabitants, AND all general background/framework details such as The Walls.

Been working on the Griffin Gate Lunar Fort and surrounding area today. Finished Zebraside yesterday.

Edited September 4 by Ian A. Thomson

[Ian A. Thomson]

Thank you collaborators and friends for the huge assistance with this series.

Special shout out to Nick Brooke for converting the pdf to a POD format AND making the rune bar green!!!! :)

Fabian and I are just hammering out the last details, and the POD of Vol. 01 should be available in a few days.

 

Edited September 4 by Ian A. Thomson

[Erol of Backford]

3 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

POD of Vol. 01 should be available in a few days

Much anticipation for this.

On a similar note if we have a PC who is a daughter of a dryad in the Garden... are any of the dryads named? And if so where might we find details on them?

Thank you Mr. Thomson for all the great Pavis stuff to date! 

[Ian A. Thomson]

23 minutes ago, Erol of Backford said:

On a similar note if we have a PC who is a daughter of a dryad in the Garden... are any of the dryads named? And if so where might we find details on them?

I don't think so, but happy to have others correct me

There is an 'Aldryami of the Garden' piece also in Vol. 04, so I will be researching such things sometime this month

 

>>Thank you Mr. Thomson for all the great Pavis stuff to date! <<  Yr welcome :)

[Ian A. Thomson]

'New Pavis: The City on the Edge of Forever' (Vol. 01 of the P&BRC Director's Cut) ...

... is now available to buy as a Print on Demand hardcopy that looks (and apparently is) a solid and rather nifty tome. :)

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/413853/New-Pavis-City-on-the-Edge-of-Forever-RuneQuest

With the pdf version you will also find a handy downloadable Rubble Map for printing and using to make notes on as the campaign progresses. (This handout has been sent to Fabian but may not be uploaded for another day or so, so you might have to check back for that.)

Many thanks once again to all of the collaborators/contributors, without whom the creation of this series would totally not be possible!!

Edited September 6 by Ian A. Thomson

[jeraldo]

Purchased with thanks! 

[Ian A. Thomson]

On 9/4/2023 at 4:49 PM, Minlister said:

Great news! That would be perfect!

Just working on the encounter table for this piece, which is otherwise now complete.

If you are good to agree to non-disclosure/distribution, I am looking for someone to give it an 'Interested reader' proof. (Basically just to read it as if it was a published article and report back any errors of grammar or spelling, omissions, repetitions or indeed anything that goes clunk.)

[Nozbat]

2 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

Just working on the encounter table for this piece, which is otherwise now complete.

If you are good to agree to non-disclosure/distribution, I am looking for someone to give it an 'Interested reader' proof. (Basically just to read it as if it was a published article and report back any errors of grammar or spelling, omissions, repetitions or indeed anything that goes clunk.)

Happy to do that Ian

[Erol of Backford]

From Book 01:

Sables Barracks: A troop of 100 Sable Riders is
maintained as a border garrison to discourage nomad
raiders and make a show of Lunar military authority.

Before the Lunars were in Garhound who would have discouraged nomad raids in general or is the garrison there to discourage attacks by the losers of Moonbroth along the trade routes?

We are looking to be in Garhound say 1600-1608 or so...

Would it simple be a town militia and assume that the local nomads were more or less friendly coming to town to trade rather than raid?

[Ian A. Thomson]

On 9/11/2023 at 1:43 AM, Erol of Backford said:

Before the Lunars were in Garhound who would have discouraged nomad raids in general or is the garrison there to discourage attacks by the losers of Moonbroth along the trade routes?

We are looking to be in Garhound say 1600-1608 or so...

Would it simple be a town militia and assume that the local nomads were more or less friendly coming to town to trade rather than raid?

I see the Dorasings as being quite tough characters who (along with the Zebra Patrols) would have been capable of protecting themselves at least as well as the Lunar forces do. More details in Vol. 03 of course

[Erol of Backford]

18 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

More details in Vol. 03 of course

Maybe when its POD...

Does Vol 03 go into per Lunar detail?

Do tell!

[Ian A. Thomson]

Some Lunars feature in Vol. 03

What kind of detail do you mean?

[Erol of Backford]

15 hours ago, Ian A. Thomson said:

What kind of detail do you mean?

Sorry, pre lunar detail, you mentioned Vol 03 goes into detail on the Dorasings, I suspect they could be representational as pre lunar...

Thanks!

[Ian A. Thomson]

Yes, it's a solid overview of their culture, with no specific impact of the Lunar occupation included (since that is so recent) There is also a little more in Vol. 04 (particularly the distribution of their worship now, which is significantly affected by the occupation)

[Diadochoi]

Ian, we are just about to start a Pavis campaign. Before Secrets of the Borderlands came out I had sketched a campaign structure for the first few years. It partly looks like yours and partly like Simon Phipp's, however I have Troubled Waters (River of Cradles) early on (to have the "wider sense of culture and geography" and to allow deeper contacts to be formed with Zola Fel as an alternative to Pavis for some party members).

Could you walk me through why it is later (or not present) in your campaign or reveal if something in it clashes with later aspects of the Pavis Grand Plan.

[Ian A. Thomson]

3 hours ago, Diadochoi said:

Ian, we are just about to start a Pavis campaign. Before Secrets of the Borderlands came out I had sketched a campaign structure for the first few years. It partly looks like yours and partly like Simon Phipp's, however I have Troubled Waters (River of Cradles) early on (to have the "wider sense of culture and geography" and to allow deeper contacts to be formed with Zola Fel as an alternative to Pavis for some party members).

Could you walk me through why it is later (or not present) in your campaign or reveal if something in it clashes with later aspects of the Pavis Grand Plan.

The recollection of the top of my head is that it was one of many scenarios posing as an introductory one, but actually involving some pretty epic material, which seemed more suitable for down the track. (Or at least presenting itself as a scenario that shouted to me to be reinterpreted as something challenging and epic.)

There seem to be a lot of scenarios like that, throwing new PC parties into what are in fact potentially very major situations that even renowned heroes should realistically struggle with

There are a bunch of scenarios from outside sources for which I include notes for GMs who own those other sources to use for incorporating them at appropriate points in this campaign. 

My sense with Troubled Waters is that it should be a bit later in the campaign. Plus it fits incredibly well into the main theme of Vol. 05, so synchrony works for the inclusion notes to be in that one

Hmm, 1621... time for the River of Cradles volume maybe? :)

I may have time to review Troubled Waters relatively soon, as I am partly working on Vol. 05 at the moment

[Diadochoi]

Thanks Ian, it is good to know there are no clashes and that it fits well with the theme of vol 5. Looking forward to reading it when it comes out.

I agree that the end of the adventure does get beyond the level of starting characters, but I feel a lot of rewriting would be needed for experienced characters.

Trying to avoid spoilers - as I see it the start of episode 1 can end up being a "James Wallis Ruined my Characters Life" moment for experienced characters as they get railroaded into losing some/most of their possessions, then Corflu in episode 2 as written seems pre-Lunar invasion of Karse (1619). Potential fights up to the end of encounter 5 in episode 3 seem geared to lower level characters. While encounter 6 in episode 3 is truly epic, the characters have the option of sitting back and letting others do the heavy lifting (based on the characters planning).

Overall episodes 1 to 3 seem to me to be geared more towards lower level characters and giving characters/players new to the area a good sense of the land and a connection to Zola Fel as an alternative to Pavis. It also possibly gives the characters knowledge about what the Lunars are doing in Corflu in time for somebody to do something to stop/delay the invasion fleet or to intervene in the recovery of the Watchdog.

Then in episode 5 it seems to switch gear, the Eye of Wakboth comes into play and the training wheels come off in a major way.

So upgrade/rewrite the start or downgrade/rewrite the end or perhaps the adventure is best split into two parts. Up to half way through episode 4 in 1618 or 1619 with less experienced characters and then delay the divination that the problem is not solved for at least a year (the reason for doing it immediately is weak). Have them be (minor) celebrities in 1618/19 and then hit the characters with "you said you had sorted this out" (with all the political fallout of that) and have them tackle the real source in 1620/21, by which point they may be tough enough to survive.

The big questions are: does that equally fit with what is coming in vol 5 and will the POD of vol 2 be out in time to put it on my Christmas list?

 

[Khaghan]

Oh, this is excellent timing - I've been reviewing River of Cradles and Troubled Waters for my own upcoming Pavis campaign and was wondering if there are any plans to further incorporate the Eye of Wakboth in future volumes.  Its left as a dangling plot hook at the end of Troubled Waters and I'm curious if you plan to do anything with it as the Grand Campaign moves forward.

[Joerg]

10 minutes ago, Khaghan said:

Oh, this is excellent timing - I've been reviewing River of Cradles and Troubled Waters for my own upcoming Pavis campaign and was wondering if there are any plans to further incorporate the Eye of Wakboth in future volumes.  Its left as a dangling plot hook at the end of Troubled Waters and I'm curious if you plan to do anything with it as the Grand Campaign moves forward.