A quick example of a letter writing campaign...

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pblackcrow
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A quick example of a letter writing campaign...

Unread post by pblackcrow »

We each get a newspaper once a month from the gm...and from that, we can potentially earn extra experience point by writing letters between games.
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A faerie arrives at your castle/manor house with a scroll. From the way it is dressed, indicate that he is bearing a letter from your cousin Nicholas, who just a year ago became baron.


Dear Cousin Count Vlad Wyndham Requeomus,


Hello Cousin, how are things going in the northeastern sector of the kingdom? Yes, I have heard about some of the goings on with the self-proclaimed "Rat King" and his ever growing, ever breeding, army of rats that are stealing you and your people blind and of course the dangers of the lich lord, Keldor, and his minions?

Well, the werewolf attacks plaguing the 9 southern baronies are finally coming to a close...at least in my fiefdom. After a meeting with the heads of the 12 churches in my fiefdom, I was able to convince them to help in the efforts by commanding their priests to cast remove curse three times on anyone who should ask for it, without judgement, questioning, or even recording it. And to think...I only had to throw one of them into that small old fighting arena behind the manor house, simply threaten to release 3 werewolves with personal grudges with the archbishop for charging too high a price for them to pay to have the curse removed, and tell them it was a fate that they would all share to convince them all not only work together on this, but also to work for free.

Really, you’ve simply got to know how to talk to people. You know how I never like to raise my voice...but yet I, somehow, manage to get my point across. Seriously though, I do expect retaliation from them. If I didn’t, I’d be a fool. After all, I am the wizard usurper (even though my bloodline is beyond questioning), I am the one man who helped to discredit and kill a deeply religious nutcase whose last major moment of insanity cost a lot of lives, which the repercussions are still being felt and may plunge the region into war yet. But the churches loved him because he let them do as they pleased...and I, at age 37, have killed and replaced him as baron...And I will not let them get away with the bullshite.

I know that magic isn't your forte...However, if you’d ask me, the Rat King should be relatively easy to track. Just have a mage put a tracking spell that uses a compass (you will need to use a compass needle made from mystical electrum for this to work), but enchant a coin as the focus of the compass and drop it into a drain. Or better yet, use a sapphire, because it will hold spells longer. The bigger the sapphire, the longer the spell will last. And you will want to wait until they get back to the layer. Also, I would recommend using a mystic energy blocking spell on the sapphire for it to not appear to be magical.

Now, watch it be some rich noble who’s behind it, trying to grab money, land, fame, and power. Thieves tend not to mess with the poor folk too much. While greedy nobles don’t really care who they hurt. Another thing, I doubt it’s Keldor or one of his men...As I seam to recall, Keldor hates rodents. Although, one of them can control animals; but he lacks the sophistication and the intelligence to pull this off. Perhaps the power hungry sorceress, Evelyn, could be behind it...but isn’t she afraid of rats and mice? Also, it wouldn’t hurt to check everything going out of Beltoura, and your other towns and cities that are being hit by the Rat King with an x-ray vision crystals with true sight on them as well.

Summon and control rodents is not too hard a ritual to do, just takes time to set up, and the components are regrettably quite common. It is just that the duration, and the shear number of rats that he is able to control doesn’t fit the profile. He might have an artifact or magical object that is allowing him to summon and control them, or is using a more complex ritual. Either of these is possible. The cauldron of control, piper's flute, and the onyxes of control all spring to mind.

Also, a thought that you might want to consider as well...have a mage summoning some of rats into a large barrel filled halfway full of water and casting call lightning to try and dwindle the numbers down.

Now, if only we Baron’s could simply locate the Harlequin’s, led by Jake the masked Jester. That bunch of ruthless highwaymen have to be stopped, now! As I am sure you have heard, the resent plundering of the yearly black powder shipment to the Southern Baronies has us all very quite uneased. It was hijacked going from South Pendurgrin to Ankins. We have Jack the Jester’s hat and some of his blood, but magical locate spells and rituals have failed. They all must have a way to block the location spells. Jack has the skills of an acrobat, juggler, knife thrower, etc. We’ve checked with every circus, gypsy caravan, freak show, traveling jester, and carnival...they all say the same thing, without a name or positive ID on his face, they can only speculate. And none of their speculations have ever panned out. And there is always the chance that he has changed his face. He did rob an alchemist’s caravan of magical makeup and rings of teleportation, after all. But we do need to find him, now! That is something I think every sane person in the Southern Baronies and the entire island kingdom of Darquemore can agree upon, if not the entire world of Barovia. We don’t know when or where he might strike next. And there hasn’t been a pattern to the attacks. At least not that I have figured out.

In closing, I wish you the best of luck with your enemies.


Your cousin,


Baron Nicholas Winford Von’Volshebnik.
Ankh, udja, seneb.
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Panomas II
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Re: A quick example of a letter writing campaign...

Unread post by Panomas II »

I think this is a really cool idea.

Can you explain how receiving a newspaper and writing a letter are tied together? You all receive the same paper and use it to for character leads and the like?
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pblackcrow
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Re: A quick example of a letter writing campaign...

Unread post by pblackcrow »

Yes, basically. We did receive the same newspaper. The GM e-mailed the papers to us...Technically, these were more news reports from the information network than an actual paper. But it is presented in a newspaper form in Prince Valiant font.

We've not played since a week after I posted this, so.
Ankh, udja, seneb.
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