val Holryn wrote:
I liked the mod Once Upon A Time in Metra ... I played the mod with adult friends and a couple of us were veterans of the campaign and could you explain to the others that visiting them would be a cross between the Borgia's and Dracula's castle. So I not only didn't blink at a lot of the mature themed horror, I would have been disappointed if elements of it hadn't been there.
If i did have a criticism of the mod it would be that it expects the PCs to work for the val'Baucisz. For many League PCs that could be a deal breaker. Once hired the PCs are then expected to do the bidding of the new Satrap...why they would do his bidding when he isn't paying the bills is another possible plot point of contention. Or not ... A lot of that also comes in on how the judge runs the mod.
Hi Eric,
I am glad you enjoyed the mod. I realized when writing this scenario that having the PCs working for the val'Baucisz family would be a hard pill to swallow which was one of the reasons why I had a third party NPC (a prominent League dignitary, at that) in the Introduction advising the PCs to cast their personal feelings aside and see the 'greater picture' . As far as the portion in which the PCs are expected to work for the Satrap, I had written the dinner scene (as open ended as it was) with the purpose of setting the tone on how horrible the val'Baucisz are. I followed it up with the encounter with the Satrap, portraying him as a sympathetic, vulnerable NPC, a veritable sheep in a den of wolves. The bills were still being paid by the val'Baucisz with very little change in job function.
As for the scene in the basement, I wrote it to elicit a particular response/emotion in the players/heroes. I leave it to the wisdom of the Chronicler to tone it down depending on the makeup of the table. If one leaves this event with a newfound revulsion of this particular val'Baucisz NPC or the clan entirely, then I have achieved my personal goal as the author.