The Heralds

[Chaotix]

Hi all-

I've been keeping a journal of the campaign I'm calling the Men of Mjarn over in the Games and Stories forum (http://www.againsttheshadow.org/index.php?topic=2749.0). In session 6, the player who is literate picked up a book at the very end as they were escaping the Shadow Temple and its surrounding town.

This book is called the Tome of The Shadow. Granted, I didn't write an entire book, but simply wrote small pieces of a greater book that match up with the history of the world from the front of the M2E core rulebook. I've placed it on my Google Drive since I can't attach it here, in case anyone is interested in reading it (https://drive.google.com/open?id=11r0299jFlivkFhIbD2awNH5HaFoaMeHx). This Tome paints Izrador in a far more beautiful light than he obviously deserves. The point of it is to actually preach of Izrador in a way that the humans that listen would be not only receptive, but sympathetic, to Izrador and see that while all he's doing is difficult to endure, he's doing so for the greater good.

Which brings me to the subject of this post, The Heralds. The Heralds are a group of Legates within the Shadow church that have developed this book as a guidebook to deliver a consistent, deceptive message to the people of Eredane and generate a congregation of devout followers. If a Herald has done well, he could create an environment where the majority of the people in his area become followers of Izrador, find it an honor to be sacrificed to the mirror, and make those who oppose Izrador entirely unwelcome. There's nothing special about their stats, other than they typically have a high Charisma. They could be any Legate with whom you cross paths. The only difference is, they have this book somewhere in their temple or amongst their possessions, and are often surrounded by devout followers and disciples.

I find it fun to mess with the players heads sometimes and not just put the Legates, astiraxes, orcs, etc in their way, but normal folk who've been deceived and misguided to see how they handle them. Do they write them off entirely and murder them to get to the heart of the evil, the Herald himself? or do they treat them with respect and try to bring them back to the light, if the PCs believe that there's a light left to return to?

I'm not sure how many people still visit these forums, but thought it'd be fun to put this out there in case anyone else is still running Midnight and thinks it'd be interesting to see how your players react to a town of devout Shadow followers lead by a charismatic Herald. Having the book for any literate characters to read and consider is also fun too, just in case they have any hidden inclinations to Shadow worship themselves.   

[Luiniel Blades]

An impressive read actually. I can see how those who are allowed to read it and are raised on it would be very readily indoctrinated, I think I'll be using this for my games in the future.

Moral quandary's are definitely a part of the game a lot of people don't really take the time to build up very well. Most people I game with on a fairly regular basis don't necessarily like having to deal with that sort of thing so having them fight typical enemies and monsters is generally good enough, but then again, they aren't really the people I play Midnight with either.

[Chaotix]

Absolutely true, Luiniel. If you're looking to destroy monsters to get better treasure just to destroy tougher monsters, then you're likely not looking to play in Midnight.

I enjoy those games as much as the next person, but in Eredane, the most intriguing encounters are not when you're finally facing off against that beholder that's been living in a forgotten corner of the sewers of Baden's Bluff, but when Farmer Joe and his family of innocents are standing, armed with their shovels and a chair leg, between you and their beloved Legate. It's when a force of slavers just large enough for you to think a TPK is entirely possible is escorting a cart full of your peoples' children on their way to the mines of Steel Hill. The hard choices are what makes a Midnight game true to the setting.

I'm glad you like the book and certainly hope it comes in handy in making your players wonder if they actually are on the right side of the fight.