Coming Together冒险之路地狱复仇开始于长野镇,一处偏僻以及定居有不少切利亚斯退役士兵的地方。这些退役士兵大多都是因为在评论斯戎家族和切利亚斯军事政策时直言不讳而遭到迫害与排挤,并被迫在贫困中被放逐到长野镇——他们的名字甚至从切利亚斯的军事名录上被删除。这些退役士兵的存在使小镇成为一个火药桶,并等待着火花的出现。
为了应对辉煌光复军掀起的叛乱,地狱女皇阿波罗盖二世,在帝国最大的城市宣布戒严令,并敦促所有忠诚的公民站起来,尽自己的一份力量保卫帝国。她已经向全国的每个村庄、城镇以及城市的忠诚臣民发出一条命令:重申你们对斯戎与切利亚斯的忠诚,并宣誓遵守地狱火誓约,以证明你们的忠诚。
你是那些忠诚的臣民中的一员,镇压那些叛乱份子的时候到了!
开始的时候玩家便会参与到一个行动之中。所以在开始游戏之前,和团队里的其他玩家谈一谈,看看你们是怎么来到长野镇,以及你们是怎么在第一次冒险之前认识希姆莉·斯塔里什(Cimri Staelish)的。
创造一个有动力为斯戎家族工作的角色会有很大的帮助。可能是渴望成为统治贵族的贪婪欲望(或者至少能够从与统治一个庞大帝国的人交往中获得一些回报)。你的动机也可能来自爱国主义和对国家的极端忠诚(在这种情况下,你可以随意渲染民族主义丑陋的一面)。为斯戎工作的另一个动机可能是简单的贪婪或获得许可去做你想做的事,沉溺于邪恶的行为而不受任何社会影响。
What Hell’s Vengeance Is Not地狱复仇的内容是为斯戎家族工作,阻止遍及切利亚斯全境的革命。这个国家正处于动荡之中,哪怕很小的一件事情都有可能成为导火索引起更庞大的叛乱——甚至有可能推翻合法的切利亚斯政府。
而在这之前的冒险之路地狱叛军则是讲述与之不相关的在金塔格爆发的叛乱,那个冒险之路中给玩家一个机会将斯戎家族赶出他们的城市。而冒险之路地狱复仇与地狱叛军同时发生,但它并不打算妨碍地狱叛军的成就。确实,金塔格发生的叛乱对切利亚斯的战况影响不大。这两条冒险之路并不是要相互对抗,而是展现冲突之中的两面。
此外,地狱复仇假设冒险之路盗贼议会的事件已经发生。即便是到最后的冒险这都对整个冒险之路没有影响,但如果你或你的GM正计划在未来游玩盗贼议会,那必须提醒您,如果不按照假定的顺序进行游戏,这两场冒险之路之间可能会有一些相互矛盾的地方。
劇透 - :
The Hell’s Vengeance Adventure Path begins in the town of Longacre, a place where old Chelish army veterans have settled and where other folk go to slip away from the public eye. Many of the town’s veterans are outspoken in their criticism of House Thrune and Cheliax’s military policies, and have been mistreated, shunned, and driven to Longacre in poverty and effective exile—some have even had their names struck from Cheliax’s military rolls. Their presence makes Longacre a powder keg just waiting for a spark.
As a reaction to the recent insurgency of the Glorious Reclamation, Her Infernal Majestrix, Queen Abrogail II, has declared martial law in Cheliax’s largest cities and urged all loyal citizens to stand up and do their part to keep the empire strong. She has sent a commandment to loyal subjects in every village, town, and city across the nation: reaffirm your loyalty to Thrune and Cheliax and prove your devotion by swearing the Hellfire Compact.
You are among those loyal subjects, and now is the time to put down these reckless insurgents.
The PCs begin the campaign right in the middle of the action. Before beginning the campaign, talk with the other players in the group and decide how you all happen to be in Longacre and how you know the shady character Cimri Staelish, who appears early in the first adventure.
It’s helpful to create a character that is motivated to work for House Thrune. This could be a greedy desire to be part of the ruling aristocracy (or at least be able to reap some of the rewards of being associated with the ones in charge of a huge empire). Your motivation could also stem from patriotism and extreme loyalty to your nation (feel free to play up the ugly sides of nationalism in this case). Another incentive to work for Thrune in stopping the Glorious Reclamation could be simple greed or obtaining permission to do what you want and indulge in evil acts without any societal repercussions.
What Hell’s Vengeance Is Not
Hell’s Vengeance is about working with House Thrune to stop an uprising that is gathering strength throughout the nation of Cheliax. The country is in turmoil and even minor events could spark greater rebellion—possibly even toppling the rightful government of Cheliax.
The Adventure Path just before this one, Hell’s Rebels, concerns an unrelated rebellion that explodes in the city of Kintargo, giving the characters in that campaign a chance to run Thrune out of their city. This Adventure Path, Hell’s Vengeance, takes place concurrently with the events of Hell’s Rebels, but it is not intended to undo the events from Hell’s Rebels. Indeed, what happens in Kintargo has little impact on the wider hostilities in Cheliax. The two Adventure Paths are not meant to cancel each other out, but instead show two sides of a similar conflict.
In addition, Hell’s Vengeance assumes that the events of the Council of Thieves Adventure Path have already occurred. This has little effect on the Adventure Path as a whole until the final adventure, but if you or your GM are planning to play or run Council of Thieves in the future, you should be aware that there will likely be some inconsistencies between the two campaigns if they are run outside of the assumed order.