Building Bhakashal – Session Report - Factional Play

My current home game is meeting about once a month, we played last night.

The campaign branched off from an earlier one that had my son, his friends and their dads. The kids dropped out when school started as they have hit an age when playing D&D with your dad isn’t as cool as going out with your friends.

But the dads wanted to keep playing.

When they started off on their own I initiated the campaign with a task for their patron, Kamerli the Ivory. Kamerli had an associate, Bhomar the Bronze, who had a tower in the marshlands. Kamerli hadn’t heard from his associate for a time, and he sent the PCs to investigate.

The resulting sessions have been a case study in how in Bhakashal, a factionalized sandbox style setting, once you seed the game with an adventure, grows entirely on it’s own. I don’t have to do anything but react to the PC’s actions, there is no need for me to map out long term goals or some “overarching narrative”, the back and forth between the game world and the PCs drives it all.

This session was a perfect example of the joys of factionalized play.

The full details of how they got to today’s session are available in previous blog posts:

Session 1 - https://dwelleroftheforbiddencity.blogspot.com/2024/06/

Session 2 - https://dwelleroftheforbiddencity.blogspot.com/2024/08/bhakashal-session-report-my-after.html

Session 3 – https://dwelleroftheforbiddencity.blogspot.com/2024/09/building-bhakashal-home-game-session-3.html

In summary, they went to Bhomar’s tower and found out that he had been petrified by a basilisk, after that, bandits took over his tower and were using it as a base to raid caravans passing through the area. That was the “hook”. However, rather than having them just be random bandits, I used the Bhakashal setting details to situate their actions. Bhakashal is a factionalized setting, so you can either have completely random encounters without any connection to the larger game world, or you can connect these encounters up to factional rivalries. When you do so the resulting sessions are rich and rewarding as they are fully embedded in the game world.

So I decided the bandits were there as two Bhakashal nobles, Mitrax Toma the Bold and Calligaster Naukan, both of House Omander, had hired them to raid caravans in the area.

Why would they want that?

The marshlands around Bhakashal are the former territory of an evil empire, filled with demon worshipping sorcerers and foul priests of death cults. That nation collapsed years ago, but the marshlands are filled with ruined temples, old warlock towers and areas of foul, corrupt power.

In Bhakashal, the various Noble Houses have territories in the marshlands. They are responsible for patrolling and protecting these territories from monsters and the depredations of bandits and raiders. In exchange for this protection, the Houses get first refusal on any items or areas of power found in the marshlands. The locals don’t want this sort of magic, they believe it to be inherently dangerous (and they are right!), so they are generally willing to let the Houses have what they find as long as they fulfill their end of the bargain.

However, this is not an asymmetric relationship, the Houses cannot occupy land or otherwise displace or harm anyone in the marshlands, and they cannot build settlements of any kind. The villagers have the power of the marshland Saan black dragon riders behind them, and are a faction of their own, equal in power and treated with respect by the city factions.

There was a site near one of the marshland villages in a House Rostus territory, that site was the location of a former death cult temple that had crumbled to dust hundreds of years ago. Hundreds of sacrifices were made there, and foul, evil acts committed. As a result, the area is cursed, and a source of significant necromantic power. The locals avoid it, but Calligaster Naukan wants access to it as he wants to build a temple there and harness it’s power, while building a personal army of skeletons from all of the dead to use against his enemies.

As this area was in House Rostus territory, the first step to doing this was to keep House Rostus from discovering the area and laying claim to it, for whatever purpose they chose. They might want to purify the area, to harness it’s power, there are many options. Calligaster didn’t want that, so he and Mitrax hired the bandits to raid in the area to dishonor House Rostus in the eyes of the local villagers. The bandits taking over the warlock’s tower was a coincidence, but it drew the attention of the party’s patron, Kamerli the Ivory, and thus drew the party into the web.

Naukan has been in negotiations with the Spellbinder from the nearby Yalan village of Golta, Jijam the Harrow. Spellbinders are Bhakashal shamans, they gain their power by speaking to the dead and asking spirits for favors. Naukan won’t take what he wants by force, even someone with his nefarious goals won’t break the ancient covenant between the city and the marshland villages. Jijam is reluctant, he speaks to the spirits of the marshlands, and they have told him that the area is evil, and that nothing good will come of harnessing its power. Naukan has been wooing Jijam for months now, trying to convince him to get the villagers to agree to him building a temple there.

So, our first session had the party finding the bandits in Bhomar’s tower, routing them, and getting the bandit’s Thaumaturge, Maglane the Malachite, to turn against them. They found out that the bandits were being paid by Mitrax Toma the Bold to raid in the area, but they didn’t know why. Mitrax and Calligaster are allies, but at this point they didn’t know of Calligaster’s involvement.

When the party reported this to their patron, he wanted to know why Mitrax was doing this, the area was House Rostus territory, Mitrax was from House Omander.

Something was afoot, and the party had stumbled on to it.

The next session had them finding the routed bandits in the city and recruiting them (they had failed Mitrax and were looking for new patrons).

The party and Kamerli conferred and decided to rattle Mitrax’s cage a bit, to force his hand, to do this they would try and kidnap him. In Bhakashal kidnappings are honor crimes, the target is NEVER harmed, that would be the height of dishonor, harming a bound captive, but they do get generous ransoms, and the victim is dishonored, which leads to their isolation and a loss of power.

They successfully ambushed Mitrax in transit, he wasn’t forthcoming with any information, but he generated a healthy ransom to Kamerli. They figured this would force him to move before he was ready and reveal his hand, as well as his allies. In this case, Calligaster Naukan paid the ransom, revealing to Kamerli that they were allies. This wasn’t necessarily a secret, all in House Omander knew of their alliance, and a few outside knew as well. But this cemented it.

Knowing this, the party and Kamerli conferred and decided the best way forward would be to go after Calligaster next, but not directly. Calligaster had an apprentice, a 6^th level Necromancer named Pholl the Gaunt. They asked around about Pholl and bribed a local hunter to find out that Pholl was making forays into the marshlands regularly, going to sites of former battles so he could animate the dead from the swampy ground.

They followed Pholl to one of these sites, the necromancer took along a black dragon, Haekomarl, who was indebted to Calligaster and served him. The party confronted Pholl in session 2, took out a number of his guards, and managed to turn the dragon against him. The dragon slayed Pholl, and in exchange the party agreed to slay Calligaster, ending the debt between necromancer and dragon, and freeing him.

The party used Speak with the Dead to gain further information from Pholl, specifically,

“Calligaster wished to dishonor House Rostus so the village of Golta would refuse their protection, denying them access to their territories.”

So after the last session they knew who was behind the bandits, and what the bandit raids were supposed to do, discredit House Rostus to keep them out of the area.

So what was in the area, and why were Calligaster and Mitrax interested in it?

That all gets us to last night’s session.

The party did not destroy Pholl’s body, they left it behind to rot in the swamp. Unfortunately this meant that Calligaster, after Pholl was a few days late reporting back, would have sent operatives to find him, and would retrieve his body and use his necromantic powers to communicate with the slain apprentice and find out about the party’s involvement. As a result, I rolled every day thereafter that Naukan would send something, an assassin, a monster, etc,, after the party. I rolled a 1 in 30 chance on day 1, then 1 in 20, then 1 in 12, etc.

They decided next task was to figure out why they wanted access to that area.

Their first step was to go to a sage that knew something about the area. They found a Chitin (insect-folk) sage named Yeehl Bantag Lon, an expert in Yalan history, to determine what was important about the territories around the Yalan village. The rolls came up and they hit paydirt.

They found out that worshippers of the death god Evok had committed atrocities in their temple there centuries ago, and that this was now a cursed area of great necromantic power.

They decided to go to the village and see what they could do there.

It was a two day journey to the Cairan forest where the village was located. They travelled on the road to get there, the weather was challenging on the second day of travel, during heavy rain surprise odds change, high winds impact missile weapons, and heavy rain at night impacts viewing distances. Fortunately no encounters happened during the storms.

When they reached the forest and approached the village they were challenged on the way in, they identified their House, and I made a reaction roll that came up negative. A negative roll has to be interpreted, I decided it was that the party identified as House Quannar forces, but the soldiers that travelled with the party (the former bandits) did not wear house colours.

The party thought quickly on their feet and said that these were “personal mercenaries” and that they were not flying House colours as they were there on clandestine business.

It was the perfect in setting explanation, so I gave them a bonus on the next reaction roll, and produced some knowing laughs (complete with hisses) from the Yalan guards. They were led in. My players are now familiar enough with the setting to be making good calls like this.

They asked to speak to the village Spellbinder, they identified their patron and their House. This was a gutsy call. The Spellbinder was initially reluctant, House Quannar (their House) was aligned with House Rostus, and the villagers didn’t like House Rostus because they had been unable to stop the Bandit raids.

They told Jijam that Calligaster was interested in the area near the village as it had necromantic power, and that it would be a threat to the village.

Much to their surprise they were told by Jijam that he had met with Calligaster many times, was aware of what he wanted, and that so far he had refused to persuade the villagers to cooperate with Naukan. This was a learning moment, they expected the Spellbinder to be a simplistic marshland villager, but he was instead smart and savvy, and focused on protecting his people and the villages in the area.

Calligaster had claimed that he had sent in “personal troops” to dissuade the bandits from attacking the villages, so they were overall neutral towards the necromancer. Now that the party revealed this new information, they were hoping to sway Jijam the Harrow to their side.

Jijam was hesitant, something that surprised the party, but then they made a bold move. Bhakashal is an honor based, martial setting, bold moves get you respect, or lead to your downfall. In this case the party fighter suggested bringing in the bandit leader, Rojmi Yin, who was now working with them.

Bringing in the bandit leader that had been harassing people in the area was audacious, it could have infuriated the Spellbinder.

I made a reaction roll to see what would happen, and it was strongly positive.

Their boldness was appreciated, being honest about their alliances, and showing that their source of information was genuine, won him over. Jijam now knew that Calligaster was playing him, and he sided with the party and their patron.

This is how factional forces shape the game at the table.

In return for their information, Jijam told the party that Calligaster visited the cursed area in the forest on gibbous and full moons, Jijam had consented to this as long as the necromancer did not disturb the dead there while he visited.

They spent the night in the village then returned to the city and their patron to convey what they had learned. As Bhakashal is a factional environment, the discussion with the patron was an opportunity for me to pull back the curtain a bit. Surprisingly to the party, Kamerli revealed that he wanted access to the cursed area for himself, for a number of reasons:

-            to have it cleansed by powerful priests from the temple of Vekka (the temple associated with House Quannar)

-            to use Speak with the Dead to gain important information from the hundreds slain there, the knowledge possessed by the dead from the long-lost nation that lay beneath the soil of the marshlands was a direct conduit to items of power of interest to Kamerli’s House

-            to cede interest in the area to his allies in House Rostus (Lord Kammershorn and Warlock Tairnay the Sphene) now that the village was aware of what was going on and likely willing to work with House Rostus again, this would cement his alliance with them and indebt them to him

-            to share his knowledge with house Omander, there are some in that House who are rivals to Calligaster and Mitrax, and this would indebt them to Kamerli

In short, the party had brought their patron key information that would give him advantages in the fractious factional environment. The party has been successful in their last two tasks, so Kamerli discussed with them about next steps. They came up with three options, to try and take Calligaster by surprise in his tower, to go to House Rostus with information and get help from them or go to the village and wait for Calligaster to come to the cursed area.

They were leaning towards the last option, and the party Seer (priest) decided to cast Augury and ask if they should wait for Calligaster in the village or not.

Smart play. The bones were rolled and they came up “Weal”, and as a gibbous moon was upon them in a few days, they decided to go back to village and wait for Calligaster to come back for a visit and ambush him.

They travelled back to the village, the only encounter along the way was with Chitin Shepards, moving a herd of wild boars along the road.

Calligaster flew to the area on a Worra (giant bat) with a  pair of ogre bodyguards.

The party had been using sentries watching the skies (Jijan let them know that Calligaster flew to the site)  and spotted the Necromancer as it happened to be a clear night when he flew there.

Bhakashal weather rolls can influence so much of what happens at the table.

We rolled for surprise, as my players have learned, surprise can be the difference between success and failure, between a short and long fight.

They got surprise, waiting until he was descending on the giant Worra.

The party’s new ally, the Thaumaturge Maglane the Malachite, cast Charm Monster on the flying beast, she did not have any way of communicating with it, so she couldn’t command it, but it would not harm her or her allies while the spell was in effect.

The party warlock cast Magic Missile, if he had done more than half of Calligaster’s HP in damage he would have been dismounted by Bhakashal rules, but it was not enough. Still, it rattled his cage.

The party priest cast Spiritual Weapon, the Bhakashal version of Spiritual Hammer, and a shimmering, dark blue trident, the weapon of his god, Sithasial, god of oceans and travel, appeared in his hand. He threw the trident (outdoor range 90’) at the Necromancer and did enough damage to reduce him below half total HP, so he was dismounted.

That produced an interesting rules question.

According to the rules, when you are surprised, your attackers all get one action against you before you get to act in the next round (in AD&D that can be more than one action, Bhakashal simplifies this to one action only). So, technically, he could not do anything as he plummeted to his death.

However, AD&D rules also say you should always have a chance, that’s the whole idea behind saving throws. And I put it to the players, if your PC was knocked off a high spot in a surprise round, would you want to be able to react in some way, or would you accept that you were just going to plummet to your death?

When stuff like this comes up I put it to the table to decide, knowing that the choice they make at the table can come back to haunt them later.

They decided Calligaster should get a saving throw versus death to be able to cast a spell, it just so happened he had Feather Fall.

I roll in the open, and Calligaster Naukan , 7th level Emberi Scribus Maker Necromancer, House Omander, plummeted to his death screaming in a lost demon tongue, landing with a sickening crunch.

So many referees would have saved Calligaster in some way as he was the “BBEG” for this adventure, and this encounter was over in a round. This is one of the reasons why combat in many D&D games takes forever to resolve.

That’s not the Bhakashal way, the party was smart, formed alliances, gathered information, planned out their actions, and thanks to a helpful surprise roll, won the day in short order.

That’s a win.

The Worra wasn’t going to attack the party thanks to the Charm Monster spell, so it flew off back to the city with the confused ogres on top.

Then the party used Speak with the Dead on Calligaster. His shattered jaw made sickening grinding sounds as he answered their 2 questions.

“What were you going to do if you gained control of the cursed ground?”

“Necronaut, I would build a temple to enhance my power and raise an undead army from the hundreds of years of bones below”

“Why were you doing this?”

“I wished to move against several powerful Lords and Warlocks in House Omander, and a personal army of undead hidden in the marshlands would be my secret weapon.”

They stripped his body of magic items, the party warlock has Iessalon’s Revelation of the Enchanted, Bhakashal’s version of Identify. It worked on Calligaster’s wand (a wand of metal and mineral detection), but was unsuccessful on his ring. They found two potions, a potion of clairaudience and a potion of Black Dragon control. He also had a scroll with Forget and Magic Jar.

Having learned from their experience with Pholl the Gaunt, they chopped of Calligaster’s head, burned his body, and took the head back as proof of death.

Badass.

There were no encounters on the way back to the city, and they shared what they had learned with their patron.

This was big news. They knew of Calligaster’s plans, they had information of value to House Omander, House Rostus and to Kamerli directly. They had humbled Mitrax Toma the Bold and slain his ally, dealing him a severe blow (and gaining a new enemy). They had repaired the relationship between House Rostus, the village of Golta and their Spellbinder Jijam the Harrow, and the village is now positively disposed to the party as they revealed to them Calligaster’s deception, giving them another ally. Kamerli could now decide how best to use the information they had gathered to his advantage, and as Kamerli’s star rose in the Bhakashal firmament, so the party would rise with it, as his allies.

Also, the party has fulfilled their bargain with the Black Dragon Haekomarl, so when he shows up at some point to check on them, they can stand tall. And they have a potion in their back pocket if the dragon still wants to betray them.

 

Observations

What makes this all so layered and engaging is that the factions of the setting frame everything that happens. The PCs aren’t just “fighting monsters and bandits”, they are casting their lot with factions in the long game of interfactional rivalry.

It’s exhilarating as they are always faced with the possibility of those more powerful than them taking an interest in their demise. They make enemies and allies as they move through the game world, and these relationships drive the action in new directions.

It’s also important as raw power isn’t really the deciding factor, the party fighter made a lot of great suggestions in this game, his largest contribution in this session wasn’t his sword arm, it was things like cutting off Calligaster’s head and burning his body so he couldn’t be brought back. Old school play rewards smart players, not smart characters, and Bhakashal is old-school to the core.

Encounter reaction rolls were key to this session, in so many ways. Factional affiliation impacted those rolls, who you are aligned with matters. Factional alignments mattered to, as they decide which factions are allied with each other, and thus influence those encounter reaction rolls.

One consequence of this is NEITHER THE PART NOR I KNOW how things will turn out when the party interacts with groups in the game world, and this gives the game an extra layer of excitement and unpredictability.

It was also clear that social interaction was a big part of the tension and risk. When the party was talking to Jijam the Harrow and he revealed that he knew Calligaster you should have seen their faces, they thought that he might have been ALLIED WITH Calligaster, and they may have put themselves at the mercy of an ally of their foe. What if Jijam was only pretending to be uncertain about Calligaster, would he betray them once they left? What if he decided to attack them, they were in the Spellbinders house, the seat of his power, surrounded by 200 or so Yalan villagers, many of them accomplished hunters. The fear was delicious. 

Surprise rolls were also important as a game mechanic, they proved decisive here, and the party will eventually fall foul of them, which could lead to unpleasant results. They are now experienced enough to realize this, and after this sessions easy victory over Calligaster one of them pointed out, “That could be us next time, we got lucky”.

Exactly.

It is, of course, not JUST luck, but luck is always a factor.

They also got to see that I don’t “save” my precious NPCS, they know the game is fair and transparent, that their actions won’t be nerfed by a DM who wants to ensure that ‘the story is dramatic.”

Knocking Calligaster from that Worra to his death was dramatic!

It was also a reminder that information gathering (sages, informants), alliance formation (Jijam the Harrow) and divination magic (Augury) were key elements in their success. Indeed, it is telling that in Bhakashal, the party Seer used NO healing magic in this session, but divination magic was crucial to their success.

I’m a firm believer that game design influences play, if you create a faction-based setting where the party will face foes well beyond their power, alliances and information will become very important, so information gathering divination spells are a key tool in the divine caster’s arsenal. I suspected that this would happen over time, and it has.

It is also instructive to observe that one of my primary roles at the table is to INTERPRET dice rolls, each time I rolled an encounter reaction, I had to decide WHY it was the way it was, the dice just give you a result, you must contextualize it, and Bhakashal's in depth factional setting gives you the tools to make those interpretations in ways that drive fun, unpredictable and engaging play. I was as surprised as the party, and had as much fun as they did discovering how things were going to turn out.

I know most design features are player focused, but this referee focused impact is important too. I ran this game at the end of a full day where I had given a 3 hour lecture right before the game, and we gamed for 3-1/2 hours (from 8pm to 11:30). I could have kept going for hours more. I'm running four current campaigns, and the ease of refereeing in a factionalized sandbox style setting is apparent, since the setting + player actions do the heavy lifting, I can run multiple campaigns easily. 

It took them three sessions of 3-1/2 hours each to unravel this mystery, and it all spun out of me deciding that the bandits they were going to face in their first adventure were working for one of the factions in the setting.

I couldn’t be happier, Bhakashal is working as designed and creating a rich playing experience, and the players had a blast.

Mission accomplished. When Bhakashal comes out soon, you can partake of this glorious feast of gaming goodness.