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Wed Jan 05, 2005 8:50 am The Red Death

I've not read Fate of Istus. What was the deal with the Red Death? Was it something Istus sent to punish the inhabitants of the Flanaess? I am running a GH campaign soon set in the late 570s and I'd like to include references to the plague. Who created it? Who stopped it?

Wed Jan 05, 2005 6:21 pm A Test

The Fate of Istus revolves around the idea that Istus is testng the inhabitants of the Flanaess. More specifically, she is testing the skills and worthiness of each character class at different levels. The Red Death is just a plot tool in Our Lady of Fate's efforts to test individulas representing each class. The disease manifests a different way in ten different cities across the Flanaess. The cities are:

Rookroost
Rel Mord
Jurnre
Elredd
Wintershiven
Leukish
Rauxes
Chendl
Verbobonc
Hesuel Ilshar

I hope this helps a bit. If you have a more specific question(s), let us know and we will be more precise in answering.
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Don (Greyson)

Thu Jan 06, 2005 5:35 am

I have Fate of Istus and REALLY disliked it.

FoI came out as 2nd edition AD&D was released -- at which point we saw dramatic changes in some character classes, and the disappearance of others. Someone decided that this needed to be justified in-game.

The point of FoI was not to find treasure, not to rid the Flanaess of a dire threat, not to unearth or destroy ancient secrets -- the point was to eliminate classes. While there were arguably useful elements in the campaign, I could never get past that. PCs were not participants, but rather passengers.

As a side note, one point that has always bothered me is that the Verbobonc map doesn't put it on the Velverdyva.

OK, my rant is over Smile

Jack

Thu Jan 06, 2005 7:15 am

Thanks for the info.

So the Red Death killed all members of the assassin class hence explaining its absence from 2nd edition? How utterly bizarre.

How significant was the plague? Was it restricted to those cities? What proporation of the population was affected? How did it finally end?

Sorry if I'm asking obvious questions. I searched the web and couldn't find discussion on it, other than a debate on Grey Talk trying to date the onset of the Red Death.

Wed Jan 12, 2005 6:11 pm Insignificant

The Red Death seemed like an ancillary issue, to me, in Fate of Istus. It did not kill a lot of people. It afflicted a few, whom the PCs interact with. But it was not a devastating plaque that caused a major population decrease.

Again, the focus is on testing the PCs through various challenges geared toward the character classes. There really is not that much about the Red Death except its symptons.
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Don (Greyson)