curse of the crimson pathfinder dice

Curse of the Crimson Throne Pathfinder dice

Q-Workshop sent me some lovely Pathfinder Curse of the Crimson Throne dice. These dice are beautiful and they made me think of politics, which then made me think about plots where an NPC or PC has been framed for a serious crime they did not commit along with clever use of spells as the punishment.

What better way to celebrate dice than with some random tables? So, please use the tables I’ve created below inspired by political machinations, one table for each type of die that comes in the Curse of the Crimson Throne set, to generate a political plot as follows:

In the [Type of State] of [State Name of Your Choice] ruled by a [Type of Government], a character must undergo a [Type of Trial]. He has been framed by [Power Behind the Throne], and if found guilty of [Type of Serious Crime], his punishment will be [Spell-Based Punishment].

I’ve Been Framed random generator thanks to dice generously donated by Q-Workshop

Type of State

Crimson Throne d12 Type of State
1 Archduchy
2 Barony
3 Diocese
4 Caliphate
5 Margraviate
6 County
7 Duchy
8 Emirate
9 Grand Duchy
10 Fief
11 March
12 Principality

Type of Government

Crimson Throne d20 Type of Government
1 Autocracy
2 Bureaucracy
3 Confederacy
4 Democracy
5 Dictatorship
6 Feudalist
7 Magocracy
8 Matriarchy
9 Military Dictatorship
10 Monarchy
11 Commonwealth
12 Oligarchy
13 Plutocracy
14 Republic
15 Syndicate
16 Theocracy
17 Demonarchy
18 Technocracy
19 Coalition
20 Totalitarian

Type of Trial

Crimson Throne d8 Type of Trial
1 Trial by combat – Fight to the death, winner is innocent
2 Trial by ordeal – A challenge that taxes the accused to their limits
3 Trial by jury – The accused must convince a group they are not guilty
4 Trial by council – Stand before authority, plead your case and be judged
5 Trial of wealth – Raise enough wealth by the deadline and you are innocent
6 Trial by judge – Stand before authority, plead your case and be judged
7 Trial by magic – Magical examinations are performed until a clear verdict can be rendered
8 Trial by question – Often it’s the questions, not the answers, that decide if you are guilty

Power Behind the Throne

Crimson Throne d4 Power Behind the Throne
1 A monster or group of monsters – mind flayers, a beholder, giants, a dragon
2 A cult or brotherhood – bound by a mission and code
3 A collusion of guilds – uses resource control for leverage
4 A magic item – sword, relic, wondrous item

Type of Serious Crime

Crimson Throne d6 Type of Serious Crime
1 Treason
2 Murder
3 Embezzlement
4 Spying
5 Counterfeiting
6 Terrorism

Spell-Based Punishments

Crimson Throne d10 Spell-Based Punishments
1 Bestow Curse. The prisoner loses 6 off his ability score. That is devastating, possibly cutting it in half or worse. Forcing them to become an imbecile is a good way to keep the person useful doing menial chores without needing high security. The GM can also craft their own Curse effect, such as 50% chance of lying down every six seconds – it’s hard to escape while taking a siesta.
2 Baleful Polymorph. The prisoner permanently changes into a small animal. One of my favourite D&D modules is Castle Amber. Wouldn’t it be a neat twist for the central garden to be the prison of several banished beings changed into the form of small animals? If the subjects fail their second saving throw, they even gain animal intelligence, in effect becoming just another creature in the garden.
3 Imprisonment spell. According to the spell description, the creature is entombed in a state of suspended animation in a small sphere far beneath the surface of the ground. Cast Freedom to release the prisoner. Imprisonment and Freedom indicate you can reach the prisoner, so presumably you can choose the prisoner’s location. This is a perfect setup for dungeon design – put the prisoner at the heart of it.
4 Resurrection. You just need a portion of the creature’s body to bring them back to life. So, kill the prisoner and bring them back when their sentence ends. There’s an expense of 10,000 gp, but a wealthy family might be given annual Resurrection privileges for an hour or so if they pay the bill.
5 Insanity. The imprisoned can only act normally 25% of the time, and their state of mind changes every six seconds with equal chances of babbling incoherently, hurting themselves or attacking someone else. Being imprisoned in your own skull is a harsh sentence.
6 Flesh to Stone. Perfect for filling an art gallery or museum. Under careful watch of security to prevent an ally from casting Stone to Flesh, prisoners can be put on display as an example to all, or kept in a private collection for the warden to gloat over or decorate as he sees fit.
7 Symbol of Death. Cast Permanency, place the symbol so its 60 foot radius crosses the only entrance. Cast Curse on the prisoner to lower their saving throw. This still gives the prisoner a chance at a saving throw, so you will want to target those with naturally poor Fortitude, and this is better as a deterrent than a cell because the desperate will take their unknown-but-poor chances of surviving, sometimes. Substitute other Symbols to create other defenses in the prison.
8 Wall of Force. The perfect barrier combined with Permanency assuming the other surfaces of the cell are secure. Put a curtain across when you get tired of watching the prisoner make rude gestures at you.
9 Trap the Soul. Put the prisoner into a gem. Break the gem when the sentence finishes. Note the gem must have a value based on how powerful the prisoner is, but the type and shape of the gem remains up to you. Perhaps those glowing red gems in the horned demon statue’s eyes have more than just good market value….
10 Feeblemind. The prisoner not only gets reduced to animal-level intelligence, he is also barely conscious.

(Thanks to Colin Walmsley for spell punishment ideas.)


Discover more from Campaign Mastery

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.