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Recently i was doing Ravenloft as a campaign for my players. During the expansion part diseased one of my party members (A female wildhunt shifter Ranger) decided to track the infected warewolves (who had fled from combat) whilst the others headed back to town to find more information out that way. The ranger got as far as the crossroads (ahead of two of the diseased warewolves i should add) where for a random encounter she ran into a group of three regular none diseased warewolves.
After some appaling bad luck with her hide and move silently roles she ended up in combat with them and after a fairly long combat was able to kill the three warewolves. However during it she took enough damage so that when she killed the last warewolf and her shifting ended she dropped down to -1 hp but stabalised.
So now she is lying in the middle of the crossroads out cold with two of the diseased warewolves coming up behind her. Now what im wondering is if they should just kill her or maybe take her prisoner and if they should take her prisoner ways to go about restraining her and the like?
How about they make plans to add her to their werewolf pack. This puts the character in significant danger, the other PCs can rescue the character and it allows for the consequences of fighting werewolves especially by oneself. So was the character infected with Lycanthropy? If the character was able to slay that many werewolves, wouldn't the others see them as being a viable member of the pack? Perhaps they have a way of controlling the individual so they are more agreeable. Another possibility is that they save the character as per under the order of Strahd and he holds the individual captive.
I think that it might be best that the lycanthropy just take her prisoner. The player had some lousy luck, you shouldn't make her pay for that.
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Which option most helps with your story line and plots?
You had said that the two werewolves she was originally following were escaping from combat, if this battle with 3 was fairly long, could they have heard it and retreated in a different direction?
I agree on Eileen's suggestions:
Was the ranger infected during this combat or the last one with the original "infected" werewolves?
I am assuming by your statement of "non infected", you mean natural lycanthropes? Were the three she killed from the same pack as the two that were retreating?
If you wish the two "infected" werewolves to find her, then what is their motivation?
Do they need more members in their pack to replace those that the party killed earlier? She did take out three on her own, she would make a powerful member of the pack.
Did they originally attack the party out of hunger for flesh? They would use her warm body for food.
Did they attack the party because of orders from someone or something else and did those orders include take prisoners? They would bind her up and take her to the "Boss" whoever or whatever that is.
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Ill put up the adventure background and some of the basic encounter stuff so we can get a better idea of the situation since i dont think ive explained it all that well
The land of Barovia is hundreds of years older than
Count Strahd. In those ancient days, when the forest
was friendlier, a family built an estate in the meadows
near the crossroads. The original estate held a small
tower and two small, but fine, houses. Over time, the
family lost the land and others claimed it. During that
time, owners converted one of the houses to a small
tavern, since a road led past the estate to lands beyond
Barovia. But even those people lost the property, and it
fell into decay. By the time Strahd came, it had
crumbled into ruin. In the hundreds of years since, it
has only decayed even further.
This long-forgotten site holds a secret—one wanting
to escape. The wife of the man who first built the
estate tower was a powerful summoner who used her
art to entrap her foes. This she did to a rakshasa named
Parrmitt Balam, who was a hated and long-time enemy
of hers. Balam has remained trapped in this place,
never aging and never able to escape. However, he has
never stopped trying to free himself using the limited
resources he has available.
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After nearly a millennia of entrapment, Balam is even
more desperate to be free. The werewolves that live in the ruins have not been cooperative about freeing
him, so he plans to use them to bring others that
might be more willing. He created a virulent disease
that spreads via open wounds, and then he
summoned a small creature to carry the disease and
infect the werewolves. The werewolves, in the course
of their normal hunting, spread the disease to anyone
who survives one of their attacks, and after contracting
it, the host can spread it to others. The adventure
begins when the werewolves attack and possibly
infect the PCs.
If the PCs are infected, they learn that they cannot
cure the disease through “normal” magical means, so
they must seek out its source. They can learn information
in the village of Barovia or from Madam Eva.
(Alternatively, if they don’t get infected, other means of
presenting this problem are suggested below.) This
information leads them to the ruined site, where they
battle various creatures and make their way down to
where the rakshasa is trapped. The creature offers to
trade a cure for its freedom, and the PCs have a choice
to make
Beginning this adventure is very easy: Attack the PCs
with a group of werewolves.
Tactical En c o u nter: Attack of the Diseased
Werewolves on page 8.
De vel o p m e nt: From here, the PCs can go
anywhere. Those infected won’t notice the effects of
the disease until the next day.
Tro u b leshooting: It may be that none of the
PCs catch the disease during this fight. If so, then you
can try again in a few different ways:
• A “thankful” victim of the werewolves whom the PCs
rescue may herself be a werewolf in human guise;
her appreciative kiss for one PC then turns into an
unwelcome nip or even a bite.
• The PCs may come across a dying victim who pleads
for assistance.
• Lastly, you can also alter Madam Eva’s reading from
the Fortunes of Ravenloft so that one of the three
legendary items needed to defeat Strahd is hidden at
the estate site, and bypass the whole disease part of
the story entirely.
Be creative, though, because if the first attack doesn’t
infect a PC, you may find that successive werewolf
attacks may become boring and certainly don’t inspire
an atmosphere of horror.
THE DISEASE
The disease created by Parrmitt Balam is a fast-moving
and deadly disease, though not everyone who is infected
with it suffers its consequences. Every day, the victim
loses 1 point of Strength, Constitution, and Charisma.
This is permanent ability drain, (DMG 300) not ability
damage. A remove disease cast by a 12th-level caster can
cure the disease, or finding the antidote that Balam holds
can help. Finding a nonmagical cure would take longer
than an infected PC has to live under normal circumstances.
Lesser restoration does not restore lost ability
points, since that spell cannot restore permanently
drained ability points.
The initial Fortitude save to resist the disease is DC
19. If the victim fails the saving throw, she must be
cured. The disease spreads through wounds, and each
wound has a chance to become infected. Once infected,
the incubation time is 24 hours, and then the victim can
affect others.
Some rare few victims, for whatever reason, do not
develop the symptoms of the disease but become carriers
instead. These creatures rolled a natural 1 on their
initial Fortitude saves when exposed to the disease.
Carriers pass on the disease normally, but they do not
lose ability points themselves. Thus, they usually don’t
know they are sick.
Now what happend during the ambush was that the shifter ranger was infected with the disease and the three warewolves broke off and retreated back into the woods (one using a direct route the other two doing a kind of long run around). The party Paladin was able to remove the effects of the disease on the ranger.
Knowing that these warewolves were infected with something besides Lycanthropy the party decided to split up with the ranger using her wildhunt shifter trait to silently track the warewolves back to there lair whilst the rest of the party headed back to town for information (the rest of the party consisting of two full plated charecters one loud brash dwarf barbraian and a character who had luminous armour not exactly being the most quite or subtle charecters for tracking.
Choosing a random warewolf to follow (choosing the one that took the most direct route so actualy getting ahead of the other two warewolves by about 20 minutes) The ranger tracked the warewolf to some crossroads where i rolled a random encounter which turned out to be a totaly seperate pack of three warewolves. after a really badly roled hide check from the ranger the warewolves spotted her and attacked. Now through a mixture of luck, Favored enemy and having some decent spells prepared she was able to kill all three warewolves but the turn she killed the last one was also the turn her shifting ended her being on 8th lvl and only having 7hp she dropped to -1 with the two warewolves she had overtaken only minutes away from arriving.
Now the fact that she was infected but is now cured would probably not be lost on these two and them not knowing the party had a paladin would assume she is immune or cured herself so would probably take her back to the rest of the pack for examination. Think that would work?
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Now the fact that she was infected but is now cured would probably not be lost on these two and them not knowing the party had a paladin would assume she is immune or cured herself so would probably take her back to the rest of the pack for examination. Think that would work?
According the description of the disease [Once infected, the incubation time is 24 hours, and then the victim can affect others.], I don't think they would be able to tell if she is infected or not. She might be a carrier for all they know or the disease just hasn't started to show the effects yet. Apparently even the werewolves don't know that they are infected, the creator of the disease summoned a small animal to infect them. It doesn't explain why all of the werewolves haven't died from the disease, since they are infected. IMHO, I think you are back to either food or member of the pack.
According to the story as it is written, I don't believe that the werewolves are aware of the infection, so everyone who is bitten can get both lycanthropy and the disease. That really sucks.|
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Impression i get from when you meet the other members of the pack later is that they are aware that they are affected
Encounter Level 10
This encounter takes place in the werewolves’ lair, the
first room in the lower level of the tower. Once the
door is opened, read aloud the following text:
The door opens and you see a square room of about 30 feet
on each side. Inside, a pile of clothing and gear is scattered
to one side, and some kind of marking on the floor peeks
out from underneath it. With snarls, two wolverines
launch themselves at you while two wolf-women move
toward you. Despite their threatening expressions, they
move languidly and shiver occasionally.
RUNNING THIS ENCOUNTER
The PCs start in the hallway outside the room. The
door is wide enough to allow people in both squares
on either side to fight through or move through the
door without impediment.
WEREWOLVES
Matrika and Tris are the remaining two werewolves
from the original group. They have been suffering the
effects of the disease for five days now (and their stats
reflect their weakened state). The wolverines are not
suffering from the disease.
These two have been taking turns listening
intently for the return of their comrades, and unless
the player characters took ongoing precautions not to
be heard, the two werewolves have had sufficient time
to prepare themselves for combat. They normally have
the door open so they can hear any sounds coming
from above. The PCs may have alerted them during
the exploration, the fight with the spiders, or the noise
from the collapsing roof (if any). Once the werewolves
detected the PCs, they retreated to their lair, closed
the door (it is not locked), and cast some preparatory
spells upon themselves. They are ready to attack as
soon as anyone opens the door.
They know they are infected with a disease of some
kind, and that they cannot cure it, so they are waiting
for their friends to return. The presence of the PCs
tells them that their friends have probably died.
Matrika’s and Tris’s Tactics
Matrika and Tris let their wolverines attack and then
they engage in melee attacks. They cure as needed
with their limited abilities to do so.
the two druids stats
HYBRID FORMS CR 8 EACH
HP 51 each
Werewolf (elf) female druid 6
CE Medium humanoid (shapechanger)
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Listen
+12, Spot +12
Languages Common, Druidic, Elven
AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14
(+2 Dex, +4 natural)
HD 8; DR 5/silver
Resist +4 against spell-like abilities of fey
Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +11
Speed 40 ft. (8 squares); woodland stride
Melee 2 claws +2 (1d8–3) and
bite –2 (1d6–3)
Base Atk +5; Grp +2
Special Actions wild shape 2/day (6 hours)
Druid Spells Prepared (CL 6th):
3 r d —charge of the triceratops*, cure moderate
wounds, girallon’s blessing*
2nd—splinterbolt* (+7 ranged touch)
1st—cure light wounds
0—create water, detect magic, detect poison,
light, resistance
* Spells from Spell Compendium
Abilities Str 5, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 13, Wis 18, Cha 7
SQ alternate form, animal companion, link with
companion, trackless step, wild empathy +4
(+0 magical beasts), wolf empathy
Feats Iron WillB, Lightning Reflexes, Natural
Bond (from Complete Adventurer), Natural
Spell, TrackB, Weapon Focus (bite)B
Skills Concentration +7, Handle Animal +4, Knowledge
(nature) +11, Listen +12, Move Silently +4, Ride +4,
Spellcraft +4, Spot +12, Survival +12 (+14 aboveground,
+16 tracking by scent), Tumble +3
Alternate Form (Su) Matrika and Tris can assume
a wolf form or the form of an elf.
Active Spells claws of the bear, longstrider
WOLVERINE ANIMAL COMPANIONS
(ADJUSTED FOR SPELL EFFECTS) CR —
HP 76 each
N Medium animal
Init +7; Senses low-light vision, scent; Listen +6,
Spot +6
AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 16
(+3 Dex, +6 natural*)
HD 7
Resist evasion
Fort +11, Ref +8, Will +3, +7 against enchantment
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares), burrow 10 ft., climb 10 ft.
Melee 4 claws +12 (1d4+7) and
bite +7 (1d6+4) or
gore +12 (1d8+9)
Base Atk +5; Grp +10
Atk Options rage, rend (2d4+6)
Abilities Str 20, Dex 17, Con 19, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10
SQ 3 bonus tricks
Feats Alertness, Improved Initiative, Toughness,
TrackB
Skills Climb +17, Listen +6, Spot +6
Rage (Ex) A wolverine that takes damage in combat
flies into a berserk rage on its next turn,
clawing and biting madly until either it or its
opponent is dead. When raging, the wolverine
has the following changed statistics:
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 14
hp 90 (7 HD)
Fort +13
Melee 4 claws +14 (1d4+9) and
bite +9 (1d6+5) or
gore +14 (1d8+12)
Grp +10
Abilities Str 20, Con 23
Skills Climb +17
Skills Wolverines have a +8 racial bonus on
Climb checks (included above) and can
always choose to take 10 on Climb checks,
even if rushed or threatened.
Active Spells (CL 6th)
• Charge of the triceratops gives +4 natural armor
enhancement (adjust AC above to 23/13/20
for duration of effect; 21/11/18 if raging) and
gore attack as a primary attack (as above) or
as secondary attack (replace bite with gore
[1d8+4 not raging; 1d8+5 raging]); lasts 5
rounds from start of combat
• Girallon’s blessing gives an extra set of arms
and claw attacks; rend ability; lasts an hour
• Crabwalk grants +4 attack bonus on charge
and no AC penalty instead of +2 attack and –2
AC; lasts 6 minutes
• Nature’s favor grants +2 luck bonus on attack
and damage included above; lasts 9 rounds
• Bull’s strength lasts 6 minutes; included above
• Bear’s endurance lasts 6 minutes; included above
The other problem i see hapening is that the encounter seems to be under the assumption that it is only the two druids there whilst it will now be the druids there animal companions and three nore warewolves and the party is now down a member so i could see this turning into a Tpk quite easily. i think i can offset that a bit by changing the druids spells a little and have them drop some buffing spells to use spells to restrain the ranger but can anyone recomend any good spells for that?