Hey guys. Quick question. Does the 30 days the professor asks the chracters to stay in ravegro include the time they go to the prison or do they have to wait 30 days to go to the prison?
Thanks much
Includes.
Your PCs have to spend 30 days in the area. What they do during that time is up to them.
That means that the bloody letters begin during those 30 days, the zombie nightmare happens in those 30 days, the town hall meeting happens in those 30 days, and they're supposed to investigate the prison in those 30 days.
My PC (singular, solo campaign) did it all within the first week.
|
Hey guys. Quick question. Does the 30 days the professor asks the chracters to stay in ravegro include the time they go to the prison or do they have to wait 30 days to go to the prison?
It looks like the majority of you let them go to the prison IN the 30 days rather than after.
Thanks much
They need to deal with the prison within the 30 days.
I would recommend you to be prepared for PCs leaving before the 30 days though, if you have players like mine who rarely follow the rails unless it seem logical to them.
(My players left for Lepidstad within 2 weeks after they got help from the village to crudely raze the prison and casting hallow on the area.)
|
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I would recommend you to be prepared for PCs leaving before the 30 days though, if you have players like mine who rarely follow the rails unless it seem logical to them.
(My players left for Lepidstad within 2 weeks after they got help from the village to crudely raze the prison and casting hallow on the area.)
Wow. So they didn't follow the instructions in the will then? What happened to Kendra? I'd have the characters receive a letter in Lepidstad from the councillor informing them that being left alone in her grief she killed herself. Yes, guild trip the players, have them return for that funeral then let them get back to the adventure.
Hey guys. Quick question. Does the 30 days the professor asks the chracters to stay in ravegro include the time they go to the prison or do they have to wait 30 days to go to the prison?
It looks like the majority of you let them go to the prison IN the 30 days rather than after.
Thanks much
In Ravegro includes the Prison. The Players are expected to go there inside of the 30days as else Splatterman will win....
Wow. So they didn't follow the instructions in the will then? What happened to Kendra? I'd have the characters receive a letter in Lepidstad from the councillor informing them that being left alone in her grief she killed herself. Yes, guild trip the players, have them return for that funeral then let them get back to the adventure.I would recommend you to be prepared for PCs leaving before the 30 days though, if you have players like mine who rarely follow the rails unless it seem logical to them.
(My players left for Lepidstad within 2 weeks after they got help from the village to crudely raze the prison and casting hallow on the area.)
Well they did more or less, but they didn't want to sit around while their reward was waiting for them and AV on the loose. (they found out the professor's killer's first name through the planchette). Kendra decided she would move to Lepidstad, but they didn't wait for her to finish packing. They handled it well and inspired courage to the people through a great speech and their actions so I don't see any need to 'punish' them for not following the letter 100%.
Page 4 - No.
Page 55 - Yes, that is Splatter Man. Somewhere in Harrowstone.
Pagr 64 - no.
Still a little new at DMing, so bare with me. I'm still in the process of preparing Carrion Crown for my PCs. My concerns are on how the PCs might uncover the problem with
As I've been rereading it, I'm still bit concerned the PCs won't discover the monument at all, given its location on the map (p 60) from "O" to "Q". Since the book only mentions Gibs wandering into farms after 1 am, preferably when the PCs might end up sleeping at The Outward Inn ("K" on the map). I thought maybe, instead, that Old River ("A", the dog mentioned), would be around to start barking at Gibs who would pass through town now at that time of nite, giving them a DC to see if they might awaken to hear it at night (Probably DC 25).
I can't help but feel I am missing something or overlooks something in the adventure that I shouldn't feel the need to change it in the first place.
Any advice you have would be considerably great!
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Once the first letter had been scrawled on the monument, the group heard about the crime, and visited the monument to see what had happened. Once there, they were able to offer their assistance to Benjan the Sherrif. He refused at first, but after the second desecration had occurred, he reluctantly accepted the party's offer of aid. The group's rogue spent several nights hiding in the tree branches near the monument until the next time it was desecrated, stealthed sucessfully, followed the perp back to his home, and then notified the authorities of his discovery. Worked great.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I had my PC (solo campaign) drawn out of bed by sounds of running in the street. Several minutes of shouting down at people were needed before she managed to get some kid to spread the news. The whole town knew about the letters on the monument before my PC did. It was a subtle way to drive home the "no one trusts you" aspect of small town living.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I have mixed feelings in that, although the game is going very well, several sessions in and 10 1/2 in-game days (and by far the best adventure I have ever run).
The research went well, we have had several diversions thanks to additional ideas on these boards (which are awesome btw folks!) I was planning to hold the town's festival with a wedding later on in the current day.
I wanted to set up the 'random' stirge encounter during the festivities later in the evening but the party has just made their first visit to the prison and went via the balcony straight to defeat the Piper.
It was a fairly heated battle and they used up most of their resources (especially as it had followed the rat swarm and the scythe) But I am not sure if it makes sense to still have the stirge encounter once the Piper has been defeated?
Any ideas?
I had a rough concept that there could be some encounter at the wedding itself (half the guests turning out to be the groom's late in-laws or something) but I have run several zombie and skeleton encounters so would like a bit of variety - which the stirges would have provided - whatever happens, as it is in the presence of so many townsfolk it would be the trigger for the town hall incident.
The party have made the trust mechanic seem like a tally chart, gaining trust left right and center so they are sure to be minor celebrities at the festival.... and also the first people to hide behind when danger is about.
Do you think there is a logical way to leave the stirges in, or does anyone have any alternative ideas I could pinch which would freak the town out properly?
|
Still a little new at DMing, so bare with me. I'm still in the process of preparing Carrion Crown for my PCs. My concerns are on how the PCs might uncover the problem with
** spoiler omitted **
Any advice you have would be considerably great!
The monument is a known meeting spot for young lovers, and nothing screams louder then an amorous young milk maid, whose morning tryst is disrupted by spotting a bloody V, have her coming screaming into town and you will have cause to send the PCs to the monument.
|
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
although the game is going very well,
Any ideas?
DjinnJah, I am not sure how much work you want to put Into this but there is a great mini adventure called No Dignity in Death which are actually three mini scenarios each having to deal with brides.
The plots in this mini adventure are almost tailored made as side quests for this AP, all are adult themed and not (although can be) combat driven.
The first of the three mini adventures is perfect for Ravengro (the second is a shoe in for Wake of the Watcher), and has the added benefit that you can easily recast the gypsies in it as either Varisians entertainers or even the Krooked Kin from Trial of the Beast. (I actually used Madame Ivanja from Broken Moon so that she will be more willing to help the PCs later on.) Also this adventure could fill in small XP gaps your party may need as well as giving them something to do before the 30 days in town is up.
I also set up Harrow readings through the use of the gypsies in this mini adventure.
If you want my further notes on how to inegrate this to HoH let me know.
although the game is going very well,
Any ideas?
DjinnJah, I am not sure how much work you want to put Into this but there is a great mini adventure called No Dignity in Death which are actually three mini scenarios each having to deal with brides.
The plots in this mini adventure are almost tailored made as side quests for this AP, all are adult themed and not (although can be) combat driven.
The first of the three mini adventures is perfect for Ravengro (the second is a shoe in for Wake of the Watcher), and has the added benefit that you can easily recast the gypsies in it as either Varisians entertainers or even the Krooked Kin from Trial of the Beast. (I actually used Madame Ivanja from Broken Moon so that she will be more willing to help the PCs later on.) Also this adventure could fill in small XP gaps your party may need as well as giving them something to do before the 30 days in town is up.
I also set up Harrow readings through the use of the gypsies in this mini adventure.
If you want my further notes on how to inegrate this to HoH let me know.
Well as far as how much work I can put in..... not much, although we aren't playing again until after New Year.
I checked this out and I like it, sounds like I should be able to fit it right in but how difficult is conversion or creating stat blocks etc? I am not too hot on that and don't have much time for prep work.
If you could give me more info it would be cool, thanks.
Is there a limit on the number of
Because one of my players is a bard who plays music.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Is there a limit on the number of ** spoiler omitted ** in the town?
Because one of my players is a bard who plays music.
It's the perfectly creepy sort of thing that goes along with what's going on in Ravengro.
Alright.
One of the more amusing moments so far is when he the bard
I could barely contain my laughter.
|
|
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
As an aside I had a young female priest sing "Ave Pharasma" during the funeral.
As an aside I had a young female priest sing "Ave Pharasma" during the funeral.
It is handy. I'm running HoH and reading TotB right now, so I'm not really paying much attention to the four other groups of threads, but that will come.
So my players are about to brave Harrowstone after 11.5 straight hours of roleplaying and investigation (only 3 combat encounters which lasted 10 minutes each). One player kept complaining about the fact they hadn't had any fights and I kept reminding them "they could return to Harrowstone at any point."
I'm a bit concerned about the poltergeist. It can turn invisible and attack them while remaining invisible. They have no means to see an invisible creature, and it gets to move (at only 10 feet per movement, but that's enough to make assertaining it's square difficult).
The character classes (and party role) are:
* Oracle (healer) - no spells to counter invisibility
* Alchemist (rogue) - no spells to counter invisibility
* Sorcerer (arcanist) - no spells to counter invisiblity
* Paladin (fighter)
* Fighter (fighter)
The sorcerer has an animal companion with scent. But do poltergiests actually smell given they're insubstantial?
Give them some bags of flour. Or just have the alchemist do a bombing run.
Give them some bags of flour. Or just have the alchemist do a bombing run.
Wait, it's not JUST invisible, it's also insubstantial. The flour would just go straight through it, wouldn't it?
As for the alchemist, he's swapped out bombs for something else.
I figured it'd stick to some of the ectoplasm, but I see your point. Maybe suggest going back to the crypt, and they'll find a useful item that was well hidden? The oracle can use invisibility purge. I think.
The sorcerer has an animal companion with scent. But do poltergiests actually smell given they're insubstantial?
I would rule that they can't be detected by smell. IMO this encounter works best when run as written; worst case, the PCs just run away and come back later when they're good and ready. The one thing I would not do is force frightened PCs to flee into the furnace room.
I'm a bit concerned about the poltergeist. It can turn invisible and attack them while remaining invisible. They have no means to see an invisible creature, and it gets to move (at only 10 feet per movement, but that's enough to make assertaining it's square difficult).
I gave my PC (singular) the chance to open the door, look inside. The poltergeist, visible at the moment, made faces then went invisible. And then the stuff in the room went flying. She slammed the door closed just as a volley of glass shrapnel embedded in the wood.
That room went unexplored. One of the very few left unexplored.
I wasn't too worried about my group until today.
On a scale of 1 to DMPC, how tough will the Harrowstone be for them? The bard does have Cure Light Wounds, but...I'm a bit worried.
Any thoughts on what I could/should do?
The one thing I would not do is force frightened PCs to flee into the furnace room.
While I didn't force it, that is exactly what happened in my group and resulted in a TPK that had to be rewound and solidified in their minds that I am a deadly GM to play under (I don't think I am that bad, but whatever).
Yeah, barring that, running away from this encounter isn't a huge deal.
Sean
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
So one of my PCs has sold their soul. Details can be found here
That doesn't have to do much with Haunting of Harrowstone, really, since neither the setting nor rules support it.
That doesn't have to do much with Haunting of Harrowstone, really, since neither the setting nor rules support it.
Hence why I didn't make the thread here but instead in the Advice sub forum. The feedback has helped change my thinking as to the consequences for partaking in the ritual.
I'm surprised at some of the animosity I'm getting for handing out a +1 sword in return for non-monetary bargaining.
|
I wasn't too worried about my group until today.
** spoiler omitted **
Any thoughts on what I could/should do?
Cheapy, I don't think it'll be too terribly hard for them, as long as they load out with good equipment, especially the gear in the hidden crypt.
Also, make sure they're leveled up sufficiently. Follow the advice for level progression as it's written in the adventure and they should be fine.
I specifically banned my party (3 PCs) from taking any clerics or paladins, so that no one member would outshine the others too badly in Harrowstone. I had a knife master rogue, a witch, and a trip fighter. The fighter died and got replaced by a monk who was much more effective in combat (his fists counted as magical weapons, so he could hit the ghosts).
I didn't soft-pedal things very much. They had a good, difficult time, but they got through it.
I wasn't too worried about my group until today.
** spoiler omitted **
Any thoughts on what I could/should do?
I wouldn't worry about them too much. As long as your players are smart they'll be able to figure their way around things. Harrowstone will be tough, there's no getting around that, but not impossible. Remember, they have a month to goof off in the dungeon.
|
|
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
I finally got off my first session with my group and it was a blast. I have to say that the 'Weegee board' as my group has come to call it is a pretty unimpressive pc magical item but an extrodinary DM tool.
I have been giving whoever has been holding it dreams about how the splatter man managed the escape though they haven't worked that out yet.
I managed to drive one PC (The party rogue who nicked the box containing the 'ghostbuster traps' and 'weegee board' while the rest of the group was fighting the centipedes.) halfway around the bend. When he awoke after the dreams, the board was spelling out H-E-L-P-M-E over and over again. He went screaming out the room to get the others. When they all came in the board was doing nothing and he thrust it into the hands of the party alchemist and ran downstairs.
The spirit plachantte is an excelent way to drip feed your pcs eerie hints on what is really going on and allows a dm to let pcs know a little bit more of the flavour that they might never normally see.
Also I removed the professors Journal from the chest and instead had Kendra notice that it was missing after several days and requested the pcs to find it. This allowed the pcs to enter into harrowstone and find the diary nowhere near where the body of the professor was found hinting that something might be wrong with his death. (It hadn't rained for the last nearly 3 weeks at the time and the farmers had been worried about a possible drought)
| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
The spirit plachantte is an excelent way to drip feed your pcs eerie hints on what is really going on and allows a dm to let pcs know a little bit more of the flavour that they might never normally see.
Also I removed the professors Journal from the chest and instead had Kendra notice that it was missing after several days and requested the pcs to find it. This allowed the pcs to enter into harrowstone and find the diary nowhere near where the body of the professor was found hinting that something might be wrong with his death. (It hadn't rained for the last nearly 3 weeks at the time and the farmers had been worried about a possible drought)
I had the journal buried on the professor's body. (Small, slender book that stayed unnoticed in his breast pocket.) It will be on his person when he rises as a zombie and comes a-knocking...
Good ideas with the ouija board. May have to cop some of them.
Skull Swarms. Have people run them as immune to weapon damage, as the block says, or as taking half damage from slashing and piercing?
Half damage from piercing and slashing. I assumed the "immune to weapons" was a typo, since they're freaking skulls, not a swarm of bugs. Unless the swarm was intended as rat skulls or something.
I added a skull swarm to the piper fight - after a couple rounds of combat, all the heads popped off of the skellies still trapped in cells and came a-biting.
And then it died immediately because it only had 9 HP and one of the party members was using a heavy flail.
I'm a bit concerned about the poltergeist. It can turn invisible and attack them while remaining invisible. They have no means to see an invisible creature, and it gets to move (at only 10 feet per movement, but that's enough to make assertaining it's square difficult).
Isn't the solution to this like the solution to many (too many?) of such quandries in Harrowstone -- channel energy can damage the poltergeist. Also, since it rises in the middle of the room to use its frightener ability before returning to its invisible state and it can't move too fast, an area effect spell will have at least some chance of hitting the right square if the caster acts quickly.
I really think Harrowstone as designed doesn't really work for a party without a player who can cast channel energy. If there are parties that have been successful without such a player, I'd be interested to hear how the parties got around that problem. In parties with players that can cast channel energy, the module really requires them to burn through their channeling, thus requiring the party to come in and our of the prison.
While my party has a cleric, they barely used Channel Energy. While I'm not sure if that's RAW, I allowed Disrupt Undead and holy water to work against the haunts.
The party went through a massive amount of holy water, but they cleared the entire prison in three runs, with very little left to do on the last run - just the marauder and the torture chamber.