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Hi all.
First post from me and just want to say a big thanks to everybody on this thread. I have stolen all of your ideas and claimed them for myself :)
This is my long term group's first pathfinder advenure and I thought I would share some of the photos I took of the first level of Harrowstone prison.
We use all the great stuff from Dwarven Forge - worth checking out. I tried to get it as close to the map as posible.
Hope this link works.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90213379%40N05/sets/72157632046902685/
It's beautiful!
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Hi all.
First post from me and just want to say a big thanks to everybody on this thread. I have stolen all of your ideas and claimed them for myself :)
This is my long term group's first pathfinder advenure and I thought I would share some of the photos I took of the first level of Harrowstone prison.
We use all the great stuff from Dwarven Forge - worth checking out. I tried to get it as close to the map as posible.
Hope this link works.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90213379%40N05/sets/72157632046902685/
That is amazing.
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Well, I've started up HoH, but on my first meeting I had a couple players who could not make it. Not really a problem later, as I expect to have a player or two miss each session - so I started with 6 players.
I did though, want to have everyone there for the reading of the will - so I padded a bit on the start. I figured the players had to get to town SOME way, and they were likely to meet each other in route... so I put some thought to it and created a Barge service. Makes sense to me, a Boat/Barge runs from the small Dock house on the river - down stream to a larger city to sell produce. Probate Laywer (Barister) arranged to get 4 of the 6 players on the same barge, the other two players will be arriving overland (stage maybe?). One of my players wrote an account of the trip, let's see if I can post it here...
** spoiler omitted **...
Great writeup! :)
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You basically have to either hit them early, or gang up on individual fire sources. If each PC squares off against a different fire source then at best they'll make no progress while at worst the fire will spread faster than they can fight. If a group focuses on one fire until it's completely gone, ignoring the others, they can reduce the amount of spreading that happens each turn, and move on to one of the fires they ignored once their first focus no longer holds any risk of spreading.
The key thing you're missing in terms of your calculations is that there are 5 separate fires, and entirely extinguishing a fire source reduces that +5 burning squares each round to a +4, doing it again reduces it to a +3, and so on. That's how it's manageable; you have to look at the total number of tiles in each individual fire source, not the total number in all of them combined.
Editing your math example to show good firefighting strategy, my edits are in bold:
1st turn - 5+5=10 sq. on fire, each fire has 2 burning squares, and the PCs get to act. It's a DC12 to put out a square - so say my PCs just fight fires and have a few bonuses and get 3 fire sq. put out. Assuming at least 2 of the three successes were on the same fire, they've successfully extinguished one source now...
2nd turn - 7+4=11 sq. on fire, three of the fires have 3 burning squares, the one that was partially-extinguished last round has 2 burning squares, and the PCs do the same... and roll well and put out 4, only missing one. Assuming the PCs took the smart route and focused on the smaller one, they've now extinguished the second fire and put a big dent in the third one, and now we go to...
3rd turn - 7+3=10 sq. on fire, presumably two of the fires (the ones that haven't been worked on yet) have four burning squares, and the third one has two. Assuming the PCs once again focus on the small one, they successfully team up and extinguish it, and can then move on to one of the remaining big ones. They team up on that one to extinguish it, leaving only one fire left. That last one will have gotten pretty big by the time they get to it, but it's the only fire left and the group is free to focus 4 or 5 rolls per-round on it while it only spreads by 1 each round. Any round with at least two successes lessens the fire more than its spreading increases it, and it eventually gets extinguished as well.
Hi all.
First post from me and just want to say a big thanks to everybody on this thread. I have stolen all of your ideas and claimed them for myself :)
This is my long term group's first pathfinder advenure and I thought I would share some of the photos I took of the first level of Harrowstone prison.
We use all the great stuff from Dwarven Forge - worth checking out. I tried to get it as close to the map as posible.
Hope this link works.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90213379%40N05/sets/72157632046902685/
I'm jalous. I want a prison for Christmas :)
That's pretty cool!
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I may have missed this in the thread above, but... I'm in the process of Preparing for "Event 5. Smoldering Revenge" - and looking at the procedures for the Fire. This is going to be HARD! I started doing the math, going to figure out how my (slightly oversized group) will be handling this - when I noticed something. I will have 5 PCs for this session. There are 5 fires - each setting an additional square on fire each turn... So...
1st turn - 5+5=10 sq. on fire, and the PCs get to act. It's a DC12 to put out a square - so say my PCs just fight fires and have a few bonuses and get 3 fire sq. put out. now...
2nd turn - 7+5=12 sq. on fire, and the PCs do the same... and roll well and put out 4, only missing one. and now we go to...
3rd turn - 8+5=13. Wow... the PCs are doing GREAT and still losing ground.
In fact - there seems to be NO WAY to get ahead of this.... Unless the PCs "gang up" on one source early and get it out, and then switch to the next and work on it till it's out and so on.
Does anyone see something I'm missing? How do 4 PC groups do this? Thanks for your advice!
It does seem a bit undoable at first but if the PCs gang up on one fire and let the others spread you will have one fire completely put out and the others will most likely grow and merge into one. Per the rules, 2 fires spreading into 2 squares will become 1 fire spreading into 1 square. If the PCs should put the now larger fire out in such a manner that they break it into 2 fires again, it will start spreading at a rate of 2 squares a round again.
My party's paladin asked the priest at the church to help keep watch for more undead and to go around consecrating the graveyard (after the professor came back as a zombie), and then ultimately the entire area after we had more skeletons appear. So in my game, the party had those worshipers working quite a bit considering how much ground they covered. For that I put an end to those random encounters for their solution.
As for the fire, I had Kendra there helping in addition to the three PCs. I also had one of the other council members helping put the fire out while the sheriff was getting people out (my party is high charisma between a bard, paladin and a sorcerer, so they had no trouble making the DCs). We used mini marshmallows for the spreading fire and people ate what they put out. I got that idea from someone else on these forums, and it helped. After everyone was outside, I had them start a bucket brigade to help put the fire out, which the PCs then helped once they were done with the fires inside.
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Glad you're having fun, Giant Little!
What I am getting at is I am thinking of setting up the final battle not in the prison but in the town itself. What would have to happen is the power of the prison in the last battle to somehow be released (possibly some involvement with the wardens wife here) or the splatter man finally taking complete possession of Gibbs. Then having the party have to rush back to town to defend it form the hoard of undead creatures that are besieging it.
what do you guys think?
That sounds like a fun move, especially if your players are really enjoying Ravengro. My advice: be careful your players don't feel like they failed at the prison (unless of course they *do* fail!). Set things up so that they feel that their actions at the prison made the final enemy vulnerable, and that the final showdown in the town is a desperation play by the last enemy.
If you want to really have a spectacular final encounter, check out the idea for a "Furious Five" haunter here: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2p06z?Question-about-The-Splatterman-Spoilers#1 4
oh
one more thing, the Summoner has a little obsession with capturing dangerous creatures. He had the Blacksmith make him a cage for the Stirge, which he feeds with a chained pig, and he keeps an undead squirrel in a wooden box. I want this to bite him in the ass. Ideas?
Heh, simple. Where does he keep the wooden box? He awakens one morning to find the box empty. No matter how frantically he searches, he can't find the squirrel.
Wait for later in the campaign, whenever the party finds or buys their first bag of holding. The first time they open it up, BOOM RAVENOUS UNDEAD SQUIRREL INSIDE
Sorry Juda - more details pls
for carrion crown pawns!!
im searching and made some but its a lot of job to do, i was wondering if someone here as made some, many or all of them (to share and make evrithing for everyone more easy)| 3 people marked this as a favorite. |
I am getting ready to run this for the first time. I have looked through the threads for ideas, and there's A LOT of good stuff. I have made some plans that I would like to share. Maybe they can give ideas to someone else. If you find something that you recognize - let me know, and I will give due credit and apologize sincerely. A long post, and so I have hidden it behind a spoiler tag. And of course - all of these things will change immediately when the PCs decide to burn down the prison, take Kendra prisoner and travel to Korvosa.
The PCs will find Kendra abandoned by the coffin at the entrance to the Restlands. Her hired helpers have not arrived. There are not many guests at the funeral. This will instill some compassion in the party, hopefully. And a sense of isolation in town.
The ceremony will be held at dusk. In my mind, Pharasmic burials show the journey from day to night. It is considered bad luck if the sun disappears before the ritual is complete. The thugs will delay the proceedings, father Grimburrow will be uncomfortable and this will foreshadow the return of the Professor later on.
An adversary in Ravengro
A bit of a Stephen King-mood here. These things can only happen if the PCs stay a while in Ravengro. If they go straight to the prison, I will do something else. But there are good suggestions in these forums on how to motivate them to stay in town. I will portray the councilwoman Mirta Straelock as someone who isn't happy about her place in this backwater town. She aspires to greater things. She doesn't take part in the farming events (market, catch-the-pig, pumpkin contest), but take pleasure in the official side of her position. Judgments, weddings. And she was befriended by a member of the Whispering Way. With promises of a new, cosmopolitan Ustalav. And a career opportunity. All she has to do for now is be on the lookout for spies and do-gooders come to investigate the Professor's accident. The cultists hide their dark plans under some noble cause, of course. Mirta Straelock is not important to them. They just want someone to keep an eye out.
Mirta Straelock will be a strong, visible, outspoken adversary to the PCs. She is on good terms with the sheriff (a small-minded man). Together, they try to hinder the PCs progress. "We cannot have these strangers go stir up evil in the ruins. Let the sleeping ones be left alone."
There will be a confrontation at the end of the module. Mirta Straelock, angry (or perhaps horrified after she has seen the truth): "I have told them. I have told them everything. They know you are coming."
Straelock is not evil. More of a tragic persona.
A worsening mood
As the events in town escalate, the sheriff will deputize some thugs. He tries to keep order with an iron fist.
Depending on the PCs actions, Gharen Muricar (councilmember) will oppose the sheriff. And make the PCs "marshals of the county" or something. This will be useful in the next module, and motivate their role as defenders and investigators in the trial of the beast.
And, on a side note: As the mood in town grows worse, the PCs will be affected as well. They have to make Will saves to avoid anger management issues. Kind of like a fear effect.
Welcome!
If they try to burn down the prison have the fires go out. It has been burned down before; there's not much left to burn. It is also, uh, protected by the ghosts of those who died containing and putting out the fire... so yeah, no setting the place ablaze.
Kidnapping Kendra for what purpose (though it shouldn't be a big issue if they want to... they just lose out on money and xp and there isn't anyone alive to actually pay a bounty)?
Korvosa is fine; mention that it is a very dangerous trip and then attack them with a phase spider (first encounter of book 2's trip to Lepidstadt).
Funeral sounds good; hopefully you can play up the sympathy. You could even have the mob intimidating Kendra and her helpers waiting down the road not willing to get involved in the conflict. This is a hard scene because players will probably want to kill the mob. Have Kendra provide lines about not killing them.
I'd kick Mirta's promise down to a position in cosmopolitan Lepidstadt as another hook to get players to go there at the end of book 1. I do like your idea, but for some variety I'll toss this idea out...
Neat ideas with the town feeling. Marshal of the county is likely above Ravengro's station, but deputizing them is definitely valid. Going to Lepidstadt to report to Judge Daramid what happened in Ravegro is a great 'last duty as deputies' and way to get them up there and talking to her.
It is a fun adventure. Definitely spend time with the haunts and exactly how you want to run them and what can and cannot harm them. I found that they can cause trouble if you're having to look up rules and decide if a vial of X or potion of Y may do it. Personally, I allowed holy water and CLW potions to work, as well as any positive energy spell cast on the general area where the haunt was occurring.
Thanks for the suggestions, and for the feedback! I like the idea that the mob is keeping the pall-bearers away.
Thanks for the advice concerning the haunts, as well. I like the mechanic, and want them to set the mood for the prison. Did they work out in your game?
The haunts were a stumbling block for me because I didn't fully understand how I wanted them to work and how I wanted to let my players handle them.
For us, I allowed them to be damaged through any positive energy effect applied to the area (casting CLW, cleric's channeling) as well as liquid based attacks (holy water, CLW potions) thrown on the ground or against the haunted item.
Alternatively, if they 'solved' the haunt (like the bones in the furnace), they shut it down immediately. I allowed knowledge religion checks to figure out what to do. I also made the haunts immune to detect magic until manifesting.
The only haunt I had to take out was Father Charlatan. I really like the idea and how he works, but it is effectively impossible to divide the group in a way that neither side knew what was happening to the other person. I never got to try it out though; right after the players caught him, they went back to town and met with Grimbarrow to get some healing, at which point I had the priest exorcise the ghost.
Nice touch that Grimburrow exorcised Father Charlatan. Almost makes you feel sorry for the ghost - after all that planning and waiting ... :) I will use the same methods for hurting the haunts as you (clw, positive energy). Will try to increase the creepiness of the haunts by removing the initiative round. All PCs that make the perception roll will have a hurried chance to act. No placing in initiative order. Maybe too chaotic. We will see.
The haunts are a really good storytelling device, as others have said. Looking forward to this.
And regarding Charlatan. I will run it mostly as described, but will not separate the PCs. It's ok that everybody hears, in my opinion. Like a cutscene in a movie.
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I agree. They won't buy the "Well, you just died!"-shtick anyway, since we play with hero points.
"You die." - "I use my two hero points!" - "Errr, well...I don't care, you die!" - there is no way this will work ;)
Instead, I might run it as a mass possession - they will think they just got hit REALLY bad with negative energy and will regain conciousness in the temple, where Charlatan will explain some b%#+#~@~ story about how he got them out of there. Thing is, he will simply not know many details of the town, like Old River or Father Grimburrow - and every time one of the PCs notices some details that are just plain wrong they get to make a save. He won't be really dangerous, just some kind of mindscrew encounter. The only way he can win is when they really DO abandon their mission and go on to leave the town, and I really don't see them do that.
Or else I will run him as written and use it as a exercise for role playing. "Yeah, your character is getting crushed, but he DOES NOT KNOW THAT...please play accordingly."
On another not, a tip for all new game masters running the module:
Consider carefully if you want to start the adventure as written. I did, and because it takes me some time to get into the flow (I have no problem speaking in character as a player, but as a game master it takes some effort at first) I really, really screwed up the first scene. It was hectic, not very immersive and when the characters finally reached Kendra's house they realized they don't even know each others names.
Yeah, I should have put another scene before this one, just to warm up.
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Thanks for the tip. It's a good idea to give the PCs a chance to get to know each other a little bit before the funeral.
A thought: I also want to start the module with an action sequence that binds them together as a group. And set some sort of rural european Dracula mood at the same time.
Someone on these forums suggested a carriage ride, where the PCs are travelling together to reach the funeral in Ravengro.
Again, a wall of text. Thus, a spoiler tag to give people a choice :). Here's what I'm thinking:
The PCs will get a chance to describe and introduce themselves. Then something happens to make the horses panic. The PCs don't know what. The driver is gone, and the horses are galloping hard. Everybody rolls initiative. The carriage gets initiative 10. Creative solutions are rewarded. Skills and abilities will be used.
On the carriage's initiative, it will crash into trees (reflex saves), be on the verge of falling over (strength checks to stop it).
The key to this, I think, is to keep it hurried. Each player only has a couple of seconds to decide what to do. Then a fast dice, and a fast outcome.
Example (I apologize for all possible cheeziness here):
GM: The carriage hits something, and is thrown to the left side. X, what do you want to do? You have 3 seconds.
X: ... climb out? Through the window, trying to reach the roof of the carriage.
GM: Acrobatics.
X: 12+3=15
GM: You get halfway through the window and barely manage to hold on, as the carriage swings back. Group – you see Xs feet lifting from the ground. Y, what do you want to do? 3 seconds.
Y: I try to hold her legs, helping her reach the roof.
GM: Strength.
Y: 8+1=9
GM: You hold her. X - you get a hold on the edge at the top. The horses are neighing at something, and the carriage hits a bump.
And so on.
Sounds good. Are you thinking to show them what spooked the horses or just have them get the carriage under control? It may be fun to give them the choice to get things settled down or to try and make out the shadowy shape heading towards them.
As for options: Stirges or Undead. Include some faint haunting pipe music. You know, for the fun of it!
Stirges it is. Good thinking. Two of them, attached to one of the horses. Gross, and something to fight against. And foreshadowing.
As wonky as it might seem, Charlatan's range is unlimited... meaning that the haunt effect could occur if a character is in town (via accidental falling damage or other effects) or worse, linger until a really bad encounter (like the Lopper or the Splatterman). There's lots of ways to detect it, but if your PCs don't think to do it... then..yeah.
I can report that the carriage ride went down nicely (mentioned in an earlier post). The PCs introduced themselves, and got a chance to fight against a common enemy right away. Thanks for the suggestion about the stirges, Murphy. It led to some good foreshadowing when they told an old lady in Ravengro, and got the reaction "Ah ... seems like you've attracted the Piper."
Also, the arrival of a beaten up carriage and a dead driver led to some interesting questioning by Benjaen Caeller. Starting the long road of mutual suspicion and loathing between the party and the Ravengro Sheriff's office.
Glad to help; sounds like things are off to a thematically appropriate start!
I hope so. The sheriff came across as a strict and incompetent man. Like a school bully that is in over his head. The PCs have absolutely no trust in his ability to look into the professor's death, and their superior crime-solving skills have made the sheriff lose face in front of his deputies. And so ... he will now recruit additional disgruntled farmhands to handle the "disrupting ELEMENTS in town".
Thus endeth the self-indulgent tale of my own campaign for now. :) If I find the stamina, I will write a campaign summary and post it in the right place.
Seems to me they do the con damage the same round they hit: touch attack - attach - blood drain.
"When a stirge hits with a touch attack, its barbed legs latch onto the target, anchoring it in place /.../ A stirge drains blood at the end of its turn if it is attached to a foe, inflicting 1 point of Constitution damage."
Great discussions so far everyone. We'll be starting this scenario soon using the wfrp3e system. I hope to have some play reports shortly.
..which makes me wonder: Will we still like the scenario without being hung up on game mechanics? Does the game system matter?
jh
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Well, I suppose it is. Every encounter has some kind of weakness, that's the nature of Pathfinder - if the group figures out his, good for them.
My group didn't even try fire, though I'm not sure if this is because the enemies directly before the lopper were burning themselves or because their only fire spell was an area effect, but still.
HERE is the thread for GMS to use for Harrowstone, bumping it for fun, yeah, baby, yeah!!.
This thread really helped me prepare for running the Haunting of Harrowstone. Thanks. It’s been tough not responding to every year-old post that alerted me to a pitfall!
So far my players seem to be enjoying themselves, despite terrible Diplomacy that has kept the town deeply suspicious and unhelpful. They’re fond of Kendra and some of the shopkeepers, however, so they’re determined to protect the town despite a campaign of harrassment by the sheriff.
One player has groused a little about what he sees as capricious variations between the undead, haunts and animate objects--why can he use Disrupt Undead on the scythe and not the manacles? Why can he Turn Undead the skeletons but not the Piper? Why can he target the slamming portals with holy water but not the cold spot? I pointed out that this makes his Knowledge: Arcane and Knowledge: Religion skills more useful, and he seems to have accepted that. The variety and unpredictability of the encounters has been a big plus in my opinion.
My players have impressed me several times. After a moment of panic when they realized the tactics they used on the incredibly resilient and rather dangerous headman’s scythe (holy water, disrupt undead) weren’t working on the equally impervious manacles, they sussed out its weakness to cold with a knowledge roll, grappled it, pinned it, tied it up (in a bag) and hauled it into the cold spot haunt.
I’m quite looking forward to their encounters with the other four prisoners.
SCC, quick tip, convert all the Cure Light Wounds potions into 50gp each. Your players will likely want to buy things, what with the 20% off they can get if they rescue lots of NPC's at the fire.
Second, put some scrolls of magic weapon into the game, as they will need them once they go up against the incorporeal types!!!
Third, I've just examined the next adventure, and there are lots of incorporeal types in it. Thus, have your warrior PC types invest in Ghost Touch weapons ASAP. They are gonna need it. At the very least, get +1 weapons!