So first, I say:
The problem I see is that Endless Night is an information gathering mission but the adventure doesn't give any ways to get that information other than "eventually, the BBEG gives it to you".Fighting the driders gives no info. The battle with Safan gives no info. Being a servant offers no direct info.
The DM needs some somewhat generic encounters to use depending on what the PCs are up to. If it's just Gather Info checks for basic background, we need a seedy tavern with some roleplay scenario to learn it. For more secretive info, we need a NPC with the answer and some situation for the PCs to get it from them (kidnap, blackmail, breaking & entering).
I see a lot of work re-purposing what is already there to use when my PCs go seeking answers.
To which Joana replies:
16 Divine Crusader avatar
I ran into the same issue: The PCs were basically just killing time waiting for the big timesafe clock to tick down and Alicavniss to deliver the info. Only they didn't know they were spinning their wheels, so they started to get antsy about not getting anywhere.
Here is a summary of what I changed in the adventure to let the PCs be more proactive, but it basically comes down to: let it work. Whatever the PCs come up with to try to find the information, let it work. My group decided to track down the First Son of House Azrinae and question him for information. I made it a sufficient challenge, let them make their rolls, and let it work. If your group comes up with another plan, as long as it makes some kind of sense, let it work. They want to break into a secret library somewhere? If they make the rolls, the info they need is there. They want to track down a disgruntled former House servant who might be willing to spill the beans? Let them do the work to find one, make the rolls to Intimidate or Diplomacy or Charm the info out of them, and let it work.
This makes your players feel like geniuses because they figured out the secret. Their plan worked. (Incidentally, it's a lot less work on the DM, too; if they come up with the plan, the DM doesn't have to. Just run with what they do.) Then give them some reason to go see Alicavniss Vonnarc anyway, let her fill in any tidbits of info they might be missing (maybe the records in the library are incomplete and Alicavniss was the last person to access them, maybe the servant overheard part of a conversation with Alicavniss), and jump back into the storyline there.
To which I'd say, making it work on whatever plan the PCs come up with is great advice. I'm not convinced I have the winging skills to do that. So instead, I want to pre-plan some interesting encounters and hopefully the directions the PCs go in will let me use them. Secondly, I can hopefully re-purpose much of Endless Night so I don't have to recreate everything.
If I actually come up with ideas for that, I'll post in this thread.
OK, so first step in this process is figuring out what the PCs might actually try and learn.
Primarily: (1) That House Azrinae has mostly left, (2) Where they went
Secondarily: They may take interest in the Azrinae/Vonnarc connection
Things I'd like them to learn to help the plot: Allevrah was a relative new comer to the city
The current adventure has only one way to figure out the primary information - the single NPC Alcavniss. A single point isn't so good so we need multiple ways to get to that.