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Hey all. My players have just finished getting through most of the troll lair in Rivers Run Red, but we had to stop just before they got to Hargulka's room. As such, I thought I might take the time to make the encounter a little more interesting. As written, it's pretty much just a "what are you doing here, I'ma fight you" type encounter, leaving the Nyrissa implications to come from the map and other small details. I'd like to spice up the RP a bit to shed some light on Nyrissa for the PCs.
That being said, Hargulka is a troll, and probably doesn't have a lot of patience or excess brainpower for drawn-out conversation. I sent one troll ahead, so he'll be warned of their coming, but he could ignore it and thus allow a "PCs walk in on the villain talking to himself" type thing.
What do you guys think?
PS: I'm also open to advice on how to make the fight more interesting. I've got 7 6th level fairly-optimized PCs that are pretty worn out from fighting all the extra trolls I threw at them, and I'm thinking it will be Hargulka, a regular troll, an advanced trollhound, and *maybe* the rock troll I excluded from his proper room. The last battle took place almost entirely in the doorway of the barracks, with all the PCs bunched up in the hall; that's something I'd like to avoid this time.
I put Hargulka's grandmother in the throne room as well -- she's a Kaer Maga troll oracle that divines by examining her own entrails, and offers to do a reading for the future if they spare her darling grandson. Play up the squick factor as much as you want, and give her a few witch or oracle levels so she can provide buff spells.
Bonus points for Baba Yaga allusions, like her chicken familiar wearing a hut costume.