Fan Scenario - Night of the Necromancer

[HolmesandWatson]

Couldn't get the tables formatted here. You can see this post in formatted pdf form at: Night of the Necromancer I recommend clicking the link and reading it there. I'll update the pdf as appropriate.

The Night of the Necromancer scenario is intended for characters that have completed Perils of the Lost Coast or Burnt Offerings.

A necromancer has set up a foul laboratory somewhere in Sandpoint. In and around the town, above ground and below, undead are plaguing the innocent and the church of Sarenrae has even discovered traces of a small cult. The heroes must stop this necromancer before his minions destroy the town.

Setup: Remove all Human Cultists and set aside. They are only used as Henchmen.

Do not individually build the Monster and Item parts of Location Decks in this Scenario. Remove the specified items and pull random cards to reach the required number of cards for the number of players. Then shuffle and distribute the appropriate number to each Location. I’ve included tables to help.

Monsters
Remove one Skeleton, one Ghost and one Spectre for a one or two player game. In addition to those cards, remove one Ghoul (3-4 players) and one Shadow (5-6 players).

Players Remove
1-2 Skeleton, Ghost, Spectre
3-4 Ghoul
5-6 Shadow

Pool the monster cards required as shown in the table below. So, for a two player game, randomly select eight monsters, add the Skeleton, Ghost and Spectre cards removed before hand, shuffle and distribute the eleven monsters per the Location Cards.

Players Total Removed Random
1- 9- 3- 6
2- 11- 3- 8
3- 17- 4- 13
4- 21- 4- 17
5- 25- 5- 20
6- 29- 5- 24

Items
Remove one Codex. Randomly select the appropriate number of items, shuffle with the Codex and distribute Items per the Location Cards.

Players Total Removed Random
1- 4- 1- 3
2- 6- 1- 5
3- 7- 1- 6
4- 9- 1- 8
5- 10- 1- 9
6- 11- 1 11

Players: Location
1: Sandpoint Cathedral
1: Glassworks
1: Woods
2: City Gate
3: Catacombs of Wrath
4: Desecrated Vault
5: The Old Light
6: Deeper Dungeons

Villain: Pillbug Podiker (the necromancer)

Henchmen: Human Cultist, Ancient Skeleton

Each time a henchman is needed, alternate between adding a Cultist and an Ancient Skeleton. So, for two players, add a Cultist; three players, an ancient Skeleton; four players, a Cultist, etc.

During This Scenario: Any player with the Codex in their hand adds one to their check to defeat a monster or henchman with the Undead trait.

For any monster with the undead trait, replace a Magic requirement with Divine.

Reward: Each character chooses to select a blessing, item or weapon. Look through the appropriate deck from the box and take the first item found with the Divine trait as a gift from the Church of Sarenrae.

Misc: The Catacombs of Wrath significantly increases the difficulty from two to three players. It can be switched with The Desecrated Vault or The Old Light to make things a bit easier. Likewise, switching the Woods with the Farmhouse reduces the difficulty level.

Replace Poison with Negative Energy throughout (thematic only: does not affect game play).

Wanted to do something undead-centric. Suggestions and feedback appreciated!

[cartmanbeck]

HolmesandWatson wrote:

Couldn't get the tables formatted here. You can see this post in formatted pdf form at: Night of the Necromancer I recommend clicking the link and reading it there. I'll update the pdf as appropriate.

The Night of the Necromancer scenario is intended for characters that have completed Perils of the Lost Coast or Burnt Offerings.

A necromancer has set up a foul laboratory somewhere in Sandpoint. In and around the town, above ground and below, undead are plaguing the innocent and the church of Sarenrae has even discovered traces of a small cult. The heroes must stop this necromancer before his minions destroy the town.

Setup: Remove all Human Cultists and set aside. They are only used as Henchmen.

Do not individually build the Monster and Item parts of Location Decks in this Scenario. Remove the specified items and pull random cards to reach the required number of cards for the number of players. Then shuffle and distribute the appropriate number to each Location. I’ve included tables to help.

Monsters
Remove one Skeleton, one Ghost and one Spectre for a one or two player game. In addition to those cards, remove one Ghoul (3-4 players) and one Shadow (5-6 players).

Players Remove
1-2 Skeleton, Ghost, Spectre
3-4 Ghoul
5-6 Shadow

Pool the monster cards required as shown in the table below. So, for a two player game, randomly select eight monsters, add the Skeleton, Ghost and Spectre cards removed before hand, shuffle and distribute the eleven monsters per the Location Cards.

Players Total Removed Random
1- 9- 3- 6
2- 11- 3- 8
3- 17- 4- 13
4- 21- 4- 17
5- 25- 5- 20
6- 29- 5- 24

Items
Remove one Codex. Randomly select the appropriate number of items, shuffle with the Codex and distribute Items per the Location Cards.

Players Total Removed Random
1- 4- 1- 3
2- 6- 1- 5
3- 7- 1- 6
4- 9- 1- 8
5- 10- 1- 9
6- 11- 1 11

Players: Location
1: Sandpoint Cathedral
1: Glassworks
1: Woods
2:...

I like it so far, but i'm confused about the Codex... what is it supposed to signify? Did you find the necromancer's grimoire, and are using it against his creations? I think I would probably do this exactly as you've written it but drop the special rule about the Codex.

It's obviously imperative that you have a divine caster in the group to be able to defeat the undead creatures, or have a bunch of holy waters I suppose. Without Kyra, Seelah, Lem or Lini, this scenario would be nigh-impossible for any given party, because of the requirement of Divine checks to kill incorporeal undead.

I dunno, it might be too unbalanced toward Divine characters, unless you have the Codex also add the Divine trait, and then you have to find and acquire the codex to be able to defeat the undead if you're not a divine character. That could be kinda cool, just make sure you also add to the codex that you don't have to banish it if you fail an acquire check, it can instead be shuffled back in the deck.

[HolmesandWatson]

I had a file crash and didn't realize I'd left out the grimoire part when I rebuilt it. Thanks for pointing that out. Will fix the pdf.

Agree with your divine caster observation. As an RPGer, I favor those types and built the scenario accordingly.

I thought about requiring the Codex to defeat the villain but thought it restrictive. But it's actually a lot more helpful with your idea to add the Divine trait. Didn't think about not acquiring it. Thanks for that.

Can't believe I forgot the grimoire part.

[Fromper]

Depending on how the ruling works out for Guidance/Aid adding the Magic trait, anyone using a blessing might add the Divine trait. But the current FAQ says otherwise.

[cartmanbeck]

Fromper wrote:

Depending on how the ruling works out for Guidance/Aid adding the Magic trait, anyone using a blessing might add the Divine trait. But the current FAQ says otherwise.

Yeah I kinda hope that blessings don't end up adding the divine trait, because honestly Merisiel shouldn't be able to toss a card at Valeros to add the Divine trait to his checks. It would really de-value the Divine trait as a whole, in my opinion.

[HolmesandWatson]

Revised pdf is uploaded. This is why I asked for feedback :-)

Thanks. More comments/suggestions sought.