Greetings all,
I will be putting a few friends and family through Carrion Crown in the near future, and I would like to bounce a few ideas off the community, regarding the Professor.
I think I read at one point that Petros stipulated that he receive no resurrection should he die, but I can't locate the source. It makes sense for the plot arc of the module, and lends a couple of extrapolations. First, that Petros worshiped (or at least held the beliefs of ) Pharasma. If I go down this path, knowing that The Lady of Graves may allow a spirit to visit family briefly before moving on, we have a good lead into the party investigating his murder. Or, if I emphasize that he was the last person killed on an already haunted site (and by a spell that literally scares the victim to death), then his soul's fate could take an ironic twist as a restless spirit that now haunts the area. His ghost could either return to his home and haunt Kendra, or it could remain at the site of his murder, to be encountered by those who approach the prison. This could be a decent side-quest, to put his spirit to rest.
Secondly, since Pharasma and her church oppose undead, why hasn't this temple undertaken any serious mission to cleanse the prison? The town knows it's haunted. Perhaps that is what the cache of anti-ghost items was for, at one time? Still leaves the current clergy occupants looking like they are sitting on their hands when there is work to be done. Perhaps I'll have them take a more active roll, or at least be more quickly swayed to the PCs side in offering aid, once the party commits to tackling the ghosts and haunts.
I like the idea of a professor ghost side quest! He is the reason why they are there in the first place! Having it be at the site of his death would be what I would introduce his restless spirit.
Also, when I ran the adventure I had priests of Pharasma help greatly, giving the players aid through information. If the party needs help I don't see why having a priest help them out in the prison! Could be a fun NPC connection that goes through the entire adventure path.
The temple hasn't helped probably cause they believe the prisoners' spirits are permanently locked in that prison never to escape.
Any first timers in your group?
1.) Your idea is nice. I avoided the "why don't they simply ressurect him?"-problem by having Vrood use a Circle of Death instead of a Phantasmal Killer spell. Actually the professor knew the danger of his situation and planned ahead. He gave Father Grimburrow a Scroll of Raise Dead and the necessary material components. Grimburrow was shocked that the scroll didn't work and warned the PCs about the strange circumstances of Lorrimors death when they started their investigation.
2.) There is only one old (although relatively powerful) cleric in town but he didn't take actions or informed the higher ranks of his church because Harrowstone was a quiet and relatively harmless place due to Hawkren's watch in a very dangerous country where horrors lurk behind every corner. Harrowstone only became a place of interest since the abduction of Hawkren's soul and there is no noticable danger at the start of the adventure.
I had Grimburrow secretly without his cleric powers for abiding the undead presence at Harrowstone for so long. He *tried* to res Lorrimor, but after his UMD check failed, he assumed the good professor refused to come back. Plus, he was ashamed of falling out of his godesses' graces, and flat refused to send to Tamrivena for another priest to try (and subsequently find out that Pharasma had stripped Grimburrow of his powers).
I like the idea of the failed Raise Dead Spell I think i am going to use that in my coming game.
I dont think The Clergy of Pharasma are blind Zealots, yes they hate undead and will destroy whenever they can. Even with that if its is not hurting the people leave a sleeping dog lie and help the people that you can help
Pathfinder Adventure Path, Lost Omens, Rulebook Subscriber
Pretty much what Joey Virtue said. Also, if you get a chance to look at the Ustalav map, you notice something a bit...
disquieting,
about Ravengro.
It is almost exactly equidistant from both Gallowspire & the border with the Holds of Belkzen, and not by a great distance either.
Ravengro is in a bad place & Ustalav citizens know better than to go poking the sleeping monsters. If the ghosts were willing to stay in Harrowstone, it would be almost literally asking for trouble to go in after them.
Thanks all for the excellent feedback! With our 2nd session coming up this weekend, I am finalizing events that will require attention before they attempt the prison. I've decided to use the professor as a haunt at Kendra's home, and a more active apparition at the prison. If they play their cards right they can ease him into the next world, and be rewarded for their efforts.
I will be rethinking my first thoughts on the church, and not be so critical. Grimburrow - for all his menacing bluster - sees the use in the strangers and will be a strong advocate for them in town. I've all but done away with the concept of trust points in the city. I can't shake the idea that the townsfolk would naturally blame every bad thing that happens once the group arrives, on the group. Sentiment was already against Petros being buried in the Restlands, and if the town experiences hauntings and other weird events after he is put to ground, it would logically come back to Kendra as "See! We told you so!" I need to play out the events in such a way that they can be tied back to The Five; that would then take the heat off the party, and put away the pitchforks and torches. Gibs' event seems like a good choice, as does the town hall event. For extra brownie points I've added a side quest where the party has a chance to recover the body of a child who went missing before Petros died (then cannot be tied to his burial), and possibly an encounter with a spirit that escaped the prison long ago that can give insight into the events of that tragic night.
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