In one or two sessions, my 4 PCs will reach Brinewall Castle. At this point, I have all the creature stat blocks printed out and the rooms all drawn up and cut out. But what I need to do know is think about the tactics and how the creatures will respond to the PCs. Also need to be sure I am up on all the rules.
So what advice can I get?
- How do you decide when creatures from other rooms or other areas of the castle will respond to noise and create a giant melee against the party?
- What are some key tactics you used with the Dire Corbies and other creatures? I see the Dire Corbies have Blind-Fight and Leap. Am I to assume the castle is mostly dark? How did you handle?
- Are there any key battles you think I need to pay the most attention to?
- Are there any key special rules I should bone up on?
Thanks for any help and advice you can give me to prepare for Brinewall Castle.
Thanks,
John
Been a while since I ran this...
The game designed around individual encounters, rather than the entire castle attacking at once. Only run encounters together if (a) the PCs are careless, or (b) they are having too easy a time.
Mostly, the enemies of Brinewall don't have particularly sophisticated tactics. I assumed that it wasn't too dark. Most parties can cast Light anyway. I think there's someone in there who can create magical darkness, though?
Watch out for the half-fiend decapus in the basement. If the PCs find the secret passage, they may stumble upon it early on, before they've his level 3. At least give them a sense of dread about the area, a warning from Kelda Oxgutter, or similar.
Encounters I found good for role-playing: Zaoibe, Kikonu, the Attic Whisperer. Work out what they'll say. See if you can avoid giving the players a reason to attack immediately. Zaoibe and Kikonu have a lot of flexibility - it's a good idea to run them around your group rather than strictly according to the book.
Work out what clues you're going to give the players for the identity of the wraith.
For the wight dude - make sure you're aware of how energy drain works since it's very nasty for low-level characters. (You don't get a saving throw when you get hit, etc.)
Been a while since I ran this...
The game designed around individual encounters, rather than the entire castle attacking at once. Only run encounters together if (a) the PCs are careless, or (b) they are having too easy a time.
Mostly, the enemies of Brinewall don't have particularly sophisticated tactics. I assumed that it wasn't too dark. Most parties can cast Light anyway. I think there's someone in there who can create magical darkness, though?
Watch out for the half-fiend decapus in the basement. If the PCs find the secret passage, they may stumble upon it early on, before they've his level 3. At least give them a sense of dread about the area, a warning from Kelda Oxgutter, or similar.
Encounters I found good for role-playing: Zaoibe, Kikonu, the Attic Whisperer. Work out what they'll say. See if you can avoid giving the players a reason to attack immediately. Zaoibe and Kikonu have a lot of flexibility - it's a good idea to run them around your group rather than strictly according to the book.
Work out what clues you're going to give the players for the identity of the wraith.
For the wight dude - make sure you're aware of how energy drain works since it's very nasty for low-level characters. (You don't get a saving throw when you get hit, etc.)
Great notes on Brinewall - much appreciated. Not every delve needs to have a lot of tactics and roll play...but there is some intrigue here and some things to prepare for.
Thanks again.
Probably a lot of work, but it might be fun to have the party be allowed to visit and explore peacefully; Kikonu is hoping the party will find the lost treasure of Brinewall so he can steal it from them. The PCs could get mixed up in rival factions scheming to rule the castle, until inevitably violence breaks out.
Probably a lot of work, but it might be fun to have the party be allowed to visit and explore peacefully; Kikonu is hoping the party will find the lost treasure of Brinewall so he can steal it from them. The PCs could get mixed up in rival factions scheming to rule the castle, until inevitably violence breaks out.
Interesting! Tell me more. Kikonu could definitely be played up as a more dynamic character in all this. As a former member of the five storms, he knows there is something that will give him great power in the castle but just can't get to it.
When the party arrives - he at first not know why they are there. But maybe something they say gives them away as people looking for the secret. At first he lets the corbies and such attack, but then when he becomes curious, he has them back off to see if what they can do.
What were you thinking with the rival faction scheming?
Kikonu I played as insane and focused mainly on his writing (but secretly a bit cunning); he had one of the PCs perform in his play, but the scene involved the character being eaten, and it became a battle, and a regular dungeon crawl after that.
Kikonu can teleport three times a day. Any well-thought out assassination plan would require him being tricked into using up all three and then lured out of hiding.
There's the most powerful corby - a female cleric I think? - who would like it to be a corby-dominated castle with her(?) in charge. She believes that if Kikonu were dead, this would happen automatically. All the corbies are afraid of Kikonu.
And there is Zaiobe, who also wants to rule (or at least steal everything and then escape), and has a twisted love-hate relationship with Kikonu. She might lure him into the PCs trap, but when they're about to kill him, she suddenly changes her mind and tries to rescue him. Zaiobe does a good impression of being an innocent, but in fact she's just as evil as the others.
The Decapus is nasty. The residents fear and/or revere it. "Don't go down to the basement!" If Kikonu realises that it has half the key, he will want it back, maybe sending the PCs to kill it. The corbies will, if they find out, want to avenge their deity. The corbies believe it's on their side, but in fact it will kill them too if it's in the mood.
The rest of the castle - half-ogres, quickling, ettercap... - are theoretically loyal to Kikonu but could be persuaded to join one of the other factions. The PCs could even try to create their own faction with, say, Slugwort as a puppet candidate.
The PCs could be used as diplomatic go-betweens. Promised rewards could be knowledge of where the vault is, freedom for Kelda Oxgutter, or similar.
If anyone suspects the PCs are conspiring against them - Kikonu is pretty paranoid - they might ask the PCs to go on 'diplomatic' missions that actually lead them into being attacked by undead or similar unfriendlies. "Leave your weapons behind - you don't want to offend him."
Kikonu gave half the key to Nindinzego as a sign of friendship (p49). You could a) state that he did not know of it's significance (but now does) b) Nindinzego took it after Kikonu carelessly let it be seen/had a minion steal it or c) in your campaign Nindinzego got from somewhere else (its your campaign after all)
Here are some things I remember doing:
One thing I quickly noticed about the dire corbies is that they have a pretty high climb speed (30'), and I made use of it to get them around characters in tight spaces, or have them climb columns. Look up the rules for creatures with natural climb speed, it's not as automatic as we think.
Buttersnip was a major pain for the PCs because of her Spring Attack + 120' speed and natural invisibility when not moving. She would hit and run and end her movement behind an obstacle. Any character looking for behind the obstacle would find her in her invisible state (not exactly by the rules, but it was far more interesting). She also ran away into the main hall so that she stalked the characters later on and continued harassing them little by little.
My Kikonu was insta-killed when the PCs and Zaiobe ambushed him (flaming criticals), so I added a dire corby bard "assistant director" (complete with flowing scarf) for Kikonu's play. A well placed Charm Person spell on the party fighter to participate in the play was memorable.
Nindinzego has a constant Mirror Image spell. He can use it to hide in a recess in a ceiling and create a false image of a wall or natural surroundings. Because of the floating glowing spores, the PCs could be allowed a Perception check to notice some spores going through the illusion.
My players found the secret entrance and killed the decapus pretty quick even though they were level two.
I would do the 50/50 shot of running into a hunting party on the way to the castle on the first day and then on the second day Kikonu steps up the pressure looking for the party. On the first day the castle is not on high alert but every day afterwards they are.
Unless the party came in through the secret entrance and then you can do a morale check or something to see what kikonu would think attacked the castle, he may think that it was an invasion from the darklands which would take pressure off upstairs so shift denizens into the basement. So if the party goes back the same way they get bushwhacked.