Beefing up Chopper's Isle


Rise of the Runelords


My PCs have decided they want to explore Chopper's Isle. I like the Chopper's Isle encounter in Wayfinder. The problem is, the players are all level 5.
So I'm wondering if y'all have any good ideas on how to beef up the encounter for level 5 characters?
Thanks!


Aaron Gillespie wrote:

My PCs have decided they want to explore Chopper's Isle. I like the Chopper's Isle encounter in Wayfinder. The problem is, the players are all level 5.

So I'm wondering if y'all have any good ideas on how to beef up the encounter for level 5 characters?
Thanks!

I am pretty sure I have read that the sandpoint devil comes to chopper's isle once per month during a full moon and foggy conditions to eat his unfortunate prey.


Fernn wrote:
Aaron Gillespie wrote:

My PCs have decided they want to explore Chopper's Isle. I like the Chopper's Isle encounter in Wayfinder. The problem is, the players are all level 5.

So I'm wondering if y'all have any good ideas on how to beef up the encounter for level 5 characters?
Thanks!
I am pretty sure I have read that the sandpoint devil comes to chopper's isle once per month during a full moon and foggy conditions to eat his unfortunate prey.

Speak of the... DEVIL,

I found this laying around

http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2kp7j?Choppers-Isle-write-up


Isn't this almost exactly like the encounter in Wafinder? I need to go look at it, but this seems like the same thing.


Adventure Path Charter Subscriber

Aaron - I jazzed it up with a few haunts - if I did it again, I'd add 1 or 2 more, perhaps one at the top outside the house,one of the early victims who lingered on longer than intended before Stoot became good at his murdercraft? Give them some names to make more connections with townfolk, and a reason for the guards to do such a slipshod job of sealing up the place.

Perhaps a pair of goblin druids who are using the perch as a place to spy on town?

Perhaps Naulia has a few human allies up there spying on the town - some Adepts and Warriors of Lamashtu?


I also ran it when the PCs were 5th level.

I added several more haunts, another trap or two, and I also changed the attic whisperer to a wraith.


I ran the quest more or less as written (the one that Fernn linked), and it worked out quite well, even though the party was of course much too powerful for the attic whisperer (six players at level 4). For it to be a challenging encounter wasn't the point anyway, since I wanted to use the quest as foreshadowing for Foxglove's manor more than anything else.

They liked it, because I managed to do the horror thing decently enough.

As an example, when the party wizard examined the statue of Pazuzu and succeeded his Knowledge check to identify the deity, he subsequently explained Pazuzu to the rest of the group. At this point I stopped him, and told him that shivers suddenly went down his character's spine, and now he felt as though he had done something terribly wrong. I allowed his character to remember that you should not say Pazuzu's name out loud, and then asked him to roll Sense Motive (which returned as a hunch that something bad was going to happen to him).

Depending on your players and your general play style, you may not need to worry about the difficulty of the side quest. It may be interesting as something else entirely. And there is a lot of foreshadowing potential.

Sidenotes:
In my game, I'm thinking that the Sandpoint Devil is the result of cooperation or a secret tryst between Pazuzu and Lamashtu (this may very well have been JJ's plan all along; at least I feel it's hinted strongly at). So if the party encounters the Sandpoint Devil, it will focus its attention on the party wizard, I think.

Additionally, if I end up incorporating Chopper's Ghost anywhere, the PC that encountered his haunt will be Chopper's focus.


Aaron this is indeed the same adventure that was published in the Wayfinder. This is where they got it.


I ran this adventure last night for my players (4 PCs at 3rd level), pretty much as-written with some extra creepy elements. If I did it again I would add more haunts to up the challenge and foreshadow Foxglove manor (and to introduce the concept of haunts to my noob players).

Even if it wasn't a challenging encounter for my group, they enjoyed it. I added some super creepy nursery rhymes sung in a whispery child's voice - they freaked out the group's hunter quite badly. Here they are:

"Chopper, Chopper go away,
Slash and carve another day,
If you see us we'll fly away,
If we see you we won't say."

"Here comes a candle to light you to bed,
Here comes a chopper to chop off your head.
Chop-chop, you’re dead!"

"Can you hear him walking
Up above the stairs?
Can you hear him weeping?
Is he really there?
Can you say ‘I’m speaking?’
Are you saying naught?
Is it you who’s weeping?
Is it you he’s caught?"

The last was in the voice of the group's bard, after Simon's spirit stole her voice.

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