Newish DM running Curse of the Crimson Throne for the first time.


Curse of the Crimson Throne


I am running Curse of the Crimson Throne for the first time and i have a couple of questions:
1. If the pc's go to the fishery in the daytime and choose to go through the door (which according to the bbok is either opened slightly or all the way)that opens to area A7 (the room with Hookshanks) does hookshanks automatically attack them or could the pc's try diplomacy or bluffing to get through to try and get to Gaedren?
2. I noticed that the only way according to the map to get to is through the secret door through the bottom of the barge but since area A12 is below the main walkway to the barge is it conceivable that the pc's can see it and try to find a new way down. Or am i thinking too hard about this?
3. Never used or even heard of a harrow deck before but i have to say its what peaked my interest in this game. I have a pdf version of the harrow deck and i plan on using it (i use roll20). But besides the way its explained in the AP and in the instructions that come with the actual harrow deck is there anything else i need to know about using one (especially using it online).
4. Harrow Points. I understand how their generated. Seems kind of iffy how they are given to the pc's. Anything against the rules saying i cant roll like a d4 or a d6 in secret and say that's how many they get. Also the frequency they get them seems to be once per book (at least thats what i interpret when it says "at the beginning of each adventure"). Can they be regained at the beginning of eaach session or are they supposed to be of a certain limit?

Thanks for all the help.


While at the moment I don't have the time to answer your questions, I do want to recommend that if you and your players are willing to wait a few weeks, the Curse of the Crimson Throne Hardcover Remake is coming out. This is a redone version of the Adventure Path with all six adventures contained in one source, in addition to a gazetteer of Korvosa, a bestiary of the creatures encounters, and more. Not to mention that it updates the entire adventure path to Pathfinder rules (the originals were written using the 3.5 ruleset).

Again, it would be a good idea to wait if your group is willing to shell out a bit of money for what will be an amazing updated version of Curse.


I'm not sure if they would but i can ask. Any idea what price range their going to be asking for?


I linked it above, but it looks like the hardcover is $59.99 and the PDF is $31.49.

Silver Crusade Contributor

Sixty dollars. ^_^


Yea that does look nice. I think the pdf price needs to be the hardcover price though.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Rulebook Subscriber

If you use roll20, maybe have them take turns in gifting a month of a plus or even a pro subscription to you.

Back to your original post:

1.: My players went straight to the main entrance, but if yours are a bit sneakier, I'd say let them sneak up to the double door to A7 and just as they peek into the room, catching a glimpse of the children laboring in there, a particularly mean looking kid (Hookshanks) eclipses the view, yells "Private party, get lost!" or something along those lines and slams and barricades the doors. It would reward the players for their sneakiness (catching a glimpse of the situation) but does not get to complicated for you as a GM.

2.: Yes, if a PC lies flat on the walkway and leans over and below the edge of it, that is a possibility. And if your players think of that (mine didn't), roll with it. Just don't forget that the planks of that walkway are rotten and slippery...

3.: I've also used the Harrow deck on roll20 (since it even lets you add a custom deck of cards it works splendidly). After doing the first two readings exactly as it is written in the books (i.e., randomly) I opted to fudge the Spread for the third reading. The first two readings were rather clunky and I had to struggle coming up with interpretations that hit the themes of the upcoming adventure. When I instead pre-arranged the cards (on the GM layer and then moved them to the Token layer during the Harrowing), I was able to add much more flavor and content to the readings because I had time to prepare.
Also, I would suggest to make two decks, one with just the cards of the suit of the current adventure that you fan out on the virtual table (for the Choosing) and the other one for conducting the Spread. This allows your players to keep the card they drew during the Choosing.

4. As written, Harrow Points do not reset after a session and only last until the end of the adventure (or the next Harrowing). They are fickle things and vary greatly in usefulness between adventures and character classes, but when they are useful, they rock. Because I fudged the spread (see 3.), I basically also gave my players a fixed amount of Harrow Points (3, to be exact). When I did it as written, they ended up with only a single Harrow point and never even used it because they seemed so precious. Note that we use Hero Points as well, though, so that might change the impact of Harrow Points somewhat.

Hope that helps, if you need any more advice, I'd be happy to share. All of the above is based on my campaign on roll20, which is currently in the final encounter area of book 3. And we are having a blast!


Brian Turner 355 wrote:

I am running Curse of the Crimson Throne for the first time and i have a couple of questions:

1. If the pc's go to the fishery in the daytime and choose to go through the door (which according to the bbok is either opened slightly or all the way)that opens to area A7 (the room with Hookshanks) does hookshanks automatically attack them or could the pc's try diplomacy or bluffing to get through to try and get to Gaedren?
2. I noticed that the only way according to the map to get to is through the secret door through the bottom of the barge but since area A12 is below the main walkway to the barge is it conceivable that the pc's can see it and try to find a new way down. Or am i thinking too hard about this?
3. Never used or even heard of a harrow deck before but i have to say its what peaked my interest in this game. I have a pdf version of the harrow deck and i plan on using it (i use roll20). But besides the way its explained in the AP and in the instructions that come with the actual harrow deck is there anything else i need to know about using one (especially using it online).
4. Harrow Points. I understand how their generated. Seems kind of iffy how they are given to the pc's. Anything against the rules saying i cant roll like a d4 or a d6 in secret and say that's how many they get. Also the frequency they get them seems to be once per book (at least thats what i interpret when it says "at the beginning of each adventure"). Can they be regained at the beginning of eaach session or are they supposed to be of a certain limit?

Thanks for all the help.

1 Hookshanks is a coward at heart, so he won't attack anyone who comes in when he's alone. He's also dressed up as one of the kids, so he might just tell the PCs to leave, as Nullpunkt suggested. He might also ask the PCs what they want and react accordingly (if they attack, he will scream for help, threaten to kill one of the children to keep the PCs at bay; if they pose as customers, he will redirect them to the front door, telling them to go to Yargin's office - the door oppostite the entrance - if the PCs do that, he'll take the long route through the fishery floor to get to Yargin's office from the backside, taking Giggles with him as back-up).

2 It is perfectly possible for the PCs to study the building and spot the underpier, which they can reach with a simple climb check. They can get to Gaedran's playground from there. My players actually did that, but I added a trap door in room A7, which allowed Lamm to climb up from his private room and escape anyone who tries to corner him in his den.
3 The Harrow readings are mostly in the AP for flavor. I use the readings in my campaign, but they can easily be left out. Rephrasing a card's meaning into something that fits your campaign can get tricky. I'm not quite sure how you would go about using it online, so you'd have to figure that out before play, so you can keep the flow going.
4 The distribution of harrow points is indeed 'iffy'. The number of points someone gets is quite arbitrary. I also find the mechanics for actually using the points tricky (When do the players use them? How long until the get new ones? Some of the effects are useless to certain classes. You - the GM - have to remember to tell the player in which encounter he gets his benefit from the Chosen card.) I decided to give my players 'Harrow points', but I also use heropoints (a system I absolutely recommend) and I let them use their Harrow points as extra heropoints. So far this decision has served our campaign well.

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