Does anyone know if there is a picture of Ivoryglass floating around. I like giving my players a visual and I haven't had luck on Google.
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Does anyone know what the object near the northwest edge of Baba Yaga's Garden is? There's a trail leading up to it, but I can't find any mention in the area descriptions. If there's nothing on it, I'll just assume it is the outhouse.
Name: Aeon "the Insightful"
The Gory Details: The party was ambushed in the night by Andrazku demons. The party was unarmored and vulnerable to the Andrazkus' powerful slaps. Roland was knocked clean out of the tent by the beasts. Roland used Hero Points to survive, but is now filled with self doubt. Aeon insulted the demons and drew the attention of all three beasts. Aeon was not tough enough to outlast the beating from the demons, but bought his allies enough time to defeat the creatures. Aeon used Hero Points to survive, but now can't resist any opportunity to make a pun, no matter how inappropriate. (I give the players random Harrow Deck cards to represent Hero Points and the one they use influence how they survive/ any lasting impact on their character)
I really liked the duality of the Heldren-Waldsby. I built on the idea that everyone in Heldren has a "double" in Waldsby, by giving the PCs doubles as well. I took a bit of the each PC's personality/skills/backstory and warped them to make a deplorable version of the PC. My players seemed to really enjoy interacting with and learning to hate their doubles. It really cemented the "Heldren-Waldsby have weird similarity that can't be coincidence" plot. The doubles ended up leaving Waldsby before the PCs went to deal with the Pale Tower. I'm planning to have the doubles make an appearance somewhere in Whitethrone. If they survive long enough, I'll have them end up working for Elvanna (or one of her servants), and have them encounter the PCs as recurring enemies in later adventures. More Specifics: PC Aeon "the Insightful" is an Ulfen barbarian from a small village in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. His double was his childhood rival, Grimbo, who always seemed to one-up him. Grimbo appears to be a decent guy, which makes Aeon look like the bad guy, but Grimbo really is a jerk. This was emphasized by the fact that Aeon attempted to fight Grimbo every time they bumped into each other in Waldsby. It culminated with Aeon attacking Grimbo, when the rest of the group was fighting Volan and the innkeepers. Grimbo left Aeon for dead and doesn't expect to see him again. (Aeon's recklessness cost him 2 Hero Points) PC Rena is a changeling sorcerer from Heldren, that grew up as an anti-social outcast. Her double is James, an arrogant womanizer from Waldsby. He's basically a young Zapp Brannigan. James quickly became enamored with Rena, even though she rebuffed his advances, with shocking grasp. Rena hopes to never see James again. PC Mokoa is a former slave-driver from Cheliax turned Cleric of Sarenrae with a drinking problem. His double, Latate, is a slave driver from Cheliax, who really likes his job (think Krombopulos Michael). Latate came through a Winter Portal that appeared in Cheliax with Arcellmy. Mokoa shared many drinks with Latate, but thinks he is beyond redemption, even by Sarenrae. PC Roland is a former minor noble from Taldor, that killed his brother in a duel over the right to marry the love of his life. Roland now seeks redemption by serving as an inquisitor of Sarenrae. His "double", Arcellmy, broke her cousin, Nazhena Vasillonva's arm, when she was young. Nazhena got her vengeance by faking Arcellmy's death and selling her to a slaver from Cheliax. Arcellmy returned to Irrisen after convincing Latate of her noble heritage. Roland didn't really interact with her much, as he spent most of his time keeping Aeon away from Grimbo, and James away from Rena. I didn't make her parallel to Roland strong enough, so I decided Arcellmy actually killed Roland's "real" double back in Cheliax. Hopefully, this will be revealed the next time they meet. PC Thelmyr is a dwarven wizard. His whole backstory was about how he struggled in his youth to prove that he could use brains over bronze to overcome obstacles. His double, Myriad, is a halfling witch, that believes dwarves are stupid and bad at magic. She found the concept of a dwarf wizard super hilarious, and spent most of the time laughing at/making fun of Thelmyr, while he tried to prove he was good at magic. Thelmyr was really looking for an excuse to have magic duel with her, but she left town before he got the chance.
Name: Aeon "the Insightful"
Spoiler:
Background: The PCs all had doppelgangers in Waldsby, just like all citizens of Heldren did. Aeon's doppelganger was a man named Grimbo, who was his childhood rival.
During the battle with Sergeant Volan at the White weasel, Aeon was distracted by Grimbo. Grimbo was not participating in the fight, but was heckling Aeon. Aeon decided to charge Grimbo, taking several AoOs from Volan and his allies. Aeon fought Grimbo by himself and lost, while the rest of the party fought the actual enemies. Aeon used Hero Points to survive and now worries Grimbo could be around every corner. Name: Rena Cross
Spoiler: During the battle with Radosek and the animated ice dragon, Rena was hit by an ice spear, and later was caught in a flurry of snowballs cast by Radosek. Rena used Hero Points to survive, but now fears her mortality.
Is Loric this party's 'Miner's Canary'? Or did someone curse his dice He's just been unlucky combined with having lower defenses than other PCs. Up until this last book, it was Akuum that was prone to dying. SoG hasn't been very nice to Loric. Good thing the party had stocked up on diamonds.
Name: Loric Darkflow
The Gory Details: Loric was unable to resist the crushing sorrow brought on by the wail of the banshee effect, killing him on the spot. The group used their last diamond to resurrect him. Hopefully, they won't need any more with two battles remaining.
I'd certainly go with what Samy said and just say not all the persons listed in the will showed up. It allows for you to add new PCs down the line that "missed the funeral". When the will is read just casually mention a few folks haven't shown up.
Name: Loric Darkflow
The Gory Details:
The party faced off against 8 Dreams at once. Loric was unfortunate enough to be both confused and feared. He ended up fleeing into the air, then spending multiple rounds punching himself in the face until he fell unconscious, falling, becoming impaled on a rock spire, and bleeding out. Name: Loric Darkflow
The Gory Details: The party entered Gallowspire cautiously, but didn't notice an immediate threat. A moment later they were attacked by the shadows (which they just cast death ward to ignore) and the flying General. The General's unholy blights were particularly deadly for Akuum and Loric. Both lasted long enough to bring Sey'lok to within an inch of life, but cowered in fear as he rained down a barrage of deadly strikes that cut down Akuum and then Loric. Hank, the fighter, was able to finish the General off with only a single final strike of his blade.
Correct, Curse of Lycanthropy can't afflict outsiders by RAW. I missed this as well when I ran Broken Moon.
The idea is you want to put into their heads that they should go check out the scarecrow (which will lead them to the little cave with the skeleton). Really it sounds like they put no effort into the investigation. If they did, they would know that 6 kids died. The first half of the adventure is all about searching for clues and using them to prove the Beast is innocent. If they don't, the Beast will be sentenced to death. You can remind them of their task to try and get them to search for clues (out of game) or have the lawyer/Daramid/another NPC ask them what they've found when they return (in game). When they come back empty, imply they are falling their task and hopefully they'll try to look for clues at the other two locations. If the players don't like searching for clues/investigating, you may need to rework aspects of the campaign. There is a significant amount of detective work in the first 5 books.
Usually mentioning distictive things is enough to direct player attention. His lair is near the scarecrow on a hill, iirc, so mentioning something like, "As the sun sets, the scarecrow atop the hill casts a looming/ominous shadow." In my experience, simply mentioning something unique about an area can be enough to get players curious (good for red herrings too).
If they burn the books, it isn't the end of the world. The purpose of the books is to get the party to go to Lepidstadt and into contact with Daramid. If any of the books aren't burned, then they still have a reason to go (although maybe won't get full payment, up to you). If they destroy the books, you'll have to come up with another reason for them to go to Lepidstadt. If the party has bonded with Kendra (which is encouraged) just have her move to Lepidstadt or have her need/want to go to the university for X reason (I believe her father taught there at one point, but I might have added that). Whatever the reason, she asks the party to escort her. The books are meant to (weakly) connect Book 1 & 2. That thread could easily be replaced if needed.
The werewolf template (when not in werewolf form) hinders her more than it helps (+2 Wis, -2 Cha) and only a minor buff while hybrid/beast form. I'd still say she doesn't initially have full control while in hybrid/beast form because she is an afflicted lycanthrope. Certainly not the first time she transforms (see first full moon), but as I mentioned maybe she has to do something in the name of Jezelda or overcome some other personal test (to suppress the beast). Compare to Duristan becoming a Jezeldan werewolf.
Is the character planning to continue the campaign? If not, sure let her become a werewolf. If yes, may be hard to rule the Shutterwood while not in the Shutterwood. You can ignore the humanoid only aspect of the curse and let her become a werewolf. But don't let her gain control of her beastial forms (which is the default for all unnatural lycanthropes) until she does something major in the name of Jezelda, like slay an emissary of another god (end of book 4).
Note, all my PCs ended up getting lycanthropy, but all cured themselves, save one who let the beast control him and tried to kill the party.
Name: Loric Darkflow
The Gory Details: The party had already faced three fights and five haunts, meaning Loric was running low on spells. The party descended down the Night Stair and found cultists and mohrgs waiting for them in the dorter. They didn’t pose much of a threat, but Waivir, the sorcerer, was paralyzed by a mohrg.
Lucimar took the opportunity to ambush the party while they were facing the mooks. He attacked while invisible, exhausting and electrocuting the party. He unleashed a cloudkill before retreating, but the party was protected by a life bubble cast earlier. Akuum, the swordsage, removed his exhaustion. Hank, the fighter, decided to head down the hallway while the weakened Akuum and Loric finished off the mooks. Hank discovered the embalming golems and Nalthezzar waiting for him. He didn’t realize the state of the rest of the party and engaged the golems, quickly being brought low by bombs. Loric rushed to aid him. Waivir, still paralyzed, could only watch the events unfold. Loric kept up Hank as long as he could, but soon Hank fell unconscious. Akuum finished off the mooks and flew to aid his companions. Burning the much of their resources (including some Harrow Cards) the party was able to wake up Hank and defeat the golems, but decided to retreat from the invisible alchemist. Retreat was slow, given Nalthezzar ample opportunity to blast the party with his extracts and bombs. Loric fell unconscious from these attacks. Hank threw Waivir over his shoulder and slowly made his way up the Night Stair. Akuum went back to get Loric, cramming the dying undine inside his bag of holding before continuing the retreat, while dodging touch attacks from Nalthezzar. Akuum became moonstruck by the Whispers on the Night Stair (he would have made the save, if he wasn't carrying cursed treasure). Nalthezzar flew past him, leaving him to his mindless rage. Hank caught his breath in the Tea Room, leaning the still paralyzed Waivir up against a wall. Nalthezzar arrived in the Tea room as his invisibility wore off. He was overconfident in his victory. He drank his displacement extract to avoid Hank’s attacks and advanced. Unfortunately for Nalthezzar, Hank’s aim was true and the alchemist was grievously wounded. Sadly, one elemental touch caused Hank to collapse. The lich moved to finish of Waivir, who he assumed would remain paralyzed. Waivir was able to crack a smile. After two stiff minutes, he was finally able to move. He unleashed his acidic dragon breath upon the surprised lich. Before the battle, the alchemist had protected himself from fire, but not acid. The lich crumpled. Waivir survived with 4 hp. Waivir was able to heal Hank. Akuum regained his composure long enough to rejoin the party and escape his rage. When Akuum pulled Loric from the bag, he found he had succumbed to his wounds.
Would a creature be able to avoid Renchurch's Soul Haunting if they die inside a bag of holding or another extradimensional/non-dimensional space?
I don't remember if it was in the book, but I allowed players to repeat checks in an area. They just didn't get through all the papers or maybe missed the important ones. Also if they are having Kendra do the checks, you can have her take 10.
My players will be encountering the knights of ozem and their possessed prisoner. They don't have any of the suggested spells to end the possession. Any suggestions on alternative ways to free the woman and trigger the fight. The demon could just pop on his own, but that seems weak compared to the PCs forcing him out.
1. I tend to draw everything out on a battle mat, even if there won't be a fight. Downside is it takes a bit more time, but the player's get a clear idea of the area and don't know when a fight will pop up. 2. I don't remember if my player's tried to use the planchette, but my intent was to use as written. I think there are suggestions in the GM thread. 3. Depends on the experience of the players. But I would hit them up with a big hit, or make it clear they aren't doing much damage to whatever they encounter first. I distracted the player's with the Legendary Games modules that Griffyn mentioned (Murmuring Fountain and Fiddler's Lament). They ended up being level 2 by they time they really explored the first floor. 4. I did roughly the same thing as the above posters. I think I allowed Kn:Local or Religion to learn about it and offer clues to destroy it. 5. Used the Legendary Games supplements as Griffyn mentioned. I also threw in a few "bulletin board" quests (suggested by someone in these forums) to allow the party to help the townsfolk with minor things (had something like a pet rabbit went missing). I second Griffyn: definitively recommend looking into setting up the BBEG early. I didn't introduce him until the 2nd book. I wish I had set him up as early as the funeral. Highly recommend Loki_Thief's letters.
This is one of the weaker points in the story. The Way wanted to use the Beast as a scapegoat, so they would go unnoticed. I like Griffyn's idea though, that the effigy was protected by magic that the Beast was immune to.
I haven't gotten a chance to read through everything here, but I really like how you spiced up the haunts in Renchurch. I'm hoping to borrow them for my own game. Where did you insert the Fallen Crusader haunt?
It could accelerate the timeline. Maybe a letter pops up every night until she regenerates.
I can't remember, but is this not the tower that every living thing that dies becomes a Haunt of equal CR? If so, the party still has their work cut out for them ... That's Renchurch, in book 6
Name: Akuum Nightwind
The Gory Details: Aisa hit Akuum with slay living before withdrawing into the fog. Akuum was the first to reengage her. She moved to re-position and triggered an AoO from Akuum. He hit her, triggering the vampiric touch stored in her gown before she unleashed a cone of cold on Akuum (and two party members outside the fog) dropping him to the ground. The healer didn't attempt to find him in the fog. The party found that he was dead after finishing off Aisa.
I don't see why not. But the PCs won't get to make use of it during the campaign, as they'll be traveling across Ustalav.
Yes, one PC could present multiple (or all) pieces of evidence. They would still make a separate check for each piece.
Name: Loric Darkflow
Name: Waivir Ashenface
The Gory Details: The party had just finished dealing with all of the vampires, including Giovanni, staking the lot of them in their coffins. But they decided they wanted to loot the place and weren't expecting to encounter the coffin mimics. One mimic latched onto Loric and another onto Waivir slowly chewing them to death while the rest of the party beat on the mimics while getting their weapons constantly stuck. The remaining party members defeated the mimics and were able to raise Loric and Waivir from death.
I have a player who was raised by werewolves. Thinking about tying him into the story a bit more and this is the obvious place for it. I was wondering what tribe you all think he should have been raised by. Your best bet would probably be the Prince's Wolves, as the party is never expected to fight them (although they can if they choose). Unless the character is evil, in which case Mathus could work. He could also have been raised by Kvalva Sain and the Primals, learning of her death could help motivate him. With Sain or Mathus you may need to change how other members of the tribe react to the PC if they know him. I'd be wary of making a player packlord during the campaign. There's still a lot to be done outside of the Shudderwood. A packlord that doesn't stay in the Shudderwood to reunite the tribes probably isn't going to stay packlord. He could always go back post-SoG, after the BBEG has been dealt with.
The skipping girls event could be expanded to have a song for each prisoner. I dont think Vasorianna would know details of the 5 prisoners beyond their names and that they are evil/powerful, but she could suggest the party look for more information.
Depending on how much your players know about the region, you could simply move the encounters to be in their path. The knights of Ozen are especially easy to put anywhere. But none of the travel encounters seem particularly important to the story, so missing them isn't the end of the world. At worst they miss some flavor, treasure, and hints Marrowgarth.
You mean Professor Lorrimor, The Dragon? His ghost is ** spoiler omitted **, that's the whole point. I'd note that this isn't true unless you made changes in your game Spoiler:
In the book, the Warden Hawkran's soul was taken by the WW, not the professor's. The Professor was investigating the WW and happened upon Vrood at the prison. The missing warden is why the ghosts are growing in power, he had been suppressing them. I would second The Dragon's suggestion of the Fiddler's Lament. While I ran it in Ravengro, it could easily fit anywhere in Ustalav. The Murmuring Fountain is good too, but it is a little less modular than FL. While I haven't run it myself, I've seen folks recommend using Feast of Ravenmoor as part of Carrion Crown. You could look at that.
I'm not sure which 'NPC' Tybid is referencing from book 4, but there are members of the Pharasmian church that she could seek council with in Book 5. There's definitely a sidebar somewhere that talks about paladins, clerics of pharasma, and undead hunters. I'd also recommend your gm take a look at the ashes thread. And be careful of spoilers! This forum isn't very player friendly.
I feel like I've read somewhere that alchemist should thematically be able to create constructs, even though they can't by the rules. But I just assumed Vorkstag made it or was given control of it. A golem's creator can instruct the golem to follow the instructions of another. Either way its command is to guard the courtyard. If you want it to be from somewhere specific, could easily say it was from Caromarc. He has one guarding his house after all.
The only story reason killing the beast could be a problem is his escape is the reason the PCs are tasked with going to Caromarc's castle. They need to go deal with him before the townsfolk do (in mob form). This puts pressure on the PCs to explore the castle with haste. The longer they take, the less reasonable it is for Caromarc to still be alive. Caromarc is the only person that knows the Whispering Way went into the Woods But you could easily change these points to match the story as you see fit. And you need to tone down the AP a bit. Caromarc and the beast have (as written) no further influence in the story after Book 2.
This is how I ran it; if the player that is being targeted by the slugspawn spots it (either DC 16 or 31, depending on where it is) they get a reflex save to dodge it and smash it. Failing the reflex save means they have to go through the 3 rounds of other players trying to cut it out in time. Other players could roll to spot it, but if it was already attacking they only get to witness it burrow into the target.
Will the "Super Pack" be available to order separately? I usually only get a brick but would pay extra to guarantee getting the fixed Freya and King
Did anyone do anything special for the prison? My players will be crawling through tonight. Anything i should add/change/take away? If your PCs have reached level 2, they should be okay. Encourage them to go upstairs first as the basement is much more dangerous. Embermaw can be deadly to low HP PCs, so maybe make it scary enough to get them to run before eating its attacks.
It is also very likely that someone of Estovion's nature and position would have a way to hide his aura from detection. Have him know and cast misdirection on his weapon or his shoe or something each morning.
If you want to run the events because you think your players will enjoy them, just trigger them. Maybe the Belik was spying on them and alerted Estovion. Even better would be to trigger the spider while the PCs are talking to the nobles or to Duristan. I'm not sure that Estovion is a noble, but he is respected for running the inn by his customers. Note, the events aren't needed if the PCs have figured out that the WW met with Mathus and the next destination is the Stairs of the Moon. In the "Concluding Part 2" section it mentions to just award the PCs xp as if they fought possessed Corvin and Estovion, if they manage to find the information without triggering Estovion's paranoia.
Make sure they remember to bring materials to cast restoration, multiple times. Having access to some condition protection/removing spells, such as, remove fear, dispel magic, freedom of movement, death ward is useful. Most of the deaths in my game, in WotW, could have been prevented, if the party had some of those spells prepared or remembered to bring mats for restoration. Also remember death is not the end. Raise dead can be prepared by the cleric starting at level 9, so if the party buys a diamond (or a raise dead scroll) or two, death can be overcome! Breath of life is also clutch.
Name: Patrin Comla
The Gory Details:
The Dark Rider was struggling against his transformation when the party's sorcerer, Waivir, opened with an elemental(acid) fireball on the Rider and several Mi-Go. The Dark Young's birth onto Golarion crushed(trampled) two Mi-Go. Patrin instinctively charged forth to pick off one of the remaining Mi-Go, even though his mind had fractured after the horrors he's witnessed. The frightful presence of the Dark Young kicked in, causing the remaining Mi-Go, Waivir, and Patrin to flee in fear, Akuum to be shaken, leaving only Loric, the party's Dark Tapestry oracle, unaffected (due to a Slugspawn infection). Patrin unfortunately provoked an AoO from the Dark Young as he fled, resulting in being grappled and eventually being pinned and crushed to death while Akuum and Loric attempted to hurt the monster. Name: Akuum Nightwind
The Gory Details: Loric was the only one actually hurting the creature using holy smite and his cold-based oracle revelations. The rest of the party couldn't help: Patrin was pinned, Waivir had fled, and Akuum was rolling poorly. This meant no one was healing. Loric switched to heal mode once the Dark Young turned its focus to Akuum as its next grapple/pin/crush target.
Unfortunately for Akuum (and Patrin) Loric failed to cast the needed healing spells (bad concentration checks to cast defensively) to heal save Akuum from death. Loric would have succumbed to the Dark Young as well, had Waivir not made it back in time to finish the Dark Young off and send Shub-Niggurath back from which she came. The Dark Young was brought to 1 hp before it killed Patrin and Akuum. The bipolar and psychotic(hasn't kicked in yet) Loric and still schizophrenic Waivir plan to resurrect their companions once they escape the Skum Tunnels. If they do, they'll find that Patrin has amnesia and Akuum a form of OCD. Hopefully, they can make it to Caliphas and receive treatment for their minds (via a heal at the Church of Pharasma) before they end up at the Havenguard Lunatic Asylum or worse!
Aconitum, I believe if the one you want. That is the name I've heard before for wolfsbane and the wiki article mentions in it in the "Cultural significance" section. The module also mentions wolfsbane is purple in the description of Duristan's Wolf Trap (pg10, "C. The Wolf Trap")
If I recall correctly, he bought bodies to add to the growing undead army in Feldgrau and/or around Gallowspire
There wasn't one that came out with Carrion Crown as far as I can tell. Paizo was releasing their "Faiths of" series along with "<Race> of Golarion" in 2011. But paizo recently released the Undead Slayer's Handbook, which would be appropriate for Carrion Crown. There's also the Carrion Crown Player's Guide, which is useful for introducing players to the world and giving them some character ideas (as well as the traits that tie the PCs to the professor).
Do you mean viewing the dome from the outside? I don't think there's official art of that. There's a picture of two of the iconics exploring ice tunnels before the bestiary, but that is just general and not applicable to the adventure.
Carrion Crown subsystem: The rules for use in Carrion Crown are in the Carrion Crown Player's Guide, a free PDF download (search the store). You let players draw cards (1 each) at the start of each adventure. They can play the cards at any time to gain or of the benefits (as specified in the CCPG). Sort of like a Hero/Action Point System
There are also secondary objectives, awarding either a bonus card with a Group-wide ability or awarding a second drawing of cards for the book. The secondary objectives are noted in side-panels starting at the beginning of the second book.
I didn't count the Beast being there against them, just divided whatever CR 11 Promethean is worth to the party.
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