Smoagendash II's page

The exact phrase "Death and Secrets" is tattooed on the skin that the key to the Builders Vault is wrapped in.

Ah, thanks!

For the dinner with Ortagar, I really want to channel some Sean Evans (Hot Ones)and inflict the PCs with increasingly spicy hot sauces throughout the meal. My Ortagar actually is a bit of an evil mastermind who knows about the contract and is sending the PCs in to see if it is still there or if the three fingers gang has stumbled across it. Of course, the PCs won't know this and will surprised when goons show up after the bank run to relieve them of the contract.

The point of the hot sauce challenge is distract the PCs (and players) from any strangeness from from Ortagar, who will be trying to subtly feed the PCs the answer to the Builders' Vault riddle("Death and secrets"), which I don't think shows up anywhere else in the adventure.

I am looking for suggestions for little jobs the PCs can do for Berline to let them explore Greydirge a little and add extra meat and connectivity to the plot. I'm looking for encounters or mini-events for each part of Greydirge.  Just a little filler to add flavor and maybe let the PCs hear about people, factions, and events.

Hmmm..still reading through it, but I'm not a big fan of the farm encounter because haven't there been similar "strange critter round-up" encounters in recent APs? Certainly the Menagerie in Edgewatch, and I seem to recall something similar in Strength of Thousands.

I might send the PCs to their manor first and let them explore Greydirge and get settled before doing the farm. I'd like two mix up the farm a little, but can't think how right now. It will come to me!

Reading through the section describing the Dreaming Palace itself, I think there's a critical flaw running through it: once the PCs understand the rooms are trapped, they won't go inside if they can possibly help it. They will open the door and look inside. If the room is empty, great! Close the door and move on. If there are guests, the PCs will ask them to leave, standing in the doorway to prevent the door from closing and locking.

How to lure them into the rooms that they know are likely trapped?

I have three players, one of whom has read "Devil in the White City" and is therefore almost certainly spoiled by the adventure's title. So I decided to add a bit more noise and options.

I changed the name of the Dreaming Palace to The Golarion Inn, and introduced three other innkeepers at the Tipsy Tengu. They meet weekly to gossip, share information, etc, and so were present during the Noise Complaint section. The other three inns are also distinctive:
-The High Tower Inn (Seven rooms, one/story, great view!)
-The Earth Home (Completely underground)
-The Red Blossom Inn (Comfortable, and a licensed brothel)

The four brawling adventurers were low-ranking members of the Cards Mercenary company, and had identifying patches on their clothes. I want to create more things for the players to think about, and plot and story seeds I can use later if I need to.

{I went to see An Evening with Neil Gaiman many years ago. One thing he said about writing Sandman (and comics in general) as opposed to novels really stuck with me. Once an issue comes out, the plot, characters, etc. are fixed. One cannot easily retcon earlier issues without weakening the narrative. So he littered Sandman with little odd story details and embellishments, some of which provided him with hooks he used later in the series. But when he was writing the earlier issues, he had NO IDEA which details would later become significant.}

I also added a plot hook by expanding the skeletons encounter. The Mugging at The Walking Castle resulted in a chase that ended when the
thief ran into a ruined area that had been fenced off. After catching the mugger, skeletons emerge from a ravine and attack. After the fight, the PCs notices the the vegetation around the ravine is wilted. Backtracking the skeletons' trail into the ravine, they discover a shallow hollow/cave, and a strange cache consisting of a sealed burlap sack of dirt and a pouch containing some cash and a tome of necromancy. I'm not a huge fan of the adventure paths current big bads, and want to lay some groundwork for replacing the Norgorber cultists with minions of the Whispering Tyrant. If nothing else, I want to create an alternative explanation for the missing persons.

I always wanted to do a vampire hunt in a major city. The vamp is a minion of the Tyrant, using the Fair as cover. The Lieutenant will dismiss the idea of a vampire, leaving the PCs on their own to investigate. If anyone has any ideas for encounters to advance the vampire hunt plotline, please shout out! I'm stumped for ideas right now.

I might create an opium den called the Dreaming Palace, just to throw off any players who might be meta-playing. I thought about changing the name of the House of Planes to the Dreaming Palace, but that wouldn't work well.