I began running Rise of the Runelords with 3 players late this past Fall. It actually has run really well for my first AP, with a few mistakes, and a few tweaks that I chose to do based on some of the other posts I saw on the forums.
-We have a female Dwarven Cleric (Rosie). Rosie does not follow a specific deity, but rather the pursuit of knowledge, and the use of this knowledge for the benefit of the world. The player wanted to play an Indiana Jones-esque adventurer, while at the same time filling a very definite need for healing.
-Next, we have a female Half-Orc Ranger (Yullah). Yullah was held as a slave by a tribe of giants throughout her adolescent before finally escaping and finding her way back towards civilization. She definitely has a bone to pick with giants, and also provides some really fun role playing with her 7 Charisma.
-Then we have Pavo/Zeldu. Pavo is a male Human Rogue from Korvosa. He rebelled from his lawfully-inclined family and met up with some rather dangerous thieves. He pulled a job for a particularly nasty Chelaxian mobster, Drago, and fled to Sandpoint before his money ran out. He's operating under the pseudonym Zeldu, which is how he was introduced to the party.
-The party has a knack for destroying goblins. Not that goblins are particularly difficult to destroy, but it seems the dice also have a vendetta against the little buggers. During the Swallowtail festival, I wasn't happy with the transition from the attack near the Temple to getting the group to the North Gate, so I added in a Chase. Specifically, a goblin stole up a baby and ran with it. The players loved it! One thing I did with the chase scene, too, was that I made some of the encounters sticky - meaning that everyone who went through would have to deal with the encounter (a rearing horse, an overturned pastry cart). Others had to be dealt with once (a stuck door, etc.) and any PCs who followed, didn't have to make a check. At the end, they caught up with the now winded goblin who was run through by Zeldu. A funny moment was created when I mentioned that the baby the goblin was still clutching was then going to fall. The CN rogue let the baby fall into the mud.
-Our two female characters are not particularly charismatic, and both described them as unattractive, which made the focus of Alern's obsession sort of up for grabs. The rogue initially was going to sit out the fight, until he was offered a reward. It got me thinking that he would make for a good focus of Aldern's obsession, but then he stunk in the fight, rolling two ones, and forgetting to take his 5 foot step to get a flank. The honor went to the dwarven cleric who critted and killed the goblin dog, and also healed the slightly injured Foglove after he got stuck by one of the goblins.
-I decided to have them venture to the Hambley farm to aid them against an attack by goblins and Bruthazmus (as suggested on the forums), and introduce Shalelu and her badassery there. I had Bruthazmus having broken her leg, and about to smash her skull when the PCs came in to the rescue. It caused Bruthazmus and the Half-Orc to share opposed Intimidation checks before the bugbear melted back into the forest, and also allowed them to save Shalelu's life. This was neat, and I would make the change again in a heartbeat.
-Thinking that with three players, they might need some help with the back half of the adventure, I drew up Sheriff Hemlock (fighter), Ameiko (swashbuckler), Shalelu (ranger/fighter), and initially "Pillbug" Podiker (alchemist), but the party took such a shining to Bethana, the halfling who works with Ameiko, and I really wanted to use the Investigator class from the Advanced Class playtest, that I drew her up as one of those. They asked what her backstory was, and so I told them about being a former house slave in Chelliax, and she and Yullah really connected with throwing off their bonds that it was just too good to pass up. Plus she cooked them bacon for breakfast, and that would endear anyone to anyone. It also really motivated the whole of the group, when she came to them asking for help in recovering Ameiko.
-One hiccup came after they went to the Glassworks. After capturing Tsuto, they really wanted to spend some time interrogating him, which I decided he would pretend to play along with in order to get them to waste time. After wasting a few days with him, they went to Shalelu for help, showing her his diary. Shalelu zeroed in on the name Ripnugget, and directed them to Thistletop. Too late, I thought that I should've used the sheriff to redirect them to the Smuggler's Tunnels, and the Catacombs of Wrath, but they were set on Thistletop.
-Because there were only three of them, and because I added a few RP encounters, despite skipping over the Catacombs they were on target level-wise for Thistletop. The group successfully navigated the hedge camp, even stomping on Grogmurt and his firepelt. They stealthed their way across the bridge to catch the fort unaware. I gave Ripnugget and company Perception checks to hear the battle outside their door, but with walls in the way, being asleep, as well as abysmal rolling: they never woke up.
-Strangely though, sneaking up on the sleeping pickle thieves, the rogue botched his stealth check when performing a coup de grace on one, leaving the other to raise the alarm. It was interesting, because it was not as though the full alarm was raised, it was just that one goblin on watch called out, before being silenced. So I decided that the camp would slowly come awake. First some guards would investigate, then finding bloody bodies, they would alert Ripnugget, who would send a few to find them out, before troubling Bruthazmus and way before alerting Nualia. It created a potential inconvenience, but not the same way if the alarm was raised before they got to the island.
- The group made it down the back stairs and discovered Lyrie after she had just closed up the secret door. This fight was really disappointing because there was no space to move. I've read now that more and more people moved Lyrie out of the research space downstairs where she can be more effective. I also would have liked her to have at least one assistant, or guard - someone to put some space between her and the PCs. It was hilarious however, when I showed them the picture of Lyrie, and our Half-Orc Ranger (who is described as being green-skinned, heavily muscled, scarred, and tusked) decided she wanted to have the pretty dress. The party also, failed miserably to find the secret door taking them to the lower levels.
-The PCs then encountered the goblins sent to look for them (destroying them) but also waking up Bruthazmus and Orik. Orik and Bruthazmus together joined the fight, which was too much for the PCs - and they were all knocked into negatives. In hindsight, I should have directed them to take one of the NPCs with them, but they felt with Shalelu hurt, Ameiko having just witnessed her brother kill her father, Bethana tending to Ameiko, and Sheriff Hemlock gone to Magnimar for backup - they didn't have anyone to call. I could have played Ameiko as a bit more in it for revenge, or to push aside what she had seen. I also could have had Bethana say that all Ameiko needed was space, freeing up one of them, but again: hindsight.
-I decided that instead of drawing up new PCs, I would have Nualia strip them of their arms, and attempt to press them into service. They'd killed her expert on Thassilonian, and she found some of the script in the possession of the Cleric, so she charged them with freeing the Barghest. She made an abysmal Sense Motive check, and the Rogue made a rather good one to convince her that they agreed. I also had Ameiko have followed them to Thistletop, and being captured outside giving them one more party member, albeit who was beat up pretty badly (bad week for Ameiko!). Bruthazmus and Orik led them downstairs, where the PCs promptly turned on them, disarmed them and knocked them unconscious. It was pretty awesome, actually.
-I was nervous that Malfeshnekor was going to rip them apart quite literally, but they elected to deal with Nualia first. Unfortunately for them, I had Nualia take Ripnugget, and some remaining goblins to begin the second attack on Sandpoint, so their confrontation with her is going to be a bit bigger than they hoped.
-We're gearing up for the battle now, and I'm hoping a few things:
1) I'm somewhat hoping that they remember the Smuggler's Tunnels and decide to put up a fight down there. That would be smart, but it would also prevent Nualia from enacting some of her plan: which I think could be pretty epic.
2) I'm splitting Nualia's forces: Ripnugget and his goblins attacking from the North, Nualia and some of her folks using the Smugglers Tunnels, freeing Tsuto and then attacking Town Hall. I debated, because it felt like she might attack the temple (echoes of the past, so to speak) but the PCs have already fought there, and I thought Town Hall might be an interesting venue and help them see the city as a whole. I also think that this will give them a bit of a preview for defending the town when the giants attack in later books.
3) I'm debating having Nualia and Erylium bring up some of the water from the Runewell and force feeding people the water to make them go frothing mad, but the logistics of that seemed a bit odd to me. It also felt out of sorts for Nualia. She's not really sowing rage, she's sacrificing Sandpoint to become a half-fiend.
4) I'm also going to have them kidnap Brodert Quink to help with releasing Malfeshnekor. That way, in Nualia's mind (as she doesn't know that the PCs have doubled back): if the PCs manage to free him, she'll just sacrifice Quink in addition to the others. If they don't manage to release the barghest, she'll have this expert as an ace in the hole. It also will help me set up Quink as a red herring for the Skinsaw Man.
4) Lastly, if the PCs don't run to deal with Ripnugget, I'm going to let him burn down the White Deer. Mainly, I think when we run the Skinsaw Murders, Garridan Viskalai will also be calling for his brother to arrest the PCs, saying that they let his inn be destroyed to help their new friend: Ameiko (who also has inherited a massive estate, the Glassworks, a position in the Sandpoint Mercantile League, and now burned down her competition).
We have a few weeks before we run the next battle. Any feedback would be welcome.
