zr122's page

I have to say, I am a little disappointed with the final combat encounters in this book.

In The Hellfire Compact, you face The Angel Knight, who has been an enemy for the entire book.

In Wrath of Thrune, you meet Oppian Nevilindor in Event 1, and can spend time getting to know him.

In The Inferno Gate, you fight Archbaron Fex! He's been your ally for three books!

And then you get here, and the final combat is versus an Asmodean Cleric you've never heard of before, and two ice devils that flee once the cleric is defeated.

That, to me, is not only boring, but anticlimactic.

One of my player's has a Chelish noble who has a sister in the Church of Asmodeus, so I'm replacing the cleric with her, and putting her into earlier encounters (like the parties) to give her that campaign presence. I would highly recommend putting that NPC into the campaign whenever you can.

My group is still early in this book, having just finished the brunch (Event 1), but my Oppian is already suspicious. He mentions being ever vigilant for the inevitable retaliation.

But he worships a Lawful Good diety. It seems somewhat obvious to him that the PCs are Thrune agents, but he needs proof. I play up his feelings of inadequacy as a ruler. He feels that simply arresting people on a hunch would undo any positive feelings the people of Kantaria have for the GR.

So, he waits for them to strike. Once things are obviously going bad, he can justify the spy archons. As the city descends into chaos and his friends die around him, that insecurity keeps him from making the right choice.

I mean, the last time he made tbe right choice, he killed his best friend.

Combine that with characters like Kalcyra and Faydreth being quite forceful and antagonistic. I'll have them curse Oppian for not arresting them when he had the chance.

@Gratz

There is no reason your players can't actively search for angel hearts and unicorn horns prior to reaching Senara. In fact, they pass by several key points depending on the route they take.

If the follow Remesiana Road, they pass by the area the Mistress of Beasts resides, as well as Fort Arego itself. If they do approach the Fort first, however, I would establish quite quickly that the Glorious Reclamation is actively scouring that area, and maybe the party wants to leave the fort be until finding all of the ingredients.

On the other hand, taking the Whisperwood Way brings them right past the Blessing of Unicorns, providing them a great way to get the horns early.

There's also random encounters from the bestiary, and you can move the Lost Knights and Barbazu Messengers encounters anywhere on the map.

If the party only spends a few sessions in the woods, have them level to 8 after the portion in Senara. If they spend a significant time in the woods, but don't get all the ingredients, they can level when the enter Senara. If it looks like going to Senara will be the last thing they do before going to the Fort, let them level after any particularly grueling fight.

I'm curious about Lairsaph and his locket. The woman depicted inside has no background information. I highly doubt it is Seltyiel's mother, given the backstory information provided. Does anybody know anything else?