Pathfinder Module: Realm of the Fellnight Queen (PFRPG)

The players just met Vinroot and let me tell you that fight could have gone badly. I also used the optional encounter with Arvormeigh and the large water elemental and that could have gone badly too. Tenzekil is a recurring thorn in the PC's side at present, but they will have their payback in the future.

Two weeks ago, Venture-Captain Alissa Moldreserva called you to the Pathfinder Lodge in Almas, the capital of Andoran, the democratic country located on the northern shore of the Inner Sea.
“One of our recently retired Pathfinders, Elyin Ursage, is getting married and has sent an open invitation to the Society. We ask that you represent us there in Bellis and deliver a wedding present on the Society’s behalf. The mission is really that simple. Just go to his party, be cordial to his bride, enjoy yourselves, and see to it that the image of the Pathfinders is untarnished. After all, not every mission involves danger and daring.”

--FACTION MISSIONS--

ANDORAN

Freedom’s Champion,
Welcome home and may your reveries at Elyin Ursage’s wedding party be worthy of your service to our beloved country. While in Bellis, I have a small task for you. Seek out the Eagle Knight, Dorin Mellonamin. He is close friends with Elyin and his former band of rangers known as The Nighthawks. I have an urgent mission for Dorin that he should set off for as soon as the wedding ends. Deliver to him the enclosed scroll case with my seal on it.
Please be discreet,
Major Colson Maldris

CHELIAX

Tender Lumpling,
How cruel fate is to send you to treacherous Andoran! As much as I hate to admit it, there are a few Andorens who have their uses. One such hypocrite is the gnome, Lumi Reasonknot, whose recipe for honeyed pumpkin bread is to die for. It’s rumored to be seasoned with a rare aphrodisiac that I simply must have. Acquire a loaf for me and I promise to share it with you when next we meet. Enclosed is a pouch with 30 gold for expenses.
Whatever it takes,
Paracountess Zarta Dralneen

GRAND LODGE

Greetings Pathfinder,
Your travels to Bellis afford you the rare opportunity to bring one of our own back into the fold. The groom of this wedding, Elyin Ursage, used to be one of the Society’s finest bounty hunters. He and his company of Nighthawks tracked and captured many of the Shadow Lodge rebels before finally retiring to that little bee farm of his. Peacefully see to it that he rethinks his decision and returns to work for us after his honeymoon.
Do not fail me,
Venture-Captain Ambrus Valsin

LANTERN LODGE

Honored One,
Perhaps you have heard of the Ruby Phoenix Tournament in my home city of Goka? The Pathfinder Society has a vested interest in winning this next competition and is searching for magical and mundane means of building the best warrior possible. Tales tell me that your wedding party will carry you near the Verduran Forest. Treants are common in that ancient wood. See if you can obtain a drought of their magical brew known as nodrim. Rumors say that it permanently makes the drinker larger and tougher. Such a concoction could give the Society’s champions the edge they need to win the tournament.
May the blessings of the east find you,
Venture-Captain Amara Li

OSIRION

Blessings of the Ruby Prince fall upon you,
The darkness of the woods of Bellis grows deep and it is of this darkness that the Ruby Prince has need of. Rumors have reached my ears of a shadowy mist that appears in ancient woods where the borders between the planes are weakest. I have enclosed a magical atomizer to collect a sample of this shadow-mist. Fill it and return it to me so that the court conjurers may examine it more closely. Do not let your companions witness you collect it.

Until the ultimate triumph,
Amenopheus, the Sapphire Sage

QADIRA

May the Satrap’s shadow fall upon you,
Elyin Ursgae’s young bride-to-be, Kailah, is the same age as my daughter, Alinzia. I would like to acquaint the two of them so that our country’s interests can take root in a the town which lays only a river’s span away from hated Taldor. The enclosed gift of ancient Osiriani craftsmanship is for Kailah from my daughter. See to it that this is delivered personally along with my wishes for a fruitful marriage between our two lands.
You have my thanks and endless gratitude,
Trade Prince Aaqir al’Hakam

SCZARNI

My Kin,
The roads to Bellis are watched by the meddlesome Eagle Knights of Andoran. It is getting harder and harder to smuggle goods throughout that blasted country. If your journey takes you into the neighboring forest, make a detailed map of your travels and bring it back to me when you return to Absalom. My clientele will be pleased if we can get them and their merchandise safely out of Andoran without having to risk the main thoroughfares.
Trust your blood,
Guaril Karela

SHADOW LODGE

Fellow Pathfinder,
Your wedding host in Bellis is a ranger named Elyin Ursage. As you have been told, he used to be a Pathfinder. What you don’t know is that he worked for the Society as a bounty hunter who scoured the Andoren countryside for rebellious members of our faction who refused to rejoin the whole. I don’t hold that against him and neither should you. He’s a good man and a damn fine apiarist. If asked, he will probably tell you that he retired from the Society so that he could settle down and marry his love, Kailah Winmede. I suspect he had another reason, but is too ashamed to share it in public company. Gain his confidence and see to it that he tells you the real reason he left the Society.
In solidarity,
Grandmaster Torch

SILVER CRUSADE

Fellow Champion of Light,
In all things there are two halves: a light half and a dark half. The fey of the Verduran Forest near Bellis have twin courts. The light half are called Seelie, whereas the dark half are called Unseelie. We would like you to make contact with the Seelie court that resides in the forest and offer our allegiance to their cause. They would make powerful allies to help us fight the burgeoning darkness in the world.
Your fellow servant,
Ollysta Zadrian

TALDOR

Redeemer of the Empire,
Your journey to Bellis puts you in fortuitous circumstances. Enclosed is a formal invitation to be delivered to Viviana Albercroft, a Taldan priestess of the goddess Shelyn. The document invites her to the groundbreaking of a new temple to Shelyn in the neighboring town of Wispil—on Taldan soil. I would love to meet with her there as I’m sure we have much to discuss. Surely political differences can be set aside for a few hours in the name of promoting religion. See to it that she reads the invitation and inform me of her response.
Eternal regards,
Lady Gloriana Morilla

--FACTION MISSION NOTES—

ANDORAN: Dorin can be found in Part 1, area A3 (pp. 4-5).

CHELIAX: Lumi Reasonknot is auctioning a loaf of her bread in Part 1, area A2 (p. 4).

GRAND LODGE: Elyin Ursage is greeting guests in Part 1, area A3 (pp. 4-5) and may be spoken with there. A DC 30 Diplomacy check is required to convince him to rejoin the Pathfinder Society; although, he is unlikely to agree to this in public and the faction member(s) would be best suited to speak with him in private. If the player insists on coercing Elyin beside his wife and fellow Nighthawks, the entire wedding party becomes Unfriendly towards the offending PCs. As Elyin is surrounded by his fellow rangers at the Gazebo, Intimidation is not recommended.

LANTERN LODGE: a gourd-full of nodrim may be acquired from Vinroot the Treant in Part 2, area C (pp. 11-12), with either a DC 20 Diplomacy check, or a DC 20 Sleight of Hand check. If Vinroot spots the PC trying to steal his nodrim, he immediately becomes Hostile towards the offending PC.

OSIRION: the shadow-mist may be collected at the borders of Bellis at the end of Part 1 (p. 8), or seeping from the submerged wardstones in Part 2, area E3 (pp. 15-16). A Stealth check is required for the faction PC to avoid being seen by his/her fellow Pathfinders while s/he collects the mist with the atomizer.

QADIRA: the Trade Prince’s gift should be delivered to Kailah Winmede while she is receiving guests at the gazebo in Part 1, area A3 (pp. 4-5). Kailah will likely thank the faction PC and ask him/her to please bring the gift to the Chapel of Shelyn where all of the gifts are being kept for the wedding reception. A Diplomacy DC 20 can be made for Kailah to take a special interest in the Qadiran gift—enough for her to personally write a thank you letter to Alinzia al’Hakam following her honeymoon.

SCZARNI: the map of the surrounding wilderness can be started anytime the faction PC enters the Verduran Forest in Part 2 (p. 9). To fulfil the faction mission requirement, the PC should have mapped all areas encountered in Part 2.

SHADOW LODGE: Elyin Ursage is greeting guests in Part 1, area A3 (pp. 4-5) and may be spoken with there. However, if the topic of why he left the Pathfinder Society is brought up while at the Gazebo among the wedding party and his other guests, he will grow uncomfortable and hastily explain that he retired so that he could spend his remaining years with his lovely bride-to-be. If the faction PC pushes the matter while in public, Elyin and the rest of the wedding party will become Unfriendly to the offending character and refuse to speak about it further. If Elyin is addressed in private, a DC 25 Diplomacy check results in Elyin elaborating that he and his Nighthawks were bounty hunters working for the Pathfinder Society to capture rebellious Shadow Lodge operatives. A DC 30 Diplomacy check results in Elyin divulging that one of his best friends turned out to be one such operative and he was forced to kill him during the confrontation. After this admission, Elyin grows quiet and excuses himself to attend to other matters. Only a DC 25 is needed to fulfill the faction mission.

SILVER CRUSADE: the PC may address the local Seelie court at the end of Part 2 (p. 17). As detailed under “Addressing the Conclave,” the PC should help convince the various fey factions to unite against the threat of Queen Rhoswen’s army. To fulfill their faction mission, Silver Crusade PCs must obtain at least one successful DC 30 Diplomacy check during the negotiations. They are allowed to aid one another to accomplish this.

TALDOR: Prior to the wedding ceremony, Viviana Albercroft may be found in the Chapel of Shelyn (Part 1, area A6, p. 6). A DC 20 Diplomacy check is required to convince the cleric of Shelyn to attend the Wispil temple’s groundbreaking ceremony. She is understandably hesitant about making a presence on Taldan soil as she is still trying to convince the Bellis locals that she is trustworthy even though she is native to Taldor. Fulfillment of this faction mission only requires that the invitation be delivered.

Here are the rounds blow by blow. She had temp HP from a Vamp Touch pre-combat. The cleric is invisible the whole time from a ring of invisibility, druid is in bear form, no other noteworthy buffs. AE began in the rafters as per the strat as written.

1. Baleful Poly on the 7 paladin, fails both saves. No one has break enchantment / remove curse. Air Elemental fly by attacks the druid. Party doesn't know where she is, detects evil, magic, and glitterdusts by the throne.
2. She reaches out of the pillar and Bestow Curses the 6 paladin (the second person in full plate and thus, I reasoned, with a low will save, since she didn't know he was a pally). He fails, and coupled with 2 negative levels from a death earlier, now has a -6 on everything. Air Elemental repeats. Party heals, cleric tosses a spiritual weapon on the AE, others throw alchemists fire at the tree she was in.
3. She moves to another pillar. AE repeats. Party heals, druid up, players destroys the pillar, she's not inside.
4. She Shadow Evocs for a fireball, on all of them. Objects auto succeed the will to disbelieve, so the trees take minimal damage (6ish), only the cleric disbelieves, all fail reflex, take 35ish. AE repeats, druid down.
5. She Entangles them, AE smacks the wizard. AE's movement has been provoking each time, but DR 5/- and Mobility make it a real non issue.
6. She Shadow Evocs an Ice Storm. Everyone takes full. Level 6 pally can't succeed Shadow Evoc disbelieve checks anymore, goes down. AE dissipates, wizard goes invisible. Wizard and Cleric are the only ones outside of the Ice storm, druid is up, but wounded. People move to try and get safe.
7. She Shadow Evocs a Fireball on everyone (invis people happened to be in range of the burst). Everyone down or dead except the invis Cleric. Cleric can't heal the wiz, he's still invis. Cleric heals self.
8. She emerges from her pillar and finishes off the weasel level 7 pally that was at 2 hp with another Vamp Touch (replacing her old temp HP with more). Cleric redirects the spiritual weapon to her, summons spiritual ally but fails to beat her DR.
9. She realizes the cleric is nearby, faerie fires him visible. He flees, weapon attacks. She drops out of temp HP and hits 69/74 HP. She dispels the weapon attacking her. He summons another, fails to beat SR.
10. She returns to a pillar. Players and I agree the fight is a TPK, rather than go through the motions.

I am assuming this is some kind of typo. A caster whose casting stat is lower than 10 can't cast any spells, and any caster worth his salt is going to have higher than a 12 in their primary casting stat.

I am going to run him so that his current Wisdom is actually 12 and his unaltered Wisdom is 19; the DC for his Call Lightning Storm spell is a 19, indicating that his casting modifier is a +4 (DC 19 = 10 + spell level (5) + casting stat (4) ) so his unaltered Wisdom must be 18 or 19. His stat block indicates he has been drained of 7 Wisdom (12-5 = 7) so going under the assumption that his current Wisdom is actually 12, his unaltered Wisdom would be 19.

Essentially, in my view, there's no god monitoring what a druid does, who then pulls away his abilities when he goes astray. To me, it's more of an internal thing with druids. And that's why Devarre needs to stay behind when the PCs move on to Deadman's Drop in search of the cause of the mist. He needs to bury his animal companion, then prepare and cast atonement to set things right again before he meets up with them at the Conclave. Oddly enough, in my original turnover, Devarre's animal companion hadn't yet died. The wolf was just trapped in the bottom of the pit and too weak from hunger and thirst to escape. Sean had to kill off the beast, because there was no room for an additional stat-block. And, if the wolf was dead, it saved room...while still maintaining the overall story and purpose of that encounter. These are the trials and tribulations a developer/editor has to go through to ensure a product meets that 32-page threshold. Given Sean's challenges and options, I think he made the best choices for this module.

At any rate, I think most GMs should still be able to grasp the underlying premise of Devarre's encounter and what his condition entails. He's really not himself. And, because of that, an NPC who would normally pose a much higher threat (in terms of CR) is actually reduced somewhat because of his debilitating condition. That's what I was striving for, basically...the threat that isn't truly a threat because they're literally someone else's unwilling puppet, but powerless to resist them unless the PCs take action to rescue them. And, because of the suffering they've endured at the hands of their puppet-master, they're not as big a threat to the PCs, which ultimately makes it possible for them to be saved.

Town Assault. If my players' army had failed to defeat the spriggans, they would have lost the town to Queen Rhoswen's forces, and she would have emerged from the Fellnight Realm and become a new power in the Stolen Lands.

Invading the Fellnight Realm. My players' armies, backed by a centaur force, held off the spriggan armies long enough for my players to punch through the hole in the Faengard and make it through. If this had not happened, my players would have had a very difficult time getting past the spriggans (think lots of swarm damage, as well as the Fellnight Queen's castle on high alert).