Ok, so in the Lizardfolk lair there's a guy infected by a slow worm. He's in 6c, I believe. When you kill him, he explodes with worms and everybody runs off to the tell the Shaman and the King. Here's what I'm confused about:
One of the lizardfolk in 6c is an unsuspecting host of an undead parasite. [...] In a few days he'll succumb to the parasites and turn into a spawn of Kyuss, but if killed by the PCs he falls dead and one round later the desperate worms crawl out of his flesh and die on the floor. Any other lizardfolk that see the worms are horrified, remembering the loss of their eggs two years ago, and flee to tell the shaman and king what happened (to the point of ignoring the PCs). [...] A DC 20 Heal check reveals the infestation for what it is. Remove Disease or a similar effect can save the lizardfolk. If the PCs cure him, any lizardfolk in the area are impressed enough with their actions to encourage the PCs to seek out the shaman Hishka to report their findings.
So, wait; what are the King and Shaman's reactions? The shaman wants peace, but as detailed in his section, at the cost of killing the King. Does the King react violently either way? Is the only way to get peace by killing the King? Also, if the lizardfolk is already dead, how does the heal check work? Is it suggesting that the PCs would heal him when the battle stops, or do a Heal check to see what's going on?
How was this handled in your campaigns? Or how would you handle this?
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I think the Heal check is to understand what the PCs find when the dead lizardfolk starts spewing dying worms.
IMC (last night, in fact), there was no one to run and tell the shaman and king b/c the party wizard fireballed the entire group. I described the worms as already half "worm paste" because of the nature of the lizardfolk's death (though no one picked up on any possible use of the remains). The worms came up in discussion with the shaman, who then recalled the incident with their last clutch of eggs.
Given the king's association with Ilthane (and his actions against the battle mage), I would think that he would try to accuse the PCs of somehow being behind the slow worm (and perhaps the infestation 2 years ago, for that matter). As he is described, it seems unlikely that he's , unless perhaps the PCs played to his desire to remain in control of the tribe.
I think the Heal check is to understand what the PCs find when the dead lizardfolk starts spewing dying worms.
IMC (last night, in fact), there was no one to run and tell the shaman and king b/c the party wizard fireballed the entire group. I described the worms as already half "worm paste" because of the nature of the lizardfolk's death (though no one picked up on any possible use of the remains). The worms came up in discussion with the shaman, who then recalled the incident with their last clutch of eggs.
Given the king's association with Ilthane (and his actions against the battle mage), I would think that he would try to accuse the PCs of somehow being behind the slow worm (and perhaps the infestation 2 years ago, for that matter). As he is described, it seems unlikely that he's , unless perhaps the PCs played to his desire to remain in control of the tribe.
Yeah, the picture I got was that basically the King finds out they're there and prepares to kill them, but ye olde Shaman wants to work with them. So the idea, then, is that the Shaman says "shucks, that happened with our old clutch of eggs," and if they didn't fireball 'em (that is, there are living Lizardfolk) you can work out a tenuous peace and get your peeps back? That sounds realistic.
Any other input into running this adventure?
I think the heal check is for if the party somehow manages to make peaceable contact and examine the infested lizardfolk--they'll realize he's got a case of K-worms. Though how the party is supposed to think of doing a heal check, I don't know. IMC, I'm planning to have the lizardfolk raid a village near Blackwall Keep, and a patrol from the garrison, with Marzena accompanying, kill a lizardfolk who has drunk one of Ilthane's "cure" potions. The worms crawl out, Marzena notices and collects a sample, and writes to Allustan. This is my main hook for EBK, but will also clue the PCs in that something really fishy is going on with the lizardfolk. This might lead them to take a more diplomatic approach at their lair, and thus have a chance to make said heal check.
(I must say, I'm not sure how you would find evidence of a slow worm with a heal check, since they don't chew their way through the skin--but if they do CON or INT damage, perhaps there are some visible symptoms--wasting, intestinal bleeding, slow reflexes, dilated eyes, or something).
I think the heal check is for if the party somehow manages to make peaceable contact and examine the infested lizardfolk--they'll realize he's got a case of K-worms. Though how the party is supposed to think of doing a heal check, I don't know. IMC, I'm planning to have the lizardfolk raid a village near Blackwall Keep, and a patrol from the garrison, with Marzena accompanying, kill a lizardfolk who has drunk one of Ilthane's "cure" potions. The worms crawl out, Marzena notices and collects a sample, and writes to Allustan. This is my main hook for EBK, but will also clue the PCs in that something really fishy is going on with the lizardfolk. This might lead them to take a more diplomatic approach at their lair, and thus have a chance to make said heal check.
(I must say, I'm not sure how you would find evidence of a slow worm with a heal check, since they don't chew their way through the skin--but if they do CON or INT damage, perhaps there are some visible symptoms--wasting, intestinal bleeding, slow reflexes, dilated eyes, or something).
That's why the heal check is for the dead Lizardguy, I think. Or, once you see them spill out, you can cure him. Once you do that you can do the heal check. I'm just worried my party is going to slow worm themselves to death 'cause of all of Ilthane's potions.. oi.
Fun stuff.
Oh, if only that little revelation had been possible in our campaign. When we played it, the PCs ended up alerting the two harpies in their room. One started to sing to hold the PCs at bay while the other began Paul Revere's ride through the lair -- in a matter of rounds the PCs were caught in a desperate fight with the whole tribe. They were holding choke points in several areas, trying to control the battle, and the one lizardfolk with worms in his guts got lost in the shuffle. Had they spotted the worms, by the time the fighting was over, they would have had no one left in the tribe to react to the information except the old druid, who was one of the few survivors (and the last leader type) of the battle with the party.
The Heal check is good for all kinds of things. Not just first aid or fixing caltrop wounds. It is kind of a medical understanding, not just pluggin' holes. I have seen in campaigns where a Heal check can ID the cause of death. Such as "This wound was caused by a dagger not a sword." Or "this was made by a sharp curving blade, not a straight sword." So Heal on the dead guy can determine that the worms were killing him and he would have died soon. Or that they were different than what they know of Kyuss worms. That part is kind of determined by how much they know of the Kyuss worms at that point. They should have a preserved one in their possesion.
My 2cp
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In terms of whether or not it is possible to end the encounter without killing the king, I decided that it was not. Similar to another poster above, the combat got out of control quickly with many Lizardfolk attacking the party from both directions in the Harpy's room. The way I handled this was essentially with two distinct tactical situations. On one side, the druid was trying to make peace with the party by telling the LF around him, "See, this is what following the dragon and her minions (the king's faction) has led us to." On the other side was the king and his lieutenant, whipping the LF into a frenzy.
I basically made a decision for each of the LF combatants how they would react to the different stresses (and used this to mitigate what otherwise would probably have been a TPK). Some of the LF stood there conflicted. Some (those closest to the King) continued to attack, as he continued to punish those who hesitated. Most of those on the druid's side of the combat stopped fighting and backed off until the druid and the PCs had a chance to speak.
In the middle of this, the King smote the druid with his trident, so after the party polished him off, they healed the druid and thus made nice with the tribe.
Lastly, I had the party (as part of the truce), help the tribe get their eggs away from Ilthane's guardians so the tribe could flee their lair. I figured that once they'd sued for peace with the PCs, they would be toast when Ilthane returned. The remaining members of the tribe helped the party in their combat vs Ilthane's kobold (not that they needed the help!). So basically, the Twisted Branch tribe ceased to be after the party was through with the encounter.
The king has no choice as he took power based on the war.
In my game he challenged the half dragon ninja to a
duel to the death.