Just curious. After Ilthane's rampage, who have been the popular candidates for death?
My PCs just got there & haven't asked, though I did put Valkus Dun in a coma with bad acid burns. I'm thinking of killing Gaspar, Venelle, Dobrun Trent, someone from Greysmere Covenant, & maybe a few others dear to the PCs.
Smenk must live, of course, now that he's taken over Dourstone's holdings (Dourstone convieniently died of an apparant suicide by hanging after the 3FoE affair, btw). Lanod Neff should live, too, holed up in his manor.
So anyway--who in DL have you marked for death in your campaigns?
We're in the middle of Three Faces of Evil, so we have a ways to go yet.
Smenk had Kullen and his gang kill Filge for blabbing to the PCs about the Ebon Triad and Smenk.
My group is also in the middle of 3FoE, so luckily I need not worry about it for a while. But, as far as who I PLAN to kill . . . .
I can't kill Kullen or anyone in his gang cause they are already dead, the PC's were rather upset about the first AoW fatality at the barbarian's hands.
I can't kill Jieran Wierus, because he's also dead. Little did the town know, but he was leading a double life. Theldrick, the cleric of Hextor in 3FoE and our evangelist of St. Cuthbert were actually one and the same.
But, as far as who I will have show up dead will probably be Proud Polly, one of the workers of the Veiled Corridor. The party went to the Emporium while their were in town after taking care of Filge. Before the party leaves for Blackwall keep I'll have her take the rogue aside and tell him that he's going to be a father.
Having her be a fatality of the Black Dragon will be just cruel. Now, whether or not the baby survives . . .
|
My PCs had a very good relationship with Allustan and continued to see him as a mentor even into a "Gathering of Winds." As an excuse to take him "out of the picture" and push them towards Manzorian (and much bigger exploits), I had Ilthane destroy the mayor's mansion and kill Governor-Mayor Neff. Allustan was forced to take over duties as Mayor and - with much regret - he bid the PCs farewell as they headed off to Magepoint and bigger adventures leaving him and the (now very small) town of Diamond Lake behind.
I also had Gelch Tilgast killed by Smenk, who saw an opportunity to take over some more mines. Smenk ended up getting killed and his continuing plot to take out several of the other mine owners foiled by the PCs.
Uhh... I think those are the only ones I killed. Huh. I had plans to take out several other important NPCs but guess I forgot about them... :)
Thom: one of the town guardsmen who had a crush on the female cleric in the party. He even converted to Heironeous to get closer to her
Glug: an ex-PC. One of our players who started the AoW is no longer with the group. I turned his PC into an NPC. He was killed for not giving up Allustan's location
Kullen: survived the PCs, survived Ilthane's onslaught. Told Ilthane that Allustan had been poking around the cairn and offered to show her the way. After she chased Allustan back into the cairn, Ilthane had Kullen go in to find the wizard. He was killed by the abyssal ghoul and left as a clue to the PCs of the danger.
I didn't explicitly kill off anyone else. Smenk and Dourstone were gone after the 3FoE. The party captured Filge and handed him over to the clerics of Wee Jas. I'm tempted to have Filge escape during Ilthane's attack and show up again later, perhaps in the Prince of Redhand.
I'm actually planning on playing the battle out with my players, allowing them to take on the roles of some of the town's more powerful NPCs. True, they'll all get their butts kicked, but I think it will make a good horror episode and will be much more satisfying when their own characters get some revenge.
We'll soon be starting Champion's Belt so the attack is still a little ways off but I'm already planning ahead.
Filge and Kullen & gang were long dead (back in WC). I like to keep dragons wondrous and awesomely powerful in my campaigns so I picked 30% as the destructive level I thought was appropriate for the town under Ilthane's wrath. So I rolled percentage dice for each building (and then that building's associated residents) for damage or destruction.
First was the Emporium - thankfully the dice matched the module intentions and it was totally destroyed. Gaspar (doorman), Zalamandra, Natalo Bask, Percival (dogsbody), Grouse (birdkeeper) and dancers Sage & Saffron were all wounded. Daria Angel, Ariello Klint, and Chezabet (who successfully predicted one character's future at one point but apparently failed to see her own doomed fate) were killed. The Sheriff's Office was destroyed but no significant NPCs wounded or killed there. Jalek's Flophouse is a pile of kindling; Golot, Jalek and 11 nameless npc locals were killed. The Midnight Salute was destroyed killing Constance Grace. The Spinning Giant was likewise destroyed. Nimiscent (barkeep), Merris Sandover, Galuth Grobadore, and Tyrol Ebberly (weapons dealer) were all wounded and four nameless npc locals killed. Venelle's shop was damaged and Venelle herself killed in the ensuing battle. Allustan's residence was demolished (again, a happy coincidence with the dice). Tilgast's residence was destroyed. The Gansworth residence was flattened, resulting in Luzane Parrin's death, along with 3 of the "loyal sentinels". The Smelting House was damaged, wounding Benazel the Alchemist and killing 8 of the menial laborers - as well as putting Diamond Lake's future economics on even shakier ground. Other notable NPCs wounded in the attack included Dobrun Trent, a dancer I named Nimba, Ellival Moonmedow, a miner, Nogwier, and a St. Cuthbert fanatic. The death toll included Bogador the Beastmaster, Melinde (paladin), a mine taskmaster, and Lt Trovost Skunt. Thirty-one nameless locals also died in the carnage. Out of the population of 1,023, Ilthane's attack resulted in 104 casualties(wounded or killed). Seven buildings were destroyed and three others heavily damaged.
I'm pleased with the random violence of the figures - some NPCs will be a sentimental loss, others will be fairly insignificant to the players. Diamond Lake will be thrown into chaos (which is exactly how I like it!). It'll have the players shaking in their boots and no one will soon forget the day black death rained down on Diamond Lake!
Kullen lost an arm and now runs the Feral Dog for one of the PCs, who bought it.
Neff died, Allustan's now the reluctant mayor of the city and lives in Filge's old tower.
Not related to the Diamond Lake attack, but the party have also made friends with some NPCs who were supposed to be enemies.
The Salamander in the Cairn was friendly to them when they helped him get back to his plane.
Sruggut in the Spire of Long Shadows has welcomed his captivity in Tenser's fortress since he has access to all kinds of historical tomes. He's been giving the party info on Kyuss' minions. He's shifted to neutral since the party have treated him so well as a prisoner.