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OK, for PCs that haven't gone thru Bullywug yet, this may have some spoiler info, so be warned.
My question is that when Vanthus sets off the Shadow Pearl at Kraken's Cove, does that affect the marine wildlife in the area as well as the above-water wildlife? I would assume it does, but the module doesn't seem to make any mention of it. I haven't read the following modules well enough to know if it's covered specifically in future issues either, more or less I've just read the summaries and skimmed the rest.
The reason I ask is that our Water Genasi Ranger in the party is likely to "talk" to some of the sea life on the voyage over, and I would like them to have a sense of dread if he says where their boat is going, due to some unspecified "scary news" coming out of that area, but I don't know if it would be something that the underwater creatures would be affected by or not. In other words, are there any "Savage Starfish" in the harbor and so on?
On the other hand, the events in the harbor are only supposed to occur a few hours before the PC's arrive, so news would have to spread really fast, and he'd have to talk to something right before arriving at the destination for it to really matter. But still I think it's an interesting Q just for its own sake anyway.
Thanks!
I don't see any reason it wouldn't affect marine wildlife. Probably the reason there's no savage water creatures in the module is because the PCs are assumed to approach from land due to the navigation DC, and on the way out they have a fairly impregnable ship that wouldn't be bothered any.
On the other hand, probably no savage starfish. Starfish are probably vermin, so they would be unaffected. Savage sharks and savage seals, however, are likely to be threats if somebody goes swimming.
Incidentally, if they do choose to approach by water and can handle the navigation somehow, you might simply substitute savage fish for the savage monkeys. You wouldn't even have to change their stats, just substitute movement rates and go.
and how about a savage Kraken on the trip to conquer and burn down Scuttlecove... ;)
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Well, we haven't gotten to that point yet, so to be completely honest, I don't know which way they'll go. My best hunch is that they'll talk Lavinia into letting them take the Blue Nixie to the Cove, but whether the decide to try to test their skill against the reefs or not is anybody's guess.
I'm going to try to tell them that without accurate charts of the area (which they won't have) even the most experienced captains would have trouble navigating through it, and Lavinia is going to stress that they take pains not to damage the boat. So I'm going to be trying to gently guide them to landing and walking the last few miles.
Even so, I have 3 aquatic PC's out of the 8, 2 Aventi and a Water Genasi, so they might decide to swim the reefs instead of walking; in fact, I'd be surprised if they decided to walk given the nature of the land in question. So I'll need to be prepared for them to come into contact with sea creatures either way.
I think I might throw a "Savage Barracuda" or two at the aquatic ones, and some Savage Monkeys at the hikers. Or something of the sort. I've got till Tuesday to work out all the kinks.
A 1 mile radius extends in all directions (a sphere, not a circle), so yeah I don't see why it wouldn't. I actually had the PC who swimmed up to the beach encounter ripped-off bits of all kind of fish floating in the water, rather like swimming through bloody vomit. Made em nice and horrified.
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A 1 mile radius extends in all directions (a sphere, not a circle), so yeah I don't see why it wouldn't. I actually had the PC who swimmed up to the beach encounter ripped-off bits of all kind of fish floating in the water, rather like swimming through bloody vomit. Made em nice and horrified.
Excellent point Office Ninja. I'm sure the blood and carnage from all the "Savage Fish" attacking all the normal fish would probably attract some other creatures to the well chummed waters as well.
Can anybody say "weresharks"?? Of course, don't they have DR15/silver? My party couldn't touch that. OK, maybe just normal sharks then, eh?
But yes, I've already warned by guys out of character that the story is about to take one of those unexpected turns, but I didn't say what. It should be really interesting this week. :)
I don't see any reason it wouldn't affect marine wildlife. Probably the reason there's no savage water creatures in the module is because the PCs are assumed to approach from land due to the navigation DC, and on the way out they have a fairly impregnable ship that wouldn't be bothered any.
On the other hand, probably no savage starfish. Starfish are probably vermin, so they would be unaffected. Savage sharks and savage seals, however, are likely to be threats if somebody goes swimming.
Incidentally, if they do choose to approach by water and can handle the navigation somehow, you might simply substitute savage fish for the savage monkeys. You wouldn't even have to change their stats, just substitute movement rates and go.
The original (far far too high on word count) draft had a savage seacat...
Good cut choice by James...that thing was TPK-o-matic.
A 1 mile radius extends in all directions (a sphere, not a circle), so yeah I don't see why it wouldn't. I actually had the PC who swimmed up to the beach encounter ripped-off bits of all kind of fish floating in the water, rather like swimming through bloody vomit. Made em nice and horrified.
Chum-tide! Gross! I love it!!! :-)
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I ended up going with the option of having 2 large sharks amongst the "Savage Chum", attracted to the area after the pearl released, in a feeding frenzy and immediately attacking any who swim up. If it turns out the whole party is swimming up instead of just 3 or 4 like I expect, I'll throw a few more in there. The hikers on land will face a 5 headed hydra who is just randomly in the region, before making it to the savage monkeys.
The sea voyage part of the adventure is short enough, just 16 hours, and all along the relatively safe coastal areas, that it can be believably navigated without incident, and as such, that's what we'll do with it.
Thanks for all the advice and input guys, it helped a lot as usual.
dude, stay away from the hydra. just use more savage monkeys, cuz those things ROCK! i almost killed two PCs with just the 5 in the adventure. i should have used more. savage monkeys are just too kewl.
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Well but the Savage Monkeys will only be within the one mile radius. The Hydra will not be savage, just part of the overland journey after they beach the ship.
Separate encounters. You can't just let a group of PC's wander across a few miles of wild swamp land without something bad happening to them. :)
Those who approach by water will get sharks, and maybe a savage dire barracuda. Those who make the land trip will get the hydra and savage monkeys.
I applied to the Savage Template to a Large Shark, and threw it at the party when they rowed to the beach. I'd be careful applying the template to a large shark, as it makes it seem much tougher than you'd expect. Probably due to the limited access to magic weapons and then the half damage from the ones they have due to fighting in water. Lead to one dead PC.
Savage Shark (medium size) would probably not be too bad.
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No, the sharks I'm using will just be standard large sharks, who were attracted to the area AFTER the pearl released. The only creature with the savage template in the water will be the savage dire barracuda. At least that's the plan, once again depending on how many of the PC's take the water route and how many go by land.
By the way...with all the dead savage creatures in the water of the cove, would there be enough acid to affect the swimmers in the water? I'm thinking not, the volume of the water in the area would dilute the acid sufficiently within the hour or two that it takes the PC's to get there after it's happened. Anyone have any other opinion?
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If anybody else is thinking of using any of this...that Savage Dire Barracuda was VICIOUS!! THe Savage Template adds 10 to your base movement, which for the Barracuda is 80 feet, so the Savage one, it's 90. Then they go triple move on the charge, so he's 270' away and charging the party. Makes it pretty tough NOT to get the surprise round. :)
THen AC19 and 52 hit points...yeah that's tough to take down. The boys managed it, thanks in part to a 25+ point crit on the first swing from the Barbarian after he was charged and bitten... but he also failed his fort save so he has the sickness. He's lucky that he's not your ordinary Barbarian: his 16 Intelligence will take some time to cut through, hopefully. So he SHOULD be able to make it back to Sasserine...we hope...