[spoiler] Ok, so the party was doing "ok" until the fight with vanthrus- then he activated his pearl and farshore was infected by the savage tide.
Now, the pcs have invested alot into the city- my wife is really bummed. i expect the next session to play out like a zombie movie- with the party looking for survivors- then heading for the only whole ship.
How long until the island mainland is consumed by madness? with birds and fish in the area of the bttle exposed it should be pretty quick.
how many miles a day should it travel across the ocean? once it hits a pocket of sea elves or other advanced sea folk- the worlds days become numbered.
The rest of the adventure seems like it will change from stop the production off the pearls- to find a way to stop a speading plague.
how would you all handle this?
one more quick question too, if the pearl is activated by blood, and then hitting a hard surface- how is it not going to be activated in the battle with venthrus? he had it in a easily accessible spot- so- the very act of fighting, and dying will make it likely to activate
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[spoiler] Ok, so the party was doing "ok" until the fight with vanthrus- then he activated his pearl and farshore was infected by the savage tide.
Now, the pcs have invested alot into the city- my wife is really bummed. i expect the next session to play out like a zombie movie- with the party looking for survivors- then heading for the only whole ship.How long until the island mainland is consumed by madness? with birds and fish in the area of the bttle exposed it should be pretty quick.
how many miles a day should it travel across the ocean? once it hits a pocket of sea elves or other advanced sea folk- the worlds days become numbered.The rest of the adventure seems like it will change from stop the production off the pearls- to find a way to stop a speading plague.
how would you all handle this?one more quick question too, if the pearl is activated by blood, and then hitting a hard surface- how is it not going to be activated in the battle with venthrus? he had it in a easily accessible spot- so- the very act of fighting, and dying will make it likely to activate
I do not have my magazine with me but I thought the pearl explodes in a 1 mile radius,so only farshore and the isle it is on should be infested. But there is also all the pirates and ships full of savage pirates know to deal with. You could run it like the Zombie movie Ghosts of Mars and have them killing each other just as much as anything else.With the Pcs looking for suvivors and trying to stop the spread of the savage infestion before it gets off the isle? I also can not remember if the claw or bite attack of a savage creature is infectious?My pcs said they would have liked to have this happen in our game and see how it would have been with a much darker tone. Cool hope you get it worked out.But do not give up on the game, this is just a major set back and you and your pcs are in for some cool clean up gaming...Welcome to ZOMBIE TOWN POPULATION SLAUGHTER FEST>>>>>
[spoiler] Ok, so the party was doing "ok" until the fight with vanthrus- then he activated his pearl and farshore was infected by the savage tide.
Now, the pcs have invested alot into the city- my wife is really bummed. i expect the next session to play out like a zombie movie- with the party looking for survivors- then heading for the only whole ship.How long until the island mainland is consumed by madness? with birds and fish in the area of the bttle exposed it should be pretty quick.
how many miles a day should it travel across the ocean? once it hits a pocket of sea elves or other advanced sea folk- the worlds days become numbered.The rest of the adventure seems like it will change from stop the production off the pearls- to find a way to stop a speading plague.
how would you all handle this?one more quick question too, if the pearl is activated by blood, and then hitting a hard surface- how is it not going to be activated in the battle with venthrus? he had it in a easily accessible spot- so- the very act of fighting, and dying will make it likely to activate
That's a pretty intense climax, and while I'm sure the group is unhappy about it, I'll bet it's an ending to an adventure they didn't expect and will stay with them. Now as far as getting them back on track, if that's what you're interested in, I'd say that certain named NPCs should have made their save (Lavinia, the Meravachis unless they truly despised Avner at which point a Savage Avner can be immensely satisfying to kill... any NPCs who survived "Here there be monsters" and other local folk they're attached to.) At this point, it becomes a game of damage control, trying to get as many people onto the Blue Nixie (or the Sea Wyvern, if it's repaired) as possible. As they fight their way through town, savage Olman could begin to pour out of the jungle - visitors who were watching the battle from safety. Also Savage Creatures don't tend to fight members of the same species, so Savage Elves will fight but Savage Humans won't. If you've seen the film Serenity, think the Reaver attack early on, it's what's running through my mind.
Once they've rescued Lavinia and are at least somewhat safely at sea, she can confide in them that while she blames them for their failure, they can also set it to rights, at least somewhat. There's a powerful beast who could wipe out Farshore... if properly motivated. The PCs could have to sneak back into the city, collecting as much loot as possible from the ravaged area and then return via rowboat to the Wyvern, pay off Emraag and then continue on in the adventure?
Just my two cents and thoughts, if you want to keep things on the Path. The folks of Barnas and some Olman settlements might be protected from the Tide, and thus there's still some element of hope on the Isle of Dread and a chance that life can continue there (for now) but encounters with Savage Creatures should become a norm.
~ Bryon ~
"Also Savage Creatures don't tend to fight members of the same species, so Savage Elves will fight but Savage Humans won't."
Where does this come from? I must have missed a serious caveat a few issues ago. I seem to recall savage humans attack EVERYTHING in Bullywug Gambit.
"Also Savage Creatures don't tend to fight members of the same species, so Savage Elves will fight but Savage Humans won't."
Where does this come from? I must have missed a serious caveat a few issues ago. I seem to recall savage humans attack EVERYTHING in Bullywug Gambit.
I recall it being mentioned by James at one point, though my memory my be fuzzy. However I think it's why there was Savage Pirates depicted working together at certain points.
~ Bryon ~
I believe what James Jacobs said is that savage creatures prefer to attack non-savage creatures of the same species. If there are no available "unspoiled" members of their species, though, I'm sure they would be happy to attack creatures of other species. In BWG, for instance, the party is attacked by monkeys, krenshars, etc...
Another thing James has said on this board is that the savage fever tends not to spread alot, because of the very nature of it. Think of it like this: a savage creature viciously attacks every non-savage creature it comes across. This means they are fighting almost constantly and while they are tough and have DR/magic most of them are going to be killed fairly quickly. This is why, for instance, that the savage tide doesn't spread much beyond Kraken's Cove. So while the savage tide might (and it's a big might) spread across the Isle, it is highly unlikely it could spread beyond it.
I am aways away from this point, we're still at the beginning of BWG in my campaign, but I'm thinking it seems fairly likely that Vanthus will be able to release the savage tide. For my PCs sake, I hope not.
I have to confess I will probably ignore the Shadow Pearl entirely. Not only would its activation derail a lot of the following adventures (why are they bribing Emraag? If they don't kill Vanthus, how does he become a death knight? etc.), but it's a real downer to have all the party's hard work at building up the defenses of the colony (ie, the Victory Points) be cancelled out by a single action from Vanthus.
This doesn't help the original poster, though, so the best I can recommend is to have the PCs aid in the evacuation of the non-Savagified settlers and help them relocate to a friendly village like Mora or Panitube. Let that settlement take the place of Farshore and you can even re-use some of Tides o' Dread to allow the players to build up its value again.
After that, I don't know. I'd try to stage at least one trip back to Farshore for something to allow them the chance to see the end result of Vanthus' treacherous act (and would probably have him get killed by one of the Savage-ized settlers to make him a victim of his own action as well as allowing him to rise as a Death Knight later). Perhaps the local shamans believe they can reverse the effects of the Savage Tide if they can get an original shadow pearl, sending the party to the kopru tunnels to find one.
I hope some of that helps.
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Eureka!!!
Eureka!!!
** spoiler omitted **
FEMA at Katrina?
The key difference between the Savage Tide and a 28 Days/zombie plague scenario is that in order to get the Savage tide you need to get bit and survive until the ability damage completes the process.
The classic zombie scenario is get bit/scratched and live or die (both result in a zombie).
The vast majority of creatures they bite, they will also kill. That's a net increase of no savage creatures.
Given the way the Savage virus spreads initially they will certainly kill the majority of things they attack. The loses on the Savage creature side may be replaced by Death throes attacks but with a decreasing frequency as they miss and the target creatures make their saves.
Among the second generation humans, most will get cured before they fall victim or at worst will be quickly slain if they do.
Based on prior history (the fall of the olmans and Kraken Cove) while the Savage Tide is devastating it is a process that starts with a huge impact on the area and then slowly wanes as the Savage population suffers attrition as they kill their potential replacements.
While a Savage T-Rex for example might be a terror, it is very unlikely to pass it on since any creature powerful enough to take it out would probably makes their save or be able to cure it (the party).
Really good points, Jody, and I think they are a much better explanation of why savage fever doesn't spread far than what I said.
Say that the Vanthus' pearl is "young" and thus doesn't affect as much if you want to save Farshore. "Savage Avner" - that sounds great.
I also like the idea of having to move to a different place on the island. Maybe Rat's End (the pirate hangout?) becomes their base of operations. Once Lavinia sees for herself what a Savage Pearl can do, she insists the PCs put an end to it. That puts the adventure back on track. You even get to make some re-supply adventures into the savage Farshore to get food and such for the new colony.
Same thing happened in my game, though they dropped Vanthus to 0hp exactley and he did the deed to drop him to -1. I'm just having Lavinia feel overwhelming guilt over the wanton death that she follows the note to the trog cave in order to fix her brother's mess. After the central plateau affair (they went up the tube after flooding the tunnels).I'm having Lavinia kidnapped and let it be known that she is being taken to Skuttlecove. I'm using a dead PC that is going to be raised by the Crimson Fleet, (she was secretley a foillower of Vecna trying to find out about the secret of the shadow pearls) She kept a bit of hair from Vanthus so they can bring him back and death knight him. Farshore is going to be a wash, and a haunted island though I don't see the plague spreading for the same reason the jungles arouns Sasserine aren't overwhemed by savage animals.
The key difference between the Savage Tide and a 28 Days/zombie plague scenario is that in order to get the Savage tide you need to get bit and survive until the ability damage completes the process.
The classic zombie scenario is get bit/scratched and live or die (both result in a zombie).
The vast majority of creatures they bite, they will also kill. That's a net increase of no savage creatures.
Given the way the Savage virus spreads initially they will certainly kill the majority of things they attack. The loses on the Savage creature side may be replaced by Death throes attacks but with a decreasing frequency as they miss and the target creatures make their saves.
Among the second generation humans, most will get cured before they fall victim or at worst will be quickly slain if they do.
Based on prior history (the fall of the olmans and Kraken Cove) while the Savage Tide is devastating it is a process that starts with a huge impact on the area and then slowly wanes as the Savage population suffers attrition as they kill their potential replacements.
While a Savage T-Rex for example might be a terror, it is very unlikely to pass it on since any creature powerful enough to take it out would probably makes their save or be able to cure it (the party).
I agree on most of these points- but you aren't considering 3 animals- bats, rats, and cats.a bite from one of these animals is not going to kill most creatures- unless they swarm- but will still halp to spread the disease. there are many small predatory fish who could help spread it too. unless traded the death effect for a weak ghoul style paralysis. what do you think?
The nature of the Savage disease is that these creatures don't just bite and leave but are so viscious that they fight to the death (and it will usually be their own.) Basically what Cthulhu Waits said.
Just because the description of the effect needs to have a certain level of lethality for PCs that doesn't need everything about it needs to logically flow from the exact description. In the case of the savage tide there is at least a reason why it wouldn't engulf the world. If something like the Shadow's ability to create spawn hasn't buried the world in shadows (since they can't kill something without it turning into a shadow and are immune to non-magical attacks) I don't see how the savage tide in it's minor form would.