I just wrapped up Kraken Cove in the TBWG and ended the night with the players surveying the Wormfall Festival.
Here is my problem: One of the PCs is playing a sea kin, she mentioned that she is going to bypass all the festivities and swim directly to the mansion. I very strongly suggested that it would be unwise to separate since they would never find each other again in the chaos of the festivities. Now they are all thinking of swimming there directly and that is where we ended the night.
I have some really cool plans for the festival (Seeing some of their old characters from the Age of Worms AP marshaling the parade; their rogue has a set of stilts (completely coincidentally!) on him and has been try to get side work as an entertainer with them; etc...)
How do I get them back on track?
I was thinking:
-Meeting up with some partying sea elves and sea kins who are clogging up the water lane who insist on celebrating with the swimmers if they want to pass.
-The Sea Kin PC finds that all of the partying boats have left so much tasty flotsam that it has a attached a lot of scavengers for the sea and in turn that has attracted some large predators. (Throw a shark at her and hint that there are more large shapes in the murky distance?)
Any more ideas?
A couple of ideas surface.
First, in the aftermath of TINH, there (perhaps) remains no harbormaster to fill Keltar Islaran's shoes, the Dawn Council may decree that until the post can be officially filled, there can be no water travel/water-oriented business going on without a permit from the Council, (which they might not be able to provide to the PCs at the time of their return). What this can mean is that the city watch might keep an eye on any one traversing the channels throughout Sasserine more earnestly than before, citing any swimmers as "offenders". In truth, this idea seems a little fishy (sorry--my puns know no shame), but it might be officious enough to sufficiently deter players not up for a run-in with the fuzz.
A better idea might be to go the other way with it. Due to the Wormfall Festival, the channels are overcrowded with gondolas, making swimming through them dangerous. Navigating them might require much higher Swim checks, to avoid being bonked by oars or low-sitting gondolas. The old, "inflict damage on a PC, and their likely to learn from their mistake" negative reinforcement-trick. In a water-centric kind of city like Sasserine, moving about in a parade when the seas are crowded can be as impossible as trying to get through a crowd in Chicago on St. Patty's Day.
One thing I've played up recently is that a city like Sasserine probably uses its waterways as its sewer system, garbage dump and industrial waste disposal. That means that, whilst the more open harbour area in the north, and the river inlets to the south, are relatively clean, the smaller waterways, such as those around Vanderboren Manor, are probably not a pleasant place to go swimming.
One thing I thought of, but wasn't mean enough to actually do, was apply the Aquatic template to an Otyugh.
Good plan with the pics, that looks like a crazy sailing party...
Sail Amsterdam 2005.
Sail Amsterdam 2005.
Sail Amsterdam 2005.
I think I will integrate the dirty waterways thing too. I could see the sewers overflowing because of the festival... <ewwww>
I promise my swashbucklers will turn tail at the thought of sewage stains on their fine garments...
I would get a good measure of the distance the party would need to swim and approach it from that angle. Unless they have swim speeds they only move at half of their movement as a full round action. If they fail a swim check by 5 or more they go under water. If they fail by 4 or less they make no progress. Even if they only had to swim a few hundred yards you are talking about 900 feet. Assuming they make all of their checks they'll only move a max of 15 feet per round taking them 60 rounds to make the trek.
I suppose that's only 6 minutes of swimming so maybe it's not as bad as I was thinking. I know half of my group wouldn't make it even in calm water (DC 10) since many of them have a 10 in strength and no ranks in swim at all. This isn't even taking into account any weight the PCs are carrying, especially armor which has a double armor check penalty against swim checks.
I don't bring this up to discourage them from trying. I would just point out the difficulty of what they are proposing for the less than burly characters in your group. Hopefully they take the hint and head thru town.
Why not let the players do as they please? Have the Wormfall Festival continue throughout the week, and when the PCs are celebrating their victory over the bullywugs a few days later, the stiltwalker assassins strike.
Why not let the players do as they please? Have the Wormfall Festival continue throughout the week, and when the PCs are celebrating their victory over the bullywugs a few days later, the stiltwalker assassins strike.
My thought too, both for the assassins and the players, you'll do less work adapting the street encounters to water encounters than trying to coerce or force them back onto land. The congestion, and the sewage are great places to start adapting... take the runaway cart, for example, that could become an incident where two ships bump, to the detriment of any swimmers between them. Everyone's likely drunk, after all. Great photos, btw- wish I'd had them when I ran this.
Nice. I can picture it now.
Me: "The situation: Spillage from a leaky rum refueling barge has spread across the water; a fire races toward two boats, one full of wenches and the other full of Ale. The brave swashbucklers have only time to save one... Which will it be hotshot?"
Them: "Nooooo!!!"
Swimming under a bridge could be hazardous as well!! And I'm not talking about a out of control game of Poo-Sticks!
Brainstorm:
How did the bullywugs get there? Via the Canals right?
It makes sense that they would leave some thugs and maybe a trained gator to cover their exit route. That should heat up the water route a little...
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Why not let the players do as they please? Have the Wormfall Festival continue throughout the week, and when the PCs are celebrating their victory over the bullywugs a few days later, the stiltwalker assassins strike.
I agree.
Forcing them away from their course of action to get to Point A, when you want them to get to Point A anyways...but making them HAVE to do it your (the adventure's) way...is just a HUGE RAILROADING.
Jebadiah Utecht, has the right of it.
Make the adventure 'yours'. It's not Monopoly, you don't have to follow each and every square to get on with the game.
Meh. I like each story in the arc to have a beginning and an end within the overall arc. (Personal style decision; some prefer a continuous unbroken story, I like chapters.) The Bullywug attack is a good climax, I want to leave it as such unless my hand it really forced.
As long my players and I have fun I am not going to worry about railroading. Besides they are brutally honest, if they feel I am unfairly manipulating the system, they are not shy.. :)
Our group of 8 had two stay behind at Kraken's Cove to guard the Blue Nixie, and 6 of us came to Sasserine in the Wyvern. Of those returning, two were aventi and decided to swim back, although it didn't net them much advantage... the rest of us braved the festival simply because we were faster on ground in difficult terain than we would be swiming, and we were already fatigued from getting no sleep on the trip back as we had minimum crew available.
Our DM had the aventi bypass the stiltwalkers completely, but they got to face the bullywugs at the doors alone... and in the foyer before we got to the stiltwalkers on foot.
we had one swashbuckler leave the bigger group to rush ahead once he thought we had the attackers managed, so two aventi and a swashbuckler found themselves alone in the basement... by the time we got reunited our hectic pace had nearly killed both aventi due to rude application of a greatclub
Now, if they insist on all swimming, you can always have the runaway cart careen off a bridge instead, and have the stiltwalkers spot them as they near the shore to climb out.
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Now, if they insist on all swimming, you can always have the runaway cart careen off a bridge instead, and have the stiltwalkers spot them as they near the shore to climb out.
by pure luck, my group pushed its wa through the crowded walkways rather quickl,y so I only got to use the cart and stilt walkers.. I forshadowed the stilt walkers as a troupe the they cut in front of when crossing on street, and then they forded the canal on thier stilts to attack the PCs on the bridge just before the mansion.