Istivin Trilogy: More Madness!! (spoilers)

[Savage_ScreenMonkey]

Im currently running the campaign "Shadows over Sterich" and have been slowly using some of the events that foreshadow the Malgoth's taint in the Shadows of the Abyss adventure from the Istivin trilogy. What I was wondering was if anyone had any ideas of more random encounters/ideas that I can sprinkle here and there that would help keep the mood and reinforce the concept of the cancerous taint that has stained the very fabric of the city.

The party hasnt gone out into the city at night yet,but I do plan on having encounters with undead Shadows.Maybe I'll start with the lesser shadows from Tome of Horrors and work may way up to the tougher ones.Other monster random encounters that would be drawn to the city because of the Malgoth would also be helpful.

[Rezdave]

Savage_ScreenMonkey wrote:

Other monster random encounters that would be drawn to the city because of the Malgoth would also be helpful.

While the Malgoth may draw some monster to Istivin, its influence is more about affecting those beings already there.

I'd suggest RP-heavy encounters with normal people doing abnormal things. Citizens getting paranoid or angry over inconsequential things and the town watch ignoring or even exacerbating the situation.

There would be an uptick (real or imagined) in violent crimes as well as "crimes of passion" in which the PCs can intervene. They could be around during the formative period of some of the vigilante gangs, and perhaps for their "heroism and civic valor" even be recruited by one such gang whose high-minded purpose begins to go astray.

The mongrelfolk living behind Krelont Keep in the abandoned quarter also represent a ripe opportunity for encounters (combat and non-) as well as scene-based or campaign-oriented RP.

Even once the Malgoth is defeated, there is still the drow infiltration of the city to deal with, and contacts among the mongrelfolk would not only add a new dimension to the first module in the arc but could be useful for a home-brew continuation.

HTH,

Rez

[Molech]

I agree with Rezdave on encounters illustrating the permeating corruption in the city.

I don't think an early encounter with the mongrelmen is a good idea, though. It will lose its effect later when the PCs go to the nasty part of town if they've already been there and made contact with the mongrelmen. Going there for the first time should be dramatic; they have a sense of urgency about their mission and are extremely nervous about entering this part of Istivin -- all this is lost if they already know exactly where they're going and whose there.

I would also allow the PCs to leave Istivin and track through some rural villages and then out into the mountains where they can fight some giants. First, it'll give some real tangible XP; the "in town" encounters are often difficult to give CRs to and therefore hard to know how much XP should be awarded, especially since this is not officially part of the campaign. Second, and perhaps even more importantly, getting the PCs out of town to explore will give them a chance to learn of the pit that takes the PCs to the underdark as well as the old keep in the mountains they have to storm later. I felt that there was very little in the recently published material to help the PCs get to either location without a little railroading. If the PCs already have a good idea about the geography of Sterich it will be easier for them to carry on the campaign without feeling the hook-in-mouth.

-W. E. Ray