Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I'm looking for input on an adventure idea which basically will revolve around the players fleeing from a much tougher foe, in this case, a gray render. Before I break out the boring detail and unnecessary exposition, does anyone have any recommendations for interesting chase scenes that might work with this scenario? The PC's will be around 2nd or 3rd level.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Adventure Background: A gray render inhabits a swamp near the campaign city and has become bonded with a lonely hermit. The hermit is a bit crazy, and doesn't necessarily acknowledge his large protector. A wizard learns of the relationship and decides that it would be great if the render protected her instead. She lures the hermit away and ambushes him, leaving him for dead. Using change self, she assumes the hermit's form and approaches the gray render.
What she failed to consider was the render's scent ability. The creature realizes that she is not his friend the hermit and attacks. The wizard flees and, using track, the gray render follows. The wizard is able to gain some ground through expiditious retreat and the use of a tunnel through which the render cannot follow. She makes her way to a nearby farm and encounters a peasant girl. By this point, the wizard realizes that the render is tracking her by scent and that, due to her spell, it doesn't know what she looks like. She uses charm person to exchange clothes with the peasant girl, hoping that she will smell enough like the wizard to get the renders attention. The wizard hides in the barn as the render approaches and, as recommended by the wizard, the peasant girl approaches the render. At the last minute, the peasant girl breaks the spell, realizes she's about to get pulverized, and runs. She manages to get on horseback, but the render is still following.
The wizard, seeing that the render is no longer after her, returns to the swamp hoping to find the hermit and make a better disguise. Unfortunately, the goblin tribe in the swamp, who were the frequent targets of the renders protection, have taken the injured hermit and are slowly lowering him to his death in the swamp.
The peasant girl arrives at the city only a few minutes ahead of the render. She asks for help, and, once it becomes clear that the render will track her to the city, the PC's realize they've got to get her out of town and either lose or kill the render.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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That's the basic set up. Now I'm trying to figure out some interesting encounters along the way. The PCs will be given mounts by the city officials in order to get them out of town. They may well just leave town, wash the girl off to get rid of her scent, and otherwise lose the trail or the render. My thought is that NPC's would warn that the last time the render lost its companion, it killed indiscriminately for 48 hours, destroying several farms. The NPC's would also inform the PC's about the hermit who had been the render's companion and recommend that they seek him out.
Along the way, the render will be pursuing them, the wizard will be sabotaging them, and the goblins will be getting ready to kill the hermit. I'm looking for suggestions on how to have them encounter the render without dying and how to make the chase interesting. Thoughts?
I'm all for hearing the "boring" exposition...I'm rather interested in your set-up for this encounter. Are the PC's going to mess with the animals that the gray render is guarding?
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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I'm all for hearing the "boring" exposition...I'm rather interested in your set-up for this encounter. Are the PC's going to mess with the animals that the gray render is guarding?
It should be up now. Let me know if the Paizo Post-Eater destroyed it and I will repost.
It's up now and I'll be reading it in 10..9...8...
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Be aware that a simple first-level druid spell, pass without trace, will completely annhilate the threat by making the characters (possibly including the peasant girl) untrackable, even by scent.
There are all sorts of non-magical ways to throw off a creature tracking someone by scent, too. Anyone in the party with Knowledge (Nature), Survival, or Craft (Alchemy) should be able to come up with various natural and/or alchemical solutions which can overpower the creatures' sense of smell and throw it off the trail. Crush up some garlic and sprinkle it in your path, catch a skunk and get it to spray all over the trail, smash up some foul-smelling mushrooms or flowers, soak your shoes in vinegar, etc. The idea of washing the girl off is also a possibility, as you mentioned.
EDIT: Re-reading your post, this isn't what you were looking for, but it should be kept in mind in case your PCs are more interested in losing the render than anything else.
As far as encounters are concerned, I can almost see a video-game-style "run from the indestructible bad thing while avoiding pitfalls and barriers." Have them run through a gauntlet of goblin ambushes, pit traps, trip wires, and rough terrain. Perhaps some areas of the swamp will be boggy and necessitate skill checks to maneuver around or have forks in the path where the party must choose between a slow but "safe" path filled with heavy bog or a fast and perilous path full of goblin spearthrowers.
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Be aware that a simple first-level druid spell, pass without trace, will completely annhilate the threat by making the characters (possibly including the peasant girl) untrackable, even by scent.
There are all sorts of non-magical ways to throw off a creature tracking someone by scent, too. Anyone in the party with Knowledge (Nature), Survival, or Craft (Alchemy) should be able to come up with various natural and/or alchemical solutions which can overpower the creatures' sense of smell and throw it off the trail. Crush up some garlic and sprinkle it in your path, catch a skunk and get it to spray all over the trail, smash up some foul-smelling mushrooms or flowers, soak your shoes in vinegar, etc. The idea of washing the girl off is also a possibility, as you mentioned.
Agreed. That's why I plan to emphasize that if the render loses the trail it will go berserk. Between the wizard and the peasant girl, it's already been lured into civilized lands, so a rampage would be a Very Bad Thing.
Edit: Ideally, I'd like to provide the PC's with the possiblity of killing it or finding the hermit. Either one will resolve the crisis. I suppose a third alternative would be to lure the creature away from civilization and employ one of the tricks suggested above. The key there would be to have the PC's discover that the wizard has perfected her disguise and will likely gain control of the render if the hermit is not found/the render is not killed.
Since the mounted PC's can keep one step ahead of the render, while letting it keep the girl in sight (scent?), they could effectively lure the beast wherever they want. Of course, it might get angry and smash random stuff on the way, giving you an opportunity to add some drama. The PC's might have to get close to the render and distract it to keep it from tearing up a tinker's wagon, etc.
Also, I may have missed it, but what is the wizard's motivation to continue to insert herself into the situation?
RE: The wizard
Ok, so she's still trying to gain the render as a guardian after all that. She's got guts, to say the least!
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Bella Sara Charter Superscriber
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Also, I may have missed it, but what is the wizard's motivation to continue to insert herself into the situation?
The wizard wishes to control the gray render by impersonating the hermit. She is part of an alliance that wants to attack the city to control some ruins underneath it. The gray render would be an impressive weapon for her cause.
If the PC's are steered into luring into the swamp, then you could give them the opportunity to fight the goblins as the render approaches (for dramatic effect, of course) or somehow drown the render in a bog. Just brainstorming here (it's almost 1 AM and I'd rather be cruising Paizo's boards than sleeping!)
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RPG Superstar 2013 Top 32
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Here's a thought: You said that some local goblins had dragged the injured hermit away and were about to kill him. Perhaps, if your PCs start leading the render through the swamp, the render will pick up on the hermit's scent and head off to save him, leaving the PCs and the peasant girl alone. This will probably provoke intervention from the wizard, who will be sure to make sure the hermit is truly dead this time.
How powerful is the wizard in your scenario, level wise? 3rd? 5th? 9th? Knowing what spells the antagonist has access to could be helpful in determining what 'back-up plans' she has available to her.
One should also keep in mind imo that the 'hermit' is probably no slouch, one that had bonded with a grey render to boot. One might suggest a vow of poverty type of hermit (at a high enough level to have the regeneration ability) or something similar.
Said hermit would definitely not take kindly to Miss Mage 'stealing' his render, although it could make quite a moment when the render ... rends Miss Mage into long pork coleslaw when his buddy shows up and does the things that only someone truly bonded with a pet (even a grey render) would do... like 'fetch!' or 'here Poopsy, where's my good boy! *petpetpet* ... stuff like that.
You already mentioned that the NPCs will inform the PCs what happened the last time the render lost its companion. It should be stressed that the PCs essentially bring death and destruction wherever they go. They should carefully decide where to go. Leaving the render wandering the countryside searching for the scent (any attempt to 'loose' it) should be seen as having dire consequences.
I am assuming your players realize that just because something is in the adventure does not mean they should engage it. If not, this should be pointed out.
What makes a chase interesting? The threat of capture, right? So what threatens the PCs with capture? Well obviously the render but that is not what we are really looking for here. Anything that slows the PCs down. They should fee the hot breath of the render on their necks. I would constantly stress time to them. Any time they engage in any activity not fleeing, I would mention how much time it is taking. They should occasionally catch glimpses of the render if they are being especially slow. You can use the farm girl to keep impressing this upon them by having her keep looking over her shoulder. She should jump at any little sound.
Maybe have some rough terrain where one of the horses injures itself and they must double up on one of the mounts. Maybe they encounter a caravan and must convince the caravan to detour. Be careful with this one though so that the PCs do not think they need to make a last stand to save the caravan.
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all in all, quite a nice setup.
although, if they're 3rd lvl, be aware that a "Ray of Stupidity" (even from a scroll) has a 75% chance of dropping big baddy in 1 shot.
as far as "dramatic events" in the chase...think of it like a long running combat encounter.
make them keep track of initiative, and apply the penalties for hustling over long distances.
depending on how they want to deal with this creature, i can see a few options.
1: magic. as above...mage stands in the open with scroll ready to blast him as soon as he gets in range. hopefully he hits and doesn't roll a 1 on that d4
2: guile. run away to secluded area, preferably dangerous or difficult for render to deal, disguise tracks leading the wrong way and sneak back around.
3: might. lure him into an area (box canyon, deep bog, snowbanks) where his mobility is limited but the party can get around
4: cheat. party notices goblins (somehow...maybe they're tipped off or get lucky and see advance scouts...perhaps they're aware of gobbos in the area and are looking for the hermit). get render on the gobbo trail, he'll tear the little menaces apart, buying time for them to find the renders master.
as above, what level is the enemy wizard, and what kind of hermit is he? kindly and knowledgeable, ornery and irascible, dangerous and mad? beyond saving the poor peasant girl and the village, what are the PC's doing? looking for said hermit? trying to stop the wizard or her cabal?
personally, i'd run it with the initial encounter with the render...make sure to play up it's size and fearsom appearance, get the players scared. perhaps it can tear apart some livestock (or peasants if you're feeling saucy).
follow that up with a high speed pursuit scene...perhaps 20-30 min real time, ride checks, survival checks, playing up the paranoia and fear...can't get too far ahead or it'll lose interest and tear up the town, can't get too close or it'll pounce.
encounter some gobbo's...possibly on wolves/worgs. make em ranger 2 or druid 1, and let them skirmish around for a few rounds until the render comes in sight...everyone scatters, leading to chase scene 2
this one's through a forest, and unless the party stays close, they get separated...now they get to play hide-and-seek with a gray render, goblin rangers, bears, the party, and the wizard.
and all that leads to the goblin hideout (with the hermit currently trussed up over a fire/in a stewpot) and the big bad wizard approaching at roughly the same time.
big dramatic fight between the party (exhausted and probably near out of spells) a handful of goblins (make em standard warriors, with a couple of wolves and maybe a boss (Ranger 3 or Druid 2/Warrior 2) to lead em).
if they manage to kite the render all this time, the fight should be easy, since the gobbos will be trying to flee with as much as they can hold, the render will be torn between which of its masters is real, and the wizard will likely be caught up between staying alive (especially if the party can see through the disguise...here's where that "familiarity bonus" should shine) and getting the render.
all that's about 4-6 encounters, should take about a night, unless your party is a lot faster on the decisions than mine.
good luck, let us know how it turns out!
-the hamster