First of all, these are AMAZING conceptually, I love everything about them, and cannot WAIT to spring them on my overconfident PCs...
My question is, what exactly is the point of the initial skill check? Only the person affected by the haunt can make it, right? And so what if they do? Suddenly seeing a scarf move doesn't seem like it's going to help you deal with it any better, and so the actual save for each haunt seems much more relevant...
Am I reading these correctly?
Creative Director
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First of all, these are AMAZING conceptually, I love everything about them, and cannot WAIT to spring them on my overconfident PCs...
My question is, what exactly is the point of the initial skill check? Only the person affected by the haunt can make it, right? And so what if they do? Suddenly seeing a scarf move doesn't seem like it's going to help you deal with it any better, and so the actual save for each haunt seems much more relevant...
Am I reading these correctly?
If you make the skill check, you can take action against the coming haunt, be that action an attempt to turn undead, run out of the room, call out warnings to other PCs so they can help (even if they can't be affected by the haunt, they can still help you with its effects), or just not be flat-footed when it attacks you.
That makes sense, thanks...I think I'm going to give them 6 seconds real time to decide what to do if they make the initial spot/listen/etc check...
We got 1/2 way through # 1 Saturday, and EVERYONE had an amazing time-I expanded a lot of the content, but the framework was so good-they're already asking when we're meeting next!
I have a haunt question: How long does the damage from the haunt last? Does the damage heal as normal or is it more temporary than that?
I have a haunt question: How long does the damage from the haunt last? Does the damage heal as normal or is it more temporary than that?
I think it heals as normal.
Now it says haunts are mind-effecting fear effects. I assume that means that paladins, undead, oozes, vermin, or other things that are not effected by either fear or mind-effects are immune to them. Do they still percieve them though? That is, if a paladin had the Burning Haunt aspect, would the paladin see the Burning Manticore effect, even if it did no harm to the paladin? Also I assume a paladin's aura of courage gives the other players bonuses on all of their saves with respect to the Hauntings?
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Creative Director
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I have a haunt question: How long does the damage from the haunt last? Does the damage heal as normal or is it more temporary than that?
Damage caused by a haunt heals as normal, same as if the damage had been caused by a trap (which is, effectively, what a haunt is).
Anyone who's immune to fear is immune to a haunt, yes. And a paladin's aura of courage would grant bonuses to his allies vs. a haunt. Just as having a druid able to walk through walls in the thistle maze of Thistletop is a cool advantage, having a paladin along in Foxglove Manor is a good idea. :-)
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Would attacking the scarf help?
Also I want to put out an open call to anyone who has a creepy sounding child in the household to make wav files of the haunts (and maybe a shrieking wife too >.>) for use in people's games.
I have a really good surround sound and I want to hide the speakers throughout the room and secretly hit buttons at the right time while we all sit in candlelight.
Contributor
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Would attacking the scarf help?
Also I want to put out an open call to anyone who has a creepy sounding child in the household to make wav files of the haunts (and maybe a shrieking wife too >.>) for use in people's games.
I have a really good surround sound and I want to hide the speakers throughout the room and secretly hit buttons at the right time while we all sit in candlelight.
That's hardcore dude. I love it! :D
*SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS* *SPOILERS*
Well, for my part...I thought that the haunts were a really cool idea. However...from the POV of my players...well...it was worse than seeing Chunk (Goonies!) taking a naked belly flop into a swimming pool. They were not at all amused by having 'empty' room after room...only to be damaged by something they didn't have control over. No one seemed to grasp the concept, even when given the hints...so...The party instead took to breaking out windows (-every window in the house-) and stabbing furniture to amuse themselves. The only haunts that were really amusing were the sight of the druid dancing madly around the room, the gnome rogue trying to grapple the half-orc cleric and pull him from the house, and said rogue throwing himself out the window and getting impaled on a weather vane. I don't know if it was the mechanic that wasn't understood, or just the general attitude of the party, but I'll have to work on my 'haunting' skills prior to module 4.
My players definitely got into the spirit of the haunts - to the extent that they refused to explore the upper reaches of the house!
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Creative Director
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I don't know if it was the mechanic that wasn't understood, or just the general attitude of the party, but I'll have to work on my 'haunting' skills prior to module 4.
The haunt in "Fortress of the Stone Giants" works a lot more like a ghost, as do the ones in "Spires of Xin-Shalast"; all players can see these haunts, if I remember correctly. But even if the text says they can't you might want to consider making them visible to all PCs in your group anyway since that'll help them envision what it is they're up against more, I suspect.
The Foxglove Manor haunts were kind of an experiment to see if we could simulate the "Is this house haunted or are some of our group members crazy?" type thing to a certain extent...
I just finished with the first floor of Foxglove Mansion, and I LOVE the haunts, just as the players did (eventually).
The face on the players when only they could see somethying that affected them, and ppl shooting xbow bolts into the air where there was nothing, being strangled by nothoing was priceless.(although for the one being strangled, he felt and could interact with the scarf, wanted to avoid it just feeling like an animated object, and more like a Haunting, Real for the one affected, but nothing happening for the others, not entirely how i understood it should be played, but scarred the crap out of the bard and the other players).
We have played 3.5 for years now and just started playing Pathfinder, and the grp is experienced dungeon crawlers. To encounter something so different from the normal traps, slaughtering monsters, and using their normal skills to get out of trouble, this was something so new and refreshing, something entirely new after been playing RPG for over 10 years, we havent had as much fun in a looooong time.