Nualia's response to getting invaded [SPOILERS, naturally]

[Shisumo]

Last session my players almost completely cleared out Level One of the Thistletop dungeon (except for the tentamort and the Temple, which I'll come back to in a second), but they failed to find the stairs down to the second level, and due to the randomness of their wandering, saved the Temple to Lamashtu for last. Unfortunately, the fight against the yeth hounds went really poorly, and they were forced to run out and slam the doors behind them - two characters are largely intact, but the marshal//warmage has 2 hp left and the barbarian//cleric had to have two cure potions shoved down her throat to keep her from dying when her rage ran out.

I fully expect them to fall back, either to somewhere upstairs or possibly all the way back off the island, to rest and recover spells so they can try again tomorrow. The question I have, though, is what will Nualia do in response? At this point, all her allies except the yeth hounds (including both goblins and humans) are either dead or fled. She heard the yeth hounds baying, but won't make it upstairs to confront the party before they leave the level. So what does she do? What steps are taken during the rest of the day and the night before the group returns to begin the assault once more?

At the moment, I'm thinking about the following actions:
1) she burns the bodies of Lyrie, Ripnugget and Bruthazamus on the altar to Lamashtu (the party negotiated with and then released Orik, who has fled the island with Shadowmist)
2) she moves the yeth hounds from the temple downstairs to the Hellcat Hall (area E2)
3) if the party flees the island entirely, after Nualia searches the complex and finds no one, she cuts the rope bridge
4) she desperately increases her attempts to free Malfeshnekor, since it is now her only real option for achieving her goal of burning down Sandpoint

Is there anything else? Should burning the bodies of her erstwhile allies result in an increased transformation? Am I missing anything?

[Blue_eyed_paladin]

My party is at a similar point. Having made their way across to Thistletop, they sniped the goblins in the watchtowers, took out the four commandos patrolling outside, and then did a nifty trick with the main door (using Gogmurt's potions of tree shape and lying across the doorway while the goblins charged), taking out another 6 or so goblins. This leaves me with Ripnugget and his personal minions, plus Nualia and her henchpeople. They then went back to Sandpoint, needing healing and rest.

Your tactics seem pretty sound, especially using her fallen allies as offerings. Heck, the adventure is called Burnt Offerings, I'd give her something for that, maybe Lamashtu sends her a couple of Abyssal Maws (MM2) or some similar demony type thing ("Not quite good enough to free Malfeshnekor, but you're on the right track. Keep going, dearie.")

[Reckless]

Shisumo wrote:

barbarian//cleric had to have two cure potions shoved down her throat to keep her from dying when her rage ran out.

I used to run Barbarians this way too until a Sage Advice pointed out that temporary hit points are the first ones you lose, so barbarians don't die due to the end of a rage in this fashion; the temporary hit points are already gone (from damage).

Just an FYI.. of course, as the GM you can run it any way you like....

[deathsausage]

Reckless wrote:

I used to run Barbarians this way too until a Sage Advice pointed out that temporary hit points are the first ones you lose, so barbarians don't die due to the end of a rage in this fashion; the temporary hit points are already gone (from damage).

Just an FYI.. of course, as the GM you can run it any way you like....

This has been changed since then. A barbarian gains no temporary hit points, their constitution increases. Just like someone had cast Bear's Endurance. This means that both maximum and current hit points go up, and it means that they both go down when the effect ends. Temporary hit points are granted by effects like False Life, and do go away first.

Note that this works differently than constitution damage, which has a clause preventing current hit points from dipping below 10. Until you take too much con damage and just die of course. Or the wyvern takes the ten away with a claw.

[Reckless]

deathsausage wrote:

This has been changed since then. A barbarian gains no temporary hit points, their constitution increases. Just like someone had cast Bear's Endurance. This means that both maximum and current hit points go up, and it means that they both go down when the effect ends. Temporary hit points are granted by effects like False Life, and do go away first.

Note that this works differently than constitution damage, which has a clause preventing current hit points from dipping below 10. Until you take too much con damage and just die of course. Or the wyvern takes the ten away with a claw.

Right you are, carry on... must have been a 3rd Ed (not 3.5) Sage Advice :) Nothing to see here....

[JSL]

I can think of a couple of possibilities.

If the party runs out of the dungeon long enough to heal up and immediately charges back in, she likely doesn't do anything and they meet her and the yeth hounds coming up the stairs. That's an easy one.

If they encamp on the island, Nualia and the yeth hounds launch a counter-attack after they go to sleep. The likely result of this is that they have to withdraw off the island - maybe all the way back to town.

If they fall back off the island, but camp in the outer Thistletop area, Nualia might cut the bridge or she might sneak off of Thistletop herself and try to trap the party there on their return. In a related scenario, the party might cut the bridge themselves after leaving the island. This prevents immediate pursuit and traps Nualia on the island (for awhile at least).

The party might retreat all the way back to Sandpoint. If this is the case, they probably can't return to Thistletop for at least 2 days.

I think in any case where Nualia is left to her own devices for more than 3 days, she frees Malfeshnekor. If the party returns soon thereafter, she Malf, and the yeths might try to ambush them, trap them on the island, or something similar. If the party does not return that quickly, Nualia et al attack Sandpoint.

So, unless the PCs can reload in the field enough to go right back in, I think the likely outcome of this scenario is a fight with Nualia, Malf and the Yeths. If that is too overpowering, you might want to step Malf back to regular barghest instead of greater barghest.

[Michael F]

What you do should depend on the challenge the PCs are ready to face. If they've gotten a chance to level up, they could probably face Nualia, Malfeshnekor and the Yeth hounds all at once. You could assume that Nualia has managed to open the door to Malfeshnekor's chamber, but he can't exit yet. Because unless Lamashtu intervenes directly, the only way to get him out of his prison is to dispel the binding spell. And the minimum caster for the effect is pretty high, so it's not just a case of buying one scroll.

[Shisumo]

JSL wrote:

I can think of a couple of possibilities.

Most of these are similar to ideas I've had and are good suggestions, except...

JSL wrote:

The party might retreat all the way back to Sandpoint. If this is the case, they probably can't return to Thistletop for at least 2 days.

Why would they be gone so long? Getting to and from Thistletop is maybe a three hour journey, Survival checks notwithstanding (getting out and back in should be much less trouble than getting there the first time was) - I would expect them to be back in Sandpoint before nightfall, and back at Thistletop before noon the next day.

JSL wrote:

I think in any case where Nualia is left to her own devices for more than 3 days, she frees Malfeshnekor. If the party returns soon thereafter, she Malf, and the yeths might try to ambush them, trap them on the island, or something similar. If the party does not return that quickly, Nualia et al attack Sandpoint.

Even with Malfeshnekor, Nualia's gong to need a bit more help than that. I imagine a recruitment trip around the rest of the local goblin tribes, or possibly even a departure from the area in general in search of more cannon fodder, would be appropriate. Also, she'll try to make contact with Erylium to bring some sinspawn into the fight, though that attempt would be doomed to failure in my game. The War Room (area D4) says that Nualia currently plans to recruit from tribes as far away as the Fogscars - I'd see her leaving to talk to them rather than attempting a two-creature assault on Sandpoint. Admittedly, the two of them could do a fair amount of damage, but still...

Also, as pointed out above, I'm not sure Nualia can free Mal even if she does find him.

[JSL]

Shisumo wrote:

Why would they be gone so long? Getting to and from Thistletop is maybe a three hour journey, Survival checks notwithstanding (getting out and back in should be much less trouble than getting there the first time was) - I would expect them to be back in Sandpoint before nightfall, and back at Thistletop before noon the next day.

I am assuming that they would want to restock on certain expendable items and that there may be delays in procuring such. For example, I don't see that F. Zantus sits around the temple and brews potions of cure light wounds all day. That being the case, the PCs could reasonably expect a one to two day delay to acquire such. Also, if anyone wants to buy or make something special - like a scroll or potion of their own, that takes time. They may also want to do a little research on what they've discovered - see if it has any weaknesses, etc. But that is how I run my games (and the type of players I play with) and I understand that your game and your group may be different and that may allow the PCs to re-equip and be back at the dungeon faster.

Also, you did not state what level the PCs in your group are. If they are still at third or thereabouts, Nualia, Mal, and 2-3 Yeth hounds could be a big challenge.

As for attacking the town with such a small group, I wouldn't underestimate it. Mal can use invis. sphere to get everyone in quietly. With his DR 10/magic, he can probably solo the town if not for the PCs.