I'm prepping to play Kings of the Rift and I'm seriously considering just leaving the Event Two encounter with the "ominous fabler" out entirely. It doesn't seem to do much but make busy work for the DM, as far as I can see. On top of that, my players absolutely HATED Prince of Redhand (unlike every other episode, which they've loved) and I can't see how reviving an NPC from there in the middle of the dragon siege is going to enhance their experience. My only worry is that I may be overlooking some way in which this spriggan is plot essential. Am I going to pay for this cut later in some way I haven't foreseen? Has anyone else cut this plot thread? With what results? Problems? Comments? Anything is appreciated.
He certainly doesn't figure in any later modules in any appreciable way. I can't remember if he serves as means for Dragotha or someone to find out about the PCs--I'd look at the background write-up regarding his transformation into a Kyuss-thing, which will tell you this info. In any event, there are many ways of spying on the PCs available to Dragotha, so I doubt the fabler is essential there. I think mostly it's just supposed to be another betrayal/creep factor encounter to drive home that the PCs can't trust anyone and must move quickly against the threat.
If you don't plan on using him, I would suggest including an agent of Kyuss following them (possibly with similar stats as the fabler). The Fabler's ability to teleport adds a lot to the final encounter, and it should be kept in.
It always peeved me that he starts off as an agent of good and then shows up the next session as evil undead. I don't recall there being any rea; point to having him switched and I think he helped a little with the idea that the PCs are not taking on Kyuss by their lonesome. Maybe they are they key players but others are doing stuff as well.
The whole - and then he turned evil and tries to kill you angle just seems like its going in the wrong direction and it seems like this theme was done to death in this AP. It does not need to happen here as well, especially considering how little this adds to the adventure or the campaign.
So yeah - I agree with the OP. Loose this encounter. I can't see how or why you'd regret it. If you need to keep tabs on your players you can use some other means or just don't have the bad guys ever get that close.
He has so few hp and such a low AC for his CR, I just assumed he was bonus xp. And loot. A hand-delivered crown of teleportation is nothing to sneeze at.
I left him out. My PCs were very suspicious and had a lot of divination magic--there was no chance they would accept him. And I agree with another poster--we were already starved for any evidence that NPCs were effectively opposing Kyuss, and taking away one of the very few bits of such evidence did not work for us.
I question the whole presence of Manzorian in this AP. It rubs the PCs' noses in "The people who are really of a level to deal with Kyuss somehow can't be bothered to do it." My PCs decided that Manzorian was interested in letting Kyuss get as close to success as possible, so that he could steal Kyuss' secrets of Ascension. But then there was absolutely no one in the entire AP they considered a real friend or ally, which was sad.
I know the authors don't want the PCs to rely on NPCs to do their jobs for them. But AoW goes to the opposite extreme. One could start wondering: is this world worth saving? It's pretty much full of bad people from sea to shining sea. Our game ended before the PCs had a chance to become lords of Alhastor, but their reaction would clearly have been "yucck, what a booby prize." And there wasn't anywhere they liked better, sad to say.
If I'd have had more time to develop plotlines, I'd like to have kept the Fabler as a good guy, a genuine ally.
Mary
I think the "developing NPC good-guys" angle really has to start at the beginning, when the PCs need help and have some ties to a locality. IMC, I used Allustan (the wizard's teacher) and Valkus Dunn (mentor of the paladin of Hieroneous), but other local characters in the background or the AOW Overload have mentor/ally potential.
You can do this and still maintain a secretive, hush-hush, paranoid feeling by having the mentors warn the PCs to keep a low profile to avoid being bumped off, and maybe have some attempts at assassination or spying. (The half-orc minion of Smenk does this nicely--I also had Bozal Zahol send a tiefling spy who got captured but hung herself in prison rather than divulging more than a smidgeon of info.)
The NPC good-guys in Diamond Lake should then serve as links to trustworthy NPCs outside. Allustan links to Eligos and Tenser/Manzorian. I used Valkus Dunn to link to Jaikor Demien (in GH, the high priest at the Free City's Sanctum of Hieroneous).
I'm also going to plant a friendly NPC in Alhaster--the bard's mentor. He'll be in a pitiable state, and emphasize what a bastard Zeech is, but he'll provide a feeling of personal connection to the oppressed people of Alhaster.
***spoilers***
I liked the Fabler (you can probably find other comments on this character with a search of these threads). In my campaign, I had him roll up on the party being no more than he appeared to be in Prince of Redhand. He died a noble sacrifice handing off the phylactory to the PCs as Brazzemal made mince meat out of him.
I question the whole presence of Manzorian in this AP. It rubs the PCs' noses in "The people who are really of a level to deal with Kyuss somehow can't be bothered to do it."
Agreed 100%--which is why I brazenly replaced Manzorian with one of the PCs from our homebrew campign--in fact, a wizard who survived Rod of Seven Parts and Return to the Tomb of Horrors and then retired.
Similar to "I've got Reach", I managed to use the Fabler and it worked in fairly well...
My players, and in fact me, are not huge fans of NPC's in the party, but I left the Fabler bit in for a few reasons...
Rather than double-cross the PC's though, which is basically what every player would expect (it's not hard to work out he's an evil undead), I actually had him genuinely horrified at what Dragotha did to him, and hence he hungers for revenge more than anything else. So I convinced my players to let him come along and help them overcome Dragotha - if they succeed, the PC's promised to help try and undo his undead nature (well, likely they would have killed him, but of course he dies in the final fight, so everyone was happy).
Also, I had the dragons appear a bit later on, so the Fabler was kind of like a "tour guide" in the giant's city, which the PC's explored for a day before the dragons turned up.
Overall, the fabler is a hopeless addition to the party's capabilities, he can't do anything much really except use his bardic music in combat, but I did have him try a couple of spells and flanking more for comedy value, and it was kind of fun to actually have an NPC that the players never really knew what his true motives and plans were and for him to actually be pretty genuine (in a tragic kind of way).
But yeah, he's not really that important, you can cut him out and loose nothing, especially if you don't need yet another NPC...
We just finished "Kings of the Rift" and I used the Fabler as outlined, but not until the party had retrieved the second key from the Motherworm. The party's current wizard (who joined the party after they had first met the Fabler) stayed up on the ledge to fight and support the party from a distance. After the battle was over and while the rest of the party was getting the key, I had the Fabler sneak up on the wizard, and just start speaking to him.
The wizard of course freaked out and cast fly and floated out over the cavern. The Fabler started trying to convince everyone that he was okay and would not harm anyone. Of course several in the party recognized him.
The party's Kensai, who had not met the Fabler before, climbed up to the ledge and confronted the Fabler, while doing a detect evil. He of course knew that the Fabler was evil and called him out and warned the party.
A couple of rounds later the Fabler was near death, and teleported out of there. He then waited until the party got the vault open. The party's cleric detected that there was a presence following them but couldn't see it, and besides the wizard had put up a wall of force effectively blocking the entrance, so they didn't worry about it. The Fabler could see into the vault, and see where he needed to go, so I had him teleport in right next to the phylactery before the party had gotten up to the platform. He grabbed the phylactery, surprising the PC's and next round I was going to have him teleport out, but then steps up the wizard.
The party's wizard let fly a disintegrate spell and the poor Fabler didn't make his save and is alas no more. The next round Brazzemal broke through the wall, and the battle for the phylactery began.
All in all, it turned out very well and everyone had a good time.
DJ