Options:
1. Make it part of the backstory of the new PCs that they just finished clearing out Foxglove Manor.
2. Have the party encounter the iconics, who just arrived in Magnimar to celebrate their defeat of Aldern Foxglove.
3. Use this as an opportunity to introduce the Black Arrows, several of whom were home on leave and heard about the problem and dealt with it.
4. Use the undetailed goblin heroes (Big Gugmut and Vorka) to recruit a war group of twenty goblins to go in and take out Aldern while he's still weak from fighting the PCs. They're currently frustrated because they keep trying to burn down the house and the fire keeps going out no matter how much oil the pour on it or how many other things they set on fire.
5. Have Xanesha call Aldern back to Magnimar. After all, he's done everything there she needed him to do and having a dread ghast at one's disposal could come in handy.
I'm sure there are more methods, but these can kick off the brainstorming. :)
Do you need a way to get them involved with the Magnimar plot, or have you already figured that one out?
I'd recommend sticking with sixth level. Paizo adventures tend to be rough, and after a TPK it sounds like your party could use the cushion.
I'm hesitant to have NPCs "save the day," as it were, as I'd rather not shove their inability to defeat Aldern onto the players. I really like the goblin idea, but it suffers from the same issue. I may bring Aldern back to Xanesha. That would give the players (playing new characters, of course) a second chance at him.
You could combine these. The goblins do the assault on Foxglove Manor, but don't defeat Aldern. Either he's still hurt from fighting the PCs and flees to Magnimar or else Xanesha has already called him back.
Where would you suggest placing him then? At Xenesha's side would make an already rough encounter way too tough.
You could either let him continue living in his townhouse or else have him as an additional encounter at the sawmill, perhaps living in the ocean beneath it (presumably sulking) to mask his stink.
Any other thoughts or ideas about how best to re-set this campaign-in-progress would be great.
Giving people a solid tie to the setting is your best bet, I think. Your Black Arrow plot should work really well. Maybe someone has just inherited a townhouse in Sandpoint from a brother murdered by the "star killer" (since there were serial killings in Magnimar until recently). Maybe someone is an occasional guard for the ferry up the Yondabakari (which could even be one of the turtleback boats, if you like). Maybe someone is a legal clerk for the justices, and is concerned because of occasional irregularities with some of Justice Ironbriar's dealings.
You could also play with the faceless stalkers and have them messing with character backgrounds, which would give an immediate tie to current events.
When I started my Crimson Throne campaign I required all the players to give me a couple of local NPCs who were contacts of theirs. Would you group go for something like this? The NPC could be from either Magnimar or Sandpoint (though you're going to want the group back in Sandpoint for the beginning of volume four, so ties to there would help).
Well there are murders going on of Greedy Souls and now she has a double prog attack in Magnimar
So they are investigateing the murders and now the murders have picked up as Aldern is now in town also
And I would say 6th level because i plan on having the characters at 6th level when they enter Magnimar and 7th by the time they get to the top of the Shadow Tower
Well there are murders going on of Greedy Souls and now she has a double prog attack in Magnimar
So they are investigateing the murders and now the murders have picked up as Aldern is now in town also
Good call. Xanesha was using the three faceless stalkers to commit the serial murders, but she gave them other duties a week or so before the scenario finds her in Magnimar. Perhaps now that she has Aldern back in his townhouse she can free them up to resume their murderous activities.
Good call. Xanesha was using the three faceless stalkers to commit the serial murders, but she gave them other duties a week or so before the scenario finds her in Magnimar. Perhaps now that she has Aldern back in his townhouse she can free them up to resume their murderous activities.Well there are murders going on of Greedy Souls and now she has a double prog attack in Magnimar
So they are investigateing the murders and now the murders have picked up as Aldern is now in town also
Nice:)
Sixth level might be a good idea; a very good idea, in fact. The only thing my players may balk a little at is how much they enjoy developing a character's backstory from as low a level as possible (usually 1st). But I think it's good.
Well, one completely off the wall idea would be to use the Ghoul write up from Savage Species . . . :D . . . and let them keep their characters.
But that might "kill" the rest of the storyline.
Well, one completely off the wall idea would be to use the Ghoul write up from Savage Species . . . :D . . . and let them keep their characters.
But that might "kill" the rest of the storyline.
I was going to use the ghoul and ghast templates from the Advanced Bestiary if this happened to my PCs, but I expect it's the same idea. (These templates are sidebars in the Dread Ghoul and Dread Ghast sections.)
This is pretty party-dependent though. My group would have been thrilled at the chance to play an all-undead party, but a lot of people would be really turned off by that. Another tricky bit would have been to motivate them to complete the plot, but my plan for that was to tell them that just because they were undead didn't change the fact that they had family in the area they wanted to protect. I might also have dangled some sort of bait connected to the big runewell and allowing their souls into the afterlife if they defeated Karzoug, or something.
What if the party came back as a kind of ghoul or some such? Some kind of undead template.
Maybe they were rescued by a ranger in the area or someone else. Need someway to stave off the disease - which could be interesting, perhaps an herb that Habe discovered, or perhaps they were saved by a Varisian family who have an ancient concoction to stave off ghoulish hunger.
I was thinking of Ghostwalk.
Best
E
EDIT: Ack, that's what I get for not reading the rest of the thread. Hehehe. Didn't see the other undead mentions.
So Aldern TPK'd the party last night. I tried to help, I tried to fudge a little, but the grind of die rolls ultimately depleted their luck. The players were bummed, but they're moving on.
I ideally wanted to continue RotRL with a new party of 5th lvl characters (there are 5 of them, so I figured 5th, rather than 6th). I'd like to start in the next section, coming up with a reason for the new party to be investigating the Skinsaw cult in Magnimar. Suggestions welcome there, but I think I can handle that part.
But what do I do about the fact that the Skinsaw Man is still running around Sandpoint? I REALLY don't want to do Foxglove Manor again (I LOVE that section - my favorite in the whole AP - but it really wore the players down).
Thanks in advance!
C
I'd recommend sticking with sixth level. Paizo adventures tend to be rough, and after a TPK it sounds like your party could use the cushion.
Yeah - my thoughts exactly. These guys already had their asses handed to them - how about throwing them a bone. Their coming up to the toughest fight in the whole AP over the next few sessions as well.
Well you could have the PCs working for a greedy merchant and have Aldern attacking the merchant and hopfully the PCs will kill him this time