We played through Fortress of the Stone Giants recently, and the raid on Sandpoint didn’t go very well for the PCs.
The PCs essentially spent too much time with the first 3 giants. Then they ignored Longtooth as they felt the giants were a bigger priority. Then the giants and dire bears nearly created a TPK. By the time the group rallied much of the battle was over (about round 16). They managed to kill several giants before the end of the battle. However, by the time the fight was over 21 citizens had died, 11 had been captured, and Longtooth flew away untouched. The cathedral and the theatre were burned down along with half the town.
The PCs did do the right thing and went after the kidnapped citizens. However, they did not leave right away. Instead they went to Magnimar to make sure they had enough supplies, and then headed to Jorgenfist.
At the end of the chapter, the PCs did rescue most of the kidnapped people. A few had been sacrificed immediately by Mokmurian. In the next game, they will be returning to Sandpoint with the rescued victims. However, I’m wondering what reactions or consequences I should have for the group. On one hand, the people of Sandpoint can’t really hold the PCs accountable for the massacre. The heroes did try their best. However, I do want to show some impact that the raid has on the populace and town itself.
I imagine that many people will abandon town altogether and relocate to Magnimar. I may leave most of the town’s buildings burnt and abandoned. It may be a little depressing, but it is a good opportunity for the PCs to step in and help people out. I’m guessing that the group may just pick up the clues to get to Runeforge and then never come back.
Anyone want to share ideas on other consequences or effects I may be missing?
I hate to bump, but I have other questions as well.
Since my PCs are struggling a bit with the last half of the adventure, I was thinking of adding encounters to boost their level a bit. Please let me know if anyone has any input on this.
I have three PCs. Given the XP of the AP so far, they have been about 1 level higher than a group four. I'm thinking of adding encounters that bring them two levels higher than the normal to see how they handle the adventure.
In addition, to the consequences I mentioned earlier, I may have two other events occur.
#1: An evil tiaga giant returns to Jorgenfist and tries to claim it as a base. The PCs plan to build a small outpost there to further study the library, so this will add a little complication and XP.
#2: Given Sandpoint's weakened state, the PCs will find that certain evil groups are trying to gain influence. This may give them a chance to redeem themselves a bit and further their experience.
Any thoughts?
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We played through Fortress of the Stone Giants recently, and the raid on Sandpoint didn’t go very well for the PCs.
The PCs essentially spent too much time with the first 3 giants. Then they ignored Longtooth as they felt the giants were a bigger priority. Then the giants and dire bears nearly created a TPK. By the time the group rallied much of the battle was over (about round 16). They managed to kill several giants before the end of the battle. However, by the time the fight was over 21 citizens had died, 11 had been captured, and Longtooth flew away untouched. The cathedral and the theatre were burned down along with half the town.
The PCs did do the right thing and went after the kidnapped citizens. However, they did not leave right away. Instead they went to Magnimar to make sure they had enough supplies, and then headed to Jorgenfist.
At the end of the chapter, the PCs did rescue most of the kidnapped people. A few had been sacrificed immediately by Mokmurian. In the next game, they will be returning to Sandpoint with the rescued victims. However, I’m wondering what reactions or consequences I should have for the group. On one hand, the people of Sandpoint can’t really hold the PCs accountable for the massacre. The heroes did try their best. However, I do want to show some impact that the raid has on the populace and town itself.
I imagine that many people will abandon town altogether and relocate to Magnimar. I may leave most of the town’s buildings burnt and abandoned. It may be a little depressing, but it is a good opportunity for the PCs to step in and help people out. I’m guessing that the group may just pick up the clues to get to Runeforge and then never come back.
Anyone want to share ideas on other consequences or effects I may be missing?
The PCs could not predict Longtooth's involvement and maybe had no way of combatting him, but this will have no effect of disuading the populace that it was their fault. Have some townspeople who lost their homes demand money to rebuild.
Many members of the Scarnetti family were kidnapped. If one of the dead was a Scanetti, have those who were still in town start causing trouble for the PCs.
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I like your first idea of having the town fairly abandoned. Then when the sinkhole appears and the howling starts more people can flee the town. I am not so sure I would do things to tie them into town though because the next thing on their agenda is to find the runeforge and getting them embroiled in local politics may hold them back from moving forward in the AP.