Hook Mountain Breakdown - Need Advice (SPOILERS)

[James Martin]

Okay, so my players retook Rannick and began rebuilding. A month later an exhausted Turtleback Ferry resident rides in, tells them that the river is rising and people are drowning and they rush... to the Dam, to stop it at its source.

So, after taking the Dam, figuring out its mechanisms, they opened the floodgates and saved the town.

But. Black Magga was not stopped. I told them that when they arrived, most of the town was destroyed, including the cathedral, as well as several townspeople killed or missing.

What sort of implications can I derive from this? How would the town react? Would they rebuild? Would they hate the players for not stopping the beast? Who will teach the children now that the yummy pie baking school marm has been eaten by a giant snake?

Any thoughts?

[Ian Watt]

James Martin wrote:

Okay, so my players retook Rannick and began rebuilding. A month later an exhausted Turtleback Ferry resident rides in, tells them that the river is rising and people are drowning and they rush... to the Dam, to stop it at its source.

So, after taking the Dam, figuring out its mechanisms, they opened the floodgates and saved the town.

But. Black Magga was not stopped. I told them that when they arrived, most of the town was destroyed, including the cathedral, as well as several townspeople killed or missing.

What sort of implications can I derive from this? How would the town react? Would they rebuild? Would they hate the players for not stopping the beast? Who will teach the children now that the yummy pie baking school marm has been eaten by a giant snake?

Any thoughts?

Why hate the players? They did stop the flood, but expecting nothing else to go wrong is a bit much. If anything, the town might ask them to go punish the guilty parties (i.e ogre cave hook).

A frontier town like Turtleback exists mainly as support for all those frontier people and the fort personnel. Some people might leave, but other will stay and rebuild as long as it's profitable. And selling booze and food to dour rangers seems like a steady market to me.

[Charles Scholz]

The fort could handle accomidations for those who lost their homes until they can rebuild.

[James Martin]

Good ideas, and thanks!

I'm definitely onboard with the idea of Rannick becoming a refugee camp until the winter thaws. With stores gone, Turtleback is probably unlivable until the spring.

What about Black Magga? Would she live quietly in Claybottom, or try to move downriver toward Magnimar?

[Russell Akred]

James Martin wrote:

What about Black Magga? Would she live quietly in Claybottom, or try to move downriver toward Magnimar?

Spoiler:

Considering she is born from the Mother of Monsters I wouldn't see it as too far fetched to be summoned to Sandpoint when the Scribbler is returned to Varisa. Before then just hanging out sinking sailing ships and spoiling milk. Might be fun to see the creature from book 3 in book 5

[Ian Watt]

James Martin wrote:

What about Black Magga? Would she live quietly in Claybottom, or try to move downriver toward Magnimar?

I sense a strong decline in giant turtle population.

[FatR]

James Martin wrote:

Okay, so my players retook Rannick and began rebuilding. A month later an exhausted Turtleback Ferry resident rides in, tells them that the river is rising and people are drowning and they rush... to the Dam, to stop it at its source.

So, after taking the Dam, figuring out its mechanisms, they opened the floodgates and saved the town.

But. Black Magga was not stopped. I told them that when they arrived, most of the town was destroyed, including the cathedral, as well as several townspeople killed or missing.

What sort of implications can I derive from this? How would the town react? Would they rebuild? Would they hate the players for not stopping the beast? Who will teach the children now that the yummy pie baking school marm has been eaten by a giant snake?

Any thoughts?

Who cares, really? I intend to have Turtleback Ferry be massacred and burned to the ground by Kreegs/local equivaled of Grauls for my setting (because, really, they have both ability and reason to do so), and don't anticipate any notable consequences. Turtleback Ferry don't seem to have anything of interest for PCs. And the Dam can threaten dozens of villages downstream just as well. Also, I don't want to unleash Black Magga on PCs. She is supposedly hyper-intelligent but the adventure forces her to act dumb, so that she won't TPK the party (as my party is caster-impaired, I doubt that they'll be able to turn the tables, unless its composition changes through PC deaths).

[James Martin]

So what about the large influx of soul energy into the Runewell? Will it cause anything to happen earlier than it already was? Will Karzoug wake and wreak havoc earlier or more powerfully now?

[Majuba]

James Martin wrote:

So what about the large influx of soul energy into the Runewell? Will it cause anything to happen earlier than it already was? Will Karzoug wake and wreak havoc earlier or more powerfully now?

I would say that certain events where Karzoug directly interacts with the party, such as:

Spoiler:

Activating the statue as a golem at the end of Sins of the Saviors

will have longer durations, more hp, something along that line.

[FatR]

Karzoug's awakening mostly progressess with the speed of the party. We have no definite deadline and PCs are supposed to arrive in Xin-Shalast just in time. Although pre-final battle manisfestations of Karzour can indeed be more powerful.