We're getting ready to start The Hook Mountain Massacre. Reading through the book I can find nothing to indicate communication between Lucrecia and Barl in advance of the capture of Ft. Rannick. Somehow she is made aware of his plan to attack the fort and for some reason decides to facilitate this.
I've been under the impression that the lamia matriarchs were fairly independent workers, free to wander Varisia and set up plots as they chose to further Karzoug's ends, and the module never suggests that she's had any kind of instruction from Mokmurian regarding Barl. That much I can handwave.
But then there's the sinking of Paradise, ostensibly because she thinks her presence in town is becoming suspicious. What sets that off? She's been successfully hidden in plain sight for years, and has managed to mark half the townsfolk with Sihedron runes with no one the wiser.
Well, the description of Xanesha in Skinsaw Murders contains the following sentence:
I would just assume that the same is true for most agents of Big M. The Lamia Matriarchs have lots of freedom what to do, but there seems to be a pretty decent flow of information about the current situation. All a bit centralized, of course. With sending etc., a monthly "newsletter" with some occasional special announcements isn't exactly High Magic.
Well, the description of Xanesha in Skinsaw Murders contains the following sentence:
** spoiler omitted **
Ah, I missed that line completely. That's what I get for focusing only on the book for HMM.
Now if I could just figure out what caused her to panic and sink the Paradise...
Well, the description of Xanesha in Skinsaw Murders contains the following sentence:
** spoiler omitted **
Ah, I missed that line completely. That's what I get for focusing only on the book for HMM.
Now if I could just figure out what caused her to panic and sink the Paradise...
I don't think that it should have been written as Panic.
A better explaination would be "all the pieces are in place to do a mass harvest of greed, so it is no longer worth the work required to keep it running."
That is, if you decide that Paradise *is* lost, if you excuse the pun. If I remember correctly, that location was cut to make the adventure fit the usual format, and because it distracted from the common ogre/giant-slaying thread.
I can understand those reasons, but if your party isn't one for a straight and narrow path, there's no reason why you can't shuffle things around a bit. It certainly has a different mood than the rest of the adventure, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Also, this gives you a few scenes where the greed/lust aspects can be a emphasized. That came a bit short in the previous adventures, if you ask me, so some debauched gambling won't hurt. Just don't make the Sihedron business too obvious ("Hey, welcome to Paradise! Care to join our loyalty club?")
If the players are present while the bark is burning down, this doesn't hurt the plot. Whether they arrive weeks later or whether the Ogres just took over a couple of days doesn't really matter. Actually, the descriptions of the Fort seem to evoke a more recent takeover anyway.
Obviously, you have to find a different reason for them to travel to Turtleback Ferry in the first place, but that shouldn't be too hard. My group just finished Skinsaw, and I plan to have them check out the Paradise in the first place.
I ended up cooking up a "lite" explanation for things when my players pressed me about the precise details of Kavin's betrayal. In the end, I decided that the secret entrance behind the falls was too small for Large creatures to pass through, and that this was an intentional feature in a fort with the principle duty of repelling giants. Lucretia was in contact with Barl, and served as an integral part of the attack by slipping in the secret entrance (despite being large, she is narrow) and charming the rangers to open the gates.
Just a little detail I wish I had thought of before the game...
I ended up cooking up a "lite" explanation for things when my players pressed me about the precise details of Kavin's betrayal. In the end, I decided that the secret entrance behind the falls was too small for Large creatures to pass through, and that this was an intentional feature in a fort with the principle duty of repelling giants. Lucretia was in contact with Barl, and served as an integral part of the attack by slipping in the secret entrance (despite being large, she is narrow) and charming the rangers to open the gates.
Just a little detail I wish I had thought of before the game...
Remember, she is only "large" at her full size. In her human form she is medium. :)
In her human form she is medium. :)
On my list, she rates quite a bit higher than medium… (And yeah, size category isn't everything. She basically gains a snake body as her abdomen and legs, but retains her svelte upper body. Not quite the same squeezing issues that an ogre or a horse would have.)
Personally, I've opted against direct involvement of Lucrecia – this would be too simple. Treason has to play a major part in it, as I want to reinforce the general theme of the campaign, where it's not just evil outside influence, but that the normal people are often bad enough and their sins and wickedness can be exploited. Granted, this is a bit lost in the high-level adventures, but on the other hand, we're playing it in Greyhawk, where pure black & white morality isn't as common as e.g. in the Forgotten Realms.
Therefore, amongst the weapons of the Unexpected Ogre Invasion Force are the following items:
- Poison. Kaven had been spiking the food of the rangers for the last weeks, and disease has been rampant. Nothing too obvious, just a couple of rangers incapacitated. He was told that this would remove them from dangerous combat, leaving more to survive. Whether he actually believed that…
- Information & strategy. The ogres knew the layout and the shifts. They picked the right approach (along/in the creek), , the right time (shift change at the East Gate) and once ranged combat is no option anymore, the Ogres have the advantage.
- Air support. For the initial assault, they had the help of Barl's remaining bodyguard. Being a superior climber, he went to the eagle's aerie, dispatched of a few of them, and then let deadly stone rain upon the rangers.
- Lack of leadership. The second-in-command was on a convenient patrol, the commander was a bit distracted by a fairy (tale) love. I'll probably add injury to insult and let the Sorcerogress capture him while he's on his way to her. As I won't have weeks between the burning down of Paradise and the appareance of the adventurers, this will make it more convenient for her to have a look for him sooner. After he didn't appear that night, she immediately looked for him…
I hope I can keep the adventurers occupied for long enough in Turtleback Ferry after the fire, so that Lucrecia can move there and settle in. Dangit, I want one reoccurring mastermind, after they managed to prevent both Aldern and Xanesha from fleeing. Stupid thrown statues…
In her human form she is medium. :)On my list, she rates quite a bit higher than medium… (And yeah, size category isn't everything. She basically gains a snake body as her abdomen and legs, but retains her svelte upper body. Not quite the same squeezing issues that an ogre or a horse would have.)
The Lamia Matriach description specifically says that she becomes Medium Sized when shapechanged. See the "Alternate Form" special ability description on Page 92 of The Skinsaw Murders.
The Lamia Matriach description specifically says that she becomes Medium Sized when shapechanged. See the "Alternate Form" special ability description on Page 92 of The Skinsaw Murders.
I meant that I'd rate her closer to a perfect 10 than a medium. 'Scuse the bad joke.
And in her case, I couldn't imagine anything where she could squeeze through in her Arielle form, but couldn't as a lamia. Her legs/hips transform into a snake body, which doesn't exactly have problems slithering through narrow openings. So large, shmarge, I wouldn't count it against her. (In Pathfinder I gave her the Oversized Weapon quality, as a normal lamia)
Personally, I would like to know what Lucrecia was thinking by setting up her lair in the basement, without any secondary means of escape.
O,o?
Personally, I would like to know what Lucrecia was thinking by setting up her lair in the basement, without any secondary means of escape.
O,o?
Actually, she does have a means of escape. She has the secret door into the shocker tunnels.
For myself, I am trying to figure out how she can stand to be near the filty, loud, and stupid ogres.
For myself, I am trying to figure out how she can stand to be near the filty, loud, and stupid ogres.
I guess that's one of the main reasons why she's in the basement, apart from the secret hallway. But this leads us to the question: How does she occupy her time, or what does she wait for here? The return of Karzoug himself? Direct orders from Mokmurian? Her next moulting? (According to HMM, she's only here for "temporary quarters")
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I believe it is mentioned that Barl was supposed to have finished his work and headed back to join the main army at Jorgenfist long ago, but he's enjoying being a wannabe-king, so he's putting it off. I suspect that since Lucretia has pulled the trigger on the Paradise barge thing, she's sitting tight at the fort to keep the ogres in line for Barl, waiting for the bug-out orders from Barl that aren't coming. If she knew that Barl had no intention of going back to Jorgenfist, she'd probably have offed him and taken his place, leading the Kreegs up to the plateau to join the army already.
I don't know why I never noticed this before, but lamia matriarchs have the dream spell, thus it's quite easy for Lucrecia to send lengthy sitreps to Mokmurian. In reverse, he has to use Sending, as lamia matriarchs are immune to mind-affecting spells…
Although, under Pathfinder rules he wouldn't be totally prohibited from using dream himself, and a slumbering Stone Giant passing down his plans is a pretty cool image. He would have to address Barl then, which might be one of the reasons why Lucrecia is a bit out of the loop. The only thing she gets are short (25 word) orders…
(...)
For myself, I am trying to figure out how she can stand to be near the filty, loud, and stupid ogres.
You mean that a great looking, kinky, twisted and cruel twisted-b...h getting along well with filty, loud and stupid big thug-dudes is really hard to figure?
It kind of made basic sense to me: Hooker-boss with Hell's.