I have in my notes from Broken Moon that these were the possible cures:
-Consume a dose of wolfsbane poison (target subject to negative effects of wolfsbane. Gives a target a new save against the curse)
-Cast remove disease or heal of sufficiently high level (CL12) within 3 days of infection. Caster has to succeed at CL check as normal.
-Cast remove curse while the curse manifests (target is a werewolf/wolf). Caster has to succeed at CL check as normal.
I believe the remove disease/heal method is the only one with a time limit, based on the article in the back of Broken Moon.
So, the easiest way to give them more cures is to add a few more bottles of magic wolfsbane potion to the stockpile at the Stairs of the Moon. Or just have some wolfsbane growing randomly somewhere in the forest. This way they wouldn't need to travel somewhere just to get cured.
Then, it sounds like the PC's, upon contracting lycanthropy, would have to hole up somewhere with a lot of wolfsbane and lesser restoration spells.
The problem with wolfsbane is that it lowers your Fortitude save because of all the Constitution damage....
Are you sure about that Remove Curse thing? And, what CL does it have to beat?
Just a 15 - the save DC for Lycanthropy.
Edit: It is interesting to me that Lycanthropy is actually a fixed DC, rather than scaling with the level of the inflicting lycanthrope like most abilities would.
Well, to be fair the disease IS a real nasty one to get rid of. And the consequences of not doing so are disastrous, to put it mildly. How many other diseases force one to run about murdering people?
Are you sure about that Remove Curse thing? And, what CL does it have to beat?
You may reference the cure rules yourself here or in the Ecology of the Lycanthrope article in Broken Moon. The Remove Curse (which also must be CL 12, by the way) would have to beat DC 15 for most sources of lycanthropy; if it’s from the Vilkacis, it’s DC 18.
Dosing a victim with wolfsbane is certainly more complicated than Remove Disease, but it is rather less expensive, and in my opinion more dramatic. It’s what my PCs opted for when Diagnose Disease revealed several of them were infected with lycanthropy. If your PCs are clever enough to stack short-term buffs on themselves before dosing (Bear’s Endurance, Heroism, Prayer, Protection from Evil, the Heal skill), the saves are hard to miss.
The utility of Potions of Lesser Restoration is that they can restore ability damage in the middle of combat, and many of the fights in this AP involve ability damage.
Okay, does that mean the caster has to be both 12th level AND succeed on a caster level check(DC15) for both Remove Curse and Remove Disease?
Or can the caster be less than 12th and simply succeed on the caster level check(DC15)?
Both.
The cost/benefit of lycanthropy cures:
Wolfsbane: 500 gp. Grants a new saving throw in first 3 days. DC 16 poison, 1d3 con damage, 1 save to cure.
Remove Disease from NPC Cleric 12: 360 gold. 90% likely to cure ordinary lycanthropy in first 3 days. Must be in appropriate town.
Remove Disease from CL 12 scroll: 900 gold. 90% likely to cure ordinary lycanthropy in first 3 days. Must have someone who can use it.
Remove Disease from CL 12 potion: 1,800 gold. 90% likely to cure ordinary lycanthropy in first 3 days.
Remove Curse from CL 12 scroll: 900 gold. 90% likely to cure ordinary lycanthropy when victim is transformed, if the spell connects. It is a touch spell and grants a will save and a spell resistance check. Must have someone who can use it on transformed victim.
CL 14: Add 1/6 to above costs. Spells are 10% more likely to cure.
Vilkacis lycanthropy: Spells are 15% less likely to cure.
Caster has to have a caster level of at least 12 just to have any chance AND then succeed at the caster level check. If you are that worried about it, add some wolfsbane somewhere and a wand with a some charges of lesser restoration. That would be the easiest (and cheapest) solution.
I missed that remove curse needed CL12. But having to get a spell off on your ally, (that isn't guaranteed to work) while they are trying to kill you, makes for a good "bonus" encounter, so you could drop that requirement.
Well, looks like the simplest answer would be to have a Nature roll grant doses of wolfsbane (perhaps 1 dose for every 5 points of the d20 roll), and to tell the PC's to stock up on Lesser Restoration.
I'm afraid I don't quite understand the Pathfinder game mechanics for werewolves. Upon transformation, what changes? I recall that alignment changes to CE, there's a +2 to Wisdom, and there's damage reduction. Any other changes to attributes? Do they gain a bite and claw attack routine?
I know, these questions must seem obvious, but I was never too clear on lycanthropy even in 3.5. Nobody ever had it long enough to suffer a change.
Near as I can see from the Bestiary:
(afflicted werewolf hybrid form)
Nothing stated about alignment change, but I would guess CE
+2 Str, Con, Wis
-2 Cha
+5 Natural armor, DR5/silver
Additional bite attack at 5 points less than their ordinary attack with a weapon. (This means that a decent Defense would be adequate against becoming a werewolf, since their bite attack sucks by definition.)
Low light vision, scent, wolf and dire wolf empathy (+4 Diplomacy)
It doesn't say the transformation is involuntary, interestingly enough, even on the night of the full moon. They can transform at any time but gain a +5 bonus on a full moon, and a -5 penalty to change back (DC15 Constitution check).
(Thus, it's likely a Barbarian would gain the most from becoming a lycanthrope.)
Do I have this right? Did I miss anything? Doesn't seem like much of a power change. What triggers the change?
Oh, as a means of detecting if the cure didn't work, a GM could always say that the traditional signs of being a werewolf haven't gone away. Thus the PC's will know if they are infected or not, IF they manage to make a Knowledge check of some sort. What Knowledge works on werewolves?
It doesn't say the transformation is involuntary, interestingly enough, even on the night of the full moon. They can transform at any time but gain a +5 bonus on a full moon, and a -5 penalty to change back (DC15 Constitution check).
If you willing change yourself into a werewolf, knowing you'll become a bloodthirsty beast, you become CE. I believe that's what that sentence references and that is how I ran it.
Here is the lycanthropy template.
Note that the change is involuntary on the full moon. I assume it is involuntary on future full moons, if the PC hasn't decided to go CE and "embrace the beast".
I don't see it in the link I posted, but I could have swore there is something about post-first change, if the PC takes damage they have to Will save or change into a werewolf (not in their control). Possible I just added that for flavor or so they couldn't ignore it for a month.
They do gain a bite attack as a natural attack. If it is their primary attack (not using a weapon) there is no -5 penalty. They also gain a trip attempt for free after successfully biting (Trip (Ex))
I did have the PCs appearance change a bit after the first change, to represent the beast within. Anything from hair color being closer to the color of their wolf (red, silver, black, etc) to just being hairier in general or gaining a slightly heightened sense of smell. Then when they cured themselves, those effects wore off (extra hair fell out, smell went back to normal, etc) over a few hours/days.
My PCs just defeated Mathus at the top of the Stairs of the Moon. Two of the PCs are inflicted with lycanthropy (I'm kind of amazed not all 4 of them are). For a module that leaves such a high likelihood of the party contracting lycanthropy, it provides little guidance...
My understanding is that the lycanthropy does not manifest itself until the first moon. HOWEVER, the module seems to contemplate an immediate full moon after the Stairs of the Moon encounter, because the demon wolves turn Duristan into a werewolf, and he is aware of and has embraced his new condition by the time the PCs get to Feldgrau...
And how have you handled your PCs getting lycanthropy? Did they all gobble wolfsbane? I kept the FORT save secret and all four of my PCs got bitten -- does that mean I should let them all think they have lycanthropy and gobble wolfsbane? But all the CON damage they will take would throw off the pace of the adventure.
I guess the cleric can cast remove curse, and might prepare it a few times if I gave enough hints, so she can cast it on the two inflicted party members the night of the full moon?
I'd love to hear how this all went down in your games.
If the PC's reconsecrate the Stairs of the Moon, and succeed in the Ritual triggering the Dusk Moth, the visit from Desna could also purge the Lycanthropy from any that are infected. In my game Rhakis was actually there with them when they did the ritual, and afterwards, I thought "I should have had it transform him into a normal man..." but that would be messed up. heh.
I am just about to start running this adventure. Is there anything I should be aware of or needs correcting?
Depends how you feel about Circle of Death.
Auren Vrood can't legally cast his highest spell levels due to the progression of Agent of the Grave PrC with regards to spell-casting advancement. By the rules, he shouldn't have any of his 6th level spells but does. The biggest thing is Circle of Death, which has caused more party wipes than anything else in the campaign. I ran it with his extra spells (actually gave him another level to make it legal) for a couple reasons. 1) I wanted my players to experience the same thing that everyone else is facing through the path. 2)I have really good players, very tactical savvy with the ability to anticipate perils they might face. A couple Death Wards and Harrow Cards helped my PCs survive, but it helped heighten the dramatic tension of the encounter. There have also been DMs who have foreshadowed this attack at Ravengro (I did) by describing the area where the professor died as a ring devoid of all life, a perfect circle where no grass grows.
How long does a silver weapon blanch last?
I thought all Blanch's were for just 1 successful strike, then the effect dissipates.. unlike Silversheen, which lasts for a bit.
That makes the weapon blanches totally useless.
So, in my game, I changed all the weapon blanches that the PC's got from Schloss Caromarc to -sheens, so they use the same rules as silversheen and last one hour each.
Okay, right now I have the following in my party:
Cleric 7th
Rogue 3rd/Wizard 3rd/Arcane Trickster 1
Fighter (greataxe) 7th
Wizard (evoker) 7th
Sorcerer (fire elemental bloodline) 7th
The Wizard and Sorcerer are probationary and may not make steady players.
Does anyone have any suggestions as to what I should as GM be aware of?
Apparently, there are TWO plants that are referred to as wolfsbane. The first is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnica_montana
and the second is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aconitum
Which one is the one that is used? I want to know so I know how to describe the flowers that the PC's find.
Aconitum, I believe if the one you want. That is the name I've heard before for wolfsbane and the wiki article mentions in it in the "Cultural significance" section. The module also mentions wolfsbane is purple in the description of Duristan's Wolf Trap (pg10, "C. The Wolf Trap")
yeah, but in the photo in the wikipedia article, monkshood has a dark purple flower, not pale purple as in the Broken Moon module.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have a problem.
Estovion's paranoia score is only +3, and the player group has already discovered the contents of his office, in that he is involved with the Whispering Way and the werewolves. I just finished Event 1-4 and Investigation 1,2.
What do I do now? All they need do is confront Estovion, as they have the smoking gun already! Heck, the Cleric could hit him with a Detect Evil.
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Make several of the guests evil (the Markiza and the porter perhaps). If they seem dangerously close to discovering him I would hit them with the spider immediately.
If they confront him before any murders occur have him use his dimensional step to flee to the woods and ride for the stairs of the moon.
Preventing the murders is a reward for being discreet.
Make several of the guests evil (the Markiza and the porter perhaps). If they seem dangerously close to discovering him I would hit them with the spider immediately.
If they confront him before any murders occur have him use his dimensional step to flee to the woods and ride for the stairs of the moon.
Preventing the murders is a reward for being discreet.
I did some thinking about it, especially the "discreet" part. Since Estovion is a noble, and in a powerful position, I will encourage the PC's to gather the other nobles in support of confronting him with the evidence. They can't just go up and accuse, as they are merely peasant adventurer types. They need backup. Doing so will naturally bump into the book's paranoia scores, and up it to the necessary amount to trigger the Events. Or at least, I hope so!
What do you guys think of my plan? Should I try something else?
If you want to run the events because you think your players will enjoy them, just trigger them. Maybe the Belik was spying on them and alerted Estovion. Even better would be to trigger the spider while the PCs are talking to the nobles or to Duristan. I'm not sure that Estovion is a noble, but he is respected for running the inn by his customers.
Note, the events aren't needed if the PCs have figured out that the WW met with Mathus and the next destination is the Stairs of the Moon.
In the "Concluding Part 2" section it mentions to just award the PCs xp as if they fought possessed Corvin and Estovion, if they manage to find the information without triggering Estovion's paranoia.
Estovion is a noble; he's got 3 levels of Aristocrat. He's also, in my estimation, a dick. I got no problem with the PC's taking him down, and the party Wizard will appreciate Estovion's spellbook.
Yeah, but if I just give them the xp, they won't get the treasure Estovion has on his person...
Good idea about just plain triggering the events anyway if necessary. Normally I prefer to just stick with the module as it was written, but sometimes I've deemed it necessary to jiggle things around; I just don't like doing it.
It is also very likely that someone of Estovion's nature and position would have a way to hide his aura from detection. Can't have a pesky paladin swinging through detecting evil on everyone as they do. Then if your players do use detect evil and find Estovion clean, they will have some confusion to handle for a bit, while paranoia builds.
It is also very likely that someone of Estovion's nature and position would have a way to hide his aura from detection.
Have him know and cast misdirection on his weapon or his shoe or something each morning.
I have a question about the Vilcaris:
How do you exorcise this spirit out of a possessed creature? I think I read somewhere in Broken Moon that he leaves the possessed body if he ist damaged with silver, but I can't find the part anymore. Was I wrong?
How can you save Corvin or a PC who is possessed?
How do you exorcise this spirit out of a possessed creature? ...How can you save Corvin or a PC who is possessed?
From the Vilkacis bestiary entry:
Vulnerability to Silver (Su)
Vilkacis are particularly susceptible to silver. A vilkacis struck with a silver weapon takes an additional 2d6 points of damage. If a creature under the effects of a vilkacis’s bestial possession is damaged by a silver weapon, it also takes this extra damage and receives another saving throw to resist the bestial possession. If successful, the possession ends, and the vilkacis is driven into an adjacent square and cannot use its bestial possession ability again until the following day.
Also, Protection from Evil (or from Chaos) might work temporarily:
[the target of Protection from Evil] immediately receives another saving throw ... against any spells or effects that possess ... the creature ... This saving throw is made with a +2 morale bonus, using the same DC as the original effect. If successful, such effects are suppressed for the duration of this spell. The effects resume when the duration of this spell expires. While under the effects of this spell, the target is immune to any new attempts to possess or exercise mental control over the target. This spell does not expel a controlling life force (such as a ghost or spellcaster using magic jar), but it does prevent them from controlling the target.
Command Undead could be used to order it out of a body, and Turn Undead might drive it out, though arguably it might flee with the body instead. And there are lots of less common solutions--a Dirge Bard could use Suggestion, for example.
For some reason I did not reread the vulnerability to silver and just assumed it was the usual +50% damage. Thanks.
I’m running this module right now. Everything was going pretty well, I think, until event 5, the giant spider attack. One of them decided she could be missed and instead went to their rooms in order to check their stuff (some were suspicious enough to see through the diversion). She also quickly went and recovered the ‘stairs of the moon’ references in Estavion’s personal library (but nothing else). Immediately after the attack they set upon the journey to the stairs. (As written a guilty party was found) Although they didn’t trust Estavion one bit, they never confronted him and Vilkacis was never invoked. So I think only Vilkacis will be at the stairs, not Estavion. They just hit lvl 8 before they left for the stairs and basically dimension doored to the top of the stairs and killed all the werewolves using high ground advantage, they didn’t search the rooms below. They have spent most of their resources and decided to stay the night on top of the stairs of the moon. One of the players will be skipping next session…
Do you think it a good idea to wake them up with the player that skipped the session being possessed (sorcerer)? They will not have had a nights rest so his spells will not have replenished (some will be left) and the other characters have high knowledge religion so it can be easily deduced that attacks with silver give him extra will saves vs the possession?
Do I have this right that the possessed character gets to use all its spells and abilities, + the extra abilities given by the possession?
That's a good way to do it, puts the ol' fear of camping into them!
The vilkacis could use any remaining spells or abilities of the sorcerer, but it probably would generally prefer to use its own stuff. So I'd say it would gladly throw fireballs and burning hands, but using more complex concepts like metamagic or complex/tricky spell combinations would probably be outside its tactical understanding.
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Estovion being identified as evil is not really a problem, I think. I'm not sure whether my party figured out he was evil, but I made it very clear to them that not every evil person they meet (especially in Ustalav!) may be just assumed to be a baby-eating monster. It's USTALAV, after all...
I threw some evil people at them every now and then just to keep them on their toes. Just people they meet. If you want to really throw them off make Silas evil as well - it doesn't take much alteration to change him from LN to LE.
Do you think it a good idea to wake them up with the player that skipped the session being possessed (sorcerer)?
I think that’s reasonable. To be clear, what wakes the party is the sorcerer transforming, right, not the sound of the sorceror coup de gras’ing other PCs? The fight will be tough enough with the PCs being down a member and not having regained spells.
Do I have this right that the possessed character gets to use all its spells and abilities, + the extra abilities given by the possession?
The vilkacis’s possession works like magic jar, which specifies:
You keep your Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma, level, class, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, alignment, and mental abilities. The body retains its Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, hit points, natural abilities, and automatic abilities. A body with extra limbs does not allow you to make more attacks (or more advantageous two-weapon attacks) than normal. You can't choose to activate the body's extraordinary or supernatural abilities. The creature's spells and spell-like abilities do not stay with the body.
So the vilkacis won’t be able to use most of the sorcerer’s powers. However, if the sorcerer’s in the habit of buffing before bedtime or guard duty, those buff spells will still be in effect.
The link to Windspirits guide leads to a thread about trial of the beast. Is there a GM reference PDF for Broken Moon available anywhere, because I'm dying to see it. Any help would be appriciated.Windspirit's Broken Moon GM reference PDF.
Hey all,
We just finished TotB and my PBEM is about to start this part of the AP.
I'm trying to get a hold of the document referenced above but the link doesn't seem to work.
I've Pmed the author and did not get a response.
Can any of you send me a link?
Thanks,
Fabian
The link to Windspirits guide leads to a thread about trial of the beast. Is there a GM reference PDF for Broken Moon available anywhere, because I'm dying to see it. Any help would be appriciated.Windspirit's Broken Moon GM reference PDF.Hey all,
We just finished TotB and my PBEM is about to start this part of the AP.
I'm trying to get a hold of the document referenced above but the link doesn't seem to work.
I've Pmed the author and did not get a response.
Can any of you send me a link?
Thanks,
Fabian
My group just started this book as well and I was looking for that last week. I found a post by Windspirit saying that it is no longer available because Paizo had concerns about the IP, so it was taken down.
Hey Everyone!
I have a player who was raised by werewolves. Thinking about tying him into the story a bit more and this is the obvious place for it. I was wondering what tribe you all think he should have been raised by. So i guess here come the spoilers!
or
the Rhakis of the Prince's wolves and convince him to let him become packlord...
obviously i want him to become the packlord.
thanks again for any tips on this!
Goose~
I have a player who was raised by werewolves. Thinking about tying him into the story a bit more and this is the obvious place for it. I was wondering what tribe you all think he should have been raised by.
Your best bet would probably be the Prince's Wolves, as the party is never expected to fight them (although they can if they choose). Unless the character is evil, in which case Mathus could work. He could also have been raised by Kvalva Sain and the Primals, learning of her death could help motivate him. With Sain or Mathus you may need to change how other members of the tribe react to the PC if they know him.
I'd be wary of making a player packlord during the campaign. There's still a lot to be done outside of the Shudderwood. A packlord that doesn't stay in the Shudderwood to reunite the tribes probably isn't going to stay packlord. He could always go back post-SoG, after the BBEG has been dealt with.
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I have been running CC as a GM now for a while; my husband and I play a couple of hours of it each evening after dinner when our kid's in bed ;)
I haven't really had any problems with this adventure, except for the Ascanor Lodge sequence. There are some interesting characters, some good exposition and fun encounters, but the information is all over the place and requires a LOT of work to keep track of. I ended up writing it out in a spreadsheet using a version of the Cornucopia scene in Sixfold Trial to keep track of what the NPCs knew, their impressions of other people, pertinent skill bonuses, Diplomacy and Sense Motive DCs, weaknesses and means of getting information from them... and most importantly, what their alibis are when the murder happens. Noting that I had to make up a chunk of this from scratch, so it's not canon material.
It would have been nice to actually have all that information written in ONE PLACE that could be easily referred to. That's currently my only beef with this book.
To sow uncertainty and some red herrings at Ascanor Lodge, I had Quiene Steymor, the stablemaster, be a werebear whose secret Delgros is helping hide by locking her in the Beast Pens on the nights of the full moon. I also played up Ostovach and his wolfhounds so that his control of the otherwise savage dogs seemed positively uncanny, Madam Ivanja was an ally of the Prince's Wolves and spying on the PCs, Estovion spent every night locked in his tower alone, and Corvin's absinthe-fueled amnesiac blackouts were common gossip. By the time the murder occurred, my player was starting to wonder how many of the people around him were secretly lycanthropes or cultists.
Paranoia for everyone. It was great.
I would proceed with the spider that evening followed immediately by the using the Vilkacis to attempt to kill the PCs that evening/night. Estovion would then flee to the Stairs. If asked for another meeting, the party would be told that he is unavailable. They can do research and eventually they will get curious and break into his office which will lead them to the stairs.
My players did something similar. They talked to Estovion right away, said all the wrong things, and spiked his paranoia from day 1. Luckily, unlike your players, they didn't do anything overt so I was able to just accelerate the normal events in the module.
You aren't that lucky, but at least they keep you on your toes. :)
Correct, Curse of Lycanthropy can't afflict outsiders by RAW.
I missed this as well when I ran Broken Moon.
When did people level up in actual play? The advancement track suggests they should hit level 8 "by the time they reach Felendru" but I think my players might hit it before reaching the Stairs of the Moon if I keep tracking XP at this rate.
Oh boy... Estovion is currently at paranoia 2. 1 from the party's initial wolf hunt, 1 from their visit to Niama. They have been playing it close to the chest and have avoided more suspicion. Nor have they found the Halo of Dreams note. But they did ride out to the Stairs of the Moon after asking Delgros and Duristan about them... And then fled on first contact with the Volensag, getting separated as they went. Swashbuckler died, and Duristan of course disappeared.
Need to decide how Estovion's paranoia will jump when they get back. Seems with 2 missing guests, Delgros would tell him about the Stairs inquiry. I'm thinking that a +3 increase to initiate the tarantula event seems appropriate.