Broken Moon (GM Reference)

[Green Eyed Liar]

On p. 16 the module states, "A 10-foot-high, vine-covered stone wall surrounds the entire property, enterable through a double-arched gatehouse." However, the map shows a wall of vertical logs. Furthermore, it looks as though the "gatehouse" is itself flanked on both sides by gates, rather than having the entrance run through it.

Is the map correct? Or the description? I only quibble because I am working on creating a map for online play.

[Green Eyed Liar]

Apologies for the doublepost, but does anyone know what type of forest the Shudderwood is intended to be?

[Diablo2970]

Question on the Harrowing...

I have never used these before, so was wondering how they actually work ?

At the moment, I am planning to record who draws what so that I can come back to it when those events happen ? is that right ?

Otherwise how do the players know when they will be used ? or do you just let them use them and only grant them the bonus for that encounter ?

Thanks

[archmagi1]

Pro-tip:

Give Mathus and the Silverhide Rangers some ranged weaponry. Otherwise a flying alchemist and or other ranged character can destroy them as written.

[DorianAdricus]

So, we are just getting started with the AP (2 sessions into Harrowstone) and would love some ideas or feedback on integrating a shifter PC into the greater arc of the narrative...

One of my PCs is playing a shifter (imported from Eberron) cleric of Desna. I worked with her a little bit early on to locate her home village as within the eaves of the Shudderwood, because the ties of being a shifter as well as a cleric of Desna were too tight to Broken Moon to ignore right off the bat.

Problem is, I'm having a little difficulty giving her a greater connection or foreknowledge of what it would actually be like growing up on the edge of the Shudderwood.

Right now, here's what we have so far:

She is from a small, isolated hamlet set within the eaves of the Shudderwood. Her mother, also a cleric of Desna, is the local matriarch and is a Dorzhanev by blood (but not a full-fledged werewolf). Her mother's sister is Cybrisa, druid of the Shudderwood. Her father is an afflicted lycanthrope who found sanctuary in the small village.

While her mother is deeply traditionalist and has a somewhat anti-Desnan tendency to want to tend the local congregation, preserve the secrecy and sanctuary of the hamlet, her aunt Cybrisa encouraged her to be proactive, get out and see the world and make an impact. She idolizes her aunt's carefree and unbound attitude (without really perceiving the darker, sinister impulses that Cybrisa barely keeps restrained).

I'd love to integrate some of the other personalities from the AP into her lore, but I'm having difficulty putting my finger on who they are or how she might know (or have heard) about them. It's a good opportunity that I don't want to miss to give more depth and meanign to Kvalca Sain, Malthus Mordrinacht, Adimarus Ionacu, and Rhakis Szadro, but I'm struggling to tie it all together...

[Sibelius Eos Owm]

This sounds like it's going to be one exciting homecoming.

I don't know if you already have plans, but for my own group I somewhat expanded the werewolf politics so that the PCs could meet with the Prince's Wolves ahead of time. Also they happened to seriously earn the respect of the Vollensag by actually healing them after the encounter on the hunt (how I played it, one was up and with no chance of winning--bared his throat and surrendered, stating that they underestimated the party and asking to be allowed to retreat with his packmate; the party healed her and let them go) so before they even went to the stairs they learned that a) the Vollensag are allied with the Jezeldans primarily for power against the Dorzh/Mord duo, b) the Prince's Wolves are most sympathetic to the Dorzh and Primals, but both those packs are allied with more dangerous wolves at the moment, so they are trying to stay neutral, and c) all packs are confused, angry, and scared, hence their current arrangement.

(Addendum, for my game I allowed the alignment tendencies of the werewolves more diversity--Jezeldans were CE befitting their goddess and affliction, Mordrinacht were NE, while Dorzhanevs were N befitting their druidic leader, and Primals CN and steeped in a tradition of warrior's honour.)

It sounds like you have an alternative 'in' to the werewolf politics by having the party somehow run into Cybrissa at some point. That would inevitably have ramifications for how the rest of the werewolf politics goes down so I'm not sure what would happen from there. At the least I think the PC should know the names of the different packs of the forest, since she grew up in the area, and maybe overheard Cybrissa and her mother discussing them at some point. It occurs to me when the Demon Wolves moved into the wood (I don't remember if it said exactly when but I thought of it as sometime in the last 10 years) it's possible there was some kind of drama with her father being afflicted--perhaps Jezeldans constantly harassing her dad in human form trying to convince him to join their pack (whether the character knew exactly what these recruitment attempts were about or not is your preference).

She and her mother both being Desnans, it's almost certain that she's heard of the lost temple in the middle of the Shudderwood--regardless whether she knows that werewolves currently use the Stairs of the Moon and it's not actually so lost. She may have even entertained fancies of setting out to find it as a young acolyte before the adventure started. That said, the Shudderwood is one of the single biggest forests in Avestan, and also among the most dangerous since the Worldwound covers half of it. Fey fight corrupted fey and all kinds of large beasts and monsters roam its depths, so she either has a mixture of fear and respect for the forest, or perhaps considers at least its edges comfortably home, despite the dangers. It's basically the big, dark, gothic forest of all folklore fairy tales, but it's also a fact of her life.

It's worth noting that while the werewolf tribes all centre their activities around the Shudderwood, they actually range all across Ustalav, usually in smaller packs. If your Shifter knows Cyrbrisa is a werewolf, perhaps she at least knows that the 'Broken Ones' are the physically weakest and most dispersed tribe, giving her a clue that their alliance is as likely to be defensively motivated. Whether she has met members of any other tribe is a bit more of a question how friendly we assume the tribes have been with each other and her mother's hamlet. Perhaps she's learned to recognise a few of the most common 'tells' that somebody is actually a werewolf in human form.

These have been a handful of rambling thoughts that may help brainstorm something for you.

If you're interested how I played some of these personalities:
-Kvalca was a beloved and terrifyingly strong leader. Not everyone liked her, but at least with her as packlord things were stable.
-When the PCs let the wolf from the Duristan hunt live, I made her into the leader of one faction of Primals who allied with the PCs to get revenge on Mathus
-To keep the other Primal fights I had another faction unhappy with non-wolves involved in their dispute to attack them on the way to the temple
-Adimarus is power hungry and fanatical. He cares nothing for any other tribe and his alliance is purely to keep the packs distracted while he claims the heart
-Mathus is more ambitious than he is smart. He started all this but it's falling apart around him and he's low-key in over his head trying to play speed chess by taking out the other pack leaders before Adimarus gets back
-Cybrisa was reserved and watchful in my game, maybe not yours, but her alliance with Mathus is born of a lie and she half-suspects it but doesn't know how much is true--she believes alliance with the Mordrinacht is the best way to protect her (weakest) tribe and cause as little conflict as possible. When my PCs arrived at the Stairs, one of them had been afflicted with the curse and transformed (I used the temple as an excuse for her to retain her mind at the time). She used her newfound status to challenge Mathus to a duel for right to the Highthrone, which Cyrbrisa upheld, wanting to see where this was going. Also a 15' tall Primal climbed over the wall behind her, but that's just theatrics.) -- You may consider whether being a shifter gives her honorary wolf status.
-Rhakis actually ended up having very little presence in my game since almost all deals with the Prince's Wolves went through an intermediary that I designed as a love interest for one of my PCs. The PCs allied with him but otherwise spent most of their time with her when she followed her girlfriend to Feldgrau.

[DorianAdricus]

Thanks Sibelius, this is great stuff.

Riffing on some of this:

* Kvalca Sain & the Vollensang - Long have the Primals ruled the Shudderwood, and they do so with the sensibility of their Khellid ancestors. All know that as long as they are accorded respect and tribute, all that you have will be safe. They enforce a peace, of a sort, by slapping down any rivals. They aren't interested in dominating the free people of the Shudderwood, just maintaining its independence from the Varisian Ustalavic interlopers and keeping it free from the aristocrats whims. Kvalca Sain herself has been a figure of dominance and severe justice for years, operating by a warrior's code of honor, though she has, of late, been showing her age about her muzzle.

* Malthus Mordrinacht & the Mordrinacht - Speaking of aristocrats, the Mordrinacht consider themselves the rightful rulers of the Shudderwood through their connection to old priest and the vilkacis. Since the fall of the counts of Lozeri, the Mordrinacht, under the leadership of the selfish and entitled Malthus, have been scheming to gain deeper control of not just the Shudderwood but all of the county. As such, he is not above playing "human" politics, a game that the more primal denizens of the Shudderwood have long resisted.

* Adimarus Ionacu & the Jezeldans - The newest and fastest growing "sect" of werewolves, they are a cult of personality led by the ambitious (and vicious) antipaladin Adimarus Ionacu. Once a paladin crusader in Mendev, he was driven mad by his experiences in the Worldwound and fell prey to the temptations of Jezelda. Given a new, virulent form of demonic lycanthropy, he has forged a small militant army of dangerous fanatics bent on overwhelming the Shudderwood and expanding the reach of the Worldwound into Ustalav through the forest. The virulence of the Jezeldan strain is such that they can even "infect" existing lycanthropes, essentially overwriting their current condition with the taint of Jezelda.

* Cybrisa Dorzhanev & the Dorzhanev - Along with the Primals and the Mordrinacht, the Dorzhanev strain of lycanthropy in the Shudderwood is one of the oldest, though it is believed in myth that their strain is the only one created not through a curse but through a blessing. When the Whispering Tyrant swept through Ustalave, it is said that his forces of death were checked at the border of the Shudderwood by a being known only as the Deathless Maid, a predator of firey hue who hunted and destroyed his "Deathless" minions until even they, the fearless dead, feared the depths of the primeval forest. It is also said that Prince Andriadus Virholt himself was infected by the Dorzhanev strain before their path diverged (as Varisians are wont to do). Currently under the leadership of Cybrisa Dorzhanev, the passionate Druid of the Shudderwood, she is desperate to both prop up the old order of Kvalca's rule while foreseeing the oncoming storm of Adimarus' tyranny. As such, she has sought out unlikely allies in the form of the charismatic Malthus Mordrinacht and, perhaps most dire, begun communing with an ancient eldritch power known as the Black Goat of the Woods. A personal falling out with her former lover, Rhakis Szadro, has made an alliance with the elusive Prince's Wolves tricky at best.

* Rhakis Szadro & the Prince's Wolves - The elusive Varisian pack of werewolves "led" by Rhakis Szadro traditionally focus on everything BUT the politics (such as they are) of the Shudderwood. Holding on to a proud and empty tradition of resistance against the Whispering Tyrant beneath the banner of Prince Andriadus Virholt, the "Prince's Wolves" are little more than Sczarni road gang with some elevated powers. Rhakis himself has made it a point to reject his "destiny" as revealed to him by his former paramour Cybrisa, deliberately setting out from the Shudderwood to avoid having to take any responsibility for the failing forest. His troop is currently engaged in a low level gang war with another Sczarni troop, the drug dealing Red Parade, led by a hag acolyte of the formerly Barstoi based Dublesse sisters, themselve students of the "dead" hag Oothi.

[Voadam]

Dorian, Also be sure to emphasize the recent transition of overthrowing the Count to become a Palatinate. If the PC picks up on this and is proud of it this plays into the Lodge guy being outwardly pro palatinate but secretly a former regime supporter.

[Railos]

Did anyone buff the cultists or patrols? Change the composition of the partrols? My players want a bigger challenge in the encounters.

[nosig]

Railos wrote:

Did anyone buff the cultists or patrols? Change the composition of the partrols? My players want a bigger challenge in the encounters.

sent you a PM.

[nosig]

I actually edited most of the encounters in Feldgrau - adding a lot of "personality" to the cultists and changing up the patrols a bunch.

a few examples -
I replaced the Menadoran Festrogs with Carrion Golems. Same CR (4) but I felt better in thyme. If I were wanting to beef them up a bit, I might swap them to Flesh Golem Hounds from Trial of the Beast... (CR 6) or maybe Flesh Golems or Bone Golems. I do like the Carrion Golem though.

I re-worked

F13-Town Square:

with a "Tea Party"... the two Curates are now a pair of Urgathoa Clerics with the same stats. I actually introduced the party to one of these guys way back in the set up for Book 1 - he's a gnome modeled after the Mad Hatter (complete with oversized top-hat)... they had breakfast with him long ago. The other curate is now a Halfling - kind of rabbit faced and having an oversided pocket watch. (Yeah - "the white rabbit")

I did swap some of their spells (gave them each a bountiful banquet spell for example). So they have a banquet table (created from some doors from the ruins near by), with a bunch of salvaged chairs from the buildings around. And they have created an Urgathoa Alter... and "an undead worshiper ... gains 5 temp HP" for praying at the alter. They have cloaked the undead with Semblance of Flesh so that they look like "serving staff at a Tavern" and are having a banquet most of the day... I ran this before and it is really a lot of fun to watch the players stumble into a tea party with the Mad Hatter ("Why is a Raven like a Writing Desk?"). When the fight finally starts, I have the skeletons under the table (concealed by a long tablecloth) acting as the table legs, and the ones acting as Serving Staff all attack - as well as the Mad Hatter and the March Hare (Rabbit) buffing and casting spells. First cast is a Blessing of Fervor (on the "table legs) so they can stand up as a swift action). Serving dishes go flying, food everywhere - and the plain skeletons are beefed having been created in the area of a Desecrate having an Alter (+2 HP per dice) as well as the Temp HP for the worshipper bonus.

a lot of the re-work I did was just to add personality to the NPCs... to make each encounter a little more "Custom" and a bit less cookie cutter.

[Schrödinger's Dragon]

There's something I realized earlier today. There's nothing in the book about what should happen to Ascanor Lodge after the players finish up with the book (and presumably finish off Estovion). It's not too surprising considering that most PCs will have no reason to take the trek back to the lodge when heading to Feldgrau is so much more urgent, but still! It doesn't look like anyone else has discussed the subject either, at least from what I can tell. With Estovion out of the picture (and not even confirmed dead, publicly speaking) what do you think would happen to the lodge? Would stewardship of it default to one of the other lodge workers? Maybe the Palatine council would step in, taking ownership of the property until such a time as a new caretaker could be hired? Or maybe the lodge would just fall gracelessly into disrepair with all the residents now at the mercies of the Shudderwood werewolves?

[Railos]

My players made an alliance with the Primals. Once the Primals return from Feldgrau (instead of the Prince's Wolves), Ascanor Lodge will be razed.

[nosig]

My PCs rather enjoyed the Lodge and looked at it as a great resource for the "political intrigue" game we have been playing as a sub-plot.

In the short term, care was turned over to the Huntmaster (who has no real interest in running the entire operation) assisted by the StableMaster. Operations inside the Lodge Building (housekeeping and such) was to be run by the Halfling who appears to have been running it up to now as Estovion's assistant anyway (sort of like the Butler always runs the Household in a Noble household).

In the long term, another Lodge Warden will need to be appointed by the Palatine Council, but any decision on their part will be heavily influenced by how well the current troubles are handled. For example, if the Markiza Welgory were to step forward and provide a guiding hand until the P.C. (Palatine Council) appointed someone, she could make a good case that that person should be herself. That does appear to be how Estovion got the job in the first place.

in my game:

My PCs had a desire to put Agent from their own organization in place. (which, humorously, is nested two layers deep. First, an organization intent to return leadership of the Palatine to Hereditary Rule ("the Noble Faction") and behind that, know only to one of the players, is the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye. Wheels-within-Wheels-with...).

To this end they actually worked at recruiting both Corvin Tergsvor, and The Margrave of Sturnidae (Cilas Graydon). Though I could have seen them working at recruiting the Markiza Welgory, with her business connections and her interest in the Lodge.

On a side note - the Werewolves didn't want to loose their "window on human politic" they had by having the "rich and powerful meeting hall" right next door. The PCs were working hard at getting the Packload raised (personal plot reasons) and actually got that done in Chastel on the way to Feldgrau days later (the wand of gentle repose from Trial of the Beast come in handy) seemed to set things back to the Staus Quo. The Primals got their leader back, the Princes Wolves have a set of eyes in the Lodge (Ivanja) and Broken Ones are trying not to attract to much attention and NO ONE wants to drag the army into the Shudderwood to put down a Werewolf uprising (shades of the Goblinblood Wars).

[nosig]

here's one example of a "Re-write" I did for one of the Feldgrau encounters that is also a rework for a Patrol...

Area F7 or a Patrol in town:

Area F7 is an old Butcher shop, and I changed up the mix of creature there...so the encounter now reads...

"Creatures: A Whispering Way curate, two skeletal champions, and a Mummy are currently scavenging the premises. The Mummy is dragging the naked corpse of a human woman across the floor, the remains of a Demon Wolf slain by the cult. "

(for the skeletal champions I MIGHT increase the number to give more targets, so there are as many baddies as there are PCs. 5 PCs? maybe add in another skeletal champion)

changes to S.C. - add in 6 HP, as they were created in a Desecrate spell area, with an Evil Alter (see Town Square). Give them 5 additional Temp HP (Worshiper at the Town Square) so they have HP = (2d8+1d10+3+6+5). In equipment give them 3 Chakrams each, and sharpen the Chakrams so they would get a missile weapon attack that does 1d8+4 (only 3 shots, but these guys are designed to fight in melee). They should also get a Whetstone.

Swap out the muscle in the group with a Mummy.

[Railos]

Nostig, swapping in the Mummy worked out really well for Area F7. My players had a lot more fun with the encounter then they had with the previous one. Thank you.

[nosig]

Railos wrote:

Nostig, swapping in the Mummy worked out really well for Area F7. My players had a lot more fun with the encounter then they had with the previous one. Thank you.

you're welcome!! glad it worked for you too.

I also tried swapping in Carrion Golems, and that also worked well.

[Archimedes The Great]

Has anybody explored expanding the roles of the guests of the lodge?

I'd like to create a little more interaction & intrigue for my players. They like to role-play and talk gossip with NPCs, but it seems like once they would even catch a whiff of Whispering Way or Estavion's nonsense, they'd pursue that immediately.

I'd like to create more social skill checks, and actual reasons to find out more about each of the guests and their interactions. Make it even more of a game of clue, and perhaps give them reasons to explore some of the many (too many) labeled rooms of Ascanor. Seriously why so many empty rooms with literally no impactful intel/loot/characters etc.

Anybody dive into something like this?

[Smoke & Mirrors]

oh, a couple things I stuck in to add some "character" to the NPCs - I expanded on some of these as the PCs expressed interest...

1) Corvin Tergsvor - One of my PCs was a Vigilante whose Social Side was the "Noble 2nd son", so exactly what Corvin is portrayed as. The PC took one look at Corvin, decided the boy needed a bit of guidance and set about condensing him to take up "studies" at the University in Lepidstald - agreed to write a letter to his father and to the University and get Corvin enrolled - with an eye to making a "midnight crime fighter" out of him.

2) Markiza Welgory - The actual power in her husbands business - great at marketing and logistics of commodities trading. While appearing to be here for "personal reasons" she is actually checking up her contacts and her information gathering network (at least two of the servants keep tabs on who is seeing who, and what is being bought/sold/traded between guests in the Lodge over the last few months. Watch her Industrial Espionage and the exchange of information in unseen paths...

Crud - real life is calling, I'll need to get back to this later and post more than...

[Smoke & Mirrors]

Cilas Graydon - my players have several sub-plots running thru the story, one is they are involved with the political faction to bring back Aristocratic Rule - and Cilas was waiting to meet "his friend" Echtmoor at the lodge. I simply added a sealed packet of documents in code that were on Echtmoors body, that were coded, and that were meant to be delivered to Cilas... who was due to be assassinated by Estovion (who in my game was working with the "Anti-Aristocratic" faction) - and let things build from there. The PCs had a Wand of Gentle Repose (from earlier) and used charges on it to enable Cilas to get Echtmoor to a temple in time to be Raised... and later in Ashes at Dawn I will be using Cilas as a connection with the Order of the Palantine Eye...

Madame Ivanja - yeah, this lady is a spy for SOMEBODY - I used her as the "inside eyes" for the Werewolf clans - and the Princes Wolves in particular... so she had lots of hidden currents and talents...

[Timeadol]

My players just fought against the giant tarantula in Ascanor Lodge while the halfling porter Belik rummaged through their possessions in their room. As one of the characters is a bladebound magus his sentient blade witnessed the intrusion and will inform its owner.

As written the adventure does not intend to expose Belik as the intruder so I will have to change the course of events slightly.
Belik will probably claim that he thought that the characters were working for the werewolves and that he wanted to make sure that the lodge was safe. However, the characters will not believe him and I think that in the end Estovion Lozarov will be interrogated.

Did something like this happen in your campaign? How did the players react and what did Belik and Estovion do? At what point did Estovion attack the characters and flee?

[Kemosabe]

Timeadol wrote:

My players just fought against the giant tarantula in Ascanor Lodge while the halfling porter Belik rummaged through their possessions in their room. As one of the characters is a bladebound magus his sentient blade witnessed the intrusion and will inform its owner.

As written the adventure does not intend to expose Belik as the intruder so I will have to change the course of events slightly.
Belik will probably claim that he thought that the characters were working for the werewolves and that he wanted to make sure that the lodge was safe. However, the characters will not believe him and I think that in the end Estovion Lozarov will be interrogated.

Did something like this happen in your campaign? How did the players react and what did Belik and Estovion do? At what point did Estovion attack the characters and flee?

I figure you might have gotten past this already, being two and a half months ago, but for future reference...

I had a similar thing happen when they talked their way into the shack where Paucy was being held and interrogated him (one of my party is a min/maxxed mesmerist, so I can't really deny them when they roll diplomacy/intimidate in the 30's). I had Belik report back that the PCs had gotten to Paucy, so by the time they learned about Estovion's plan, he was already in his office summoning the vilkacis. When the PCs returned to the lodge to confront him, Corvin was waiting to attack.

It cuts out the Cilas murder mystery part and accelerates their stay at the lodge, but I think the best way to handle it is have a guard or something report that Belik is being questioned, so Estovion can try and nip the problem in the bud without getting cornered by the PCs. It also punches up the vilkacis fight if the PCs have Corvin on one side and the guards in the library on the other.

[Kemosabe]

To add to the werewolf talk, I had a very interesting idea come about when one of my party selected an intelligent item cohort for his leadership feat at the start of the AP. I put a telepathic crossbow among the treasure in the bottom of the Weaver's Tower that called out to him. As he was getting to know the crossbow, it introduced itself as Moonbeam and revealed that it was the weapon of choice for an ancient prince who opposed the undead. Once they learned about the Prince's Wolves, it didn't take much for them to piece it together that he held their ancestral weapon. This provided some additional motivation for the Prince's Wolves to ally with the party beyond the Way. It could be a good surrogate magical item if the PCs miss some of the loot in Schloss Caromarc.

I also altered their meeting with the Prince's Wolves. Rather than have Duristan's party perish in the middle of the woods, I had them follow the PCs to the tower and hold the perimeter on the lower veranda while they climbed the tower for the Mathus fight. When they finish the fight, they return to find the veranda slick with blood and the scattered remains of Duristan's party, with Rhakis and his cadre standing in the middle. It ratchets up the tension when they start making their way down the stairs and see several strangers milling about where Duristan used to be.

Fast forward to Feldgrau where my party ended their last session when they entered the smithy and immediately detected an evil aura behind one of the doors... Gonna be a fun sesh

[Nathan Monson]

am i missing something, or do f6, f7, f10, f12, f13, and f14 just not have maps?

[Sunderstone]

Nathan Monson wrote:

am i missing something, or do f6, f7, f10, f12, f13, and f14 just not have maps?

Are you talking about the Feldgrau map on p47?

Late edit* The important ones are on p50, the others are fairly standard encounters with cultists and undead (use any standard floorplan?).

[Faunus]

Finishing book3 up next couple sessions.

Deviations:
I varied the werewolf clans a lot.
Broken-Ones became storm druids, archers, territorial but not expansionist.
Silverhides ambitious as they are in the book, slayers and cold-focused sorcerers.
Prince's Wolves: Monk/ninjas and snipers (Numeria is close, after all).
Blackwood: Added for a player character who was secretly a werewolf for over a year of play without ever revealing this until Shudderwood. I placed them close to Chastel and made them a more civilized clan that protected their town + escorted rich hunters to Ascanor.
Demon Wolves: mysteriously gone (chasing the WW cult across ardeal)
Vollensag: I made them gigantic dire wolves who never shift out of this form and live their lives completely wild like the massive predators they are.

Outcomes:
Party sussed out Estovion, read his diary, interrogated him, and cut a deal for him to call away the Vilkacis at an appointed time so they could go into the stair and retrieve the cultists body Estovion had warned them was left behind (he learn this through the Vilk).
Party befriended the broken ones, Silverhides killed and absorbed the prince's wolves, and the party negotiated passage to the stair with the remaining Vollensag.
Estovion betrays them and attempts to kill them with the Vilk, which fails. They visit the lower chambers of the stair (re-mapped it entirely to make it bigger). There they found an ancient spirit of Desna that was visiting the temple and caused the WW Cultist to die without destroying her tongue/head, so the party could speak with dead.
60sec loredump video on the desna spirit speaking to the WW cultist.
https://youtube.com/shorts/jyZQGbzasQk?si=x1db2-CmuKNgA4zY

Silverhides w/ Prince's Wolves try one last assault against Tibor, remaining strongest Vollensag in the hopes of killing him earning the respect of the clans and making Mathus packlord. Party joins this fight, and broken ones join them as the werewolf PC is asked by a dying Tibor to eat his heart to prevent it falling to the Silverhides. She does so.

Montage of the art style I used for this area, happy to share any of it. Maps too.
https://youtube.com/shorts/S4bOQUqJx4c?si=_dxsEudAAcsRJOs-

This book/area was VERY cool but needed a lot of work + upgrades + changes. I deleted most NPCs at Ascanor and made Duristan into Matt Berry (the actor) and he was A LOT. My says they liked the dark tone and didn't want to get bogged down at Ascanor with a bunch of nobles while the WW Cult attempts to enslave the world. Ascanor felt a bit silly to them.

Image gallery: https://imgur.com/a/5vtre0Y

[AvarielGray]

Faunus wrote:

Prince's Wolves: Monk/ninjas and snipers (Numeria is close, after all).

I'm sorry, Numerian sniper werewolves?! Incredible, love this. I'm also so here for this montage you've done too! If you end up doing this for the next book too I can't wait for it <3

Also Matt Berry as Duristan? "You really are the most devious b*****d in... Ascanor Lodge!"

[Faunus]

AvarielGray wrote:

If you end up doing this for the next book too I can't wait for it <3

I FORGOT To mention that if you use inkarnate, I've published my shudderwood, ascanor, and chastel maps for free there. Hope they help someone!

AvarielGray wrote:

Also Matt Berry as Duristan? "You really are the most devious b*****d in... Ascanor Lodge!"

He was so fun. They loved to hate him. I made him absolutely insufferable, but he was useful.

Other montages related to CC:
When the players find the dead cultist under the stair being watched over by an ancient servant of desna (a giant purple moth named Noxara):
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/jyZQGbzasQk

I left remnants of the shining crusade all over shudderwood. In this case it is an undead-storm-giant the players wisely avoided, but they researched the story of it so I made this as a loredump of what they discovered: he was a bff of Arazni.
https://youtube.com/shorts/D85I58wufSc?si=YsARC3JSgNyV6O4w