Rakshaka, I used six of your vampire archers along with Radvir in an ambush scenario today--they are TOUGH. Their shots dropped the bard in the first round and took out the paladin by the end of the fight, too, plus they wore down the barbarian to low double digits before they could defeat the vamps. They'd not have survived had the oracle not had a wind wall at the ready. Nice build!
My group got the idea to set bait in the park, so the sorceress was magically disguised by Evgenya as described in the AP. But her Bluff and Knowledge (local) are pretty low, and hence she blew her cover when they stopped by Radvir's shop before setting the ambush. So he set up the archers in the trees around the standing stones and donned his homeless-guy disguise, and they walked right into it.
(Oh, and the werewolf rogue in the group is HATING on Desmond Kote... I may have to have him turn heel just to watch them fight!)
Glad they were useful for you! I'm glad I didn't give them Bane arrows, that probably would have been overkill. That's getting me excited for my own PC's raid on the shop, especially with that giant balcony giving a perfect vantage point for all sorts of ranged attacks..
One thing I did in the basement fight was to flood the room with rat swarms, literally every square. It is a low level power, but it annoyed the wizard (or other casters) and caused some difficulty for the players. Fun use of seemingly useless vampire abilities! Also, a pack of wolves randomly appeared in the middle of the combat, much to the consternation of the wizard who was nearest the stairs.
| 6 people marked this as a favorite. |
Sucking blood is the defining characteristic of vampires, but it's a poor combat option for the existing vampires in Ashes at Dawn.
Here's another vampire variant, a CR 7 brawler that can be swapped in for a CR 7 sword-and-board guard or sewer aristocrat for a more diverse encounter, or tossed in on top of any existing encounter to make it harder. It's built to suck blood. Place it in stealth, spider climbing above a doorway for extra tactical advantage and flavor.
Human vampire brawler (strangler) 6
CE Medium undead (augmented humanoid)
Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +20
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 14, flat-footed 20 (+4 armor, +3 dex, +1 dodge, +6 natural)
hp 75 (6d10+42); fast healing 5
Fort +10, Ref +12, Will +6
Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, DR 10/magic and silver; Immune undead traits, Resist cold 10, electricity 10
Weaknesses vampire weaknesses
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft., climb 20 ft
Melee masterwork silver dagger +12/7 (1d6+4/19–20) plus slam +6 (1d6+2 plus energy drain) OR grapple (CMB +15) OR slam +11 (1d6+7 plus energy drain)
Ranged masterwork silver dagger +11 (1d4+4/19–20)
Special Attacks blood drain, children of the night, create spawn, dominate (DC 18), energy drain (2 levels, DC 18), swift martial flexibility 6/day, sleeper hold 1/day (DC 18), brawler’s strike (unarmed strikes count as magic), strangle 2d6,
TACTICS
During combat: A bloodsucking fiend attempts to close on, grapple and pin an opponent as quickly as possible, using stealth and spider climb to particular advantage. It then sucks blood from its pinned victim until the pin is broken or one of them is dead. If its victim seems to be a spellcaster, the vampire applies a chokehold. The vampire uses martial flexibility as swift actions to choose combat feats appropriate to its circumstances, most likely Solo Maneuvers and Greater Grapple.
On each successful pin check, a bloodsucking fiend does 1d4 con damage and gains 5 temporary hit points from draining blood, and does 2d6 sneak attack strangling damage. Read the Body Shield and Chokehold feats, and the Brawler (strangler) abilities to get a complete picture of a bloodsucking fiend’s combat options.
Morale: Confident it can reach its coffin safely if combat turns against it, a bloodsucking fiend only retreats if reduced to 25 hp or less and faced with sunlight or the Raven’s Head.
STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 18, Con —, Int 12, Wis 14, Cha 20
Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 23 (26 vs. grapple)
Feats Alertness, Body Shield, Chokehold, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Grapple, Improved Unarmed Strike, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Toughness, Weapon Focus (Grapple)
Skills Acrobatics +10, Bluff +16, Climb +14, Diplomacy +8, Intimidate +14, Knowledge (local) +7, Perception +21, Stealth +21, Sense Motive +21
Languages Common, Varisian
SQ change shape (dire bat or wolf, beast shape II), gaseous form, shadowless, spider climb
Gear mithril chain shirt worn under clothes, masterwork silver dagger, courtier’s outfit, jewelry worth 100 gp
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Blood Drain (Su)
A vampire can suck blood from a grappled opponent; if the vampire establishes or maintains a pin, it drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Constitution damage. The vampire heals 5 hit points or gains 5 temporary hit points for 1 hour (up to a maximum number of temporary hit points equal to its full normal hit points) each round it drains blood.
Change Shape (Su)
A vampire can use change shape to assume the form of a dire bat or wolf, as beast shape II.
Children of the Night (Su)
Once per day, a vampire can call forth 1d6+1 rat swarms, 1d4+1 bat swarms, or 2d6 wolves as a standard action. (If the base creature is not terrestrial, this power might summon other creatures of similar power.) These creatures arrive in 2d6 rounds and serve the vampire for up to 1 hour.
Create Spawn (Su)
A vampire can create spawn out of those it slays with blood drain or energy drain, provided that the slain creature is of the same creature type as the vampire's base creature type. The victim rises from death as a vampire in 1d4 days. This vampire is under the command of the vampire that created it, and remains enslaved until its master's destruction. A vampire may have enslaved spawn totaling no more than twice its own Hit Dice; any spawn it creates that would exceed this limit become free-willed undead. A vampire may free an enslaved spawn in order to enslave a new spawn, but once freed, a vampire or vampire spawn cannot be enslaved again.
Dominate (Su)
A vampire can crush a humanoid opponent's will as a standard action. Anyone the vampire targets must succeed on a Will save or fall instantly under the vampire's influence, as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 12th). The ability has a range of 30 feet. At the GM's discretion, some vampires might be able to affect different creature types with this power.
Energy Drain (Su)
A creature hit by a vampire's slam (or other natural weapon) gains two negative levels. This ability only triggers once per round, regardless of the number of attacks a vampire makes.
Gaseous Form (Su)
As a standard action, a vampire can assume gaseous form at will (caster level 5th), but it can remain gaseous indefinitely and has a fly speed of 20 feet with perfect maneuverability.
Shadowless (Ex)
A vampire casts no shadows and shows no reflection in a mirror.
Spider Climb (Ex)
A vampire can climb sheer surfaces as though under the effects of a spider climb spell.
Sucking blood is the defining characteristic of vampires, but it's a poor combat option for the existing vampires in Ashes at Dawn.
Here's another vampire variant, a CR 7 brawler that can be swapped in for a CR 7 sword-and-board guard or sewer aristocrat for a more diverse encounter, or tossed in on top of any existing encounter to make it harder. It's built to suck blood. Place it in stealth, spider climbing above a doorway for extra tactical advantage and flavor.
** spoiler omitted **...
That is quite nice indeed! I will have to look more closely at this build later and see if I can tweak it any to make it even worse for my players... I came so close to draining a paladin last session, so I'd definitely like a second shot at juiceboxing a PC!
One thing worth noting: I'd add in a note next to the CMB that it gets a +15 to grapple checks since that's the defining feature of the build.
I'd add in a note next to the CMB that it gets a +15 to grapple checks since that's the defining feature of the build.
It’s also worth pointing out that its grapple CMB is +17 if a bloodsucking fiend chooses Greater Grapple with martial flexibility, and that with that feat, once it has established a grapple it can make two grapple checks on its turn, potentially draining blood and doing damage twice.
Also, its grapple CMB is +18 with Solo Maneuvers. Two bloodsucking fiends might both take Outflank instead, getting +4 to their grapple checks if they flank an opponent.
My feeling is that any party that’s made it through Wake of the Watcher should have learned to prepare LOTS of anti-grapple solutions--about 80% of the foes in that adventure have Grab. (The Mi-Go, good lord!) If they’re still not packing Liberating Command and maybe Freedom of Movement as a still spell, they deserve whatever a bloodsucking fiend does to them.
Also, its grapple CMB is +18 with Solo Maneuvers. Two bloodsucking fiends might both take Outflank instead, getting +4 to their grapple checks if they flank an opponent.
=O
I heart you so much.
Dude, way to make a vampire that actually behaves and fights like a vampire out of mythology! I'm totally stealing these guys for the basement portion. My biggest problem with vampires is that I have never (over the course of at least 6 modules) successfully drank someone's blood in combat (at least not in 3.5); the mechanics have always made it too difficult. This solves that. You're awesome!
Dude, way to make a vampire that actually behaves and fights like a vampire out of mythology!
Thanks! The new brawler hybrid class gets the real credit. I like martial flexibility a lot; it opens up lots of options. For example, a bloodsucking fiend could transform into a wolf, take Vicious Stomp and Power Attack, and be an entirely different kind of nasty. Or it could shift into dire bat form and take Combat Expertise and Improved Steal for a completely different threat.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thanks for these vampire brawlers, Keep Calm. I will definitely be using them.
Question: Is there any reason hints about the bloodbrew elixir can't be dropped BEFORE the party reaches Siervage? It seems logical the party might see some signs as they head into the underground, and I might rather have the fight with the drug dealers before Siervage. But will that mess anything up in the discussions with Siervage?
Also, an important issue came up in our game last night. The Bestiary says that vampires must return to "their home coffin" within 2 hours or be destroyed. But Merrick the druid has 2 "guest" coffins, explicitly to give shelter to vampires who are having trouble returning to their own coffins in time. I don't think that is right under the RAW. It is important, because I had to decide whether Merrick needed to go back to HER coffin (or, rather, patch of dirt) after the party reduced her to zero HP. I decided she did, but the apparent error in the module threw me off.
I used Keep Calm's brawler vampires in my game last night and they were fantastic. They laid an ambush and the PCs would have been in real trouble if the wizard hadn't vaporized two of the four with the undeath to death spell. One of the funniest moments was when the barbarian charged in to save the grappled cleric and the vampire used her as a body shield and the cleric took the hit. Thanks for sharing!
On another note, I've exposed the party earlier to the bloodbrew elixir -- they found broken glass with residue in the spawn chamber below the Glass House, and on their way into the underground they passed a group of starving, addicted vampire spawn and saw empty vials. I haven't quite worked out why the spawn would let themselves starve instead of going above ground to feed; I've had Siervage put a temporary ban on above-ground feeding, but I'm not sure it makes sense the addicted spawn would follow that ban. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I couldn't resist the scene for my players of walking past a group of weak, starving vamps.
I think bringing out the existence of the drug earlier will make the investigation in the underground more interesting and make the whole story more cohesive, but I'll see how it plays out. I do find it hard to explain why Siervage hasn't yet discovered the existence of the elixir -- any suggestions there would be appreciated.
I also had the PCs pass a chamber with a cage of ill-fed undead worgs the vampires used as guards. I wanted to find a way to bring out that the vampires were really suffering and under pressure and in a bit of state of siege...
(Finally, on my previous comment about the "guest" coffins. Under the RAW I guess it is possible for vampires to rest in guest coffins as long as they haven't gone to zero HP, but if they hit zero HP then only their home coffin will do.)
Perhaps too much bloodbrew makes them incapable of hunting or thinking much beyond their next score... much like many real world hard drugs. At a certain point, their addiction overcomes their self preservation instinct.
Two options for Siervage. Either he has been told but has discounted it and won't listen to the adviser who has found the vials, considering such a drug to affect vampires like this to be impossible. Or the particular vampire in charge of the investigation is addicted to the substance and is lying to Siervage in order to get more elixir. So Siervage is being fed false information by a trusted adviser and does not know it.
Given his power and age, I'd suggest the conspiracy angle. He's not likely to ignore possible explanations, but he's obviously been fooled by other people under him.
I like your suggestion that hardcore addicts essentially become incapacitated by their addictions. Something that developed that the WW didn't foresee that effectively undermines their plans -- the elixir can undermine Siervage's control only so much.
I don't know about the conspiracy angle for why Siervage hasn't discovered the elixir. The inquisitor vampire would be the obvious one, since he is leading the investigation, but he doesn't seem one to conspire against Siervage, and it seems like fooling Siervage would be enormously difficult.
So far I'm inclined to rely on vampire arrogance -- sure, they have noticed that some spawn are acting strangely, but most of those are the spawn of murdered vampires, and it would just be inconceivable to them that a drug could release them from the control of their master. Also, since they are under siege they are not off exploring the other passages underground where the dealers and users hang out. Does that seem plausible?
Makes perfect sense. Perhaps the inquisitor knows something is very wrong, but he has to tone down his persistence on the issue because Siervage has become angry with the constant focus on these useless spawn and their elixir, rather on the true problem of someone killing vampires. It creates a level of dissension in the ranks. While the inquisitor would never betray Siervage, he could provide a bit of a nudge for the party to look into the elixir.
One scene that pops up is when the PCs are meeting with Siervage and he's describing what is up, the inquisitor speaks up and mentions the elixir (or attempts to answer a PC's question) and is shut down by Siervage with a glare/snarl/comment that he is sick of hearing about that dead end elixir. Everyone in the rooms gets reeeeeaaaall quiet and the tension level jumps. The inquisitor looks like he might even be considering the possibility of pushing the issue, before looking away and walking out of the room in a huff.
Heck, it may be that the addicts and dealers aren't being managed because Siervage has basically overruled and demanded the guards/inquisitors focus on finding the killer and not dealing with the idiot spawns. So in a normal situation, they'd have been squashed, but now they are being ignored. This gives the dealers a level of smug superiority, misinterpreting the reaction by the guards and making them bolder.
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Might as well dot the whole thread, so full of awesomeness is it; great player input, good DM creations and outstanding writer feedback have turned this from the module I was most dreaded running in the AP into one of my favorites. Not to do a 'let's pat each other on the back', but I love the amount of ideas that have sprang up here.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Hey all. I agree this forum has been amazing resource and I’m shameless about seeking help and lifting ideas!
I wanted to share something cool from my session on Monday that came out of a suggestion in this thread to add a Vetala shopkeeper to the Vampire Underground. I did so, and had the Vetala jeweler call out to the PCs as they passed her shop. I added her in game terms as a device to give the PCs information about the site where the bloodbrew dealers are -- I didn’t think it made sense to have that chamber so close to the rest of the Underground. I also thought the Underground seemed small. So I described the Underground as a much larger complex of rooms and passages with other residences, shops, etc. And I located the chamber where the dealers are some distance away -- not adjacent to the Underground at all. But I needed to give the PCs a reason to go there.
The Vetala offered to provide the players the information if the party’s highly charismatic barbarian agreed to accept a draining “kiss.” Of course, as the Vetala pointed out, he could easily be restored from the draining effect of her kiss. The fearless barbarian also has a real affinity for the dark and weird, so it turned out he and the Vetala went into a private area and he very willingly allowed her to drain 13 points of charisma (which were easily restored via a wand of lesser restoration).
It was a very fun and unusual roleplaying situation, and now I get to decide what the Vetala did with the equivalent of 6 applications of the Modify Memory spell, as that is another effect of her embrace (which she failed to mention). She can eliminate memories, restore lost or fuzzy memories (the barbarian has a big one there), change memories, or implant memories. SIX times!
Now I have to decide what to do with this opportunity. I want to reward the barbarian for his boldness by having a very important memory restored. Then the question is, how much does the Vetala want to mess with him (or help him) and in what ways. Any suggestions? A few considerations: First, I’m not a sadistic gamemaster -- I ascribe more to the PC-realization school of gamemastering. Second, I’m not sure I want to make the Vetala purely evil. I know they are Evil under RAW and “said to be spirits of children -born evil,- who never received burial rites upon their deaths.” But a different origin may be possible and I like the idea of playing intelligent monsters with naturally evil tendencies who choose not to be exactly really evil. I guess that also raises the question of what it means to be “evil” in Pathfinder. It is interesting to note that the Vetala don’t need to kill or even permanently harm their victims and their hunger reflects a level of engagement with mortal minds that also might make them interested in developing relationships with mortals. Third, I may want to make her an ongoing NPC and potential party ally, which cautions against her messing up the barbarian’s mind in obvious ways. If she wants to "feed" on him again she can’t make him regret having let her do it this first time.
Any thoughts?
Gimme 24 hours for a response. I feel partially responsible for your dilemma since I statted out the memory thief in question.
If the vetala has taken a liking to the barbarian, perhaps she could gift him with memories that she stole from others long ago that she thinks might aid him in his fight against the Whispering Way. Presumably she's like the rest of Luvick's court, opposed to the WW on principle.
Use that as a way to foreshadow events to come later in the adventure. The memories might be from a shining crusader about to deploy into Tyrant-held Virlych; a refugee of the Tyrant’s conquest; a perverted necromancer of the Whispering Way who assisted Lucimar or another big name; a modern-day patroller of the Virlych border; a hag Oothi killed who is now a witchfire...it’s a way to introduce absolutely any point of view you like, both to ramp up the anticipatory fear, to flesh out background details, and to give a hint or two to the solution of tough haunts or other puzzles.
I look forward to your thoughts, Rakshaka!
Keep Calm, that's a fantastic idea. She certainly has taken a liking to the dashing barbarian who voluntarily permitted her to drain 13 CHAR. (He has a very high CHAR because he took a dip into Oracle and is using an Oracle mystery to base his AC bonus off CHAR.) I've got 5 uses of Modify Memory left to play with, and inserting useful memories seems like a good use for 2-3 of them. I'd definitely like one to relate to Oothi. The barbarian's suppressed memory relates to an encounter with a witch who the Tyrant transformed into bestial form and who later achieved immortality and partial sanity (but that's a long story). (The bestial witch is responsible for the barbarian being haunted by the spirit of a fortune-teller slain by the WW -- his Oracle curse.) My bestial witch would probably have had run-ins with Oothi, so it may be an opportunity to tie the stories together and also provide more information about Oothi -- since it seems possible to fail to learn much about Oothi in going through the monastery.
Any particular thoughts about useful memories relating to Renchurch, Gallowspire, or the End Game of the AP? I haven't read the last module yet, so I'm not sure what would be helpful. (I know I need to read it, but I'm just barely keeping up with things!)
Thanks all!
He wouldn't necessarily know about the memories yet, so you don't have to specifically define the memory yet. It could be that a memory is triggered when he finally sees Renchurch in its horrible glory, or hears the name Oothi, and so on.
I think having at least one of the alters used for mischief would be good. The barbarian swears he remembers that such-and-such plant is perfectly safe to eat, but instead gives him a horrible looking rash. Or he is convinced the last time he ate chicken, it tasted nasty and how can anyone be eating chicken? Something fun.
A few of the undead the party will fight in Virlych are worth forshadowing. The Gray Friar, Nalthazzar, Lucimar the Lich-Wolf and General Sey’lok were all lieutenants of Tar-Baphon in the fullness of his reign and should be boogeymen all over Ustalav. Marrowgarth was the Whispering Tyrant’s mount! Any memories that drive home their terrifying power and their place in history would be appropriate. Memories of them creating, assembling or leading armies, or crushing them in Marrowgarth’s case, might do the trick.
Also worth telling through memory is the story of the fall of Renchurch, establishing the identity of Saint Vesbias. The timeline described in Shadows of Gallowspire doesn’t seem to work; Renchurch abbey would have fallen to the Tyrant long before the Shining Crusade launched, meaning St. V would have been a Pharasman icon. Said memory might carry a clue to laying the saint’s haunt to rest.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
I really like the idea of his memories of events in the far past coming to the forefront under the Vetala's influence. Keep Calm and Carrion has really good suggestion for possible things to foreshadow. So, as far as good memories to implant, we have:
1)WT's Generals, all of whom deserve foreshadowing (I did something similar to this, using paintings found in a lair of Urgathoan, Whispering Way-allied vampires)
2)The history of Renchurch and its subsequent fall. (St. Vesbius)
3)The final moments of Oothi, her demise and survival at the hands of heroes. Perhaps he remembers himself as one of those.
4) The construction of the Witchgates, or perhaps the last memories of an unfortunate teleporter who ran afoul one of the guardians at that place. That might be a cool way to foreshadow the Banshee.
I like the 'memory-trigger' mechanic suggested as well, having things foreshadowed or half-remembered based on certain triggers. That way, it could almost be like an ancestor or even the PC themselves gaining foresight of what's to come. This should help create a decent impact with all of the things that happen and are fought in the last module.
As far as not-so-good memories, the Vetala would probably use these to facilitate the Barbarian as a proxy against any foes the Vetala might have. While this might be too evil, the target that immediately comes to my mind would be the Inquisitor for the church of Pharasma (name escapes me at the moment.) Clearly a hardliner against undead, the barbarian could be 'tricked' into seeing her as an enemy.
Another idea would the to habe the Vetala obsessed with gaining the memories of someone important, like Prince Galdana, Countess Caliphvaso, or Prince Orduard. With the countess, you already have involvement in the overall plotline (she owns the Abbey where the witches are), even if a bit of a red herring. In this way, the Vetala could offer a deal: get her the countess so she can figure out where the witches are. You'd have to omit the information at Radvir's that links the two while still steering them towards the abbey. This could work though...
On my painting: My notes aren't at work, so when I get home, I'll post up some of "Historical works of art' found in the vampire lairs that is helping me foreshadow the baddies in the next module.
Thanks, everyone! This is great food for thought! It is a good point that the memories may not emerge until triggered, so that gives me some time to work out the details, and may add an interesting bit of confusion when he remembers something down the road. The PC specifically mentioned that he wanted to discuss with the Vetala the encounter with the bestial-witch, so that would provide him the trigger to realize that he remembers more about that.
It would be great to see your list of paintings Rakshaka. My PCs will wrap up the Vampire Underground next Monday!
| 7 people marked this as a favorite. |
Alright, here's some paintings that I've thrown in some of the vampires' loot piles to help foreshadow certain historical allies of the Whispering Tyrant, some of which are in the next module:
-Knowledge History (DC 25) or Knowledge Relgion (DC 32) identifies the triumphant vampire as a depiction of the vampire general Malyas, a staunch ally of the Whispering Tyrant. Worth 1,500 gp
-Knowledge: History (DC 20) or Knowledge: Religion (DC 25) identifies the two forms above the battle as Arazni and her slayer, Tar Baphon. Her sword is falling towards a depiction of Iomedae. Worth 2,000 gp
A Series of 3 paitnings done by one artist depicting Tar Baphon and dragons. The frames are all made of dragon's bones stitched together with silver thread.
-Painting 1: "This painting depicts a crowned, skeletal figure subjugating a trio of immense black dragons. Despite their massive sizes, the three bow in deference to the figure, whose crown seems to intentionally resemble one of the dragon's heads."
-Knowledge: History (DC 30) or Knowledge: Arcana (DC 35) reveals that the subject matter is a depiction of Tar Baphon on the Island of Terror, a place where he among other things subjugated a trio of black dragons, eventually binding one of them into what would be his crown.
-Painting 2: "This painting is a stylistic, ethereal depiction of the same skeletal figure swirling amidst a flowing vortex of shadows. A great portion of the swirling shadow resembles a great draconic form with red-eyes, a creature which by the depiction seems to have the skeletal figure at an impasse.
-Knowledge: History (DC 25) or Knowledge: Arcana (DC 33) identifies the swirling draconic creature as a depiction of Scrivanier VI, a legendary ancient Umbral dragon known to lair in the region of Virlych, an area that holds the Whispering Way's greatest places of power. The painting represents the mastery that the Whispering Tyrant was unable to demonstrate over his shadowy foe.
-Painting 3: "This painting shows the same humanoid, crowned skeletal figure riding an immense, skeletal dragon. The creature, whose bones are occasionally flecked with dull red scales, radiates some sort of fell-light from within its chest cavity, its eyes, and its mouth. It and the skeletal humanoid soar above a distant throng of marching masses."
-Knowledge: History (DC 25), Knowledge: Religion (DC 28) identifies the skeletal red dragon as one of the Whispering Tyrant's more powerful servants and mount, the Ravener Marrowgarth.
Each painting is worth 750 gp on its own, or 3,000 gp as a set.
Knowledge: Religion (DC 25) Reveals that this is a somewhat heretical depiction of the genesis of vampires and their different breeds. The five breeds depicted are Moroi, Nosferatu, Vetala, Jiang-Shi, and Manananggal. The belief is somwwhat controversial among Moroi due to their elitist view of themselves and preferred disassociation with the other breeds.
-The Painting is worth 1,250 gp
-Knowledge: History (DC 23) This painting is a depiction of St. Vesbias, a simple foot soldier during the Shining Crusade who took up the gigantic sword of an undead orc general and sacrificed his life so that his unit might escape. It is said that his remains were buried in a church dedicated to Pharasma, though few of the church know where this is.
-The painting is worth 700 gp due to deterioration of the paint in spots toward the top.
Besides what's in Restoration Park, some of this should help detail some of the history that is at play in the final module. Enjoy!
These are amazing. Thanks so much. I think I will locate these in a cache in the monastery. That way the PC's will turn their attention to these as they prepare for the next module. I'll have to think of some excuse for the cache to be at the monastery. Perhaps the WW had collected them and left them behind at the monastery for some reason...
This painting is a depiction of St. Vesbias, a simple foot soldier during the Shining Crusade who took up the gigantic sword of an undead orc general and sacrificed his life so that his unit might escape. It is said that his remains were buried in a church dedicated to Pharasma...
I’ve been wondering about the St. Vesbias timeline. As far as I can tell, Renchurch fell to the Whispering Tyrant centuries before the Shining Crusade began. It doesn’t make sense to me that a Shining Crusader would be buried in Renchurch with Pharasman honors.
Unless I’m overlooking something, St. Vesbias should either be a pre-Tyrant Pharasmin icon from the days of the Ustalav kings, or a Shining Crusader whose body was stolen and desecrated by the Grey Friar.
Thanks for pointing this out. One of my PCs is very into the Shining Crusade, so I'll probably go the stolen body route (and I'll need to change the language of the description accordingly -- maybe a high knowledge religion or local roll would reveal that his body was long ago (when?) stolen from a shrine dedicated to Pharasma...)
I noticed the discrepancy too but since my PCs don't have any timeline on Renchurch other than the fact that its corruption occurred during Tar-Baphon's reign. I'll probably do something similar to what you're both suggesting.
This one's an alternative for the numerous sword and board fighters that guard the lower areas. Mainly, its the same idea with different stats, weapons, and feats.
Vampire Archer:
I'm planning on using these in my campaign, but I'm not sure why the stat block lists two different options for their ranged attacks:
"+1 mighty composite longbow +17/+12 (1d8+9 19/20 x3)
or +1 mighty composite longbow +14/+9 (1d815 19/20 x3)"
Thanks!
The second one is with the -3 to hit and +6 damage from Deadly Aim factored in.
In Ashes, page 38 - there are 3 nabasu demons in the warehouse. It also says there are 8 ghouls killed by the nabasu demon gaze in that warehouse.
For the stat blocks, it points to the bestiary - where you'd normally then run the nabasu demon according to the AC, HP, etc. based on the bestiary. But - if the demons killed these 8 ghouls, then they should have 8 growth points split between them and this isn't mentioned at all. This also gives them 8 gaze attacks between them a day as well as more hit points, more ac and etc.
Usually if the base stat block of a creature from the bestiary has extra added onto it (ie. growth points and stats) - so should I be running them with growth points or without growth points?
My group is about to assault the Nobleman’s Stitch, so it’s as good a time as any to present my solution to this inconsistency.
In my game, the Whispering Way originally sent three nabasu to Caliphas to begin a terror war on the city once Luvick’s kingdom was in disarray. One was an unholy terror who had already gained many growth points. Radvir couldn’t keep it entirely in check, and so had to pacify it with regular human offerings. After eight such offerings, it matured and vanished into the abyss, leaving its two immature lackeys behind. The PCs heard some talk of the missing people at Whitehall while following up on the human murders, and might pick up on the backstory if they save some of the charmed guards from domination.
Those charmed guards are an interesting plot thread, by the way. In my game, before they were made into Radvir’s puppets, they were armsmen to Halloran Ildress and can foreshadow his fate and Oothi’s--in my game, Ildress is the only surviving member of the group that scattered Oothi’s bones.
I just ran the upper floors to this last night. This is how it went down:
-PCs pre-buff 10-minute a levels 15 minutes away from the shop.
-PCs turn corner to arrive within 120' feet of shop. Front door has three guards in front of the main door. They see the easily visible, armed and armored group and signal those inside by tapping the door. With a really good perception check, one of the PCS see this and begin approaching.
-Charmed guards (2 2nd level guards and a 3rd level captain) buy the time necessary to let the inside setup, eating about three rounds of dialogue and non-lethal attacks before the now-locked front door is before them. One PC hears a spell being cast from the second floor through one of the walls (really high pereception check) and knows something is going on.
-Quinley picks open the lock and the door is opened. On the ground floor are about a dozen dominated nobles, two cavorting about naked to provide a further distraction. They are positioned in front of the curtained hallway that leads to the basement and the stairs going up. Inserted among them is the Vetala shopkeeper, who with a +30 disguise check and potion of [Non-detection drank, blends in with the rest of the crowd.
-PCs use detection spells to try and find visible threats and are unable to. Overlapping effect from Fighter's Horn of Goodness allows re-rolls versus dominate for some of the charmed nobles, who flee. Group of six charmed human guards, which has been replaced by a party of Elves emerge from upper rooms and take position on balconies.
(I like party versus party fights, so changed the six charmed guards into an adventuring group, mainly using the NPC codex. The party consisted of an elvish druid (7), ranger (8), 2 fighters (8), magi (8), and gnome sorcerer (8). The fighters were the same ones from the module with their races swapped, the magi is listed above, and the rest are directly from the NPC codex. )
Two fighters vital strike with crossbows and hurt flying Dhampir, gnome follows up with magic missile, Magi casts haste, Ranger pin-cushions PC oracle, druid casts spit poison blinding the Dhampir PC.
-PC Fighter and Dhampir Magi move to engage other party. PC Fighter drops druid with one hit (critical) but gets pin-cushioned by NPC Ranger. NPC Magi wails on PC fighter and misses every time (bad dice), while the Gnome tries a Phantasmal Killer but fails to effect him. Enemy fighters split up, one engaging airborne, balcony adjacent PC fighter while the other moves down the stairs to block the non-flying PCs. PC Oracle utilizes reach rod to heal at range while PC Bard drops her own Haste. At bottom on round, Vampire Alchemists emerge from sewing room on second floor, completely buffed with mutagens and extracts. Vampire Sorceress behind curtain directs nobles to flee out the door while the Vetala blends in and moves with them.
-Alchemists break bad, hurling four bombs at airborn PC fighter, dropping him into negatives. They utilized the extracts illusion of clear and targeted bomb admixture to confound the PCs. NPC fighter bases fallen fighter and the oracle that's about to heal him. Bard utilzies Cacophonous Call to eliminate the threat, allowing the Heal spell to go off. NPC gnome uses major image to present a troop of soldiers moving stop the PCs, which eats up about two rounds of Quinely's turns. Dhampir Magi jumps back in the fray and lightning bolts the balcony, hitting four of the five still standing NPC elves. NPC magi fails her save and drops, Gnome is nearly killed but still up, but the remaining fighter and ranger save. Vetala keeps blending in with crowd.
-Alchemists target Dhampir. He shrugs off the first volley due to energy resistance, but the second alchemist switches his energy to cold and significantly hurts him. Fighter stands up and uses Mythic point to close and strike one of the Alchemists. The NPCs spread their damage, with the ranger pin-cushioning the bard, the Gnome dropping another Phantasmal Killer on the fighter (he saved), and the other fighter moving to engage the PC fighter on the other balcony. Oracle channels, which causes the Vetala to break its disguise and leap forward, sneak-attacking the oracle. The party is now quite spread out, but thanks to haste, a mere move action away/
-Alchemists split both directions along balcony and hurl more cold bombs.The first one is able to drop the Dhampir into the negatives while the second is forced to eat an attack of opportunity due to being pinned against the wall, which results in a critical hit from the PC fighter, misting it. Bard uses inflict wands to heal Dhampir, as does oracle. Gnome and NPC ranger continue attack, injuring the Oracle further and keeping the fighter on the ropes with Scorching Rays and combined attacks from the remaining fighter. Vetala darts away, disappearing Vampire Sorceress (who used to be a living ally of the dhampir) taunts the fallen PC before disappearing for the next fight in the basement.
-Remaining alchemist injures the PC fighter, but he's too close, and a full attack later, is turned into mist. Elven Archer, Gnome, and NPC fighter concentrate on fighter and re-bloody him. Bard returns fire with her short-bow, dropping the gnome with arrows (some of the luckiest rolling I've seen versus mirror images). Oracle further heals Dhampir, who moves to engage remaining fighter. Vetala re-appears on balcony, sending a hail of shuriken at the oracle, dropping her and nearly killing her.
-PC Dhampir and Fighter converge on the Vetala, injuring him. Bard heals oracle back to life. Vetala attempts to move away and is stopped by the fighter's Standstill and Pin-down feats, unsuccessfully attacks. More arrows sink into the bard, nearly dropping her while remaining NPC fighter re-positions on balcony to flank with Vetala. PC Bard unloads three arrows into him and drops him while Oracle continues to heal the party.
-PCs drop Vetala with a freakish magic critical hit (petrified him for an hour) but have no knowledge of the thing's ability to rejuvenate, which it will. Bard finishes off ranger with arrows.
I am slightly proud that I made this fight last 8+ rounds, a hard feat in many combats. The environment helped with this a lot.
...so in light of all that. The nabassu were kind of a throw away fight. The warehouse I had draped in Deeper Darkness, but Daylight helped to counter that. All of my PCs without any knowledge of what was coming had Spell Immunity with Enervation selected, which significantly reduced their effectiveness. Remember when Telekinesis used to be cool? I had to roll 20s on the caster level checks to effect anything. Yeah, against a flying, full-plate wearing, scythe-specialized fighter with holy weapons, these three poor demons didn't have much of a chance. I was okay with that, I nearly killed three PCS in the previous fight. Oh, the Ghouls can't see though Deeper Darkness, which makes the fight even less in their favor. I think they all died to a single channel anyways. Oh well.
I just ran this part last Saturday and used two mythic nabasu (Legendary Games/Tom Phillips) instead of the three standard ones. I also swapped out the 8 ghouls for 4 higher-CR variants from the Monster Codex, and swapped all of the charmed guards with Rakshaka's bloodsucking fiends (see above in this thread). A pretty effective squad, on the whole--the mythic nabasu weren't overly deadly but definitely more useful than the normal ones would have been, I think. At least 3 PCs are walking around with two or more negative levels right now, but are determined to press on and eliminate Radvir before he has time to regroup and refortify his lair. (It also doesn't hurt that Luvick was pretty emphatic about them nipping this int he bud sooner rather than later--the patience of a vampire lord has a tendency to wane when dealing with mortals...)
We'll get to the basement next month. I didn't use Quinley in my run, but the PCs did convince Desmond Kote (the inquisitor of Zaebos in the dark chapel) to join them against Radvir. I need a way to take him out of the action before the final fight ensues, because he's way too effective as it stands.
I need to make sure credit is where it is due; Keep Calm and Carrion did the bloodsucking-fiends. Can't wait to use them in the basement.
D'oh! Sorry about that, KC&C. I get confused with all the cool stuff flying around this thread!
All good! I debated using Mythic monsters in the Nobleman's stitch but decided against it for story purposes. In my game, the blood of the Blood Knight is being used to fuel Mythic ascension for some of the vampires, and I'll probably have some of these threats present in the Abbey. There's a Mythic Glazbrezu who's got some neat tricks in Wrath of the Righteous that I bight borrow from, and I've got Legendary Game's Mythic Undead and have been looking for a chance to use the Witchfire from that.
The mythic glabrezu is definitely showing up in my version of the Abbey... and that vampire orc from the Monster Codex is going to be the perfect rival for the party's elf barbarian shortly, too.
I sent four Bloodsucking Fiends after my group in lieu of the vampiric enforcers Radvir would normally send. They established chokeholds on two of my group’s primary spellcasters in the first round--the ones that could cast Liberating Command and Freedom of Movement--and used Body Shield successfully twice. Body Shield could be a killer surprise against a party with a typical two-handed power attacking barbarian or the like.
Fortunately for the party, their cleric of Pharasma got in an early lucky blow with the Raven’s Head and the Fiend rolled a natural one on its save: Getting disrupted means it wasn’t just blasted to mist, but destroyed completely, so that’s one less vampire they’ll have to fight at the Nobleman’s Stitch.
Hey, I understand that Ramoska Arkminos appears in another Pathfinder adventure. Could anyone explain his role there? What’s there to know about him?
Hey, I understand that Ramoska Arkminos appears in another Pathfinder adventure. Could anyone explain his role there? What’s there to know about him?
I haven't read it in great detail in a year or so, but Arkminos appears in AP#8, Seven Days to the Grave.
As best I can recall, in that AP, the queen of Korvosa, Ileosa, seeks to infect the poorer districts of her city with a terrible plague. Arkminos and some other baddies are on loan to her from other factions as experts in infectious disease--among them, the Red Mantis assassins and Conte Tiriac, who has a different first name in that AP but whom I assume is the same person as Ristomaur Tiriac of Varno. I think this was written before F. Wesley Schneider had really nailed down a lot of details on Ustalav's major players and their dispositions, since being involved with a sinister plot like that seems rather out of character for Tiriac based on what is said about him in Rule of Fear.
Its actually a fairly awesome encounter.
From what I recall, Arkminos has different classes since that adventure was still 3.5 and alchemist wasn't around. I believe he was a Wizard/Rogue of about 11th level, where the party is 5th/6th level at that point. Its not supposed to be a winnable encounter; the PCs have to negotiate with a far more powerful enemy rather than fight him. For his part, Arkminos doesn't want to fight the party but seeks compensation for the research they are interrupting (I think they need a body that he is working on); he actually lets them step out of combat even if they initiate it since he doesn't want to waste the resources. What's fascinating is that he seems to also be dissatisfied with his employers in that adventure just as he is in Ashes at Dawn.
This is all pretty awesome, folks. I'm going to have to figure out how to handle Radvir's lair, which the party may reach next session.
One question: Rakshaka, how is it that a dominated party can be made to fight the PCs without the dominated party getting new saving throws to throw off the domination (and, presumably, then turning against the vampires). It seems like domination isn't a very good way to get people to fight on your behalf unless they would already be inclined to do so.
From the PRD: "Subjects resist this control, and any subject forced to take actions against its nature receives a new saving throw with a +2 bonus."
Am I missing something? This is definitely something my PCs would call me on (which is meta-gaming, but, you know, still...).
Figure that the dominated party is made of straight up murder hobos; it's not really against their nature to attack the PCs.
But you have a point. I’s unlikely a 7th level elvish druid (good will saves, high wisdom, +2 racial bonus vs. enchantments) would fail her saves versus Radvir’s Dominate repeatly...though for the purpose of the encounter above, she only has to have failed once.
Yeah, some of their alignments were evil. Also, the dominated party had been duped by the vampires into believing that powerful adventurers were coming to rob the place and kill its owners. All about how you spin it, and with a +8 racial score to bluff, its easy for even a vampire without it as a class skill to spin pretty effective lies. The adventurers backstory is that they were originally buying enchanted clothing at The Noblemen's Stitch when the residents decided they would be good as guards.
I think dominating another party of NPCs to attack a PC party they don't know from Bob (or vice versa) is a lot easier than dominating one party member to attack a fellow party member who is an established ally. I'd not even bother with a new saving throw each round in the former case.
Exactly how I played it.
The guards protecting the tailor's shop (and the abbey, actually) weren't dominated. They were just guards, reasonably well paid, and not interested in talking about the situation. Considering how fast they get killed, most won't have time to withdraw from a fight.
Not to disagree, but from the module:
"E12. Upstairs Apartment: 'Creatures: Radvir has used his dominate ability to charm a number of mercenary guards into defending his shop..."
The ones in the abbey are charmed:
"F3. Dining Hall: Creatures: Six mercenary guards occupy this wide dining hall. Aisa and Hetna purposefully chose them for their weak minds and physical prowess and cast charm monster on each of them to secure their loyalty..."
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Sorry, I meant to state that in my game, I ran it such that the guards were not dominated to get around the issue raised by Voomer. They were just hire-a-thug style. I had also planned for a dominated city guard captain to show up with normal city guardsmen when the PCs left the tailor's shop, but things didn't quite fall that way.