That is the most amazing post I have ever seen.
O.O
... THANK YOU!
I was wrong, though:
Anyway, the point is, under the paradigm that I describe above, that means that they have a mere 875,827,815 number of times they need to dispel the area before they get all the witchgates taken care of! Heck, it's not that hard with the caster level 10 that the simulacra could created! :D
Actually, it's twice that (because the caster level is only 10)... and it's per gate instead of the whole area.
I think I just left it at the witchgates being minor artifacts, so you could hypothetically blow them up with disjunction and that's about it.
I guess they could have some amazingly inconvenient destruction condition...
... you mean like 875,827,815 x2 dispel magic effects over a 20 mile radius per 'gate? :D
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It likely won't help much but when I run it I intend on using a lot of the suggestions the author offers here...
...and I intend on giving him either:
Per the PRD
Agile (MR 1, CR +1)
Creatures with the agile template are quick and deadly, moving faster than their normal counterparts and striking with incredible speed and agility. An agile creature's quick and rebuild rules are the same.
Rebuild Rules: Init +20 bonus; AC +2 dodge bonus; hp mythic bonus hit points; Defensive Abilities evasion (as the rogue class feature); Speed +30 feet for all movement types (up to double the creature's base movement speed); Special Attacks dual initiative.
OR
Arcane (MR 1 or 2, CR +1)
Creatures with the arcane template are infused with arcane power, capable of casting a limited number of arcane spells. If the creature has 11 or more Hit Dice, this simple template grants a mythic rank of 2 instead of 1. An arcane creature's quick and rebuild rules are the same.
Rebuild Rules: AC +2 deflection bonus; hp mythic bonus hit points; SR gains SR equal to its new CR + 11; Special Attacks mythic magic, simple arcane spellcasting.
Also a fair number of people have suggested having the group fight him in his human form and then a fully buffed forsaken lich afterward.
My party is less skilled so I probably won't go that far. I would definitely suggest rewriting him to prey upon weaknesses of your party. He, or one of his cronies have no doubt been scrying on them a great deal.
EDIT:
1.) I will likely do a three stage situation where he starts transforming into a powerful monster (all spells maximized) relishing loudly in his incredible power.
2.) Tar-Baphon will take over (thus giving my pc's the chance to fight the monster they've thought they were going to fight the whole time) and the creature gains the mythic agile (maybe arcane too) template making him seem unbeatable.
3.) BBEG wrestles back control and loses his template and maximized spells before being beaten.
Definitely going to throw in a couple of adds (Nightwings or something comparable).
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Ready for an exceedingly gross question? Here we go!
So I'm reading up for the potential that my party will be facing The Worm that Walks encounter tomorrow... maybe.
I look over it's spell list and notice it has Project Image.
I considered an alternate tactic where the caster is laying in the pool of maggots out of sight and casts project image after shield. This seemed a bit crazy and I considered asking the boards if the tactic was a bit... overboard difficulty wise.
Then, I wondered, "Is it even possible to cast a spell with verbal and somatic components in a pool of writhing maggots?"
That's my question to you guys...
Do you think that Urca Namat could cast a spell while laying in a pool of maggots?
I'm sure weirder rules questions have been asked... but I haven't seen them.
he is pretty much a pile of maggots himself, i'd allow it, and considering its the end chapter of a horror AP i say get brutal with them:)
I plan on giving him full mythic tiers (probably 5-7). I think most of that will focus on defensive abilities like Mirror Dodge, but some of it will reflect the tiers given to Tar Baphon as per his stats. I;m also going to have him utilize different stages of power during the fight to show his eventual possession and abandonment by Tar Baphon's spirit. My next session will be against a Mythic Konas Esprillion (the Blood Knight) and a Mythic Aisa Dublesse, so it should give me more in-game experience with running Mythic.
It likely won't help much but when I run it I intend on using a lot of the suggestions the author offers here...
...and I intend on giving him either:
** spoiler omitted **
Also a fair number of people have suggested having the group fight him in his human form and then a fully buffed forsaken lich afterward.
My party is less skilled so I probably won't go that far. I would definitely suggest rewriting him to prey upon weaknesses of your party. He, or one of his cronies have no doubt been scrying on them a great deal.
EDIT:
1.) I will likely do a three stage situation where he starts transforming into a powerful monster (all spells maximized) relishing loudly in his incredible power.
2.) Tar-Baphon will take over (thus giving my pc's the chance to fight the monster they've thought they were going to fight the whole time) and the creature gains the mythic agile (maybe arcane too) template making him...
he is pretty much a pile of maggots himself, i'd allow it, and considering its the end chapter of a horror AP i say get brutal with them:)
Absolutely agree with this. In fact, you could allow perceptive players Spellcraft checks (at +20 DC for a "intervening barrier") to hear spells being cast from within the mass, as if the maggot swarm itself were spell-casting (which in a way, part of it is.).
This advice might come too late if you ran the encounter this week, but for my campaign I plan to completely revise Urca Namat’s spell list from his Bestiary listing. He’s a prepared caster, the Way knows the players are coming, and by this time they almost certainly are familiar with the party’s favorite tactics. Assume that Namat has a spell book around somewhere with Contingency, a handful of long-lasting low-level defensive spells that the Way would know would frustrate your PCs, and a hard-hitting offensive spell or two that the Way would know would hit one or more of your PCs’ weak spots.
This is similarly true of the Grey Friar, who can choose his cleric spells freely and could also add a spell like Freedom of Movement to the Unhallow spell on his area.
If Lucimar is still around in your game, tailoring his spell list to your players could be absolutely lethal.
Now that Paizo has released official rules for ley lines, is there anything we should be doing with the flavour text in this chapter about the ley lines around Gallowspire being messed up?
My players will be encountering the knights of ozem and their possessed prisoner. They don't have any of the suggested spells to end the possession. Any suggestions on alternative ways to free the woman and trigger the fight. The demon could just pop on his own, but that seems weak compared to the PCs forcing him out.
One of the Knights of Ozem has a relevant scroll that he's nervous about using without more help, but since the PCs are big-time evil-hunters, he's willing to give it a try while they're here?
Or see what the players do, and improvise. You know you're probably going to have the demon come out, but you wait and see if they something that would plausibly antagonise it enough that it attacks them. For example, they might try bluffing that they're going to banish it, or pouring holy water over the woman, or something.
Would a creature be able to avoid Renchurch's Soul Haunting if they die inside a bag of holding or another extradimensional/non-dimensional space?
I had Marrowgarth do a one time flyby and then head toward Gallowspire. The party encountered her at the edge of town. They all prepped for a fight and then waited for her to come back but didn't. It was rather amusing to go against the expectation. They eventually encountered her later when they came in further into town.
If the paladin was the only one to have a crack at her and take her down, I would definitely go with a Wyrmwraith. Could be a way to show just how powerful Tar-Baphon's influence is in the region. If you think it will be a good fight (but not overwhelming) for your party, I'd say go for it.
A thought about the Witchgates: Wouldn't a party doing any significant research at all learn about the Witchgates and the impossibility of teleporting to Renchurch? In that event, they would just skip the Witchgates altogether. Also, how hard is it to find Renchurch? I guess it makes sense to surmise that the Whispering Way stole or destroyed any maps showing its location, but one would think it would not be too hard to find. Do the Knights from Lastwall venture as far as Renchurch? Any magical mechanisms to obscure its location? Any other tips for running the trip to Renchurch?
Sorry for such a scattered set of questions. We start module 6 tonight and I am still a little unclear on how all this will play out.
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That depends on whether research will tell them anything, especially if done hastily. By the time it comes up, they may not have time for the sort of research required to learn about them. To a lesser extent, the same is true for Renchurch. It was once a Pharasmin abbey, and the Shining Crusade may have ventured there, or at least known of its location.
If this concerns you? Have the Esoteric Order inform them of the location of Renchurch, but not the witchgates. Perhaps the Order doesn't know about the witchgates, or just how powerful their influence is. (It's not like the Esoteric Order gets to read the Paizo products the way we do.)
But it just doesn't seem plausible to me that there aren't a ton of people in Caliphas the PCs are in contact with that know about the Witchgates generally, including the Pharasmins, the Iomedaens, the Order of the Palatine Eye, the Vampires, etc. These things have been there for a long time and it must be well known among learned people interested in Vyrlich that teleportation just isn't a great option in that region. I think it is a bit of a flaw in the module that we GMs are supposed to be able to surprise PCs with this.
Under RAW, high level PCs can find out most of what is known to scholars on a topic such as Vyrlich simply by making a knowledge roll. Also, "By spending 1 day of downtime, you can thoroughly converse with several knowledgeable individuals or study several reliable sources over the course of the day. You can attempt up to three Knowledge checks to discover information." Caliphas has a major archives of knowledge.
I agree the exact location of Renchurch may not be known (because the records have been destroyed by agents of the Way), but I don't see how I avoid telling my PCs that teleporation is problematic.
I guess I will just tell them the general location of Renchurch and they will probably figure out some clever way to find it.
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These things have been there for a long time and it must be well known among learned people interested in Vyrlich that teleportation just isn't a great option in that region. I think it is a bit of a flaw in the module that we GMs are supposed to be able to surprise PCs with this.
Unless you consider that everyone that's teleported in the past has never returned to report the danger... *twiddles fingers*
As for Renchurch's location, I suspect that given its origins, that is a much more accessible piece of knowledge, and I don't think I tried to imply it was particularly well-hidden. It's just dangerous as all hell, which is protection enough.
Also, to answer your original question: if PCs skip the Witchgates, I think the adventure suggests you place the encounters from the various locations in their path as they travel across Vyrlich.
Unless you consider that everyone that's teleported in the past has never returned to report the danger... *twiddles fingers*
Fair enough! I confess I can be a little too obsessive over this kind of detail. But I don't think it at all breaks the narrative to say that the PCs would be able to find out something about teleportation being wonky in Virlych.
Yes, the module clearly suggests placing the Witchgate encounters elsewhere, and I will do that (unless the PCs decide to risk teleporting anyways).
Good to know it wasn't the intention that Renchurch's location would be a great secret. My impression is the Lastwall patrols don't go that far, so it isn't a very familiar location at this point, but it seems like the PCs should just eventually be able to find their way.
One more question about travel -- in a lot of campaigns the GMs have allowed the PCs to travel by wind walk. But it seems to me the frequent baleful weather would make that pretty much impossible? I saw one GM mention his PCs traveled "above the clouds" -- which I guess raises the question of how high up the bad weather goes! I guess I just need to decide if I want to force my PCs to go over land...
Good point. The GM can just make it clear it is TOO DANGEROUS up there! For some reason, the malevolent supernatural forces are especially prevalent within the weather systems and will follow PCs up and above, or something like that.
So, Kalindlara, did your PCs try teleporting and get to Renchurch by jumping from one Witchgate to another (ending up in the trap at Renchurch)? Or did they just walk it?
And here's another question. The cleric in our group can now cast lesser create demiplane. It seems to me that means the PCs can rest completely securely in that demiplane right in the middle of Renchurch. Right? I imagine there are other securing rest strategies as well. If so, I guess the only way to prevent them from resting all the time is to keep some time pressure on related to the ritual to prepare the vessel for the elixir...
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They beat up my wendigo. :(
The evil weather eventually grounded them, though, and they used phantom steeds for much of the remaining overland travel... at which point they got a visit from a dullahan death coach. Nothing is easy.
Given that the create demiplane spells were freshly released when this book was printed, it doesn't directly mention them. That said, there's a very good case for the witchgates affecting those as well. The witchgates are based on teleport trap, which can catch plane shift, and while create demiplane does not literally have the teleportation descriptor, I'd say that the effect is close enough to count as the correct sort of "long-range teleportation".
That said, time pressure is also good.
Also... since your PCs are on their way to Renchurch and it sounds like they need a challenge, I'll take the opportunity to plug this thread. ^_^
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Given that the create demiplane spells were freshly released when this book was printed, it doesn't directly mention them. That said, there's a very good case for the witchgates affecting those as well. The witchgates are based on teleport trap, which can catch plane shift, and while create demiplane does not literally have the teleportation descriptor, I'd say that the effect is close enough to count as the correct sort of "long-range teleportation".
Great observation, Kalindlara! The only way to get into the demiplane once created is through plane shift, which is a teleportation spell that I agree is susceptible to the trap. The create demiplane spell, which is not technically a teleportation spell, does allow a single shift at the moment of its creation. But, as you suggest, that shift is a teleportation effect, even if the creation of the demiplane is not. In any event, given the 2 hour casting time, it is certain the cleric PC will create it at an earlier time and try to plane shift the party into it to rest from Virlych. That will be a nasty surprise!
That raises another question: Will they necessarily be directed to Witchgate A or the closest Witchgate? I guess if they try to go to the demiplane during the journey to Renchurch, I will send them to a Gate with the hangman trees. But if they try to enter the plane for the first time in Renchurch... do I send them to the cage with the banshee outside? That would be cruel!
And thanks for the link to the thread -- looks like there are lots of great ideas there!
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I'd say the closest one... which might mean the hangman trees, or Hagmouth's lair. (I pulled another nasty trick by putting Hagmouth's witchgate at the bottom of a river. A river polluted by all his pus and rot, no less. I changed him to a gare linnorm as well.)
If they're in Renchurch, though, it's banshee time. ^_^
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If they're in Renchurch, though, it's banshee time. ^_^
That's just what I was thinking...
I agree it makes sense! Unless my PCs are clever enough to figure out that something that makes teleportation wonky would also affect plane shift (I give them a 30% chance), or unless they rest in the demiplane on the way to Renchurch (seems reasonably likely), they will be in for a nasty surprise. In that instance, I guess best case scenario for them would be to make the will save and have the plane shift spell fail.
The witchgates are indeed a pretty devious mechanic to keep high level PCs under stress.
Thanks everyone for your input. I'm pretty comfortable with this approach -- giving them some information that teleportation may be problematic without spelling out any of the particulars.
And thanks, Kalindlara, for the suggestion about the gare linnorm. Did you make the PCs save against its poison when they arrived to account for the polluted conditions? I guess fighting a water-based linnorm would pose a significantly greater challenge...
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They didn't actually teleport there - they were using phantom steeds by that time, complete with water walk. It gave them quite a shock when Hagmouth rose out of the water and steamed the lot, wiping out most of their steeds and dropping them into the river. (I don't think I had them save for poison or disease, but it's a good idea.)
They ended up using Diplomacy instead of fighting - the priestess of Desna offered to regenerate his tail, along with some helpful remove absorb disease from the cleric of Urgathoa. He even let them rest for a night in his lair so they could prepare the spells.
Interesting. You have a cleric of Urgathoa in your group? How does that work?
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First, the party roster.
He's a dhampir who focuses on the gluttony aspects of Urgathoa. His vampire mother (one of the Blood Lords of Geb) sent him to Ustalav to oppose the Whispering Way, since by definition, their victory means eternal starvation for vampire-kind.
A wild party! Thanks for the link -- it was interesting to read the stuff you posted over there.
Did anyone have their party try to approach Renchurch from the North, from the direction of Ravengro? I could see my party teleporting there and approaching from the North. That would mess up a bunch of the encounters on the way (such as with the Knights of Ozem). Any ideas how to handle that? Is there an impenetrable wall of weather from the North? That seems kind of heavy handed.
It appears the cleric 6 spell "find the path" will work to find Renchurch right?
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I think my party approached from the north, after fighting off an army of orcs and the sorcerer-lich that was driving them forward. (He'll be back.) It didn't affect things much; I just put the encounters along that route instead.
They did use find the path; this is a lovely place for it, in fact. It gets them where they're going, lets them feel like powerful magicians, and doesn't negate any of the encounters or story. ^_^
Interesting. My PCs did ask about approaching from Ravengro, but I told them the malevolent weather was reputed to be especially intense from that direction because of the proximity to Gallowspire. They didn't press the point. I didn't really want them approaching from the North because I couldn't justify in my mind having a Knights of Ozem patrol up there. It seems to me the Lastwall patrols can't penetrate very far into Virlych. I don't see how they could survive all the weather, etc. At least that's how I'm ruling it.
It actually worked out great because the PCs decided to teleport to Vigil and had a great interaction with the authorities there, who are appreciative of the PCs taking the fight to the Way deep within Virlych.
It does seem Find the Path should work, but my PCs are at present onto the idea of trying to find Azra (a cleric of Desna) in Ruwido. Check her out. I haven't seen her mentioned in any of the threads, but it seems to me she is the one good-aligned person I have read about who could lead the PCs to Renchurch. I'm saying she has a shirt of wraith stalking, which is how she can wander Virlych without being under constant attack from the undead. As the players have changed eyes from the encounter with Desna in module 3, I don't think they will have trouble getting Azra to help.
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I have a Medium from Occult Adventures in my group and my party has just arrived at Renchurch, wondering if anyone has some ideas as what to do should that Medium use haunt channeler on the tyrant's whispers haunt. As the haunt is everywhere and directly connected to Tar-Baphon should there not be some sort side effect for brushing against his consciousness? Obviously the haunt would take damage as usual but just wondering if anyone had some thematic suggestions?
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My off-the-cuff answer is "save vs. insanity". I may have some stroke of genius, though; if so, I'll be back. ^_^
As for channeling it fully into himself? Hoo, boy. I would say "don't do that". At that point, you have the wish-flinging haunt in a conscious vessel. For 24 hours.
So... many... wishes...
So, the party in my campaign are into their assault on Renchurch, currently in mid-battle with the Meladaemon. I have a couple questions about that encounter and then a few questions about things to come:
(1) Why give a creature the ability to cast deeper darkness at will when the creature can't see in deeper darkness? What am I missing? I gave my daemon an elixir of darksight to overcome the issue, but this is basically why I never have the bad guys cast these spells...
(2) How high is the ceiling in the nave? It must be pretty high, but I don't see where the module tells us.
(3) Aren't haunts like the dominate person effect in the Apse silly, given that all parties with any clue will have PvE on them at all times and thus the haunt is completely ineffective? I will probably handwave that, given that the altar is the focal point for the desecrate aura, this haunt ignores PvE.
(4) Isn't the Mass Suffocation in the Hallway of Heads a bit too much? 13 rounds of DC 23 saves? Isn't this a TPK, given that one failed save takes someone to 0 HP and unconscious and then two more to death, and there is nothing to do to help someone while they are suffocating? How did you handle this? I guess you could have the haunt trigger the moment one PC steps into the hallway so only one PC gets affected, but I'm assuming the author's intent was that it wouldn't trigger so instantaneously. I'm thinking about modifying it to keep the mass effect and DC but only last three rounds like regular suffocation. Even then, my understanding is that the PCs who survive still have only ZERO HP, so it basically means pulling out of Renchurch to recover. That seems lame. What am I missing?
(5) Finally, any thoughts on how to make the vampire in the Vestry more interesting, to tie her in better to the events in Book 5? Also, is she supposed to be invisible when the PCs first come in and they are parlaying with the Chamberlain? That's how I'm thinking of playing it.
By the way, no criticism intended -- we're having a blast with the module! I'm just trying to figure out how to navigate these details.
Why give a creature the ability to cast deeper darkness at will when the creature can't see in deeper darkness? What am I missing?
Well, it has Blindfight, and area affect spells, and an aura that hits round after round. Any fight when it's too dark for it and the party to see each other gives an advantage to the meladaemon.
Deeper Darkness lasts a good long time. The Meladaemon can keep the cathedral's ceiling blanketed in it 24/7. When the fight begins, it can open with no-save Waves of Fatigue, then retreat into the darkness. The effect of its aura will stack with Waves to make characters exhausted. Meanwhile, it can drop Horrid Wilting, which will not affect the nearby ghouls, then move to melee with anything that attacked it in the darkness. It's nowhere near the scariest thing in Renchurch, but it can tax a party's resources severely.
How high is the ceiling in the nave? It must be pretty high, but I don't see where the module tells us.
IIRC, I deduced this from a description of the tower's height. Sorry I can't be more specific.
Aren't haunts like the dominate person effect in the Apse silly, given that all parties with any clue will have PvE on them at all times and thus the haunt is completely ineffective? I will probably handwave that, given that the altar is the focal point for the desecrate aura, this haunt ignores PvE.
The section on the Tyrant's Whispers haunt mentions that if the party is warded against its specific manifestation, it can hit them with a Greater Dispel magic to wear down their defenses instead. Or you can come up with your own Tyrant's Whispers haunt, tailored to freak your party out. My party had a great reaction when I had a Tyrant's Whispers cast Impart Mind on the paladin's greatsword, giving it a Chaotic Evil intelligence and the ability to speak dire propehcies in Necril. It also had one cantrip, Bleed, which it used on a PC who had successfully stabilized after getting knocked out. Good times.
Isn't the Mass Suffocation in the Hallway of Heads a bit too much? 13 rounds of DC 23 saves? Isn't this a TPK, given that one failed save takes someone to 0 HP and unconscious and then two more to death, and there is nothing to do to help someone while they are suffocating? How did you handle this?
By Renchurch, players should be ready to deal with haunts. In my campaign, several players made the perception roll to notice the haunt before it activated and beat the 10 initiative count. One, a wizard, asked for a knowledge check on the haunt to know what was coming. He then Dimension Doored himself and the flatfooted people to safety while the others ran.
It's a nasty effect, but it's a pretty easy haunt to lay to rest. Toss a fireball in the hallway and the taxidermy should go up in flames.
Finally, any thoughts on how to make the vampire in the Vestry more interesting, to tie her in better to the events in Book 5?
Replace her with any surviving vampire NPC that your PCs would remember from Chapter 5. If they parted as allies, this vampire can pretend to be there to help them, when really she is there to collect a reward for selling everything she knows about them to the Whispering Way.
If there's no surviving vampire NPC that fits the bill, have them recognize her from one of the crowd scenes. Again, she claims to want to help them, either to curry favor with her vampiric masters or to settle a score against Adrissant or another member of the Way.
If the party doesn't buy it, the specters jump out of the walls and floors and they all attack. If they do buy it, she says she's made the room safe for them to rest when they need to. Then, when they come back depleted and lay down to recover, THEN the specters jump out of the walls and floors and they all attack.
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Thanks so much for all this. I can be prone to underestimate my PCs, especially the wizard. In the game he summoned an Erinyes to help battle the daemon, and he is going to send her down the hallway and she'll choke. And then I guess we'll see how they deal with the haunt.
It was actually a very dramatic moment around the haunt in the Apse, because the wizard (again being clever) sent the Erinyes to the altar where she triggered the haunt and went to feed on the humanoid remains on the table. That Erinyes is PISSED at the wizard. Then the haunt targeted the party's winged aasimar oracle, who also failed her save and went to feed. So you had the black winged devil feeding on one side of the table and the white winged semi-angel feeding on the other side. The aasimar character was extremely traumatized, without me having even imposed any technical in game consequences for the whole thing, which is the best kind of trap -- purely psychological trauma inflicted on a PC based on the character's backstory.
I can be prone to underestimate my PCs, especially the wizard...he summoned an Erinyes to help battle the daemon...
He was wise to summon an evil creature. If he slips up later and summons, say, a celestial tiger or three, remember that per the Unhallow effect on Renchurch, summoned good creatures can't touch its inhabitants.
Oh, gosh! I had forgotten that. Thanks so much! We were giving him a hard time about summoning a devil and he said that most of the good summoning at his level were evil creatures. Not sure if that is right.
Hey all. The PCs in my campaign are almost done with the first floor of Renchurch, and their resources are running low (and they have no idea just how much waits for them below!). I suspect they may be talking soon about resting. Where did your PCs rest when going through Renchurch? It seems like there is no way to get a good 8 hours rest INSIDE the monastery. I seem to recall reading something in the module on the topic, but I can't find it. What did your PCs do and what did you throw at them?
Also, given the magic circle of good effect in the monastery, does that mean it is impossible to summon good creatures at all, or only that they can't touch the PC's foes in the monastery? If the latter, how is that any different than just having the monastery's inhabitants benefit from a PvG effect?
Thanks!
My PCs did two separate things to rest in and around the monastery grounds. They had cleared out everything on the first floor and decided to leave the grounds altogether, afraid (rightly so) that anything beneath might come up to investigate the noise. This was coupled with the fact that the Whispering Tyrant's haunt doesn't go away while they are within the grounds, so at first it seemed utterly impossible to rest inside. I hinted at the fact that Umbral Dragons (Spawn of Scrivinier V and maybe even that Wyrm herself) haunted the countryside around Renchurch, making it still dangerous to rest anywhere that wasn't a pocket dimension like Rope Trick. They utilized Survial and Stealth to avoid detection, and with the way that I rolled it put them on edge despite the fact that there was no encounter.
Secondly, through divinations and exploration the PCs came to realize that the tomb of St. Vesbius (spelling?) was an area of Renchurch avoided by its residents due to the long walk through the catacombs to get there as well as the room's indiscriminately dangerous haunt. I ruled that since the haunt was linked to a victory for the forces of good, the area was protected from the Tyrant's Whispers. This gave them a second place to rest, but yeah... without some sort of pocket dimension, they won't even get a minute of rest before the haunt unleashes a Summon Monster VI or something else.
As far as the Magic Circle, it works as if the entire area is covered with it, meaning that good summoned creatures (but not called) can't enter the area. I think I changed it in mine for dimensional anchor.
Thanks! I found the reference to them being able to hide among the ruins along the walls, so that seems feasible, especially if they use rope trick.
I guess the teleport trap effect has no impact on moving into an interdimensional space like a rope trick cubbyhole. But what about interplanar travel? Could the party plane shift to somewhere friendly? Planar Shift is in the teleportation school, but so is dimension door, which is not affected by the trap. Does the teleport trap affect summoning bringing creatures from another plane? Or does it only affect spells with "teleport" in the name? I'm finding the teleport trap mechanic a little unclear...
I interpreted it to specifically just include the two spells with Teleport in the title, Teleport and Teleport w/o error. It doesn't say anything about Plane Shift, Astral Projection, Eternalness, or Shadow Walking, so I let those fly.