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I think a unified lynch mob might be a little much, but a small group of towns folk who vocally protest the party going to Harrowstone ("Don't be goin' out and fidlin' with our history"..."you'll just be stirin' up more trouble if you go stumblin' around in there") Something akin to Gibs and his band of loosers in the Restlands. Possibly set things up so there is the village proper who are coming to trust the PCs, and then there is a small group of rable whipped up by Gibbs who don't like the newcomers.
If played well, yes; I have only leafed the adventure through, so I can't comment on the hooks, but I know my players would likely interpret it as a subtle GM signal to stay away from Harrowstone (depending on how I roleplayed it). It wouldn't hurt if other NPCs beg the PCs to explore the place. The thing is, we don't get to game too often, and therefore my players tend to avoid wasting play time with red herrings and going on tangents I need to improvise. I hate railroading, but I guess you could say they try to analyze where the rails are how to stay on them. A couple of times they've skipped adventures altogether because they misinterpreted NPC comments as not-so-subtle hints from me -- even though I tried my best to steer them back on course (and I'd never say: "Look, guys, you go to the dungeon or we won't be playing tonight!").
But gaming styles vary, so your group might see such warnings in a different light.
Absolutely, different groups enjoy different aspects of the game.
Jon Kines,
I wrote a post specifically to you just up a bit. I know these things get buried quickly, so I just wanted to make sure you saw it.
oops just saw your post watcher (4 days late and a dollar short) i'm going to organize and compile them then email to you
Just thought I'd toss out that I do like the Trust mechanic, even if all the specifics relating to the adventure proper weren't completely hammered out, and would really like to see more generalized rules for such fleshed out in a future supplement (perhaps in the same book considered for expanding/revising the Kingdom-building rules from Kingmaker that was floating the Kingmaker AP threads some time ago). As a GM of players who have no issue with running the occasional evil PC (or evil PC party for that matter), this sort off mechanic can be quite useful for letting PC indulge in extrimes of either end of the alignment spectrum while passing through a town, and recognize that their actions have consequences.
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Perhaps I'm dence, but I can't seem to find out how long ago the prison burned. I saw the year it burned, but I don't have a clue what the current year is, and was actually under the impression that was very up to the DM to decide...
I get that this is likely going to result in someone telling me there is no set "when it happened", but the way it's presented I'm unsure enough to go ahead and ask.
If it turns out that it's completely up in the air...what are people thinking? Five years? Ten? A generation?
We don't usually list specific dates for when APs occur, so that GMs don't have their own campaign canon overwritten by "official" canon.
That being said, there is a default assumption that real-world years match years in Golarion, and that canon (including APs) progresses at the same rate. So since Carrion Crown was published in 2011, the "default date" for the AP is 4711, making the burning of Harrowstone Prison 50 years ago.
Again, however, those are default assumptions—in your campaign, these dates and times can be changed as you see fit.
I want to pick up on John Lynch 106's suggestion to make going to the prison taboo in order to make the PCs stay in the village more. I think as he described it, it was a bit heavy handed -- an inquisitor with a mob blocking the PCs, a trial in town -- but I think the idea is very sound at its core. With some tweaks, it can discourage PCs from going to the prison long enough for the encounters in town to take place.
I'm thinking the PCs should be discouraged until they gain the confidence of the villagers. This doesn't have to be via the trust mechanism, it can just reflect the villagers gaining confidence that the PCs can actually do something about the haunting of the prison.
I intend to have an NPC mention the prohibition on going to the prison early in the adventure. The rationale is a fear that the spirits within will be riled up by intruders. If the PCs insist on going to the prison anyways, they're stopped by a local ranger (as per John Lynch 106's suggestion) who tries to stop them from going to the prison, perhaps telling them they need to first get permission from the mayor. If the PCs proceed to prison anyway, they will be confronted by local authorities, or maybe an inquisitor. The PCs won’t be jailed, but they will lose their welcome in town.
I think something along the above lines will give the PCs an incentive to interact with the village, without distracting them from the fact that the prison is indeed the ultimate goal.
We don't usually list specific dates for when APs occur, so that GMs don't have their own campaign canon overwritten by "official" canon.That being said, there is a default assumption that real-world years match years in Golarion, and that canon (including APs) progresses at the same rate. So since Carrion Crown was published in 2011, the "default date" for the AP is 4711, making the burning of Harrowstone Prison 50 years ago.
Again, however, those are default assumptions—in your campaign, these dates and times can be changed as you see fit.
Killer, thank you. I was very much thinking about having one of the characters (likely an elf or dwarf with the number of years we're talking) be a former inmate in Harrowstone. Not sure if I would have them know anything about the fire though...just kinda depend on how the player bit at the background bait I offered up with this.
Voomer...I would keep things as noncombat oriented as possible with this idea. For one, it enforces the fact that the PCs are the ones who need to take care of this when there isn't some scary NPC with a group of goons willing to whallop them if they turn wrong. Two, I think things such as shunning and the evil eye are much more in keeping with Ravengro's theme than a mob of pitchfork armed peasantry, one particular encounter notwithstanding. If it comes to it, then yeah, they'll hop up and light the torches...I just think it will take a lot to get them to that point.