I would like to say that I love the little tidbits included on the front and back inside cover. They make for excellent little ideas to throw in or even seeds for smaller quests. I'm considering using them in my games but I have a question or two.
First is Saffron House. I like the idea of it but I need to know if it will be featured later in the AP. I'm not asking for spoilers but only to know if I should avoid taking the initiative to avoid fleshing out the location on my own when if is done so later in the AP. I don't want to end up regretting it. It seems like a semi-important location and I wouldn't want to tread on already established material that might come up later.
Also, I like the idea of the the starving spectre, really cool idea. However I know exactly what my players will ask me if I try and reveal his backstory. Wouldn't he have suffocated in his cheap coffin long before slowly starving to death? In that case he wouldn't be so starving, would he? More like the gasping ghost. The asphyxiated apparition?
Creative Director
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I would like to say that I love the little tidbits included on the front and back inside cover. They make for excellent little ideas to throw in or even seeds for smaller quests. I'm considering using them in my games but I have a question or two.
First is Saffron House. I like the idea of it but I need to know if it will be featured later in the AP. I'm not asking for spoilers but only to know if I should avoid taking the initiative to avoid fleshing out the location on my own when if is done so later in the AP. I don't want to end up regretting it. It seems like a semi-important location and I wouldn't want to tread on already established material that might come up later.
Also, I like the idea of the the starving spectre, really cool idea. However I know exactly what my players will ask me if I try and reveal his backstory. Wouldn't he have suffocated in his cheap coffin long before slowly starving to death? In that case he wouldn't be so starving, would he? More like the gasping ghost. The asphyxiated apparition?
Saffron house (including a map of the house) has more information at the end of Rule of Fear, the big 64 page book about Ustalav.
But for the most part, the inside cover blurbs are meant to be legends and the like of the region—we first started doing this type of inside cover with Serpent's Skull, and I really like how we've refined it for Carrion Crown. Expect to see this inside cover treatment sticking around for a while... even if the art style will be changing as appropriate for each AP.
Saffron House, in any event, does not play a major role as written in the Adventure Path.
As for the starving spectre... remember that these are legends. They don't necessarily reflect reality... nor do they have all the details. Perhaps the poor fool was wearing a necklace of adaptation when he got buried?
Good to know about Saffron House, I've already pre-ordered Rule of Fear so I'll hold off on that for later. Yes, I figure they're legends that I can spin to my players... but I know my players and there may be a good chance that one of them will want to follow up on legends. PCs don't just listen to legends, they try and find them.
Also, that's what I chalked up the spectre to (or at least that detail), just a story. I suppose the old crone they hear it from would have no answer and become rather flustered indeed if they bring that up. A treasure similar to the necklace would be a good one if such a spectre existed and they bested it. I was trying to think of a way it could happen without giving them something inappropriate for their level. Looks like it'll be a side-quest for later on if they go after it.
I basically just wanted to know if we DMs were free to pursue these and develop them on our own or if we should hold off because it is done later.
Thanks.
Don't worry, while all of these stories and superstitions coincide with themes in the various adventures, none are threads we'll be picking up in later volumes of this AP. Down the line, that's another story, but not in Carrion Crown. (I'd love to do something with this Saffron House someday, and have a lot of idea for pretty much all of the haunted locations detailed in the back of Rule of Fear.)
As for your concerns about the starving specter, remember that much of Ustalav takes its inspiration from gothic tropes, and I drew a lot of inspiration on this one from descriptions of saftey coffins - which is what it's getting at when it talks about Cobermain designing his own coffin. In some cases, "safety coffin" is a bit of a misnomer, as the actual apparatuses - bells, flags, breathing tubes, feeding pipes, speaking tubes, windows, etc - were built into headstones or provided by the cemetery. With this in mind, or without - as you can see from James's suggestion above - it's not difficult to imagine the variety of routes available to a GM interested in playing up this tale.
That's pretty much the point with these too, they're creepy idea generators, do with them what you will. But by the same token, these are also meant to be vignettes, not full features, so if there are gaps in the details - as there often are in folktales and urban legends (and any story I have fewer than 100 words to tell in) - either just run with it, or even better, feel free to fill in your own details. I promise we're not going to come behind and tell any GM they're wrong for coming up with their own awesome work inspired by these bits.
Thanks Wes. While I'm well aquainted with the idea of safety coffins the snippet specifically states he was not buried in one and instead buried "on the cheap" in a regular coffin. My problem came from me trying to figure a workaround when all coffin related precautions were defeated by this fact. So, like James suggested, it would have to be what he was buried with instead of what he was buried inside of.
I was well prepared to fill in the gaps, my original aim was (after confirming I' not crazy for thinking this) to wonder what others would do. Again, I have no problem playing along with it but I know my players (and their characters) will want a realistic explaination. I just didn't want to be caught looking like an idiot when neither I nor any NPC had an answer. XD
Thanks again to the both of you, this is why I love Paizo. Now I'm looking forward to Rule of Fear even more.