Recently started, so still on Haunting of Harrowstone...
The first couple of days, they try all their options to research; and with a Trust score still relatively unchanged, and low Diplomacy scores; they get the doors closed in their faces pretty much everywhere. So. Instead of re-reading the journal (secret cache hint, totally overlooked) or waiting, they decide to go headlong to Harrowstone itself within the first three days... thus missing all of the chances in town to raise Trust levels... AND being 1st level going into the prison. Oy.
Fortunately, my group of three became a group of 6 on the second session.. they found Vesorianna and talked with her, so they've got the general gist of the "Big 5".. and now we've got seven, as of the third (and latest) session. Still showing their headstrong-iness(?), the group decided to go upstairs when they found them; so no items to help against the Piper.
This, by the way, leads me to a question... beyond the cursed pipe, is there any way to fight/damage the Piper haunt? I noticed its' hit points, but considering it only physically manifests to the poor sap who gets held by the effect, I'm at a loss as to how my brave/foolhardy group can fight the thing.
Another question... our resident sorceress tried to cast defensively.. which says you make a roll against a DC to cast your spell and not provoke attacks of op. The question is, if you don't make the DC, do you still provoke attacks? You lose the spell, at the least...
Ah, I almost forgot; another note/question: I was thinking it'd be nice to have an actual track of a flute for when the Piper manifests.. a good mournful dirge... any suggestions?
There's a thread around this board that goes over haunts. Basically the general feeling is that you can hurt haunts in two categorical ways. First is per haunt description (hot metal in cold spot haunts, dumping the bones from the furnace haunt) or items directly designed to harm them (haunt siphons from the graveyard cache, Piper's pipes) and second is per GM decision.
The second way is up to you. When I ran it, I allowed my players to pour out vials of holy water (2d4 damage) and cure potions, channel energy, etc. Some GMs allow spells like disrupt undead to work, or even CLW wands cast into the air.
As for the cache, if you really want the players to find it, use Kendra. After a bad time at the prison, have her come over to them (or meet them at breakfast) with the professor's journal in hand. Have her point out the passages and suggest that there might be useful things there.
As for the trust system, have the sheriff or bartender explain that they are new and most people 'round these parts don't right trust new folks until they go and prove themselves by helping out.
Also to note: the trust system is a bit... lacking. It doesn't explicitly identify nearly enough ways to give players trust points. I let my players get an extra point or two for helping out the townsfolk in general activities (as farm hands, buying rounds for the tavern, assisting with gathering herbs for the apothecary, assisting at the church, so on). I also went light on the trust loss so long as they were visible in town.
If the players want to run around Harrowstone at level 1, let them. It isn't easy but not too deadly. It is meant to be explored around level 2-3 and finished at maybe 4. That is not a huge difference in power. Just remember to scale encounter sizes/difficulties according to your player count (the adventure is meant to be for just 4 characters).
Yeah, they're doing alright so far. Big problem with the trust points is, they moved -fast.- In the first couple of days, they tried to go to the places to do studies, and because no big events had happened yet, low Trust. The first letter appeared with the SM event, and they rushed to Harrowstone to investigate. No chance for opportunities to gain Trust; really... and of course, they're of the mindset that the townsfolk are all just jerks.
I probably will take your advice on the cache and Kendra, because it seems they totally missed that clue.
I would recommend that if they help out during the events that the townsfolk are more thankful than they may otherwise be. More like, "Maybe you aren't so bad after all. Thanks for saving me!"
One little side adventure I had in there was the disappearance of a neighbor girl of Kendra's, named Sarah, whose family runs the farm that Gibs rents his shack from.
My characters were interested in tracking down the missing girl and questioned gibs (allowing him more jerkish face time). I gave them clues indicating that she had been kidnapped (a small smear of blood on the stable door - where she disappeared from while helping put the animals away), sign of a struggle.
They found her locked in an empty wine cask in Gib's shack's crawlspace/cellar. The other wine casks were filled with blood. Gibs was under compulsion to ignore her pleas, as if they didn't exist.
They tracked her down by raiding Gibs' shack and finding her.
Gibs ran off, but his compulsion continued to fill out the name and he was caught. Though he proclaimed his innocence.
Having one or two named characters or families (The Ellis family, Ms. Ellis, Sarah's mother, Father Grimburrow, and the Sheriff) on the party's side (even if the rest of the town is anxious and avoids them) can help the party feel more like they have a place in town.
Good idea and there is certainly time and xp budget to allow for side adventures. Level 2-3 is a good point for Harrowstone lest they get oneshot by some of the more powerful creatures... and going downstairs at less than 3 is decidedly dangerous (assuming you increase combat by appropriate amounts for the larger party).
Ah, I almost forgot; another note/question: I was thinking it'd be nice to have an actual track of a flute for when the Piper manifests.. a good mournful dirge... any suggestions?
Searching "Sad Flute" on YouTube brought me to this. Lots of them throw in various drums or other instruments. This one seems to have the flute by itself the longest.
Also to note: the trust system is a bit... lacking.
This needs to be stressed. Somewhere there is a thread where one of the Paizo bigwigs admitted that they forgot to include enough ways for the PCs to raise their trust score.
Time to improvise, Paul.
I also found that speeding up the Splatter Man's spelling timeline to be most efficacious, but all parties differ.
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What Doodlebug said.
I improvised and came up with simple methods of earning more trust. For example, the Fighter at my table has no skills to contribute to the researching. Instead, I let him spend the day doing various jobs (i.e. hard labor) for people around town. I awarded each PC that did this 1 trust point each day.
It struck a nice balance and felt organic, as by the point the Town Hall attack broke out, that put their Trust score at a pretty high mark since they saved the building and prevented any casualties.
I also sped up the Splatter Man's spelling as well, from 2d4 days to 1d4. It increased the sense of urgency, but still didn't feel rushed (since they have TEN freaking letters to get through.) They defeated the Splatter Man on the 17th day of their stay in Ravengro, which I felt exceeded my expectations. :P
Hee hee!
I had to speed it up to every night.
Ah, my players!