Harrowstone expansions / additional encounters


Carrion Crown


My party is rather large (6 players) so I am having to beef up encounters as I go. Here are a few additional encounters I've come up with:

Harrowstone Zombie CR 2
Male Human (Cursed Relentless Zombie)
NE Medium Undead
Init +1; Senses Darkvision (60 feet), Scent; Perception +0
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 13, touch 11, flat-footed 12. . (+1 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 36 (4d8+4)
Fort +1, Ref +2, Will +4
Immune Undead Traits
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 40 ft., Climbing (20 feet)
Melee Slam (Zombie) +5 (1d6+3/20/x2)
Special Attacks Zombie Curse (Curse) (DC 12)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 15, Dex 12, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 10
Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 16
Feats Toughness +4
Skills Modifiers +4 to Survival when tracking by Scent
Languages Hallit
SQ Quick Strikes (Ex)
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
+4 to Survival when tracking by Scent +4 to Survival when tracking by Scent.
Climbing (20 feet) You have a Climb speed.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Quick Strikes (Ex) Whenever a fast zombie takes a full-attack action, it can make one additional slam attack at its highest base attack bonus.
Scent (Ex) Detect opponents within 15+ feet by sense of smell.
Undead Traits Undead are immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, phantasms, and patterns), paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects
Zombie Curse (Curse) (DC 12) (Su) A cursed zombie gains the curse special attack, delivered with its slam attack. Zombie curse (Su) slam; save Will DC = 10 + 1/2 the zombie’s Hit Dice + the zombie’s Cha modifier; frequency —; effect each round you have a 50% chance to act normally, otherwise you are overcome by pain as you feel your skin burning off; cure —.

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.

These zombies don't resemble normal zombies; they look like burnt husks of meat, with smoke rising from in between cracks in their flesh. Anyone struck by them is overcome by flashes of intense pain as they feel the pain of the prisoners burning to death. This is reflected in the zombie curse: if you can't act normally, it is because you feel like you are burning to death.

Take advantage of their scent tracking ability to have them follow players to wherever they are staying, and use their climb skills to have them ambush from the rooftops. Any unusually intelligent tactics can be ascribed to the fell influence of Harrowstone. A pair of harrowstone zombies can make a devastating ambush: have 1 knock on the door (bonus points if it is the Professor's body!) and the other leap down from the roof when the players attack.

Harrowstone Skeleton CR 1
Male Human (Bloody, Burning Skeleton)
NE Medium Undead
Init +5; Senses Darkvision (60 feet); Perception +0
--------------------
DEFENSE
--------------------
AC 13, touch 11, flat-footed 12. . (+1 Dex, +2 natural)
hp 10 (1d8+2); Fast Healing 1
Fort +2, Ref +1, Will +2
Defensive Abilities Channel Resistance +4; DR 5/bludgeoning; Immune fire, Undead Traits
Weakness Vulnerability to Cold
--------------------
OFFENSE
--------------------
Spd 30 ft.
Melee Claw x2 (Skeleton) +1 x2 (1d4+1/20/x2)
--------------------
STATISTICS
--------------------
Str 12, Dex 12, Con -, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +0; CMB +1; CMD 12
Feats Improved Initiative
SQ Deathless (Su), Fiery Aura (Ex), Fiery Death (DC 12) (Su)
--------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
--------------------
Channel Resistance +4 +4 bonus to save vs. Channel Energy.
Damage Reduction (5/bludgeoning) You have Damage Reduction against all except Bludgeoning attacks.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white vision only).
Deathless (Su) Return to unlife 1 hour after being destroyed.
Fast Healing 1 (Ex) You heal damage every round if you have > 1 HP.
Fiery Aura (Ex) Creatures adjacent to a burning skeleton take 1d6 points of fire damage at the start of their turn. Anyone striking a burning skeleton with an unarmed strike or natural attack takes 1d6 points of fire damage.
Fiery Death (DC 12) (Su) A burning skeleton explodes into a burst of flame when it dies. Anyone adjacent to the skeleton when it is destroyed takes 1d6 points of fire damage per 2 Hit Dice the skeleton possessed (minimum 1d6). A Reflex save (DC = 10 + 1/2 the skeleton's Hit Dice + the skeleton's Charisma modifier) halves this damage.
Immunity to Fire You are immune to fire damage.
Undead Traits Undead are immune to death effects, disease, mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, morale effects, phantasms, and patterns), paralysis, poison, sleep, stun, and any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects
Vulnerability to Cold You are vulnerable (+50% damage) to Cold damage.

Hero Lab® and the Hero Lab logo are Registered Trademarks of LWD Technology, Inc. Free download at http://www.wolflair.com
Pathfinder® and associated marks and logos are trademarks of Paizo Publishing, LLC®, and are used under license.

These skeletons replace the burning skulls in the town hall encounter. I think 3 of them should make a nasty surprise for the party. Their first clue that something is wrong is when the doors of the town hall burst open at the same time the lamps in the room flare up. They have to deal with the fire and the skeletons at the same time.

Bloody and burning together is easy to parse: describe it as the skeletons continually weeping bloody tears and wailing in unbearable pain. You could describe their bones as crispy and blackened, dripping sizzling gobbets of fat. I think a "frying bacon" smell would really creep players out.

These variant bloody skeletons can only be truly destroyed by cleansing Harrowstone prison of its unholy taint or by sprinkling their remains with water taken from area R10 in Harrowstone (the murky pond) that has been blessed. This quenches the fiery torment of their spirits and allows them to be at peace.

Using the spirit planchette to determine this is a fantastic way to introduce players to its use.

Community / Forums / Pathfinder / Pathfinder Adventure Path / Carrion Crown / Harrowstone expansions / additional encounters All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Carrion Crown
Conversion to 2e