We were considering running this in between our usual sessions of our Rise of the Runelords campaign. Other than upping the CL of the opponents, what else do we need to be aware of? (Are there any parts of the adventure, story-wise, that challenge level 3, but are easily bypassed by higher level PCs?)
Help/suggestions are appreciated!
I haven't read every detail of the adventure yet but after a skim through the structure and basic encounters it seems...
...divination magic and the like may kill the mystery about the mayor as the leader of the cult and whatnot. The thrust of the adventure seems to be uncovering the hidden cult and that mystery may be destroyed by higher level magic. From what I gather the big, alien mosquito monster at the end is powerful enough for the level range you're talking about...
...the last bit was a joke (obviously) but the monster does look super cool.
So a solution is to neutralize divination, with a possible explanation afterwards that "big bad guy was supernaturally supressing attempts to detect" or something like that?
Thanks for the advice, EotD. I don't always think about the lateral thinking tactics that become available at mid to high levels.
You could also just ward the big bads against divination magics too. If they're getting leveled up then there is no reason to say they don't have access to that sort of protection. Alternatively it could be a byproduct of the supernatural presence.
I've only skimmed the module though, so it may be simpler or more difficult than that.
Essentially mysteries are a little more difficult to run for higher levels but as long as you take a few minutes to determine the character's capabilities and the defenses against such things they can still work without arbitrarily shutting down their abilities. Well, offering an explanation for shutting them down anyway. :D
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Some quick notes from work:
The most important aspect of Feast of Ravenmoor is the setup of the relationship between the villagers and the outsiders. The paradox is that the adventure won't work unless the villagers first trust the PCs enough to allow them into the feast, and the establishment of this trust takes place in the main series of encounters on the festival grounds, where PCs are given a chance to "play along" and ingrain themselves with the village. Without this, the villagers might as well just gang up on the PCs, shanghai them, and get right to the ritual. But that isn't their nature, nor the point of the adventure...the party has to be lured in, and they, in turn, have to lure the villagers in as well.
So, you can't dismiss those festival encounters, and yet I'm not sure what you can do to bolster them up to a CR 9 level. I mean, most of them are innocent carnival games, some of which are rigged a bit to harm PCs a little or see what they're made of, and PCs of your group's level are going to be superhuman in comparison to the typical cultist, so it will be no contest. I'm not sure changing the CR for those games is the right way to go -just be prepared to have a cadre of "OhmygoodnessyoupeoplearewalkingGODSaren'tyou???" responses to PCs who can perform such challenges that are, you know, challenging to your average hard-working farmer, with one leg tied behind their back and a blindfold on. Use that overbearing level of skill to really play up the villager's acceptance of the party. With the way they'll be blowing through the challenges (you could bolster them a bit, mind you), the villagers ought to be hoisting the PCs up on their shoulders and treating them like the god-like heroes they will seem...
Until the high-level bad-asses you've reworked arrive on the scene that night, of course!
RPG Superstar 2014 Top 16
|
I ran the adventure for a level 6 party with practically no modifications. I made the cultists into 3rd level Commoners and gave the Mayor an extra level, and I gave the monster at the end the Advanced Simple Template, but left the rest pretty much intact. It was an easy time for the PCs, but they had a great time having a "vacation" from the level-appropriate challenges they'd been facing for a while.
The PCs are really supposed to win the festival games anyway, so there was no major problem there. But if they aren't sporting about it, I could see the villagers being less accepting of their heroic feats and actually becoming scared of them. It depends on your group, though.
You could also consider replacing or adding some of the games to be things that are less physical and less likely to be things the PCs are good at. How about a pumpkin-carving contest, for example? Unless one of the PCs has ranks in Perform: sculpting or something, they're less likely to be AWESOME at it (though with high ability scores, they will still likely do well).