Looking for some Advice and Opinions

[spalapagas]

Hey all,
So I just picked up the ROTRAE about a week ago and I have read through to just about the end of the Hook Mountain Massacre. I'm going to be GM'ing for 4 of my friends and I was hoping to get some pointers on running this thing well.
The party comp is a little weird but I think it'll be okay. We are running 20 point buy system.

-Male Half-elf Bard, high Cha and a Decent Str: He's taking Grease and CLW, which looks like 2 pretty good choices.

-Male Aasimir Magus most likely Str Based with Shocking Grasp for High damage. Personally not a fan of Evocation but on the Magus it works.

-Female Sylph Inquisitor, Good Wis and Str, took Growth Domain and runs around with a Trident, Took CLW as well and Break Bonds.

-Female Drow Urban Ranger, High Dex Crossbow style. The rest of the group doesnt know the race and she plans to wear scarf, goggles, hood and such to hide her race.

So my questions are this:

1)Do you think this group can survive past Foxglove Manor, I have a feeling someone is going to kill themselves. My worry is that without a cleric or paladin all the group can do is try to make saves.

2)How can I use the Magus to hint at Nualia, maybe a few comments thrown in about how he reminds them of this poor girl who "died" a while back.

3)What do I do about this Drow thing? I mean if the NPC's find out about her during the Goblin Raid or not long after how would they react? Im thinking they should be hostile towards her until she hits level 3 at which point she can take Sandpoint as her Favored Community.

4)I think Aldern will become obssesed with the Sylph while the bard will be asked to go check out some rats..cough..cough. Seems good right?

5) Apparantly Im supposed to keep track of the PC's sin an Virtue and there are some good examples in the book, but does anyone else have any advice on how they did with this/ did anyone bait their PC's at all?

6) The last haunt in the manor causes the PC to want to eat some nummy nummy mushrooms, do these mushrooms cause the PC to have to make a save vs the nasty disease running around?

And Finally, does this party need a 5th? Ideally another friend but if I cant find one, a DMPC adventurer or the archer elf(blanking on name)set her to same level as the party and have her help at Thistle top, then have a cleric/pally join for the Foxglove Manor and to deal with X(I heard she's a TPK monster) and then have the elf return as per book 3. The other option would be to run 4 man until the bard hits 6 and then he can take leadership.

Sorry for the long post :)

*Edit: Also are there any suggestions for secondary material? I have Beginner Box map and figs as well as ROTR face cards.

[Dark_Mistress]

As far as how they can tackle the adventure, it depends a lot on how clever/experienced they are. I don't think they will have a huge problem with killing stuff. i think their biggest problem will be with healing. Adding a 5th especially a cleric I think would help a lot. But even a Oracle or Witch(can heal some but mostly to debuff enemies so they do less damage) would help a lot.

[Derek Vande Brake]

1) I think if they play it smart, the bard and the inquisitor together could make one good healer, but one of them might want to put ranks in UMD and buy a wand or three later. But, as D_M said, a 5th would certainly help. In addition to her Cleric/Oracle/Witch suggestions, I'd add Druid, or possibly (with the right choices and archetype) a Paladin. Of the "healer" classes, I think witches are the only ones who don't get any of the Restoration spells, though druids only get lesser restoration. But this may not be an issue as inquisitors do get restoration spells.

2) Personally, I would have the townsfolk treat the magus in a very similar manner to how they treated Nualia. Make him feel almost harassed and the object of jealousy, especially if he grew up in town. Have a kinder character, like Father Z, express sympathy at this treatment, mentioning that it is how "that other aasimar was treated." In this way you can both give the backstory, and also introduce a bit of sympathy for Nualia which will lead to some fun RP when they have to face her.

3) You are pretty much going to have to bend suspension of disbelief on this one. The player's just going to have to be extra careful, and when the drow has saved the town enough times, people won't be quite so quick to burn her at the stake. And even then, you are going to have to make the reaction of the townsfolk a lot more moderate than it realistically should be. It's going to be tough, but not impossible. It would especially help if she is a very religious person who openly follows a good deity. Ad if all else fails, stretch WBL and give her a hat of disguise from the beginning of the game, and deduct the cost from party treasure over time.

4) Definitely sounds like the way to go.

5) Personally, I think if you are going to bait them towards vice, you should also bait them towards virtue.

6) There's a bit on the previous page, 106, that details this.
"The fungus on the wall comprises the remains of Vorel Foxglove—after his wife disrupted the ritual he was performing here to become a lich, the necromantic energy lashed back and destroyed his physical body, transforming it into the embodiment of contagion and fungoid corruption that grows on the wall here. Anyone who touches the foul fungus must make a DC 20 Fortitude save or immediately contract Vorel’s Phage (see page 94). The onset, in this case, is immediate — the character takes the ability damage at once. Actually ingesting a portion of the fungus imparts a –4 penalty on the saving throw."

7) It's up to you if you want to add a 5th. As mentioned above, it would certainly make things *easier*, but with an inquisitor and a bard I don't think it is *necessary*. Personally, I'd avoid it at first. If things seem too hard for your party, you can always bring someone else in. But if you are too quick to add a 5th, and things start being TOO easy, you now have to do extra work to make all the encounters tougher - or kick out a player to bring it back to 4, which would kind of be a jerk move.

[Dark_Mistress]

A druid or Pally could work too. Also the witch can get restoration spells with the healing patron, which in that group wouldn't be a bad choice.

[Mazra]

My two CPs worth:

1.)

spoiler:

They might survive past Foxglove Manor, but the Clock Tower in Magnimar may be another issue. As DM, I see no reason why you couldn't modify Shalelu by changing out her Fighter class for Druid, keeping of course the Ranger levels. Quite frankly I wish I had done that in my campaign. This could make the difference in the lack of healing.

2.) Derek above has a great idea for this one.

3.)

spoiler:

By the end of the Skinsaw Man the party should have found some nice magic items to help mask your Drow character. We have a Drow in the party from my campaign, and she cloaked herself in the beginning, but now has plenty of magic items to changer her appearance. (We are in the Hook Mountains now.

4.) Seems about right. ;)

5.) I keep a game log, and have a page for tracking virtues and vices. As much as possible, I let things move along organically. I threw in a side adventure to help create some role playing opportunities for the party before they reached Foxglove Manor.

6.)

spoiler:

Without a Cleric, scattering a few Cleric scrolls around the Catacombs or Thistletop may be a good idea before they start dealing with the Ghouls and the Manor. The side adventures can be helpful too. You want to make sure the characters are at the recommended level, if not one level higher than the module recommends if the party is struggling along. (My party could have used an extra level when they faced Xanesha.) Having some nice cheap Healing Potions available doesn't hurt.

Some DMs relish the TPK. I for one try hard to avoid this outcome. A fun challenge makes the best game. RotRL is a fantastic set of adventures.

Good luck and enjoy!

Mazra