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Context: I'm GMing the module for a friend who's playing a 4 PCs team (a fighter, a rogue, a druid and an oracle), they're 2nd level. They have gone through Hollow's Last Hope previously.
First question is a bit general: the characters have already gone through quite a bit of the dungeon (1st level) and have taken a beating (especially with the lizards, strangely enough). It was becoming obvious to me that the group wouldn't survive without resting with all that's left to do and the player also felt that way so I allowed an 8 hours rest and reassured him that I wouldn't be mean about it when it comes to the story.
I wanted to ask for advice before but now it's happened. I'm still curious to know if others would have done that differently: not allow rest without story consequences (time is of the essence after all)? Add healing items on the fly as treasure to help the characters?
Or is there something else that my player and myself are missing that could have helped the survivability of the group?
The next question is specific: the group has finally encountered the "ghost". I tried to play it out as suggested: mysteriously eerie. Because of context (one recent fight was against the Wraith), the player is seriously scared of hard to hit / magical monsters. "Yet another ghost" is obviously not a good thing. So we've had quite a bit of running about, trying to lose the ghostie, to no avail (it's slow, but not *that* slow).
He finally decided to wait and attack the thing. But when the bolt got stuck in midair and dissolved... well... let's say there was even more running after that :). He also tried some Create Water on it which I described as splashing all around with water rolling around a wobbly cubic shape. I thought this would be enough to let the cat out of the bag, but nope! (I also mentioned the shimmering light and the hissing -- more or less read the description from the module)
So now, the group is back up outside, in the open court of the monastery, and they've spotted the armor in one of the hallways (I figured it would follow, and blindsight means it can't really lose them unless they really go far away).
All this is done and I can't quite retcon this. That said, I'm eager for advice on how I could have possibly dealt with this in a better way. Since this is a one-on-one game, should I be much more active in dropping hints as a GM?
Of note: I was ready to have two PCs find out about the creature's true nature (they made their pre-emptive Perception/Dungeoneering checks), but that's *just* when he decided to flee. Felt like I had missed my cue and could not find a new one :/
Frankly, the biggest problem is that instead of a memorable encounter, this turned out to be a very boring one so far. I can't blame the player since he's had reasons to be scared... but eh.
How I'm seeing this possibly develop: if the player actually decides to lure out the armor in the court, I'll fully describe what it truly is. It should be obvious in daylight and without walls surrounding most of its sides.
Since I'm not a terribly experimented player either (I mostly GM), I wouldn't mind tips on defeating a Cube. If needed, I could use that to drop hints to the player.
Thanks for any help!
Any encounter where the PC's run in fear for their lives is not "boring", hehe.
The mithral plate in that "ghost" is well worth them figuring out how to beat it, imho.
If one of them makes their Knowledge: Arcana roll to identify the aberration, then they may surmise what they're looking-at. You've already had your fun with the running and the screaming etc.
Any encounter where the PC's run in fear for their lives is not "boring", hehe.
I'm not an adversarial GM, and even if I can appreciate some "muahaha" moments, when fear paralyzes the player to the point where they mind-blank as to what to do, it's *definitely* not fun anymore :/
If one of them makes their Knowledge: Arcana roll to identify the aberration, then they may surmise what they're looking-at. You've already had your fun with the running and the screaming etc.
Aberrations are recognized through Knowledge Dungeoneering actually. That said, I realize Knowledge Religion could have been used in a reversed way: "you know undead, and that's no ghost". Sadly, the group doesn't have that skill, so it's a moot point in my case.
Anyway, we're long past this encounter this, but I thought I might as well mention how I solved the issue so other GMs can maybe get and idea or two out of it. And if not, well, too bad.
I had a long discussion with the player about the situation to pinpoint what the problem really was. It was mostly a trauma from the previous actual incorporeal undead that almost wiped them out (no magic weapons yet)... This turned into paranoia and mind-paralysis when it comes to thinking up ways of beating such a (supposed) creature.
I talked to other people about the issue and, slowly, an idea grew...
When we came back to the session, we resumed outside, in the courtyard. Soon enough, after more hesitation, I had the cube come out. While the creature had been revealed, I was pre-emptively guessing the player, not familiar with D&D lore, was not going to know how to deal with it anyway. As such, I had prepared a flash-back for one of his characters, the fighter.
Back many years ago, when the fighter was still a child. Dad asks him to fetch something from the basement. Turns out there's a recent crack in the wall and, 'lo, a juvenile cube comes through it. What to do, what to do?
To make this scene as fruitful as possible, I layed various situational tools around the basement: a trapdoor for refuse, a large metal container (wasn't quite clear on what it was but it was metal! :p) and various potential weapons made of various materials (wood, metal and bone). It was also made clear that he was in no danger of dying since this was a flashback. As much as possible, I wanted to give the player a safe environment in which to experiment and discover how the creature worked, while having some character development.
Also, just in case he didn't feel adventurous enough, I had prepared two sentimental items in the basement: an old wooden horse I assumed he loved to play with, and if that didn't work, fabric dolls belonging to his sister. Don't let the cube near those!
Since I didn't want to be burdened by the Pathfinder system (quite crunchy), I also temporarily switched to the FU RPG (free) which made everything very light and easy to run... just more cinematic, really.
Ultimately, this was a great success: the character managed to trap the cube in the pit and it ended up serving as a refuse disposal system for many years, yey! But more importantly, the player had learned what a cube could do and a potential way to get rid of it with what was at hand... That well in the courtyard served him well :)
The only remaining issue is that he was happy to be rid of it that he did not bother getting the magical loot out of it :[... Oh well, can't win everytime.