I really liked the duality of the Heldren-Waldsby. I built on the idea that everyone in Heldren has a "double" in Waldsby, by giving the PCs doubles as well. I took a bit of the each PC's personality/skills/backstory and warped them to make a deplorable version of the PC. My players seemed to really enjoy interacting with and learning to hate their doubles. It really cemented the "Heldren-Waldsby have weird similarity that can't be coincidence" plot.
The doubles ended up leaving Waldsby before the PCs went to deal with the Pale Tower. I'm planning to have the doubles make an appearance somewhere in Whitethrone. If they survive long enough, I'll have them end up working for Elvanna (or one of her servants), and have them encounter the PCs as recurring enemies in later adventures.
PC Aeon "the Insightful" is an Ulfen barbarian from a small village in the Lands of the Linnorm Kings. His double was his childhood rival, Grimbo, who always seemed to one-up him. Grimbo appears to be a decent guy, which makes Aeon look like the bad guy, but Grimbo really is a jerk. This was emphasized by the fact that Aeon attempted to fight Grimbo every time they bumped into each other in Waldsby. It culminated with Aeon attacking Grimbo, when the rest of the group was fighting Volan and the innkeepers. Grimbo left Aeon for dead and doesn't expect to see him again. (Aeon's recklessness cost him 2 Hero Points)
PC Rena is a changeling sorcerer from Heldren, that grew up as an anti-social outcast. Her double is James, an arrogant womanizer from Waldsby. He's basically a young Zapp Brannigan. James quickly became enamored with Rena, even though she rebuffed his advances, with shocking grasp. Rena hopes to never see James again.
PC Mokoa is a former slave-driver from Cheliax turned Cleric of Sarenrae with a drinking problem. His double, Latate, is a slave driver from Cheliax, who really likes his job (think Krombopulos Michael). Latate came through a Winter Portal that appeared in Cheliax with Arcellmy. Mokoa shared many drinks with Latate, but thinks he is beyond redemption, even by Sarenrae.
PC Roland is a former minor noble from Taldor, that killed his brother in a duel over the right to marry the love of his life. Roland now seeks redemption by serving as an inquisitor of Sarenrae. His "double", Arcellmy, broke her cousin, Nazhena Vasillonva's arm, when she was young. Nazhena got her vengeance by faking Arcellmy's death and selling her to a slaver from Cheliax. Arcellmy returned to Irrisen after convincing Latate of her noble heritage. Roland didn't really interact with her much, as he spent most of his time keeping Aeon away from Grimbo, and James away from Rena. I didn't make her parallel to Roland strong enough, so I decided Arcellmy actually killed Roland's "real" double back in Cheliax. Hopefully, this will be revealed the next time they meet.
PC Thelmyr is a dwarven wizard. His whole backstory was about how he struggled in his youth to prove that he could use brains over bronze to overcome obstacles. His double, Myriad, is a halfling witch, that believes dwarves are stupid and bad at magic. She found the concept of a dwarf wizard super hilarious, and spent most of the time laughing at/making fun of Thelmyr, while he tried to prove he was good at magic. Thelmyr was really looking for an excuse to have magic duel with her, but she left town before he got the chance.
Any ideas on how to increase the difficulty of the Winter Portal encounter?
I have six players, and I've leveled them up to 3 due to their participation in a homebrew arc where they defended Heldren from an attack by Irrisen's forces. The Battle of Heldren was a brutal series of encounters that lasted three sessions.
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I'm worried my PCs won't get it in their heads to go to the Pale Tower. The Black Rider even says that the portal to Taldor is only one of many. I'm worried the PCs will take that to mean "Closing this portal is worthless. We should figure out how to stop ALL the portals". So, how do I keep the PCs on the railroad without letting them see the tracks?
Simple as: Maybe if we learn how to close this portal we can get to close all the portals. They have a good opportunity there to investigate about it. Just make them know.
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Or have Radosek kidnap or arrest a beloved NPC so that they have to free him/her from the pale tower.
We had recruited Nadya and she wanted to take revenge of Nazhena so we went there looking for her. Also Lady Argentea was part of our group and she faced her own doppleganger. It was funny.
Lady Argentea facing her own doppelganger. That is epic!
My group took along Nadya. She is married to one of the PCs now, and pregnant.
Our Argentea is a Fighter and my character and her had been kinda intimate at that point. It was funny having both of them trying to convince my character that they were the real one and me wondering if I had being dating a doppleganger.
I even suggested that the fake one might not know it was a copy. It was pretty cool.
I think that you should make that GMs call. When I played that part I already thought it was pretty straightforward and had enough combat encounters, so I wouldn't have enjoyed to get more of them.
If your party seems to be enjoying them you could throw some more encounters but if they find them boring or repetitive just skip them.
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I forgot to recheck the board before running the game ^^
I ended up not doing any further combat encounters. I think they were kinda done after the mantis. Then the PCs were suspicious of Mierul and wouldn't let her leave the group unescorted (plus our magus straight up told her they were in Irrisen because of witches), so the rest of the trip went uneventfully until they got to Waldsby and let her go, because they had no more reason to keep her.
It was an interesting encounter indeed. They added something to the story and we were afraid some of them got away and alerted the Witches.
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The spell Irrisini Mirror Sight specifically says that "you receive only visual information". However, in multiple locations the AP mentions using the spell to pass information. And in several places in this thread people have talking about this spell in a similar way. Is it intended to be able to speak and hear through this spell? Or is everyone just houseruling it the same way?
The spell Irrisini Mirror Sight specifically says that "you receive only visual information". However, in multiple locations the AP mentions using the spell to pass information. And in several places in this thread people have talking about this spell in a similar way. Is it intended to be able to speak and hear through this spell? Or is everyone just houseruling it the same way?
Write a note and hold it up so it can be read. Lip-reading. Some form of sign language, even.
There are several ways to pass on information in a visual-only format.
Honestly I would just allow sound through it - although lipreading also works.
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The spell Irrisini Mirror Sight specifically says that "you receive only visual information". However, in multiple locations the AP mentions using the spell to pass information. And in several places in this thread people have talking about this spell in a similar way. Is it intended to be able to speak and hear through this spell? Or is everyone just houseruling it the same way?
The users passed notes in our games. In fact, I believe that I'd set it so that the PCs found some of the notes one-way notes of the conversation between Radosek and Nazhena in the Pale Tower.
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I ended up allowing sound. Made the initial interactions with Radosek more fun. He was suave.
My rundown of the pale tower:
The troll who wanted to eat the dogs earned the PCs wrath far greater than anything else in the tower. And they refused to leave the courtyard before the guards were dead. But they had very few ways to deal damage at range, so I let them climb the chutes at a pretty high climb DC to end things.
The water elemental bashed in a 3pp sphere user pretty good. He stuck his face right over the bath, so the elemental grappeled his face. I could have just had the elemental swim down with him in tow, but I felt that'd have been too mean.
Hestrig got a nice crit on the sphere user (he had a rough dungeon) that brought him down to 1 hp from actual death, but got a potion before his next turn.
The mandragora never managed to break out of his chains. He had several rounds to try, but rolled poorly.
Jairess could've been a much bigger problem than she was. We had a character change from witch to zen archer to balance out the party halfway though the tower, but she was immediately blinded by ravens. I ended up not using the windwall, because then it'd have just been really annoying for everyone. The sphere user then heal checked the eyesight back.
I played the spriggan as just an angry cook. He yelled and shooed the party (who were mostly wearing guard uniforms) out of the kitchen. The wizard noted the cookies and asked for one. The wizard ate the spiteful cookie. He does not realize the impact of that yet.
The party didn't clear out the barracks before attacking Radosek. This will be relevant later.
I also gave him a bunch of scrolls of mirror sight, so he knew when the PCs were going to attack him.
I realize now that I was running the teleporters incorrectly. I missed the bit where the ice melts immediately; I had it melting after a round. After a few uses, I modified it to let two people teleport at once, but that's my bad. Sorry players.
Radosek, knowing the players were coming up, got a surprise round to finish his summoning. I also gave him a bestow curse to replace his mirror sight. Luckily the monk saved on it and then slaughtered Valstoi.
The bloodrager smashed and the archer shot radosek, who was now flying. He flew out the nearby window, much to the annoyance of the PCs, who thought he was going to escape (though he had no plans to do so).
The wizard doled out the three featherfall potions to the bloodrager, archer, and sphere user (healer), while the wizard and magus took the long way down.
Now with an animated dragon statue and 2d8+3 more hp, Radosek resumed battle, and called into the barracks to gain more support. He blinded the monk (for the second time this game), and supported the dragon until it fell. After a few rounds the guards came, half armored, half not. The evoker wizard dropped the unarmored half with a burning hands, while the magus fought the remaining guards, including the seargent.
The sphere user ran out of spell points, but took out the dragon and Radosek in subsequent rounds with the elixer of fire breath. With the boss man unconsious (but stable) and all of the other guards dead, the seargent surrendered.
We ran out of time from there, but I think the party has a single 2nd level spell, no rounds of bloodrage, no spell points, and few (if any) cure scrolls left. All in all, a good time. Now just have to finish deactivating the portal to round out book 1.
The wintertouched template actually turns things blue - it's visually distinctive.
Later fey don't have the wintertouched template and thus aren't blue, but may well have other templates that are visually distinct in their own right.
(plus our magus straight up told her they were in Irrisen because of witches)
Our dwarven melee wizard did the same thing adding that we were there to KILL said witches. Party made a furious attempt to convince her he was crazy and that we were fur traders, complete with both weasel and giant hamster fur as proof.
It was the other guy's turn gming, but I'm pretty sure we failed that bluff.
I got this item from 3.5's Magic of Faerun, then adapted it somewhat.
The caster level is 3rd, and the base price is 1200gp. The cloak weighs one pound.
The cloak sheds all precipitation down to the knees. Once per day it can become a one man tent. Every day, it provides up to 2 gallons of either sugared hot tea or cool spring water in a 1pint flask in a pocket inside the cloak. As well, you get trail rations for one person each day. You could alter this to instead provide racial trail rations like Elven. Finally, it grants 5 points of cold resistance.
If you pair this cloak up with a cold weather outfit, your PC's will be immune to just about any cold weather!
Sorry, got some details wrong. Here's the correct stats.
Travel Cloak- 5 cold resistance, sheds precipitation to the knees, gray-green color, wandermeal for one each day (you could make it a racial version if it was inherited by a PC), turns into a 1 man tent once per day, a 1 pint flask in a hidden extradimensional pocket that provides up to 2 gallons of fluid each day either sugared hot tea or cool spring water. Weighs 1 pound, costs 1200gp, Craft Wondrous Item, CL 5, endure elements, create food and water, enlarge.
I have a question about the game environment and it's effects on my PC's. All of my party has 5 cold resistance, and are wearing cold weather outfits. How much does the severe cold, snow etc affect them? I know that they're slowed (1/2 movement) already, and that when it's snowing they take a -4 to Perception and ranged attacks. But, what about the repeated Fortitude checks where cold weather is concerned?
If they all have cold resistance, then I'd say they can ignore the fortitude saves.
Considering that they can withstand 5 points of cold every 6 seconds, 1d6 inflicted over the course of 10 minutes or an hour simply does nothing. At worst, they're a little uncomfortable and need to bother with shelter to rest.
Of course, the rules don't explicitly state this, but there's finite room in the rulebook.
I.e., a tiefling or aasimar has a pretty broad range for t-shirt and shorts weather.
Now, the movement speed and vision stuff come from there actually being frozen water everywhere and in the way.
This is a nice read, BulgarianFirstborn, and brings back fond memories. My group had 5 characters as well, but they had lots of problems with these adventures, especially with Rohkar.
I hope this remains a fun campaign for you.
They already have a barbeque pit big enough for a butchered out dragon!
Dragon BBQ and jerky seem to be their trademarks...any giant crayfish or crabs are also hungrily gobbled up!
Sometimes I wonder if my players are a secret cult of foodies led by the galloping gourmet.
That or Martha Stewart followers...any expensive furniture or odd items seem to be of more interest than the random magic stuff they capture.
Oh well...it's always interesting and we always have fun!
In my Skull & Shackles group I have one player that insists on bringing a bunch of critters to Fishguts to cook for her and the others. So far they've sampled the manticore and sea cats among others. I wonder where this will take them, but at least they draw some lines. No sahuagin...
Andrew <:-{}
Hello all,
I am a very new GM and I am running the Reign of Winter AP and I am running into the problem of when to level up my PCs. I like the idea of leveling up based on the suggestion of the AP. We are into our 3rd session and I am not really liking the idea of keeping the xp track. My PCs are almost the the hunting lodge, I was thinking is it after this part of the adventure would it be a good place to level them up? I know it suggests that they should be at 2 by the portal.
I have 3 players who are all GMs and seasoned players so they are really helping me but I need help with story elements and can't talk to them.
So if any one here can give a newbie GM any pointers on this AP it is appreciated.
The Hunting Lodge is going to be my first sandbox environment and I hoping to prepare it well enough. My PCs let a sprite get away so I know that Izoze might be prepared for their possible arrival, however I am also toying with the idea, with rather than running straight to Izoze and Teb Knotten I might have the sprite following them or attacking them again?
Thanks for any pointers you can give me! This AP is so interesting and I am really liking GMing for the first time.
My PCs are almost the the hunting lodge, I was thinking is it after this part of the adventure would it be a good place to level them up? I know it suggests that they should be at 2 by the portal.
Normally, it's best to level the party right after the fight at the hunting lodge or during their trek to the Winter Portal. However, some groups have found those series of encounters (i.e., inside the lodge) particularly difficult, especially if they draw out all of the bandits at once, and Rohkar starts bringing undead servants into the fight. So, depending on your party composition and player experience, you may want to consider leveling them up before the hunting lodge. The adventure's written for 4 PCs. So, if you have a bigger party than that, run it as-is. If you have 4 players or less, level them up.
But that's just my two cents,
--Neil
My PCs are almost the the hunting lodge, I was thinking is it after this part of the adventure would it be a good place to level them up? I know it suggests that they should be at 2 by the portal.Normally, it's best to level the party right after the fight at the hunting lodge or during their trek to the Winter Portal. However, some groups have found those series of encounters (i.e., inside the lodge) particularly difficult, especially if they draw out all of the bandits at once, and Rohkar starts bringing undead servants into the fight. So, depending on your party composition and player experience, you may want to consider leveling them up before the hunting lodge. The adventure's written for 4 PCs. So, if you have a bigger party than that, run it as-is. If you have 4 players or less, level them up.
But that's just my two cents,
--Neil
Awesome input, thank you. I have only 3 players so I was toying with leveling them up just before the lodge. Because they're so many people and variables.
Awesome input, thank you. I have only 3 players so I was toying with leveling them up just before the lodge. Because they're so many people and variables.
Then, either level them up, or add an NPC or two to help them and even out the odds.
Awesome input, thank you. I have only 3 players so I was toying with leveling them up just before the lodge. Because they're so many people and variables.Then, either level them up, or add an NPC or two to help them and even out the odds.
Alternatively, have one enemy conspicuously eating a honeycomb and if things look bad for the party? Sudden bear attack on said enemy.
I mean, the sudden snow obviously has to be upsetting the local wildlife, right? :P
Awesome input, thank you. I have only 3 players so I was toying with leveling them up just before the lodge. Because they're so many people and variables.Then, either level them up, or add an NPC or two to help them and even out the odds.Alternatively, have one enemy conspicuously eating a honeycomb and if things look bad for the party? Sudden bear attack on said enemy.
I mean, the sudden snow obviously has to be upsetting the local wildlife, right? :P
That is also a good idea! I'm ending my next session before the hunting lodge, so I am going to start working on that soon. It's my first sandbox situation. I'm excited.
Hi,
I'm currently preparing for running this Adventure soon. Just finished reading through and wondering,
did any of you draw handouts for some of the stuff? The Map in the lodge H15, the journal of Dryden in J, and the globe in Q20 sound pretty much like stuff you want handouts for. If anyone could link an image/photo I would love that.
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For anyone interested in an alternative Nadya build (seeing her Wisdom of 8 makes it impossible for her to use any spells), here's a Nadya Slayer build I came up with. Given that she is stated to be a Merchant, I put a point in Profession Merchant and adjusted skill points accordingly along with 1 point of Bluff - seriously, most Merchants know how to bluff at least a little bit.
Given in a previous game I ran, she ended up a PC, I'd give her the Northern Ancestry Trait and possibly something related to grief that gives a bonus to Emotion spell saves if she became a PC but that's really up to the GM (and player). I also gave her a Masterwork Backpack as her gear's too heavy for her which wasn't accounted for in her stats. (If I were to give her a more effective build I'd put her +2 to Dexterity, and give her a 13 Str, 16 Dex, 12 Con, 12 Int, 8 Wis, and 14 Chr.)
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Nadya Petska CR 2
XP 600
Female human (Ulfen) slayer 3 (Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide 53)
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +2; Senses Perception +5
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 12, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 24 (3d10+3)
Fort +5 (+5 circumstance bonus vs. cold weather), Ref +6, Will +1
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +5 (1d4+1/19-20) or
handaxe +3 (1d6+1/×3) or
light pick +3 (1d4/×4)
Ranged composite longbow +5 (1d8/×3)
Special Attacks sneak attack +1d6, studied target +1 (1st, move action)
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Tactics
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During Combat Nadya tries to keep her distance in battle, firing her bow at adversaries before they can close on her. When faced with more dangerous foes, especially those attuned to cold, Nadya hurls a flask of alchemist’s fire to hinder them.
Morale Nadya fights with conviction, but recognizes overwhelming odds and surrenders when necessary. In the face of truly uncompromising evil, she fights to the death.
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 14
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Point-Blank Shot, Skill Focus (Survival), Two-weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +6, Bluff +6, Climb +5, Disable Device +1, Handle Animal +5, Heal +5, Knowledge (geography) +6, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (nature) +4, Perception +5, Profession (merchant) +3, Ride +6, Stealth +8, Survival +8
Languages Common, Hallit, Skald
SQ combat style (two-weapon combat), slayer talent (ranger combat style[ACG]), snow track erasure, track +1
Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds, alchemist's fire (2), oil (2); Other Gear mwk studded leather, arrows (20), composite longbow, dagger, handaxe, light pick, snowshoes of northern pursuit, cold weather outfit, flint and steel, hooded lantern, masterwork backpack[APG], tindertwig (3), trail rations (10), waterskin, winter blanket
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Special Abilities
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Point-Blank Shot +1 to attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at up to 30 feet.
Sneak Attack +1d6 Attacks deal extra dam if flank foe or if foe is flat-footed.
Snow track erasure (1/day) Remove all tracks left in snow within a 60 ft radius.
Studied Target +1 (move action, 1 at a time) (Ex) Study foe as a Move action, gain +1 to att/dam & some skills vs. them.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to Survival checks made to track.
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Stuff
Thanks for that. I have plans for Nadya coming up later and I wasn't looking forward to having to completely rebuild her to make her more interesting. I mean, I'll still need to level her a bit to be a challenge for a party comprised of a Witch's Doll, a Redcap and another character whose nature shall remain unnamed for the moment, but it saves me a fair amount of work for later. :)
I have never run a haunt before, and I'm looking through the description for the soul bound guardian area and I'm curious if anyone has infused the pcs histories into it or if that is even possible?
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I have never run a haunt before, and I'm looking through the description for the soul bound guardian area and I'm curious if anyone has infused the pcs histories into it or if that is even possible?
Could your clarify your question? The haunt tells the story of Nadya's daughter, and the soulbound guardian was brought from Irrisen. Unless your PC was present at any of the events, I don't see how you would "infuse" any of your PCs' history into it.
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Given the release of the Ultimate Wilderness book, I've chosen to alter the (to be honest... insane) whiteout rules at the Portal and instead assume that the valley itself is suffering from a blizzard condition.
Blizzard: A combination of severe or stronger winds with heavy snow can create blizzard conditions. Blizzards reduce range of vision to no more than 20 feet, and even then, creatures takes a –8 penalty on Perception checks within that range. In a blizzard, the snowfall increases to 4 inches of snow each hour, and travel in more than 3 feet of snow is usually impossible without snowshoes or an ability such as waterwalk. Furthermore, the high winds make it feel (and affect living creatures) as if the temperature were 20° F colder.
Having lived in New England, I can legitimately state that some areas suffer wind tunnel effects and never truly accumulate much in the way of snow. That said when the wind slows, the snow will start to accumulate, so having snow hexes be Very Difficult Terrain (four squares of movement to enter into a square) makes sense. I would also allow for a stronger player to push through the snow and reduce its effect to just difficult terrain for those behind them. (No doubt a spell like Feather Step would negate the snow's impact, but the bard can only cast that three times before she's out for the day).
(Though to be honest, the map for this was... not exactly thought out very well. You would have the igloos facing away from the source of constant wind and snow, especially as snowbanks would build up on the side facing the Portal so if anyone wants to get into or out of the igloo they would need the entrance away from the snowbanks.)
The impact of a blizzard condition (though I'll "downgrade" the winds to strong from severe) will be a -8 to hit with ranged attacks (-2 from the wind which will impact our fey Winter Oracle) while still allowing the Sprites to get ranged attacks without being hit by attacks of opportunity for using a ranged attack five feet from the PCs. The fey will suffer a -2 penalty to Fly checks and will need to make a DC 20 check each turn to be able to fly toward the Portal. Perception checks will be at a -8.
In addition, given where the Sprites are located, it makes sense that they are the "night watch" for the Winter Portal, seeing that the Atomie Oracle and Teb are stated to watch during the daylit hours. Thus they would need to make a Perception check to wake up when the Thunderstone is thrown. (I'd say the Thunderstone can be perceived as "combat noises" thus between the snowfall, approximate distance, and the ice wall (which I think would add +5 to the difficulty), the Sprites would need to roll a modified 6 while Teb, who is likely 100 feet away, would need to roll a modified 8. In short, unless 1s are rolled they will hear the Thunderstone thrown.)
One other thing to consider is this: Teb and crew know that there are Adventurers in the area. Radosek is stated to have been looking through doll-Thora's mirror eye using Irriseni Mirror Sight and also that he's in contact with Teb through HIS mirror. It would make sense for Radosek to warn Teb, which is why Izoze or the fey Oracle was sent to ambush the group in the night before the push on the Portal.
Hello all!
My players are used to home brewed adventures and are really struggling to enjoy the adventure path (or as i call it) module. We are going to be hitting the pale tower next and after this I am thinking of trying to run with the story line, but not run the modules per say. Keep the vilians, npc's etc but try to make it along the lines of what they are used to. Having said that I think this option will be much more restrictive and I'm not sure I can work it out correctly.
I think that perhaps I should recommend that we table these adventurers and I dig into the old, cobweb section of my brain and make a totally new adventure for them. I picked this adventure path because it has been (before 6 months ago) over 25 yrs since i have GM'ed anything! I will take any and all opinions on my options. Thanks in advance!
Welcome back!
Personally I think Reign of Winter is a great Adventure Path but it's hardly something I'd suggest for an out of practice GM.
Can you tell us what they're struggling with? What are your players enjoying and not enjoying? The same question goes for you? Are you having fun?
This is the second time I've run Reign of Winter.
And for the second time, I had the Black Rider kill Hommelstaub.
Seriously, the character is... a powergamer's dream character. We have an Oracle whose Curse is negated by the fact that it doesn't matter he's unable to walk fast because he's got wings. And he can easily see through the snow which basically means he's doing sneak attack damage every round while completely unaffected by the heavy snow that hurts everyone else.
And each time I had the Black Rider end the wee fae, it was for one reason and one reason alone: dealing with him would take hours. This is supposed to be a fun game. Having a faerie inflicting possibly 2d6 damage each round until he's out of spells, and then still doing 1d2 damage afterward with the party unable to hide from him because his perception is just. that. good. and able to take a five-foot step from those who DO close with him, go invisible, move off, and then continue those antics further... this isn't fun.
By having the Black Rider run him through each time, it established the Black Rider as a major player. Rather than run the Black Rider as a weak old man who is trying to use his age to get pitying party members to do his bidding, I had him operate from a position of strength. Here is a man who should be dead and yet he one-shots a fae Oracle that gave the party problems... and then he tells the party "I need your help. To save your world, and my mistress."
You know what my party did after they accepted the Black Rider's geas in the newest game? They gave him an honorable death ceremony, burning his body so that it wouldn't be desecrated by Winter Fae or the forces of Elvanna. And that is because he went into this in a position of power... having dealt a bloody nuisance foe the blow ending that fight so the game could go on.
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Ill Design: Radosek and the failings of the Pale Tower
As I start to prepare for tonight's game I've come to the realization that the Pale Tower itself is poorly designed, in a fashion similar to how early dungeons failed to account for how various things stayed alive in there, or for that matter why they were there. In the case of the Pale Tower and Radosek? It's a fairly indefensible position, all things considered.
First, let's look at the exterior. You have three guards on the walls. If the PCs launched a frontal assault, they defend to the death... despite the presence of another ten soldiers inside the Tower. There is no way to effectively raise an alert other than for the guards to send one of their number running back to the barracks (which is not in the NPC write-up). Why don't they have one of those enchanted mirrors on their end? It could even be something built into the walls of the Pale Tower itself so the PCs can't loot it.
Second, the troll inside doesn't make that much sense. The players are expected to bluff their way inside at which point there's a troll and they're going to fight or bluff the troll? Why did the guards on the walls just sit by and let the troll eat all the other dogs there? How are new patrols expected to leave seeing this glutton devoured all the dogs here? What do the wall guard do when the people they let in turn around and start fighting the troll - do they attack their "fellow guards" or just sit back and eat popcorn or what?
I understand the ice troll was brought in for extra muscle, but having the troll having eaten all the sled dogs and probably be looking at the dogs the PCs arrive with as dessert... well, it essentially is saying "hey PCs, why not get in a big meaningless fight to eat your resources?" (My current group paid off the troll with a week's worth of rations. I'm still tempted at having the troll eat one or two of their dogs as well, though to be honest after eating all the other dogs here prior to the PCs arriving, the rations might actually fill the troll's belly.)
Third, the presence of the keys also doesn't make much sense. Honestly, you have Sergeants who get a key to automatically go through the teleporter without saying a simple phrase? It's not THAT much work. Similarly, you have the Captain of the guard... with the key to the Priestess's teleporter. Why?
Fourth, we already had the Captain with a nice backstory and the end of her write-up is "she's not wise enough to surrender so she fights to the death." Add in the key and you're left with HUGE questions and no valid answers. Seriously, why include this backstory when she's just fodder for the blades of the PCs? And why does the Captain of the Guard not have a method by which she can contact her boss, Radosek? Seriously.
This is where this part of the AP starts to fall apart. There are, however, ways of fixing it. And first, let's look at those keys.
The purpose of a key is to unlock a door. So... if the place is put on high alert, all of the Teleporters should be put on lockdown. Thus you can give passcodes all you want but you're stuck on your floor and can't get in or out. HOWEVER, someone with a key would be able to unlock a teleporter and thus get to another region.
Now the keys serve a real purpose. They unlock the doors so the PCs can get through. And if you want, they could even have a second function: for the next 30 seconds, they allow other people to quickly travel through the teleporter without the passcode.
This would mean the PCs can get Hestrig's key to Jairess's Aerie and so long as they all go one right after the next, not need to know a passcode. And likewise when they get the key to Radosek's chambers they could unlock it and quickly reach Radosek's chamber to fight him as a group. It only makes sense.
Now, let's look at Hestrig. First, give her a means of communicating with Radosek - be it a Message spell or another of those hand mirrors. If she has to talk to him and there's no way to reach his chamber... what is he going to do, go to Jairess and snag her key? That's a waste of her time and resources. Further, she has reason to be questioning her loyalty to the White Witches - or at least to Nazhena and Nazhena's mother (who Nazhena iced a while ago). Thus LET HER SURRENDER. It makes sense.
Finally, let's create an actual love triangle here. Hestrig has Jairess's key because she is having a quiet affair with Jairess. This may even be part of why she's questioning herself now. She finds Jairess to be exotic and delightful, she mentions how she was trying to find information on the dragon whose blood flows through her veins, Jairess has been encouraging her (and fully understands what it means to have the desire to fly in the blood)... and she finds out about the dragon's death.
Meanwhile, she knows Radosek is trying to worm his way into Jairess's bed. Maybe he spied on Jairess and Hestrig being together through the Irriseni Mirror Sight spell. Or maybe he heard scuttlebutt or the like... but he wants some. And while Jairess has said "no" Hestrig is still getting jealous. So while she fights the PCs... give her the chance to surrender. She insists that she talk to Jairess and Jairess may even agree but also insist she has to fight initially to show her "loyalty" to the White Witches so she fights non-lethally against one of the PCs and if the PC wins, she gives them the key. If she loses she gives it to Hestrig (who then gives it to the PCs).
Finally, we have Radosek. One of the comments about him is that he frequently spies on people with the Irriseni Mirror Sight spell. But he only has it memorized once. If he was using it to communicate with Teb back at the Winter Portal and to spy through Thora's mirror eye then... how was he doing all that?
The answer is simple: put a Magic Mirror in the work room where the PCs fight Radosek. It is linked to any mirror in the Tower, and thus at any time Radosek or Nazhena could peer through the mirror and see what is going on. Further, with a casting of Irriseni Mirror Sight on it, it allows two-way communication (which is lacking with the spell itself) and thus lets Radosek talk to (and get reports from) those on the other side of the mirror.
A wily GM could even have used this to have Radosek taunt the PCs (in a fashion similar to what another witch whose name starts with "R" later in the AP does with a different spell) at various times, be it through the mirror at the White Weasel tavern, or through the mirror they found on the guard sergeant, or even through Thora's mirror eye if they kept that one.