Hey all. I am working on a Rise of the Runelords campaign. Gotta question on how to run the Shadow Clock encounter. The faceless stalkers attending the Bells: The book says they will let loose the Bell down unto intruders, well here's my question:
Once the party starts fighting the Scarecrow golem, why wouldn't they drop the Bell? Would they listen in on that fight and wait to see who won? And then once they heard the PCs creeping up the stairs then release the bell? Just curious how other GMs have handled this. It's not like the faceless stalkers have any idea what's going down below. They're just going by sound. Thanks all.
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Hey all. I am working on a Rise of the Runelords campaign. Gotta question on how to run the Shadow Clock encounter. The faceless stalkers attending the Bells: The book says they will let loose the Bell down unto intruders, well here's my question:
Once the party starts fighting the Scarecrow golem, why wouldn't they drop the Bell? Would they listen in on that fight and wait to see who won? And then once they heard the PCs creeping up the stairs then release the bell? Just curious how other GMs have handled this. It's not like the faceless stalkers have any idea what's going down below. They're just going by sound. Thanks all.
If they wait until the PCs are coming up the stairs, they can use the bell to not only damage the PCs, but to knock them off the stairs, causing falling damage.
-Skeld
I'm interested in your take that they're only going by sound -- the tower is hollow, and in theory the PCs are carrying lights. So as Skeld said, they want to do maximum possible damage to the PCs without endangering themselves, so they're going to let the PCs get up the stairs a ways before dropping the bell.
IF the PCs all have Darkvision so the stalkers can hear them but not see them, I think they're far more likely to drop prematurely.
The bell is not easy to "reset" as a trap. Likely, it's a one-time ever deal. No need to drop it if the Scarecrow is just dealing with some homeless drunkards or kids on a dare.
I'm interested in your take that they're only going by sound -- the tower is hollow, and in theory the PCs are carrying lights. So as Skeld said, they want to do maximum possible damage to the PCs without endangering themselves, so they're going to let the PCs get up the stairs a ways before dropping the bell.
IF the PCs all have Darkvision so the stalkers can hear them but not see them, I think they're far more likely to drop prematurely.
I suppose that's a good point. Didn't think about the stalkers being able to see the PCs. I was clearly overthinking this. Thanks all.