Going to Thistletop - how much gear?

[Daniel Williams 954]

I'm a new DM (haven't played an RPG since WFRP 2nd edition over 20 years ago)running ROTR for a new group (my best friends). We are currently using the Beginner Box rules with the intention of converting at lvl 5, which should be around the same time we start the Skinsaw Murders. I'm slowly adding new concepts to them as i do have the Core rule book too.

After a pretty successful and enjoyable first session the group has killed (a way to easy) Tsuto and have decided to bypass the catacombs and after returning Ameiko, head for Thistletop.

Like i said we are all new to this so was just wondering what sort of gear the group should have/need? And what kind of things are available in Sandpoint. Would they be able to stock up on potions of cure light wounds etc? The reason i ask this specifically is that it is only a group of three and they are playing the Fighter, Rogue and Wizard so don't have any real healing.

[darkwarriorkarg]

Ouch. What level are they? anything less than 3rd will be hosed, and even 3 rd levels will have issues, as there's only 3 of them.

Cure light wounds. Lots. If the rogue has Ue Magic Device, a 750 GP wand of CLW would be best for out of combat healing.

Plus, Thistletop is not really meant for resting in, and they'll most likely run out of resources (wizard spells)

I would also recommend that the wizard scribe a bunch of scrolls.

In fact, if you wer etempted, I'd sat a healing/buffing NPC oracle or cleric would be of great use. I might suggest that this character be played by the players (like a party cohort)

[Gwaihir Scout]

This will be tough. The dagger Erylium carries in the catacombs is the only thing close to a pile of money they'll get before Thistletop (it's worth 10,302 gp), so they'll be in big trouble. You really should encourage them to go to the catacombs. Have some sinspawn come out of the dungeon and attack the town so your players feel they need to deal with the catacombs now.

If they're determined to head to Thistletop, they'll need help. Ameiko can do some healing, so you might want to have her go along. She can easily become a full-time party member. Think about having Shalelu accompany them too, since they're underleveled and have no cash. This can lead into stealing the party's spotlight, though. They really ought to go to the catacombs first.

Relying strictly on their own funds, yes, potions of cure light wounds should be readily available from the clerics. A few freebies from gratitude for saving the cathedral are a good idea. A wand of CLW would be available, but they'll need somebody who can use it to go along with them.

If you look at the stat block for Sandpoint, anything under 1,300 gp has a 75% chance of being available, plus a few more expensive things that you determine. Your group needs the help, so make sure they can get what they want, even if they have to wait for it.

[Daniel Williams 954]

Thanks guys, i think the cleric i rolled myself will have to accompany them. I also like the idea of some freebies for saving the cathedral.

I'll see how it goes and maybe send Shalelu with them if they don't make it the first time :P

[George Erickson]

My group is also heading to Thistletop soon. We handled characters a bit differently, we have 2 players plus myself. The 2 players are playing 2 each, and I run an SPC. (Semi-playable character). We have worked it out that one of theirs has to be the Rogue(it's no fun finding your own traps), and wizard or spellcaster(They can than make their items). There other choice is an open one. If no healer in the group, it becomes the SPC. This is a way to keep them on track, and I also still feel part of accomplishing the mod. for myself on a personal lvl.
I have not had a break from Dming in like 12 yrs. so I at least get the feel of playing. The ROTR was written for 4 characters on the fast track, but if you look at the xp breakdown 4 or5 is no difference. I only have to modify the treasures in encounters to keep them in the curve.
With the new crafting rules and no loss of XP for crafting, the characters as they lvl. will be able by 5th to create wands, magic arms/armor, also thrown in may be wondrous items, potions, and scrolls. With the proper feat selections.
As to your questions: first off it assumes the characters are 3rd or just short for Thistletop with 4th by the end of the chapter. If they aren't, they are probably ill suited to tackle the challenge without a TPK being a high possibility. They should have 3000gp at 3rd lvl. per the charts. This is more than enough money to have M/W gear, Wands with charges, scrolls, and potions.
My group was still a little light at the end of the session on the Gp/Xp, so to make my life easier an emissary from Magnimar, (Temple) thanked them for being stout heroes with gifts of healing I felt they would need. As for the Xp, The Goblin Squash Stables are offering 5Gp bounty on each pair of Goblin ears. I had Shalelu ask them for help protecting the surrounding farms in these troubled times. I essentially endeared them further, to the locals and got the Lvl. and Gold to match up.
If you insist on 3 characters, and do not want to use Ameiko or Shalelu or an SPC, than you better be on some epic stat array, and maybe use the the Double Con score for initial HP. Option #2 get them at least 1-2 levels higher than suggested for the area in the story. This might offset the lack of characters. Remember the domino effect becomes much nastier with less characters, and TPK's are hard to defend against. I roll everything on the table, no hidden die rolls to adjudicate hits or misses. I find if the players see the dice, they feel trust. A win is earned, not doctored to advance the storyline.

[George Erickson]

The Wizard could use wands of Infernal Healing, just remove the evil descriptor and treat it like Vigor. Fast healing 1 for 10 rds. Guaranteed 10 HP, great for out of combat healing. The nice thing is the spell scales later to be Fast healing 4 for 10 rds. Guaranteed 40 HP. Remember if the Wizard is also the healer and main crafter, the loss of that character might mean TPK.

[Daniel Williams 954]

I love the goblin ears idea, my party is all ready in competition with each other over who has killed the most goblins, it will fit with this perfectly.

I will send my cleric with them and like has been said, some kind of reward for 'saving' Sandpoint and the cathedral.

I'm running the next session tonight so will let you know how it goes.

[Valenswift]

I ran the next session and the group have got through the goblin tunnels, defeated Gogmurt and hit level 3.

It started with them returning Ameiko to Sandpoint and then some preparation for their next adventure. I hinted heavily that a wand of CLW might be essential and i also gave them a few potions of it too as a gift for saving the Cathedral.

The first encounter with the 10 refugees started with the fighter rolling his obligatory '1' but after that he put cleave to great use. The overwhelming numbers meant that the wizard couldn't avoid melee combat and was reduced to 2 HP, which meant my cleric had to reveal himself (I planned on only using him for heals and have him hide during combat) to keep him alive.

This didn't bode well for the 'real' fights but luckily the trend didn't continue. Next they took on 4 goblin dogs which started the encounter tethered with frayed ropes. I made a roll for each dog to see if they could break the leash which added a tension to the fight that the players enjoyed.

The players made sure to bring as little attention to themselves as possible, which meant that the rogue was able to sneak up on the sleeping leopard and nearly kill it with one blow. The leopard woke with a whelp but somehow (ridiculously low perception roll) Gogmurt didn't hear and his pet was dispatched without him knowing.

The group then moved on to Gogmurt's lair with the druid entangling them all at the entrance, after he'd took a fireball in the face. Gogmurt started using produce flame as the fighter and rogue slowly broke free from the vines. Once they did the fighter luckily crit the druid and reduced him to 3 HP before he had a chance to escape, the goblin broke down and spilled the beans.

And that's where we left it with the players levelling up their characters.

As i said in my original post we are very new to this so if anyone has any advice or notices something we're doing wrong, that'd be great.

[Valenswift]

In our latest session, the party took down Nualia after a tense battle and are now planning on hauling in to Sandpoint to face justice.

The session started withe group and Orik (who had offered his services in return for his life) entering the shrine to Lamashtu and being set upon by two of the Yeth hounds. The rogue and Orik ran after their bay howl attack and didn't return for 3 rounds. This meant one of the hounds setting upon the wizard and getting in some vicious bites. Luckily for him some very lucky rolls from the fighter saved his life and a sneak attack from the returning rogue finished the encounter.

After healing up they moved on and found Lyrie who had barricaded herself in to her research room after hearing the hounds howling. The PC's managed to force their way past the barricade and tried to get some information from the less than helpful wizard. After a successful sense motive roll the wizard suspected that something was a miss and moved towards the wall with the secret door. Lyrie, in desparation, cast mirror image and attempted to hold off the party. Seeing his chance for redemption from Nualia, Orik attacked the wizard whilst the fighter and rogue had gone in to engage Lyrie.

This time the wizard came close to death and was only saved by my cleric. Lyrie's duplicate's were whittled down and then she started to take damage upon which she immediately raised the white flag. Orik panicked and shouted out that they'd killed Tsuto, Lyrie resumed the fight with an enraged look in her eye. However it didn't take long before she was knocked unconscious and as a result Orik, once again, gave himself up. Unsurprisingly the PC's weren't buying it this time and instead they stripped them both, manacled them together and put them in one of the goblin prison cells.

Next they discovered the secret stairs to level two and after some careful trap searching they managed to disable the twin glaives and avoided anyone getting chopped in two. They then rushed in to the Observation deck, hoping to surprise whoever was in there. Nualia however was ready for them and in my best bond-villain mode, informed them that she'd 'been expecting them'.

Her last Yeth hound howled, this time causing the wizard and cleric to flee back down the corridor. The fighter took on Nualia and the rogue engaged the hound.

I had gone in to this session with the intention of letting Nualia escape to become a recurring villain. However i found she was trapped inside the observation deck. As her HP got lower i had her bull rush the wizard who was lurking in the corridor and she attempted to go south, casting obscuring mist as she did. The party simply followed her and as you could still see up to 5 feet were still able to defeat her. Is there a better way i could have done this, or how do you handle fleeing in general? would be helpful for future encounters.

The good thing however is that the PC's didn't kill Nualia and along with Lyrie and Orik, they intend on taking them back to Sandpoint to the sheriff. This now gives me opportunity for a bit of foreshadowing as i intend to bring in Ironbriar from Magnimar to take the prisoners and then Nualia will 'escape' to turn up at a later date. Any ideas where?