I am working on fitting the Legendary Games product the Fiddler's Lament into my Carrion Crown campaign. I curious of two things.
1) Is the "Dark Stranger" suppose to reference a character that is actually in the adventure path. I've only read through the first two books thus far. I know in Legendary's other mini adventure it references some cultist activity in related to the Wake of the Watcher content.
2) Did using this module inflate the PCs experience too much. If it did what, if anything, did you do to compensate for it later in the campaign?
Any input would be appreciated :)
I enjoyed running this adventure greatly during the Haunting of Harrowstone adventure (as well as the other one written by legendary games).
1) I'm not particularly sure of that. However, I've been developing the "Dark Stranger" in the minds of the characters as a pretty powerful and ruthless goatfolk (adapted from 3.5 D&D Monster Manual 3, you can use anything with hoof prints). I think there is great opportunity for the DM to adapt that villain to one that could be a continuing nuisance throughout the adventure path, as there really isn't that "primary evil villain" that everyone hates since the beginning (which i generally live having and building). This is especially if the characters save the "fiddler" and discover that she isn't the source of all the evil and undead.
2) Meh, I didn't really inflate the PC experience too much (almost nothing in the long run). I would say their character class and race choices will impact their power level much more than a couple hundred exp. However, there is a great deal of trust points to gain from this adventure, which opens up their connection with the town and its civilians (especially after saving them from their old family and ancestors. Compensation exp wasn't really that necessary for me.
Also: I made Old Jack into a sentient being, an old human spirit trapped inside the body of the dog ( I used riding dog stats because of he defends the children vs. the hands), with the ability to understand but not speak Common (he can only respond through barks, my characters use 1 for yes 2 for no). He has become a pretty popular NPC character.
Didn't really think about this when I ran the adventure, but having the dog gaining exp (or another NPC maybe Rufio) as well as the PCs would have also lessened the amount of exp so that they wouldn't be too far ahead, if that is a concern.
Hope this helped!
Alright, I'll probably make him into a recurring villain of some kind as well. Suppose I'm worrying too much about extra experience. Thanks for the advice :)