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What follows is long, analytical, and may represent a bit of a red/blue pill issue for the reader. You were warned. :)
I'm working hard to absorb the entire content of the AP and the world around it into my brain, and am trying to make it 'real'. This way I'll be ready for when it goes off the rails, able to tailor it to the PCs, etc.
Right up front, I have a few problems. The biggest of which is Aldern's role in chapter one vs chapter two. Maybe I misunderstood something, but I'm going to try and lay it out the way I see it:
A) Aldern is in hoc with the Seven in a bad way, but is trying to renovate his family manor anyway. The manor itself is an irrepairable, haunted wreck, that is openly hostile to people within it, and potentially fatal. Yes I realize that the floor was closed up, but there are all sorts of possible problems with suicides and so forth even before Aldern kills his wife. I can't understand how anyone slept there, let alone lived there, let alone did any carpentry. But this isn't a HUGE problem, as I doubt the PC's will notice.
B) Aldern 'accidentally' kills his wife and a carpenter. He locks the house and flees to Magnimar to get help with cleaning it up.
C) He eventually heads back to the house, stopping at the festival along the way.
D) During the attack, he cowers while goblins kill his dog.
Problem #1 - What dog?
The plot lays this out like a beloved family pet. And if this were the case, I'd think at a minimum there'd be an empty dog house outside of Foxglove Manor with the dog's name on it. So maybe not a huge thing to try and fix. But I can't see the dog dealing well with the supernatural aspects of the place. Though I suppose I could underscore this from the kennel, or something. It does, though, seem strange that the dog springs into existance only long enough to leverage this aspect of the goblins' hatred.
Problem #2 - Why is he cowering?
Set aside the fact that this guy is a member of a murderous cult, corresponding with a Lamia witch. If you can set that aside. I'm not sure I can, but I'm trying. No, the thing that's bothering me is that he's level seven, with three of those being Rogue. I don't understand why he'd be afraid of a CR 1-2 encounter, particularly when he can use his dog for flanking. Hold that thought for a second...
E) He becomes obsessed with one of the PCs. Starts stealing their stuff, etc, etc.
F) He invites them to go boar hunting with him and his three manservants.
Problem #3 - What manservants?
This is admittedly a bit nitpicky, but how does a broke dude with no place to live cart around manservants? Presumably he brought them from Magnimar, but what was he planning to do with them when he went to Foxglove Manor? Surely he didn't want them poking around? And how would he explain the caged, dead, diseased rats to them? It's just weird...
Not to mention he also buys everyone horses, etc. All while being 'nearly bankrupt'.
He is also paying for these people to all room at the Rusty Dragon. Unless the servants all get to sleep in the stables or something. I'd be pretty angry if I thought my lord's manor was only a short horse-ride and I had to sleep in the stables. Particularly if he was running out of money and maybe I wasn't all that well paid or something. I'd at least ask if I could ride on to the manor and return before dawn. Particularly if there were three of us. How much help could one guy need in the night?
Problem #4 - Boar hunting?
See Problem #2 above. This guy cowers in fear at the thought of encountering a CR 1/3 goblin, but actively seeks out and kills CR2 boars?
I think I can fix 3 and 4 by replacing the manservents with a hired hunting guide. Maybe Aldern has never actually been boar hunting, but his best friend used to love to do it, and it was the only thing he could think of to be close to his obsession.
But I do need to decide whether or not Aldern is a weakling in his human state. If he isn't, then he must be pretending in 'D' above. But for that to be prudent, he'd have to have had his eye on the PCs prior to the attack. And that begs a bit of roleplaying, which might make the PCs too suspicious.
I think, in my particular case, I can ignore his stats entirely in chapter one, make him an ordinary human who ought to be afraid of goblins and wild boars, etc. I can play all of his power swing into his transformation. I think this makes the most sense, outside of the specific game mechanics being used to transform him.
That, plus a dog house at the manor and a dog bed in Magnimar, and finally a hunting guide for the boar hunt.
I have some other issues, too, but I'll do another post or something for those. Right now my immediate need is deciding how to run Aldern during the festival...
I'd say he had a dog back in Magnimar. It wasn't beloved so much as his. And the party let it die. Actually, he ordered the dog to attack while he hid... but when the party came in, a small part of him was "why not one minute earlier? That was an expensive dog!" The dog also probably didn't want to stay in the Manor, and rather than deal with an anxious dog all the time, he returned it home.
He probably also DID have servants. He went bankrupt because the Seven got him hooked on drugs and were blackmailing him. If he paid them up for a month in advance, then he easily could have still had them. Mind you, he still had caches of cash squirreled away. It's just he'd not be able to live the life he considers his due.
Also, it's much easier to hunt boars with spears when you're prepared and using servants to do much of the hunting than to fight goblins on your own single-handed.
No doubt when you first meet him, he's JUST an Aristocrat. He gains his levels of Rogue upon his... transformation (which is when he meets the lamia witch - before, he only dealt with the Seven, who are human (and one elf). And let's face it. A horde of goblins isn't exactly something most of us would stand up to alone.
That's another thing to consider. There were five goblins and a goblin dog... and he was by himself except for his dog. Sure, if you're a seasoned warrior you might consider them a pushover. And you might get surprised and have one crit you and take a huge chunk of hit points off. Especially as they're all flanking you and thus making it easier for them to hit.
As for the horses? He probably bought light horses, not war-trained. The type of horse you go for a ride in the immediate area that's somewhat safe.
Oh. And those servants? Well... I suspect they were among the first to become ghoulish servants of His Lordship.
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I think of Aldern kind of like Jack in the Shining. He is insane...and also an addict. Sometimes he can act normally. He can even deceive himself into thinking he is normal for short periods of time. But more and more he is losing it.
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You could think of him as a wiley serial killer. He has two personalities. The weak normal Aldern that hides from danger is just a front to cover up the killer underneath.
I personally go for the insane spit personality with the killer personality taking more and more control.
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I think of Aldern kind of like Jack in the Shining. He is insane...and also an addict. Sometimes he can act normally. He can even deceive himself into thinking he is normal for short periods of time. But more and more he is losing it.
Right. Aldern is crazy. As such, his actions don't make sense to a reasonable person.
-Skeld
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As for the dog, it has to have a place at the Manor, because he's taking in there when it gets killed. If the dog stayed in Magnimar, then it wouldn't have stopped in Sandpoint with it's master.
I think I like Aldern better as 'crazy after', but I suppose you're right. His childhood trauma probably never was properly treated, and he has already killed his wife... So maybe I'll need to come up with a way to display that a bit during the boar hunt.
It still needs a gentle, gentle touch, though.
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Before Aldern's transformation into The Skinsaw Man, I played him as a tragic figure. He wasn't particularly "good" but he wasn't evil by nature. The family curse had driven him half-crazy, but he still had moments of lucidity. And then he got in WAY over his head when tried to go to the Brothers of the Seven for assistance-- people he had trusted, but ultimately betrayed him for their own gain. And then the even-more-evil Xanesha intervened and turned him into more of a pawn.
So, no, the guy isn't in his right mind. Before his transformation, he's still teetering on the brink, and it would be possible to redeem him, if he were to confess to the PCs and ask for their mercy and help. But pride gets in his way, and he falls to the dark path, eventually becomming the horrific Skinsaw Man.
As I write this, it dawned on me that, depending on the story you want to tell, you could play Aldern as a story of redemption. He confesses to killing his wife, claiming (correctly) that the maleovelent spirits of his house compelled him to do it. With the help of Father Zantus, the PCs redeem Aldern Foxglove. He then asks their help in breaking the curse over his home. You would need to create a new boss villain-- perhaps write up a partly-risen Vorel Foxglove as some kind of non-lich undead creature (a juju zombie or dread ghast perhaps). There are no murders in Sandpoint-- the Skinsaw Murders are relegated to Magnimar. You would want to run an investigation there to drive home the Sihedron Rune connection. Alden then reveals to the party what the Brothers of Seven really are, and joins the PCs on their quest to destroy them.
There's one other thing to consider. He's headed back to the manor to hunt rats. He got the dog to help him hunt them.
When I eventually rerun Runelords for my tabletop group (half of which are in the Skype group who are in Runelrods now) in a couple of years, I'm going to do a significant alteration to this... and turn Aldern even more tragic. Because he's not even doing any of this. He's covering up for someone he loves dearly who is... and who's going Psycho on him. (And no, it's not his mother. ^^)