I need some advice on the Rider. The adventure gives no info for what he will explain if captured--will he spill the beans, like Naegauth, or will he take the secrets of Sosias to the grave?
I find the Rider interesting enough that I've chosen to foreshadow his attack with a little note attached to the cricket crate. I'll also have the Throttler mention him if captured, and Sosias will mention the Rider alongside Naegauth and Shugo Jai as the ones who will see the PCs destroyed (I'll have him harass the PCs when they make camp).
But what should the Rider himself be like? Is this why Kortes referred to word count limits as an "accursed blight"? :P
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Well here’s an oldie! Perhaps with the advent of Sharknado, tieflings riding flying sharks will be back in vogue?
Yes, the Rider is not much more than a statblock, and far from a properly developed NPC.
Thank you for blaming word count instead of neglect. It is possible word count was the reason, I think that adventure came at a time when the lion's share of the magazine was devoted to the adventure path concept. Like a lot of its small companions, it’s a short adventure packed in tight – one of the reasons Dungeon was so awesome in those days, lots of ideas tightly compressed. Course, maybe he just didn’t get the attention he deserved.
The Rider strikes me as a never-surrender-type of guy, who would require a lot of skill and perseverance to actually capture.
Once captured, he'd likely start out by refusing to speak. But I've seen that PCs will do to their captives (Yikes!).
I think he should be a bad-assed, strong silent type on the hunt. He hates humans and he’s drank the fanatic cool aid. That’s how I’d play him. You gotta be pretty grim to ride a fiendish shark through the tunnels of the Underdark. But develop him anyway that works for your campaign.
I think giving him proper foreshadowing is awesome, by the way.
Well, dude got killed, though not before the paladin nearly drowned sinking (I really can't say swimming) after him, so it doesn't matter too much.
Also, nice work on this adventure! Players are having a lot of fun with it. They especially liked the cricket and choker scenes (took 'em ages to work out the worm wasn't the thing attacking them!).