I'm currently running the module Feast of Ravenmoor for four 3rd-level players. Two of them are very sneaky, with Stealth scores like you wouldn't believe. Most of the creatures don't have a high enough Perception score to spot them, even when they roll their skill check poorly.
Instead of walking through the front door of the Chenowitz farmhouse, they started sneaking around it, peering between the slats of boarded-up windows, scoping out the backyard first, etc. One even climbed up onto the roof and looked down the chimney. It's totally a smart move, so I can't blame them.
I just don't think they're going to go into the house now that they've established that the cultists aren't there. And while Alizna the "weaver" knows something is out there, I'm playing her like she wouldn't rush out to attack. More like a spider, staying put and waiting for prey to come to her.
So, do I just let them avoid several big encounters? They're about to walk into the fields and end the campaign. Should I lure them back into the farmhouse somehow?
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I think, if they are smart enough to 'defeat' the encounters by the use of stealth they still earn XP. However, as far as the module is concerned, bypassing the cultists won't effect much once they reach the center of the maze and battle Keigler. Hell, they may even be better off in that rather brutal showdown since they won't have expended resources in the Chenowitz place.
I always tell my players that there are three ways to defeat every encounter, combat, diplomacy, and stealth.
Also, are there any rules about lighting things on fire? They want to burn the house down. I think the module says that burning the cornfields would be nigh impossible. But the abandoned house?
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If you want them to fight things on fire consider looking at the flaming skeleton and use the aura effect that it has. If they choose to burn the place down than I wouldn't stop them. However, it poses some issues since it would definitely alert the cultists on the hilltop. Also, they would need some sort of method for staring the fire. Lobbing alchemist's fire through the windows could work, but not necessarily. I'd have to look up the rules for things catching on fire.
Thanks Joshua!
One of my favorite things about FoRM was the atmosphere. The backwoods-y accent I got to use, the strange clues about a wayward religion. My PCs felt suspicious almost immediately.
Their working theory is that the mayor is the villain (correct) and his brother is an innocent bystander. They don't suspect that little old weaver woman that's supposedly making them sweaters and leg warmers of anything.
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the atmosphere is totally what got me too. I actually ran it as a Halloween party with my friends and it was so much fun. I used it in World of Darkness and, since we live in Maine and the game took place around here, I brushed up on my backwoods Maine accent. The party was shouting CULT! from the very beginning. I considered actually having them go to Keigler's place then drop the entire rest of the module just to mess with them. They go to the weird old man's house, have a couple beers, then go home. No cult, just weird people with old traditions.
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So awesome, you guys--love hearing about how these games play out at the table! Kudos to all!
Joshua, there was originally an old Maine tradition I stumbled across in my research (brought over from the Netherlands, if I recall) that I don't think made it to the final print: the goose snatch. The villagers hang a greased goose upside down from a high branch, and everyone takes turns trying to jump up and snatch its head off. The winner gets to eat it at the feast. Of course, the villagers rig the game by placing diseased nails (treat as caltrops) in the grass when the PCs take their turn. Good times.
And Dustin--when I run into problems like this, PCs skipping areas wholesale, avoiding an important encounter, etc, I usually transplant the good stuff somewhere else. Maybe have a cultist encounter in the opening to the corn maze, for example. But in this case, like Joshua points out, the final encounter is difficult enough, so if they skipped something, the saved resources will likely help balance it out!
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Joshua, there was originally an old Maine tradition I stumbled across in my research (brought over from the Netherlands, if I recall) that I don't think made it to the final print: the goose snatch. The villagers hang a greased goose upside down from a high branch, and everyone takes turns trying to jump up and snatch its head off. The winner gets to eat it at the feast. Of course, the villagers rig the game by placing diseased nails (treat as caltrops) in the grass when the PCs take their turn. Good times.
Holy crap that is amazing! I have never heard of that tradition but then where I live it;s mostly French and Irish, so it's likely a Down East thing. I would have totally had the group try this during the games.
So awesome, you guys--love hearing about how these games play out at the table! Kudos to all!
And Dustin--when I run into problems like this, PCs skipping areas wholesale, avoiding an important encounter, etc, I usually transplant the good stuff somewhere else. Maybe have a cultist encounter in the opening to the corn maze, for example. But in this case, like Joshua points out, the final encounter is difficult enough, so if they skipped something, the saved resources will likely help balance it out!
Thanks for the advice, Brandon. They skipped the mayor's manor and the Chenowitz farmhouse. So, you could say they have a lot of resources remaining.
When we left off, they had split up (gasp) and the misbegotten were after their rogue-sorcerer. We have a final game session on Monday night. I'll let you know how it goes.
Great module. I'm definitely very pleased with it.
It's over. They didn't end up burning the house down, just skirted around it and killed two of the misbegotten villagers (the other they locked in the barn) before heading into the corn maze.
The mosquito swarm almost did them in. They just didn't have the right abilities to take care of the pests. Leonard also proved to be quite a challenge. Almost no one had a bludgeoning weapon so they just picked away at him until he finally died.
By time they arrived at the sacrificial scene, they had used up nearly all their spells. The inquisitor and cleric in our party kept trying to detect undead, thinking that some powerful necromancy must be behind all this.
Finally, they faced the mayor (and Alizna who had sneaked out of the farmhouse and took a short cut). The druid immediately cast flaming sphere and took out most of the cultists and really hurt the mayor before it died. Alizna and the mayor fought hard. The funny thing was that just about everyone rolled poorly for two or three rounds of combat when suddenly two of the PCs crit for double damage and put the mayor and Alizna down fast.
I said something to the effect, "Okay, the mayor's lifeless body begins twitching."
"Bleed!" all three spellcasters yelled at once.
And, I know, bleed doesn't work that way. Just supposed to make him resume dying. But it was late and we wouldn't be able to play again for a month. So, I thought, let's see if he can beat a Fortitude save DC 15. If he does, he'll become the blightspawn. I rolled.
It was a 3.
The mayor's body stopped twitching, half-transformed into a hideous parasitic monster. And, you know, that made them all very happy. And we finished before midnight.
I'd say it was a success.
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That's the way it's done, folks! As much as we writers try and anticipate every action and shoehorn stories into the GM's hands, reacting to elements like time management, PC interest, and general flow of the adventure episode make that a fantastic ending that rewards PCs for quick thinking, awards them a great final cinematic scene of what *would* have been if they'd failed, and sends everyone home happy. Well done, Dustin!