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So we entered into Thistletop last night after losing two players to the rope bridge and the bunyip.
I introduced the two replacement characters having been captured by the outer patrol and were being dragged into the trophy room. The group of surviving party members attacked the goblin dogs and their riders outside the gates, and took the fight inside during the combat.
My question is how alert is Thistletop? Should a patrol(most likely) find the remains of their companions?
On another note - the group found the stairs going down next to the next level, by passing Ripnugget and other areas. The first room they encounter is the nursery. I went ahead and populated it with a few children. One of the new characters who protects his tribe from goblinoids, killed each of them, and burned a pile of linen refuse, and then each of the "cribs", proceeded to close the door and move on.
So, smoke and fire.
Given it won't go much further than the items in the room(stone floors/walls/etc). The harem is next door. Does the smoke alert them? Or just a normal check on the kids moment.
It's night, and in my game Nualia is messing with the normal nocturnal habits of the goblins. Requiring at least half of them be active and awake during the day.
My thinking is two fold. I was going to let the group meander for a bit, thinking they've outwitted the goblins and that they are being all "sneaky". When in reality, a patrol has found the corpse in the trophy room and placed the upper floor on alert. The doors to the next level are open, and while stupid, they're not dumb. And the goblins will send guards to search below.
Bruthazmus, while engaged in amorous(ahem) moments with the harem, will smell the smoke and hear voices not speaking goblin and not any human voices he is accustomed to hearing. He will investigate and possibly raise an alarm. He will also recognize them as the heroes of Sandpoint, and want revenge. I had them encounter his younger brother in a side quest earlier in the campaign. So his fight will be more personal, and he will be altered to meet this larger party too.
So... does this sound about right?
This has the potential for alot more enemies than the party can face. A TPK is a strong chance, not definite chance though.
They have rescued a beaten/bruised Shalelu so it won't be a total TPK. We have, at the moment, five 4th level player characters. A fighter/bard, rogue, druid(with wolf animal companion), witch and spell-less ranger. And there is a 6th player, but he's out for a few sessions, stupid real life. They had a made pact with Gogmurt prior to going in, after defeating him, and he has not sent Ripnugget a warning. They then rested prior to going in. So they're mostly at full health and have access to all their spells.
So TL:DR, how would you handle this?
The goblins wouldn't have patrols, as such; they might well be wandering about and happen to find bodies, but they're not organised in any meaningful way. And if a goblin did find bodies, the first thing he'd probably do is laugh uproariously, loot them, eat anything edible, and then raise the alarm. And when he does, it'll probably involve a lot of excited shrieking rather than quietly running off to tell his boss.
Bruzathmus is more sensible, but he'll need to roll a perception check to hear and recognise anything. Goblins are pyromaniacs, so he'll be entirely used to the idiots setting fire to stuff; as long as it doesn't threaten to spread out of control he may not bother to investigate.
Goblins are nutcases; play them as such.
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Thanks, Mudfoot. Excellent points.
Especially the fire aspect. I had forgotten that little write up about how they normally burn down their warren's and this is the first site that has last a long time.
So, check on the craziness. Will do.
There's a kobold chart that had d20 things they would do during a fight. Like if they defeat an opponent, they would drop their weapons and start celebrating and such. I'll have to play that up.
Thanks, again.
Definitely play up the craziness of the goblins. They are utterly disorganized, because goblins have the attention span of an overtired 18-month-old kid who's eaten WAY too much candy.
For example, when my party attacked, I gave the sentries in the guard towers a -5 on their Perception checks because they were too busy throwing rocks at seagulls to notice the party. It would have been -10, but for the druid wild-shaping into a buzzard and flying over to sound the alarm.