In the Skinsaw Murders I like the idea of the mounting threat of ghouls roaming the countryside. But in the actual adventure there is really only one encounter with the ghouls, and this is at Hambley's farm. There are a few more ghouls in the Misgivings, but they feel kind of like an afterthought.
Has anyone done any more encounters with ghouls, that might fit in between the farm and the sanatorium? Or perhaps after the farm but before Misgivings?
Peet
If you want, you can give party info, from Caizarlu notes, about places with ghoul activity in hinterlands around Sandpoint, that they can investigate. Pauper's Graves and tunnels within Devil Platter are noted as places housing ghouls.
By the way, using these two places can lead PCs to Kanker (if i remember correctly), ghast alchemist who brews Midnight Milk for intellect devourers that secretly invade Magnimar and Valdemare Family.
A ghoul or two could infiltrate Sandpoint, maybe hiding under the water or in the river (undead don't have to breathe), becoming a recurrent problem, especially if it attacks the PC's favorite inn.
Have a ghoul horse show up.
Have a pompous cleric show up, say, "I'll solve the problem myself", and march out the gate ... his holy symbol, defaced and inverted, will later show up around Aldern's neck.
These are decent ideas.
Askar: where do I find information on this "Kanker" character? Is this from a different module?
The idea that they get info from Zerren works because there can be a pause before Maester Grump shows up with news about Hambley farm.
I like the ghoul horse idea. Would a ghoul horse's hooves cause paralysis? Maybe ghoul dogs would work too.
I don't think I would have ghouls attack Sandpoint directly unless the party fails to figure out what the Misgivings is or refuses to go there. Then I would have a few attacks culminating with a ghoul assault on Scarnetti Manor. Though the party would rescue Titus, after finding a note addressed to a party member Titus would probably accuse them of orchestrating the whole thing. :)
With the players that I have, if a cleric showed up to deal with the problem, the party would probably try to help him, so rather than deal with figuring that out I think I would skip that one. It would have to happen when the players weren't around, and they would hear about it afterward.
Peet
Peet - check out "Magnimar, City of Monuments" pages 46 - 47 and Pathfinder comic no 3 "Paupers' Graves"
Otherwise, a quick search of the PathfinderWiki should help.
The party could encounter ghouls on the way to or from Habe's.
You could expand the Hambley encounter to cover all the farms south of town. The party needs to visit all the farms, evacuate families to safety and ensure there aren't any more ghouls running free. Leaving even one behind means there will be more later. In this case spread the ghouls in the fields around the Hambley place to other farms - or increase the number of ghouls running amok (this could have some experience point consequences pending how you're running xp.)
Regardless make sure as they travel the farmlands to call out that any survivors have barricaded themselves in their homes (requiring some diplomacy to get them to leave) and other farms show signs of an awful mauling (match the gore level to your group's tolerance.) The horror of a ghoul plague doesn't have to be delivered with a lot of ghoul encounters, encountering plenty of ghoul consequences can be just as effective.
Mosquitoes that spread ghoul fever is something I've down.
One thing though is that the ghouls are not killing at random. They are organized and specifically looking for greedy people. Attacks on random farms probably wouldn't do this, though it could be useful as a distraction. The Hambley farm was targeted specifically.
The Pauper's Graves is close enough to the lost coast road that ghouls operating from there could strike at caravans coming down the Lost Coast Road. There would definitely be greedy souls amongst such a group.
Maybe a ferryman who is known to overcharge for his services could get attacked on the Turandarok River.
One thing though is that the ghouls are not killing at random. They are organized and specifically looking for greedy people. Attacks on random farms probably wouldn't do this, though it could be useful as a distraction. The Hambley farm was targeted specifically.
The Pauper's Graves is close enough to the lost coast road that ghouls operating from there could strike at caravans coming down the Lost Coast Road. There would definitely be greedy souls amongst such a group.
Maybe a ferryman who is known to overcharge for his services could get attacked on the Turandarok River.
For my part, I would say No.
The only entity in the region pursuing greedy individuals is Foxglove himself. The rest of the ghouls are simply ghouls. Quoting from the AE version, page 83: "The next night, when they arose as ghouls themselves, the Skinsaw Man was there to greet them, welcoming them into his pack. He told them to spread his sickness, to sneak into neighboring farms and attack their livestock, pets, and children." No mention of pursuing greedy characters. For that matter, the ghouls may not know who was greedy or not - this is more a DM interpretation but the ghoul bestiary entry says "A humanoid who becomes a ghoul in this way retains none of the abilities it possessed in life." Does that mean it doesn't remember its former life? I would say Yes.
I agree that ghouls would not remember their former life, except in exceptional cases (where it might benefit the storyline perhaps).
But just because Foxglove is the only one looking for greedy souls does not mean there will not be other ghoul attacks on greedy people. Foxglove does lead the ghouls. Major attacks are going to be orchestrated by him.
Wandering random-encounter style ghoul attacks would probably be pretty easy for my party to deal with (even if they are scripted). I have a paladin and an oracle of life in my party.
On the other hand they might miss the idea that Farmer Hambley was greedy. After hearing that his farm has been overrun they are not likely to ask questions about the victim. So more greedy people helps the pattern become clearer.