Good afternoon, fellow questers through the Rise of the Runelords. I have a scenario that I am curious on how other GMs would handle it. My players, who are at 6th level, consist of a Halfling bard (straight no archetype), an elf forester/wizard (forester is a class from the now defunct Pathfinder database site which combines the 3.5 scout's skirmish, 1-6 levels of arcane spellcasting similar to a summoner, magus, or bard, the spells of which mix in traditional divine and arcane support/attack magics, and the ranger's trackless step at some point) 3/3 but who is running into the penalty of too much breadth and not enough specialization, a human cleric/summoner 3/3 of Desna (no archetype) who wishes to become a Holy Vindicator, and a 6th level dwarven fighter with two-weapon fighting specializing in Sunder and wielding two dorn-degars.
We're currently in the Skinsaw Murders. After finding out a mass murderer who was a ghast or a ghoul was out killing people in ritualistic killings based on the Sihedron, they went to the Asylum and defeated the red herring in the Sanitarium. Afterwards they battled an onslaught of ghouls at the Craester farm (since they were all 6th level, they were bumrushed by waves of ghouls over a 11 round period), and they came back to town to get a bit of information on the key around the keeper of Foxglove Mansion's neck. While waiting, 2 more NPCs of Sandpoint (the half-orc sanitation engineer and the dwarven locksmith) were murdered by the Skinsaw Man. The Skinsaw man is obsessed with the elf when they went boar hunting in life, and is wrathful that he isn't being noticed. They went into Foxglove Mansion, not realizing that it was haunted (they failed to do much research, but received warnings on the house that strange things had happened there) and ran into several haunts plus the carrion storms that were out front. The dwarf failed his will save vs the haunt which forces you to believe another PC is your child, and grappled the halfing and rushed out the front door, after the dwarf fighter had been burnt by the fiery manticore trap previously. Then ran into the carrionstorms outside, which were destroyed by sound bursts and channel energy.
Here is the fun part: Rather than going back into the mansion, they decided to head towards Magnimar as they found out that Aldern Foxglove had a townhouse there, and he must be lairing in the townhouse rather then in the manor (which is where he currently is). So the PCs will find the two faceless stalkers posing as Aldern and Iesha, and follow the clues to fight against Xanesha in the bell tower BEFORE they have eliminated the Skinsaw Man. Also, Tsuto, the mage from Thistletop, and Nualia all escaped from Thistletop back in AP 1, and have joined up with Xanesha to aid her in her schemes. So here is my question: How many ghouls will the Skinsaw man create and people in Sandpoint killed during and after the events in Magnimar? And what do you recommend for upgrading Tsuto, the mage and Nualia to help out Xanesha? Thanks.
Also, Tsuto, the mage from Thistletop, and Nualia all escaped from Thistletop back in AP 1, and have joined up with Xanesha to aid her in her schemes.
I think you mean Lyrie and not Tsuto.
How many ghouls will the Skinsaw man create and people in Sandpoint killed during and after the events in Magnimar?
Totally up to you, certainly there should be some story penalty for being careless at Foxglove Manor and moving on to Magnimar. However, whatever NUMBER ghouls he makes is probably less important than WHO becomes a ghoul. Named NPCs who the party has met make good choices for the impact, but you say his obsession is an elf in the party - that to me means that he's not going to be bothering Sandpoint as much as he is going to be following them to Magnimar (MAYBE he goes to Sandpoint first looking for them, runs across the Sanitorium and turns all the people there before turning towards Magnimar.)
And what do you recommend for upgrading Tsuto, the mage and Nualia to help out Xanesha?
Naulia is part of Xanesha's plans OUTSIDE of the Skinsaw cult, but I'm sure that Xanesha would call upon them as backup if she has the time.
If you want to include Naulia in this part, I'd give her a level, Lyrie maybe 2. I could also suggest looking at the Lyrie Scenario for some additional ideas (perhaps Xanesha is having Naulia and Lyrie work the drug trade. They ar making money for Xanesha to get out of town. At the same time Lyrie is hooked on drugs as a method to convert her to a Lamashtu worshiper. Lyrie sees the PCs as her way out of this mess).
Rather than going back into the mansion, they decided to head towards Magnimar as they found out that Aldern Foxglove had a townhouse there, and he must be lairing in the townhouse rather then in the manor
The horse may have bolted here but: you could always simply remind them that this doesn't fit the evidence - the extra travel time would extend the time between murders, for instance.
Of course if you want to roll with it for the fun of it...How many ghouls will the Skinsaw man create and people in Sandpoint killed during and after the events in Magnimar?
Entirely up to where you want to take the story. He'd kill at most once a nights. Of course, the situation in Sandpoint would quickly deteriorate under the weight of fear. The Sheriff would have to take his own action - perhaps rounding up the town's known adventures or maybe sending to Magnimar for help.
The problem with ghouls is that if Aldern lets them roam freely, their growth could be near exponential. The farmlands would fall in a matter of a couple of days, and Sandpoint could be under siege by 20-30 ghouls within a handful of days.And what do you recommend for upgrading Tsuto, the mage and Nualia to help out Xanesha?
Well, Xanesha isn't likely to surround herself with a cadre of people more powerful than herself. I'd only add a level or two and make up some challenging group tactics. Bear in mind though - Xanesha already has a proven record of killing characters.
Remember also, Nualia has her own agenda - she'd want to re-form her group and return to destroy Sandpoint. Although Xanesha helped her, she has no real allegiance to Xanesha's cause, nor that of the Skinsaw men.
Also, Aldern wouldn't stand for it. He'll be keeping tabs on the object of his obsession and would act to steer the group back to himself.
Also, Tsuto, the mage from Thistletop, and Nualia all escaped from Thistletop back in AP 1, and have joined up with Xanesha to aid her in her schemes.I think you mean Lyrie and not Tsuto.
No, I think he means all 3 of them.
In any case here's what I would do:
- Given that the party member is Aldern's obsession, I think as soon as he finds out they have gone to Magnimar, which he should be able to do fairly quickly, he will follow them, and thus the bodies will start turning up there rather than in Sandpoint.
- Since Xanesha knows what is going on, and has control over part of the Magnimar government through Ironbriar, I think it might be entertaining for her to make some kind of move to try and frame the PCs for the killings that Aldern is now committing in Magnimar, using the Bo7 and others to plant evidence, etc.
- The Lyrie/Tsuto/Nualia trio's goal remains the same; Nualia wants revenge on Sandpoint and to further Lamashtu's goals, not the goals of the main bad guys. They can also assume that their names and appearances have been turned over to the local Sandpoint/Magnimar authorities. I suspect their first step would be to find more patsies to replace Orik and the goblins, and you might want to delay using them until a bit later since you've got a lot going on in this chapter already.
- Tsuto might still have some issues he wants to resolve re: Ameiko. In my game I involved her in the Magnimar part of the adventure as she had to travel there to sell the family townhouse and their properties in Sandpoint; you could bring her into it this way and then have Tsuto start messing with her/the party again in that sort of situation.
A few ideas - some of which may not be compatible with each other:
You might want to remind your pc's about the geography and timeline. Even from the Manor, Magnimar is two days away. It's not at all plausible that whoever is behind the ghouls, etc. could be based in Magnimar and still acting as frequently (nightly) as they have been.
Nualia and her ragtag band of losers has no real loyalty to Xanesha nor much interest in advancing her schemes. They are at best allies of mutual convenience. At this point, Xanesha is probably aware of the pc's and certainly sees advantage in having them removed so she give Nualia some support - money, magic, etc. and gives her some tips on how to find the pc's. Nualia wants revenge, either they forced her from Thistletop, destroyed Malfeshnekor and otherwise thwarted her plans to become a demon. She, her crew and some Mosswood goblins ambush the group shortly after they leave the manor. If for some reason your group has not dealt with Mal yet, she instead kills anyone guarding Thistletop and resumes her attempt to free him.
Aldern would certainly not know the group went to Magnimar, at least not at first. So he would continue his killings in Sandpoint, increasing in intensity and prominence. He would start adding explicit demands the pc's come to the Manor to messages left with the corpses of his victims. This should lead to the Mayor issuing an urgent call for the group to return to Sandpoint. (Guards sent to the manor should die horribly, only intensifying the fear and panic in Sandpoint.)
The faceless stalkers should not be in the townhouse - my interpretation is that Ironbriar puts them there after he discovers Aldern is dead. All the players should find there should be an empty townhouse and some harassment from the local guards pending how they break in - they don't have a key yet remember.
In my curmudgeonly get-off-my-lawn voice: And if you people would help your players to kill of their enemies you wouldn't have all these loose ends to manage. This group didn't finish Book 1, are in the process of skilling the first major objective of Book 2 and a risk of stumbling into the major enemies of the end of Book 2.
In my curmudgeonly get-off-my-lawn voice: And if you people would help your players to kill of their enemies you wouldn't have all these loose ends to manage. This group didn't finish Book 1, are in the process of skilling the first major objective of Book 2 and a risk of stumbling into the major enemies of the end of Book 2.
Oops. That last bit should read as:
In my curmudgeonly get-off-my-lawn voice: And if you people would help your players to kill off their enemies you wouldn't have all these loose ends to manage. This group didn't finish Book 1, are in the process of skipping the first major objective of Book 2 and at risk of stumbling into the major enemies of the end of Book 2.
Shouldn't post late in the evening I suppose or do better job of self-editing.
Thanks for the suggestions, fellow GMs. They did managed to kill Malfeshnekor and the quasit witch in the Catacombs of Wrath, but did multiple sorties to take out the goblins on Thistletop, and missed Nualia, Lyrie and Tsuto after waiting a couple of days in between raids. Nualia decided to leave with Lyrie and Tsuto in tow to find more allies.
I think I will go this route.
Aldern continues to kill NPCs in Sandpoint until he learns of the PCs absence. He kills one or two a night, focusing on those that will work with the Sihedron ritual and anyone with them gets turned into a ghoul. Once he learns of the PC's absence (I figure at least two to three days0, he then follows them and starts killing in Magnimar, leaving pointed reminders of them to meet him at the Manor. He then contacts Xanesha if possible to find out if the PCs have left yet, and heads to Foxglove Manor to await the PCs arrival. The ghouls or ghasts that he creates start to attack Sandpoint and the farms outside, converting more people into ghouls or killing them outright and eating them. The mayor of Sandpoint, or Sheriff Hemlock, Ameiko Kaijitsu, or Shalelu if the mayor is one of the slain victims, sends a frantic message via animal messenger to the PCs to help stop the ghoul attacks.
Xanesha, having learned of the party's arrival, alerts the Skinsaw cultists to be ready for invaders and interlopers to appear asking around for Aldern at his townhouse in Magnimar. Nualia overhears her discussion with the cultists, and decides to set up an ambush with Lyrie, Tsuto, and her yeth hounds at the townhouse. Nualia goes up a level in cleric, Lyrie and Tsuto a level in wizard and monk respectively and there are 3 yeth hounds. The party hopefully defeats this ambush, then finds links inside of the townhouse to take them back to Foxglove Manor or eliminate Xanesha and then take care of Aldern at the manor. If they actually get the animal messenger then they can go back to Sandpoint to defeat the ghouls FIRST, then go into Foxglove Manor and deal with Aldern, and come back and defeat the Skinsaw cult and Xanesha.
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Just a note, Tsuto also has the option of residing in the basically abandoned Kaijitsu(sp?) family manor in Magnimar. That's a far better "base" for a large group than a small townhouse.