well, either A. you could just say that he was already a ghoul and faked it, or B. aldern was resurrected to make sure he paid up his debts. I really don't like either option though.
C. award the gunslinger as much EXP as the entire 2nd book.
D. the cultists just send other agents to do the job, who become a ghoul perhaps. you'll have to give up on the obsession/notes thing though.
it's just like... oh btw, gunslinger... you're level 7
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Ooh ooh.
I think the Skinsaw Man encounter is about the same CR as a flesh Golem; perhaps they used Alderns body to make one? gave it a slight amount of sentience and memory? That's something I could easily DM fiat for story.Aldern later in the series is undead. Having him show up again as some sort of undead is actually particularly interesting, and the undead's obsession with the Stryx becomes even more appropriate since the Stryx was Aldern's killer.
Personally, I think there's an extra level of cool creepiness for a murdered, undead Aldern to show up again as the nemesis. You'll just need to concoct some degree of back story as to how his backers obtained his body and made him undead.
there's the shadowclock guardian, forget his name.
Creative Director
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Yeah... this development gives you a GREAT chance to have Aldern come back as an undead not because of an obsession, but more out of revenge. The strix should absolutely become the one that Aldern focuses on in the next adventure, and if you can play it out with a sort of "See, Mr. Strix? Your trigger-happy xenophobia caused more problems than it solved, and now you can use this as a character building moment to push past your fear of humanity" type of thing.
Aldern later in the series is undead. Having him show up again as some sort of undead is actually particularly interesting, and the undead's obsession with the Stryx becomes even more appropriate since the Stryx was Aldern's killer.
Personally, I think there's an extra level of cool creepiness for a murdered, undead Aldern to show up again as the nemesis. You'll just need to concoct some degree of back story as to how his backers obtained his body and made him undead.
+1. This makes most sense, Aldern's body would probably be sent to his home for burial, allowing his re-animation to happen.
Also, I recommend posting this sort of thing in the right forum - The Rise of the Runelords forum, where many experts on this AP reside, rather than the 3rd party forum.
Just as the title says. During the Boar Hunt, one of the PCs, a very paranoid and Xenophobic Strix Gunslinger, had enough of his obsession and rolled to shoot, thinking he was going to become an issue later. (he was right, but didn't know that.) Not only did he hit, but he criticaled... and dealt 40 damage. The other PCs turned him in, but now there is the question of the Skinsaw Man... My current idea so far is to alter the timeline so that Iesha is alive, and goes crazy, spiting the PCs, or rather the Strix in particular. She gets into some nasty stuff, leading her to contract ghoul fever, or possibly even setting her up without making her a ghoul. I'm really at a loss. Ideas, advice?
Did they dispose of the body?
If not simply make him rise as a undead ghoul as he supposed to be, you even got your victim of mister Foxglove affections, the person that delivered him from his miserable life.
The issue I have with making Aldern a revenant is that he already unintentionally made his wife one.
Did not know this (never played book 2 of RotRL).
I go with him being dead, then buried. Then rising as a ghoul and continuing the plot as written with an obession with killing the pc who killed him and turning that pc into a Ghoul.
Alternatively you could make Aldern completely innocent and have someone else fill the role of the skinsaw killer which would be a lot of work
Okay, so your real problem isn't replacing him as a combatant (that's easy; Foxglove manor is a creepy haunted house, you could put any ghoul down there), it's giving the PCs a reason to a) go to Foxglove Manor to fight things and b) follow the trail back to Magnimar.
I haven't read through the Skinsaw Murders in a while; is there any good reason why Aldern's debtors couldn't simply recover his corpse, turn him into a Ghoul, and set him loose on Sandpoint to collect more greedy souls?
Aldern has a couple sisters. One of them could become the Skinsaw Man.
Aldern could have already been "infected" with ghoul fever when he was shot: make it so he had the courage to stop back home and get the diseased animal first.
He stops in Sandpoint before going back to Magnimar for (spoiler reasons) and he already has the diseased (McGuffin) in a cage for (Spoiler Person).
It's probably bitten him and escaped during the Goblin attack, and so he's going a bit mad obsessing on the PCs as "it's their fault it escaped"...
Early stages of the disease, probably only taken a bit of con and dex damage, half the time he could be making those saves (given you need 2 consecutive ones to be free of the disease).
People buff monster HP all the time; Aldern Foxglove has a base of 50-odd HP and 14 CON. That gives at least 70 HP to begin with (or 63 with 1 con damage etc) till he dies past -14. Was he injured already in the boar hunt? Or just say he had just enough HP to survive the bullet... therefore...
You can rule that the gunslinger made him "mostly dead" (on negatives) and his HP loss triggered the save of the day.
Con went down enough on the next (failed) save to kill him in the manner of the disease description.
(he'd lose at least 7 more HP as stated by the CON damage description: "In addition, multiply your total Hit Dice by the Ability Damage penalty and subtract that amount from your current and total hit points.")
...so he's dead by fever till midnight and then rises as a ghoul...
He claws his way out of his grave and wanders back to his manor, where the ick in the basement makes the final transformation...
+1 to what Doki-Chan wrote.
Have him been infected already before the encounter with the PCs--he was surely visiting the Misgivings before he went to Sandpoint.
In addition: you're the GM. Nobody will ask you for details (and even if so, you have a fitting story at hand).
Ruyan.
It's the perfect hook-in. A "ghoul" is a murderer who dies and is forced back to unlife; so there it is (he did kill his wife and such). Go with the "Wrathful" line pointed at the Gunslinger, the story continues uninterrupted.
Bonus points if Aldern imitates his murderer's killing style.
I'd have the Strix arrested in book 2, after the lumber mill incident.
I would make Aldern's Wife become the Skinsaw Murder.
Ghoul Fever affects the living, not the dead. The reason I'm thinking of going the Golem route is that that gives time for the body to be recovered, made into a Golem, give it sentience (There is an awakening clause), and unleash on the villagers and finish his work.Okay, so your real problem isn't replacing him as a combatant (that's easy; Foxglove manor is a creepy haunted house, you could put any ghoul down there), it's giving the PCs a reason to a) go to Foxglove Manor to fight things and b) follow the trail back to Magnimar.
I haven't read through the Skinsaw Murders in a while; is there any good reason why Aldern's debtors couldn't simply recover his corpse, turn him into a Ghoul, and set him loose on Sandpoint to collect more greedy souls?
He may have already been suffering from Ghoul Fever when they met him in Burnt Offerings, but wasn't showing any symptoms of it yet, or not bad enough symptoms so as to be recognizable. His slaying merely finished the process a little quicker, and now the Strix has an obsessed mortal enemy on his hands!
Ghouls can be raised with create undead too, not only through ghoul fever. And the cult has evil clerics, plus scrolls are cheap