So my players are on day 4 of week 8. They just handed Traya's group their hind ends and let them all live and have effectively recruited them. I apologize this is going to be very long winded and I hope you'll stick through to give your input.
So to give some background here:
If you have played this book as the GM or the players through, you know on week 5 you know it says:
Event Three: Vengeance by Night (Week Five)
After the ritual begins, the Horn reeks of evil. It is this very reek that draws a pair of moon dogs out of the deeper Caer Bryr. Bethaniel and Darus Dandra are children of the Prince of the Moon.
These sisters and self-appointed vanquishers of evil keep their own counsel and bow to no authority on this plane of existence. These enigmatic creatures have long stalked the endless forests of the Caer Bryr cleansing it of any corruption they may find. They are in their own way crusaders dedicated to seeing the forest remain unsullied and pristine. When they sensed the doings at the Horn of Abaddon, the sisters knew that this was their calling.
The moon dogs are stealthy and cunning. They know that a frontal assault against so evil a bastion is folly. Instead, it is the sisters’ hope to infiltrate the Horn and begin picking off the underlings.
So, I have been RPing these Dogs as it describes as very cunning beings. Unfortunately for the players, they had a former player that turned NPC (he left the group) and left his character in the room that drives you insane. So as this NPC started killing people, the Hounds Were also doing some of their work.
It was not until into week 6 that they learned of the NPCs doing and killed him but are now on constant watch for the moon dogs.
With their Non-Detection and Invisibility and Shades SLA they have really been trying to cause trouble.
During week 5: They stealthed about, learning the people of the horn, what they look like, what their plans are and so forth. Ezra the wraiths know about it at this point but care to do nothing. Their agreement with the party was more along the lines of don't kill us and we will give you souls. Raw deal but they were weakened when they met Ezra and didn't want to die.
Their only first real attempt at messing with the party was after the leader of the players commanded everyone move to the 2nd floor temple (they have around 70 npcs here doing work) and the moon dogs used they bay ability and scared all but the party (something I expected since they all have good saves). Then they summoned a slew of invisible stalkers but called them back only after a couple rounds of attacking just to mess with the party.
Week 6: At this point the Moon Dogs have learned the ins and outs of the place and who the high ranking people are. Since the NPC has been killed they start causing trouble. No front attacks just trouble -- That is why on level 2 in the temple area the Dogs summoned through shades -> summon monster 6 - 1d4 + 1 (each) Huge Earth Elementals.
The rolls were in my favor and there were 7 of them summoned. To give you some context:
A huge earth elemental is 32 feet long and weighs 48,000 pounds and there are seven of them summoned. They were ordered to jump up and down and pound their fist. That was mostly for fluff because it left seven holes in the 2nd floor and this leaving the 1st floor area difficult terrain.
Ok, pretty good so far. They almost got caught but the Elemental really deterred the party from doing anything.
Middle of week 6 - Week 7: The party is all level 7 now, and three of them picked leadership and created an organization.
Between the invitation to the baron's ball, and week 7 starting, I used one of the player's cohorts story be connected to the boggards and one-eye in week ten.
Not going to go into all of that but basically the party left to help this cohort get his spell book, easily killed one-eye and were on their way back.
While gone, the moon dogs pulled one hell of a whopper on the party.
One of the dogs via summon monster fooled the golem with creature that could cast major image and made it look like three of the players and it fell for it, so it was ordered to protect the boggard village and of course it massacred some of them.
The other boggard summoned lilends to charm Grumblejack who has since transformed, and thus commanded him to tell all of his minions in this complex to leave at once and go rebuild the church in Farholde that was burnt down (yeah my players are busy)
So as they left for the barons birthday, they knew they were light on protection and didn't want something bad happening. They planned on chasing down the 60+ minions that have left and have them return back.
This meant asking the help of Ezra who at this time has 8 wraiths now. I let the players actually fight the moon dogs as the wraiths. The moondogs were taken by surprise but as the morale and rping tips say for Ezra I ruled they would not sneak up on these dogs, they are too over confident for that.
It was a weird fight. The moon dogs summoned lightning elementals and skated out with thier lives.
This protection was done in trade for an action of the week getting peasents and ezra got 4 more souls. lol
Week 8:
The dogs have not attacked since the wraith. Traya's band is defeated.
As something I forgot to mention the first floor is actually flooding from the fountain because the party rigged a funneling of logs that spread the water all over the lower part and too moon dogs that is bad news. It is unholy water.
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Here is what I was thinking of doing.
The Dogs are smart. They now know that the party is there, what they can do, and that the wraiths are on their side now or at least attacked them and are worried about what could happen next.
They know that if the party + the wraiths caught them even with their expanse of Summon Monster spells via shades (seems to be the best option) it would be very difficult to beat them. Yet, they do not want to give this up.
I was thinking Since week 8 is done early and traya and her group is caught, week 9 is a dead week, as is week 10 because one eye is dead, and since week 11 is dead because it is just a warning message about a dragon to:
have the moon dogs use Alter Self and get to the sisters of saint celeste and throught he aid of Abigail (level 9 cleric) try to get her to send nuns to fight with them (maybe something like 2d4 + 5 non magical ones or 1d4 + 1 magical ones) or even Abigail her self to help.
The Dog have made such an interesting twist I would really hate to waste basically a month of in game time on doing nothing. Sure the players can keep themselves occupied but it would be a boring ordeal.
What do you think?
To answer your request, please talk a bit of your group, otherwise we cannot proper gauge their ability to react.
Since you made the moon dogs so cunning enemies, they should be able to call more allies for back up and make a more coordinated strike. Since the main problem for them in the place are the wraiths, i suggest to make them look for a celestial ally that will grant protection from them. From 2012 we got a lot more interesting new good fey and outsiders to play with.
However, i would not involve the abby unless you want to change that line in book 5 that explains why the warrior nuns did non simply march at the horn to cleanse it.
Thanks for the replies everyone. Here is my big issue. The moon dogs know that the captive in the horn is sister mary after they head back to down throw up some alter selfs and see what they can dig up.
That part I want to happen. If the moon dogs are described as being cunning enough to become impostors and spy they can do the same in a bar full of drunks.
I do see your point about giving them a little break. I suppose it is in order. However, I was going to use (secretly since the players will never know about the moon dogs activities (yet) ) them to at least get some aid once they can accurately describe Sister Marta who has posted a reward for the were-about of her. I will check out book 5 though, I was trying to identify if there was any other info about this group.
I know they will lend a few troops to that Inquisitor, so I didn't think it would be too much out of the realm of possibility they would use that 1000gp reward to maybe give the Dogs a couple of scrolls of death ward or something in place of it.
Pnakotus, I don't think this is something I can talk to my group about. They actually did very well planning for an attack against traya's group, and I think after this last occurrence I will give them a couple weeks to see if they plan anything at all for the dogs.
Some of my players are not great at separating player knowledge from character knowledge.
Ok so I am trying to skim through book 5 but I only see one mention of the saint celeste. Where is the actual event in which this happens?
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Pnakotus, I don't think this is something I can talk to my group about. They actually did very well planning for an attack against traya's group, and I think after this last occurrence I will give them a couple weeks to see if they plan anything at all for the dogs.
Some of my players are not great at separating player knowledge from character knowledge.
I don't think he was saying to talk TO your players. I think he was suggesting you should share more ABOUT your players/characters so the advice in this thread could be tailored more to your party.
Ok so I am trying to skim through book 5 but I only see one mention of the saint celeste. Where is the actual event in which this happens?
It's at the epilogue of book 5. Page 79, at the top right.
Thrawn007 - Ahh of course. Stupid of me.
The players we have are as follows:
Ryo - A Gnome shaman with the nature spirit -- level 7. N/E. Very New players, this is like her fifth ever session in july.
Has taken leadership, I custom made a golden cat from the PFSRD in to a fey. Yes it is probably grossly over the player level but it's a pretty harmless being and it acts very much like a pompus and snobbish Chesire Cat. She likes it.
Maldrake - Pretty much the party leader, veteran player. Tiefling Cleric Level 7. L/E He also has an IMP that has telepathy and good stuff.
I had a special ritual happen when Grumblejack 2.0 died, and he has risen as a level 1 anti paladin that is Maldrake's cohort.
Drae'rel, level 7 rogue. Core. N/E
He also took leadership, I created him a level 5 Thassian Specialist (illusion). Can create wondous items (so he could make traps) and is very much like drae i many ways.
Morzan - Level 7 Orc Barbarian . Sword and Board or Nodachi face smasher when needed. Didn't want leadership.
In the compound they have:
4x Assassin Vines
20+ Boggards
Alchemical Golem
1x Tazzarian (spelling some beast)
They have over 60 assorted minions that they are training. (I ruled if they can spend one solid week, 8 hours a day, I would let them add 1 class level that is close to their own likeness for 2d6 minions) So Drae Rel is torturing Sister Marta and teaching a minion npc to become a torture master.
Morzan is training 5 npcs to become:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/npc-s/npc-1/street-thug-human-fighter-1-ro gue-1
In addition, they have the two demons as well under their control.
They lost most of their undead, ryo controls a fast lion and a slow lion zombie and a hell hound from the ritual
maldrake controls carnitheria rex.
I saw the part about Celeste in book five, but it doesn't talk about any sneaking around and disrupting them. If this is just an assumed thing to have happened and not in any of the previous books, sorry fire mountain games, but Im going to be free to change it :P
Which won' t be the first time the main story has been altered. As railroady as this AP is, my players have done pretty well at doing their own thing.
Perhaps I can delay their attack. It might make for a better adventure if they come back with some nuns in the late teens.
And about the madness that Shades allows, i would suggest to actually avoid to replicate level VII spells or higher.
If you wish to focus on the moon dog be such a treat, then I suggest to shift them to the CR9 Bestiary 5 stats and give them a simple class template like ranger or sorcerer. However, instead of simply appearing and causing havoc, those moon dogs should actually organize an attack en masse against the horn to disrupt the ritual. From what you wrote, i believe the have gathered enough information to know how to stop the summoning. All they need is someone to back them up, and the forces hidden in the Caer can be quite useful if they can gather them.
If Jurac is dead and so the lillend, then it's time to ask for fey help from driads and other, non necessary good, creatures. I would suggest a strike force of the dogs + 4 other forest creatures that goes right to the chamber of the ritual and tries to have it aborted.
However, I've a more pressing suggestion about this phase of the story: allow your players to be proactive and search for more resources in the surrounding forest.
The bane of this story is that your characters could simply bunker in and avoid much of the trouble, so I invite you to find ways they could enjoy the forest and the interact with other forces for better world building.
My suggestions are:
1) the garrisons of the horn, a few block from the main structures, may actually hold useful resources in the form of unholy relics, instruments for dark rituals or other bound outsiders. Those could have been occupied by creatures such as guardian nagas or couatls.
2) the forest is alive of intelligent creatures, such as the Iraens. Maybe there is a possible cohort to gather outside that could assist against the dogs or others nature-theme enemies?
3) the moon dogs may actually have a lair of a place they hang out, possibly dedicated to their patron. Maybe if that place is founded and desecrated, they'll be weakened or possibly even killed or corrupted.
To be quick, allow the players to actually feel less secluted and allow the to explore.
Very cool stuff. I will contemplate over this. I think after the asswhipping the moon dogs got they are very much wanting to come back and win.
Honestly, the Moon Dogs were the worst enemies my players faced. They went to such lengths to catch them, getting Lanterns of Revealing and focusing on See Invisibility, and ways to detect shapeshifters.
Wall of Lava - an erupting death dealing wall that can literally go up anywhere inside their fort? Damn.
Douchebag's Move (aka Trap The Soul) - spell-like abilities don't require components. Including TTS. So, if you really want to douchebag GM your players, have them or their closest allies start to disappear.
Maze - when they do face the PCs, have the dumb ones NOT fight. Bye bye.
Incendiary Cloud - oh the poor mooks. In my games, this slaughtered their mooks, becoming the nexus for the Ashen Cloud (or whatever it was called) event later in the game.
Blood Mist - oh look at all those angry people, fighting eachother. Have fun... once per day.
Teleport Object - I sure hope they're holding onto every piece of magic item they have. My players didn't. They lost stuff from magic chests containing their loot, to important diamonds (used for Raise Dead, amongst other things), to entire traps going missing. Annoyed the crap out of them.
Resurrection - oh you killed someone important? Who hates you? Here, have them back. Again.
Vinetrap - you think you're going into town? Think again. And again. And again...
Maddening Oubliette - sure hope everyone got high Will-saves, because if not, this one will HURT. Insanity is never fun.
Phase Door - not an immediate benefit, but it just takes a few days to litter the fort with escape routes only the Moon Dogs can use. And having players run into walls all day long... well, it is kinda funny.
Fairy Ring Retreat - This has the potential to divide and conquer the players, since the caster is the one that opens the exit portal.
Wall of Iron - oh did you have a door there? Or a hallway? Or servants somewhere? Let me rectify that for you.
Acid Fog - ruins all their stuff,...
Some of these spells are not conjuration (healing) (summoning) but over all great ideas. It actually gives me more versatility.
As of right now, the Dogs do not know about the ritual but they know a lot of about everything else.
Here is what the dogs DO know:
1. How many people are at the horn.
2. The dangers that lurk in there.
3. That pretty much every being in here is some form of evil.
4. They know What the main party members sound, smell, and look like (great for illusions)
5. They now know there are Wraiths lurking about.
6. They know there is something afoot in the spire but have yet been able to get there. (Even though they could, there is an open pillar on level 2, they just haven't explored that yet)
7. The first level is clearly the least gaurded in terms of their power. While to most adventurers a Golem/Army of Boggards/Plants ect would be dangerous to the moon dogs, they could make quick picking of anyone there.
8. They know that no one currently patrols the giant moat the players placed around the horn.
9. They know something is keeping them from Using their Plane Shift Ability as they tried using it the first day.
I think before I start a big crusade or something, I will stick to simple tactics first. Like sealing the first level off with wall of stone/iron since the fountain is still leaking water all over the floor. :) Nothing like drowning a floor full of people in the middle of the night.
The dogs are a pain in the but, but we managed to drive them off using the guardian daemons. Suckering them up to the top levels worked better. They did kill the torturer, but we had a vivisectionist alchemist that took care of that issue.