So I just downloaded the PDF for this and as I am reading through it I find myself slightly confused about the Grotto (A). When it talks about A3 it makes it seem impossible to get to that room. Any suggestions on this? I know I wont be getting to this book for a while I am just curious.
I thought it would have been good to have a Strength DC there, although moving the barrier isn't actually all that difficult, despite its weight:
http://www.d20pfsrd.com/alignment-description/carrying-capacity
"A character can generally push or drag along the ground as much as five times his maximum load. Favorable conditions [like maybe having rope handles!] can double these numbers, and bad circumstances can reduce them by half or more."
So a Str 8+ character can push/pull the 1st barrier with no problem (80 x 5 = 400). If the rope loops count as a "favorable condition", a Str 4 character could do it!
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Throughout this particular module there is a lot of mention of the PCs regaining memories, but there is never particularly specific mention as to how these memories should be assigned - likely to make it possible to easily incorporate any number of PCs with relatively minor tweaks.
That being said, is there any risk of assigning memories between this and the next module that might conflict with each other, or is each memory effectively independent of the others?
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I'm trying to piece together what Cesadia knows (because it's likely the PCs are going to want to get all the information they can out of her as soon as they realize she's seen them before, and I don't want to rule out the possibility the players'll find an unexpected way to find out what they want to know -- with amnesia the PCs are quite motivated), and this is what I've got:
Cesadia knows the PCs are/were employed by Lowls, from before things got bad in town. We don't know of her opinion of Lowls back then. However, one PC traded insults with an agent, so at least her opinion of that PC was soured. Then things got bad in town. She probably assumes leadership was at least negligent, but could be directly responsible. So at the very least, nonspecific negative opinion of Lowls, which may retroactively cause her to consider the PCs as bad, through association. In the present, this is not bad enough for her to refuse to work with the PCs, but enough to limit interaction and sharing of information, and for her to have warned Omari about meeting with Melisenn.
So, in short, it seems like she does not have specific evidence, but has a gut feeling and perhaps circumstantial evidence to cause her not to like Lowls, and distrust anyone associated with him. It'll take the PCs visiting the later locations in the adventure to uncover hard evidence.
Does this sound about right?
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Wow, there's a lot going on in this adventure. I feel like I need to make a timeline of events that happen, both independent of the PCs (more citizens get captured) and dependent (the ambush, the assassin).
One bit did stick out to me: several of the cultists have potions of vanish, with no caster level listed, so they default to 1st. Vanish is 1 round/level invisibility, which makes these potions seem rather useless to me. The cultist takes out the potion (a move action), drinks it (a standard action), and maybe takes a 5' step. Then the cultist's turn comes around again, and... the invisibility ends! The ambush writeup says they'll use the potions to get away, but it would need at least two rounds for that to work, no?
One bit did stick out to me: several of the cultists have potions of vanish, with no caster level listed, so they default to 1st. Vanish is 1 round/level invisibility, which makes these potions seem rather useless to me. The cultist takes out the potion (a move action), drinks it (a standard action), and maybe takes a 5' step. Then the cultist's turn comes around again, and... the invisibility ends! The ambush writeup says they'll use the potions to get away, but it would need at least two rounds for that to work, no?
There is one way that comes in mind that makes it so that the default CL1 Vanish potion would not be useless for escaping and that is to split up the actions a bit.
Turn 1: Standard action to attack (or whatever), 5-ft step out of melee, move action to pull out potion.
Turn 2: Standard action to drink the potion and move action to flee.
The downside is that this is basically guaranteed to eat an opportunity attack no matter what, but it is at least marginally better than the alternative of not getting the invisible move action.
Might have to be careful with the revenant situation. Pinning a violent murder on a PC is rough. I'm probably going to talk to one of them before the session and get their okay. That one's a lot less innocuous than "trading insults" or running up a high bar tab.
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Might have to be careful with the revenant situation. Pinning a violent murder on a PC is rough. I'm probably going to talk to one of them before the session and get their okay. That one's a lot less innocuous than "trading insults" or running up a high bar tab.
I think it's interesting (usually the PCs are just in the way of a revenant and its quarry, so this is a change of pace), but certainly one has to be careful about which PC is assigned this event. Like you, I might clear it with the PC I have in mind for this first.
On a side note, this particular revelation makes me feel like the amnesia has not locked access to memories (like a typical bout of amnesia), but erased them entirely, leaving behind some vestiges (for the flashbacks), but otherwise erased enough to rewrite personalities. What if the PCs' new classes are indicative of the life they would have led had some event in their lives not happened, sending them down the sketchy path they actually took? I imagine the third book will help figure this out, anxiously awaiting that one!
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On a side note, this particular revelation makes me feel like the amnesia has not locked access to memories (like a typical bout of amnesia), but erased them entirely, leaving behind some vestiges (for the flashbacks), but otherwise erased enough to rewrite personalities. What if the PCs' new classes are indicative of the life they would have led had some event in their lives not happened, sending them down the sketchy path they actually took? I imagine the third book will help figure this out, anxiously awaiting that one!
Expanding on the bold part, in the Creatures: description for Weiralai in the family crypt of Iris Hill (Area G4 on page 50) it says "Weiralai was responsible for initially bringing the PCs—who she enslaved—to Iris Hill 5 years ago as servants and thugs for Count Lowls." This is probably the specific event that diverged the characters into what they had been.
So it looks to me like your suspicion is quite likely the full intent of what's actually going on, which links up with the notion from In Search Of Sanity that when the Tatterman kills you in a dream it turns you into your true self. And, unlike everyone else in Briarstone who became monsters, it essentially pushed a sort of 'factory reset' on the PCs instead.
While we're on the subject of the Revenant, a Revenant specifically trying to kill a level 4 party member seems extremely deadly. 2 claws +18 for 1d8+11 with an automatic grapple at CMB +21 for another 1d6+7 damage? Holy ouch. That doesn't even factor in that the Revenant has Haste, so that's actually even worse.
Any advice for running this encounter without dropping the PC in question within the first round or two? I don't want to hold back player death, but this seems like a really questionable situation to just kill a PC. As far as it will seem from a player's perspective, a Revenant will run up from nowhere and drop them within a round or 2 (literally in the middle of town!). That feels like a cheap death to me.
Yeah that revenant is out of line. Especially considering the fact that it would be hard to justify it not coup de graceing said PC after it drops them. After all, it's existence is merely tied to murdering that person. I'm pretty sure the party would have to use smart tactics to take it out. Maybe the target just runs back and forth between its allies, using the free AOO's to whittle it down? That makes the fight easier, but ends abruptly if the revenant successfully grapples (and it will).
EDIT: Maybe having the revenant attack near some potential allies? Like winter or by the Sleepless Agency.
Who's on the cover of the module?
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So, out of curiosity, since Deep Ones are in Bestiary 5, why use Skum? Lysie Brilt in the Smokehouse is even an obvious Deep One Hybrid expy, but with "skum-tainted blood" instead. Why not use the real thing?
Where is Ariadnah during this whole module?
Who's on the cover of the module?That's Ariadnah, the Briarstone Witch.
So in the first module, the recurring dreams sections mentions one of the dreams having an "ancient keleshite woman" giving the PCs foreshadowing hints about important things ahead of them as a sort of help. That wouldn't happen to also be Ariadnah, would it? If I remember from descriptions I've read correctly, she shows up in the last module and given her presumed power (CR 17 I'm guessing) and location (also guessing but Carcosa) it wouldn't be too crazy to imagine her appearing to the PCs in their dreams.
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So in the first module, the recurring dreams sections mentions one of the dreams having an "ancient keleshite woman" giving the PCs foreshadowing hints about important things ahead of them as a sort of help. That wouldn't happen to also be Ariadnah, would it? If I remember from descriptions I've read correctly, she shows up in the last module and given her presumed power (CR 17 I'm guessing) and location (also guessing but Carcosa) it wouldn't be too crazy to imagine her appearing to the PCs in their dreams.Who's on the cover of the module?That's Ariadnah, the Briarstone Witch.
No, that is someone else:
A mind-swapped Yithian you will meet in book 4 i think.
So in the first module, the recurring dreams sections mentions one of the dreams having an "ancient keleshite woman" giving the PCs foreshadowing hints about important things ahead of them as a sort of help. That wouldn't happen to also be Ariadnah, would it? If I remember from descriptions I've read correctly, she shows up in the last module and given her presumed power (CR 17 I'm guessing) and location (also guessing but Carcosa) it wouldn't be too crazy to imagine her appearing to the PCs in their dreams.Who's on the cover of the module?That's Ariadnah, the Briarstone Witch.No, that is someone else:
A mind-swapped Yithian you will meet in book 4 i think.
I must have missed that. I know that we'll be encountering the Yithian that potentially mind-swapped one of the PCs if they took the campaign trait for it, but where does it say that the Keleshite woman is the Yithian?
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So, out of curiosity, since Deep Ones are in Bestiary 5, why use Skum? Lysie Brilt in the Smokehouse is even an obvious Deep One Hybrid expy, but with "skum-tainted blood" instead. Why not use the real thing?
We used skum, because in previous books we've already established that skum were in the bay and near Thrushmoor. I agree that deep ones would have been a better choice and they would have been used if we had them around in the past.
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So in the first module, the recurring dreams sections mentions one of the dreams having an "ancient keleshite woman" giving the PCs foreshadowing hints about important things ahead of them as a sort of help. That wouldn't happen to also be Ariadnah, would it? If I remember from descriptions I've read correctly, she shows up in the last module and given her presumed power (CR 17 I'm guessing) and location (also guessing but Carcosa) it wouldn't be too crazy to imagine her appearing to the PCs in their dreams.Who's on the cover of the module?That's Ariadnah, the Briarstone Witch.
No. Ariadnah is ethnically Kellid. The Keleshite woman that has been mind swapped by the yithian has no real connection to Ariadnah.
I think he remembers he's a cultist and goes back to doing cultist thIngs.
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The gathered cultists - his family, his friends, his neighbors - and the Thing That Should Not Be "call" for him. He says he did not answer the call, and must have fled when they came for him. In between his refusal and his escape, he witnesses something so terrifying that it drives him insane and he can't remember what happened. Or maybe just finding out that all the people in his quiet, comfortable life are actually blasphemous cultists consorting with terrible things from beyond the stars, and that he had been part of it since he was born, broke his mind. What he does know is that his companion is never seen again, and that he can never go back home.
It's a very Lovecraftian sort of story - small town concealing dark secrets, protagonist having a cursed heritage, some final revelation that drives the protagonist temporarily insane and changes their life forever.
Shame at the cult heritage and leaving a friend to die.
Hastur as evidenced by the signs cut into the cows. But really which cult it was doesn't matter, it was his reaction to the cult which made the story.
The cows were blood sacrifices, and possible snacks for the thing that should not be.
The druid was an outsider, not someone from the area originally so not someone born into the cult.
Everyone was a sleeper agent until called, but his programming/corruption broke down between callings.
The whole story was very much written in the Lovecraftian style, where you don't always get all the answers or if you do, you can't necessarily trust them.
Aforementioned Thing That Should Not Be, it should be noted, is pretty clearly a Denizen of Leng.
No offense to anyone who's a fan of them, but does anybody have any ideas for suitable replacements for the Kuru? I think they're in poor taste for my group.
They're sophisticated cannibals and the Kuru make them look bad.
In all seriousness, I don't want to get into too much detail. Some players may be fans of them and like Adam said, I can just replace them with some creepy hired mercs/thugs.
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They're sophisticated cannibals and the Kuru make them look bad.
In all seriousness, I don't want to get into too much detail. Some players may be fans of them and like Adam said, I can just replace them with some creepy hired mercs/thugs.
I didn't wean to pry. I just never heard of them before this book came out and didnt realize it is a real disease gained from cannibalism.
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(sub-quote from In Search of Sanity --editor) "Weiralai was responsible for initially bringing the PCs—who she enslaved—to Iris Hill 5 years ago as servants and thugs for Count Lowls." ... which links up with the notion from In Search Of Sanity that when the Tatterman kills
Thanks for the reminder, and the factory reset metaphor, and I like that link to The Tatterman, I totally would have missed that connection. That is what I'm going to base my thoughts around until new information changes things, if that happens. It may be that there's some leeway in GM interpretation.
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I've only been GMing for a little over a year, and I'm still not fantastic at gauging the difficulty of combat. That said, a couple of the "bigger" NPC fights look... lackluster.
The assassin Risi is the worst offender. Am I missing something or is she a complete dumpster fire? When she goes after the party in Event 5, she is going up against, most likely, a level 4 or 5 party. If they don't have a way to detect her while she's invisible, she gets one sneak attack at 5d6+2 that MIGHT drop someone instantly if she's super lucky and they fail a DC13 Fortitude save. Then she... gives up and goes home? It's that or gently tickle the party with 1d6+2 swings every round.
The encounter with Melisenn at the very end confuses me a bit as well. Is she really relying on a single CR4 monster with less than 50 health to tank a full party of level 6 characters? Her channels do 4d6 which while it'll hurt a little isn't really threatening in and of itself, and she has almost literally no attacking spells. That little byakhee is going to get blown up in one round and she'll just faff about in the sky wriggling her arms for 4d6 until she gets melted too.
My group is definitely a bit more "rollplay" and I'm excited for the Tatterman at the end of book 1 as he looks absolutely deadly, but I'm not seeing the threat in some of these book 2 encounters. What am I missing/not considering?
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Assassins/rogues aren't good opponents for stand-up fights against groups. Ideally they should hit a group when it's distracted during another fight, or alternatively deliver a decapitating strike and disappear. With her wand of invisibility, Risi is certainly capable of the latter. Really she should be looking for opportunities to attack PCs when they're sleeping, like if they have individual rooms at the inn or the Agency. If her breaking into the room doesn't wake the target up... coup de grace with a death attack.
Aside from that, the sense that I got from the fort and the manor is that the encounters aren't necessarily static; combat in one area is going to logically draw out foes in nearby zones which could quickly become overwhelming for the PCs. This is made fairly clear in the fort - running across one id ooze alerts the other, which alerts nearby skum; the undead mercs reinforce each other, etc. In the manor, a fight with the living topiaries in the courtyard (which probably can't be avoided) should draw out the kuru from the kitchen (and the guardhouse, if it hadn't been cleared); entering the manor itself leads to getting attacked by the hound of Tindalos, which is going to alert pretty much everyone aboveground, etc.
The last encounter does seem on the weak side, but perhaps the expectation is that the PCs are worn down at that point? They also would have been hit by the glyph on their way into the room.
Dang, that's a short edit window on posts.
Anyway, looking at Melisenn, one way to beef her up might be to replace the Void domain with Dark Tapestry, which gives a neat summoning power. Then swap out two of her feats for spell focus and augment summoning. And give her a bunch of summon monster spells. Now she can float up in the air and rain monsters down on the PCs. One could also expand the summon table to include some Mythos outsiders.
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Melisenn's gear is also very curious. She has about 11,783 gp's worth, assuming the scrolls are crafted by her. That's just shy of what a 10th level NPC would get. Her equipment is worth over 13k otherwise.
Can anyone tell me about the release date for this in print? When selecting it to buy off the site it has no mention...the third in the series is listed as October...yet Amazon has Thrushmore not available for shipping until November?
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Strange Aeons fans:
Part 1: There was a ton of role-playing potential here; in fact, the players actually got behind schedule in our marathon, as they were enjoying the unique situation of being amnesiacs in a place that remembered them. Your rookies and intermediate role-players should have their hands full managing these encounters anyway, but some of the author’s events offer a chance to surprise even your veterans. Better yet, pick your best role-player for this encounter: Keldrin Mon. To surprise my grognard, I started by describing the party walking down the street in a typical return trip to the Sleepless Agency. As I did so, I came out from behind the screen and pretended as if I was headed to to grab something from the room adjacent to our play area. Coming close to where he was standing at our table, I then began to describe a man who walked past the party—turned to regard Erasmus—and then IG and out-of-game grabbed him with “Hey! I haven’t seen you in forever, Ras!” You might want to adjust Keldrin’s speech to fit someone whom you think would have been capable of being close friends with your PC; also, have several potential lines for Keldrin worked up and practiced in your head so that you don’t stumble—it’s really important that you are confident and “normal” the way Keldrin would come across at first. Your PC, on the other hand, might be the one stumbling here by being forced into a live situation that is exactly identical to their character. I did go so far as to grab my player and give him a semi-hug from Keldrin, who was excited to see him; you’ll have to gauge your player here to know whether they will be comfortable with something like this. No matter how your player manages their way through the encounter, you might want to give a “Hmmmm…” (as if judging how they played their reaction out) followed by “Okay, let's go ahead and make a diplomacy check.” Aerick (playing Erasmus) actually responded as well as I could have hoped, and the other players said it was their favorite role-playing encounter to watch, as I had him on the spot for a good 3-5 minutes or so. Pull this one off right, and all the players at your table will gain a level of OOG role-playing XP.
Part 2: Fort Hailcourse is likely to take a couple of attempts for your PCs to completely clear out, and yet contains intelligent enemies capable of mounting a proper defense once they know what they’re up against. Also, consider how your PCs might get into the fort to begin with; after all, the front doors are a serious pair of doors for this level of party. Following each incursion, while the players would plan their next attempt, I put myself in the position of both the skum commanders (as well as Tilsitari) and made a list of all my available forces. Consider where you will reassign certain units; in addition, remember the abilities you have access to. For example, if you have all four dogs available after the first incursion, you might want to consider spreading them out at different points in the fort (each with a handler or tied to a piece of furniture) where they can employ their scent ability against invisibility and the like. By the third incursion, I played a loose defense, using runners to alert the whole of my forces and bring them to bear against the PCs as soon as possible. Having intelligent undead as shock troops really helps with this. Lastly, be sure to remember that there is some contact between Iris Hill and Hailcourse, so depending on where you are at in the module and what enemies are left at the manor, you may want to change the way future events play out.
Part 3: Risi Nairgon. This assassin gives you the potential to add a great deal of stress and tension to your players’ experiences in this module. Key to doing this is keeping her alive. Remember that even if your PCs adjust to some of her tactics (mine starting walking around with glitterdust ready and see invisibility running), a good old-fashioned stealth check gets around a lot. After a couple of days, she may become familiar with the PCs’ movements, and you could always have Risi tail them just to see if one of them breaks off from the group for any reason—and then have her strike. She won't likely last long in combat against your whole party, so be prepared for her to run between buildings, dash into a crowd, even leap into some water if that’s nearby; as soon as she has line of sight obstructed, she can attempt another Stealth check. Don’t forget to adjust -1 per 10ft. of distance on Perception checks to spot Risi, and if she has the time to set up a good hiding spot, depending on how you’re playing Stealth she may be able to take 20 on a Stealth check. Just having her out there lurking, with the party never knowing when the next Death Attack might come—even with the low Fort save on it—they will become paranoid that anyone could botch the roll and perish if it becomes a pattern. When combat breaks out, don’t be tempted to stand and fight multiple PCs, as Risi is far more important to your story alive than dead (regardless of her condition). With Risi alive and unaccounted for, there is the ever-present thought of an intelligent foe hunting your character, capable of delivering death in a single shot. Get ready to enjoy watching your PCs take fearful precautions, such as boarding up windows in their sleeping area or peeking around every corner. Risi should even have them afraid to return back from incursions on Hailcourse or Iris Hill when they’re low on resources or out of buffs, as those are perfect times to strike. If you have metagaming PCs who will try and listen for the number of sneak attack dice she rolls, just toss your 6-siders with about 10 other dice (not d6s) and only count up the applicable dice. Sure, they can track the damage count, but it will take them longer to figure out the average amount that Risi does (as opposed to hearing just 4d6 drop behind the screen). All they have to do is “activate” her by asking too many questions at Iris Hill, and the assassin is all yours from there.
Hope this helps some of you in your run of The Thrushmoor Terror, and good luck!
Adam
GM
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Someone figure why the founder of the Sleepless Agency, Cesadia Wrentz, is a Rogue instead of an Investigator?
When she was invented years ago Wes made her a rogue because the investigator class didn't exist at that time. I could have changed her class, but since we already listed her as a rogue, I kept her one to maintain continuity.
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Whelp, my group I'm running finished this book up in an... interesting way.
So TT was running smoothly at first. The PCs show up, discover pieces of their past, get the impression they were bad people, etc. They get some vague idea of what the cultists of Hastur are up to. They clear the fort no problem and then they turn their sights towards Iris Hill. This is where things drifted off.
One of the players gets an idea and asks me if the cultists have meetings or ceremonies. I say of course and he comes up with a plan for the group to sneak into the cult undercover. In true "yes, and..." fashion I agree with this plan and let their subterfuge play out (plus, I thought this way would add some more role playing and social action then running Iris Hill as written)
Long story short, they pass as cultists and sneak off during one of the ceremonies to enter the mansion. Eventually they reach the bottom floor where the stelae is and instead of just Melissen and the Byakhee waiting for them I turned the last fight into a massive set piece.
First, I cut the Byakhee. The chamber was filled with cultists (many more than mentioned in the book) watching from the sides of the room and joining the fight a few every round. To make things interesting, I added an environmental effect where different pieces of the floor would light up and explode (a la exploding runes) each round in a pattern. To make things even more interesting I kept count of how many individuals had died during the fight in the Stelae's presence so I could keep adding charges to it. At higher charges I had rifts open and different creatures like the Byakhee and keeper come out. The idea was to force a dilemma for the players where if they killed too many cultists they would create more deadly eldritch foes but if they avoided killing cultists they would build up in number and eventually overwhelm them. Meanwhile, Melissen flew over the fight and casted spells. If it sounds complicated, it was. But the players loved it as far as I could tell.
Anyways, so here's where the proverbial s*** hit the fan:
The players kill Melissen and get the situation under control. With their leader dead, it didn't take much effort to talk the cultists down. However, the leader of the party decides that the cultists are too dangerous to let go AND SUGGESTS THEY SACRIFICE THEMSELVES TO THE STELAE TO FINISH THE RITUAL. Eager for new leadership and seduced by his honeyed words the cultists gather in the center of the room and kill themselves in the name of Hastur.
At this point I'm flabbergasted and I realize that the party has no idea what they've done. They knew the cultists were sacrificing people but they did not knew that a certain number of sacrifices was required to reactivate the stelae and pull the area into Carcosa. The players and the town end up evacuating as Thrushmoor is torn from this reality and relocated to the Yellow King's realm.
I'm sure I butchered some of the mechanics of the stelae and their reactivation but I was really unprepared for the party to do that. They unwillingly finished the cult's work for them so I had to improvise a "bad ending" on the spot.
The good news is they can most likely continue the AP as normal -- just now they have the huge burden of accidentally removing an entire town from the material plane. Maybe they'll see it again later if/when they enter the Yellow King's domain? Man, I love this game.
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Wow, that's great, Spastic Puma! What a memorable ending.