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One idea is to make it crystal clear to the entire group that the revenant is focused on one PC. If your group has cohered well and plays as a team, they might rally around that one PC and defend them, even during coup de grace attempts.My player has had bad dreams, he has had flashbacks, and has had weird feelings, he knew someone was hunting him. An important figure from his past appeared in a vision/dream to warn him. He was cautious every session. The rest of the players were on-guard for something to pop up and hurt this player.
And on the first encounter with the revenant, he knew it was what was haunting him, he charges head first into the revenant. and gets himself killed.
That's hilarious.
I guess it proves my friend's GM adage: "Nothing is more lethal to a character than the person playing them."
One idea is to make it crystal clear to the entire group that the revenant is focused on one PC. If your group has cohered well and plays as a team, they might rally around that one PC and defend them, even during coup de grace attempts.My player has had bad dreams, he has had flashbacks, and has had weird feelings, he knew someone was hunting him. An important figure from his past appeared in a vision/dream to warn him. He was cautious every session. The rest of the players were on-guard for something to pop up and hurt this player.
And on the first encounter with the revenant, he knew it was what was haunting him, he charges head first into the revenant. and gets himself killed.
That's hilarious.
I guess it proves my friend's GM adage: "Nothing is more lethal to a character than the person playing them."
I also killed a character with the revenant, it's such a great way to drive home just how hated the characters were by people in this town and how much evil they did.
Because the story is much better with the original characters (and there's nobody who can raise dead in the town), I added a unique rod of raise dead that the characters had stashed with their belongings under the pier, that they characters had squirreled away in advance of their final mission with Lowls because they were suspicious it'd go bad. For the sacrifice of 3000 gp any of the characters could be raised once, but they come back with a randomly rolled corruption off of the Deep Ones corruption.
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My party is most likely going to have to go to Iris Hill next and they are not in optimal shape.
My monk is down 6 Dex from the Keeper of the Yellow Sign.
My druid has 2 negative levels from being revived, cause he tried to take on the Revenant by himself.
Winter has graciously removed a single negative level but needs the material cost for a second cast. My party already blew all their cash on reviving the druid, they can't afford to remove his negative level.
So as a GM, I've got an idea. So I mentioned earlier that he was visited by an important person in his past in his dream, that person is an avatar of Nyarlathotep, inside one of his many guises. I'm considering having him remove the negative level at some kind of cost. Maybe a quest to take the Necronomicon or some other kind of penalty?
What's a good penalty?
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Going back to the dream-Nyarlathotep is a good idea!
However... A quest to find the Necronomicon feels (to me) a bit outsized for removing a negative level. Trading an artifact for a 1,000 gp diamond...
Also, given events of later books in the path, it's not really a penalty--it could even, depending on your party, set up a major intra-group conflict.
How about this:
The dream-Nyarlathotep visits him. The druid feels weak, terribly weak. The "important person" alternately mocks and consoles him.
"Do you want to feel strong again?"
Of course the PC does!
The vision shifts to a windswept plateau under alien stars (Leng). A caravan tent waits. The druid's feet move them inside of their own accord. Within a hooded and cloaked figure waits. The druid looks down at his hands, only to see enormous claws.
"The blood of Leng has much strength."
The druid, again, acting in that automaton way that happens in dreams, slashes across the merchant's belly. Blood pours out. Midway through gorging himself on the blood, the druid realizes it is not blood, but rubies.
He wakes. Negative level gone.
Then later, when/if they encounter and defeat Weireilai, the denizen of Leng is carrying 1,000 gp worth of rubies--which the dream-avatar will reclaim the next time the druid sleeps. Maybe even make it 2,000 gp of rubies. You know your players, what will get them excited and what will "cost" them enough to sit up and pay attention.
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Alright! I just ran it as a solo session for my Druid. I think it went very well. It piqued his curiosity intensely. He's always been suspectful that the important figure in his dreams/past is more than he seems, but this solo session made it even more apparent.
He's regained his strength, but he periodically feels things moving beneath his skin. When he wakes, a thought that is not his own will come into his mind: that if he mentions what happened to him in his dream, the strength he regain will be taken back and more. If he mentions his deal or his quest or how he got rid of his negative levels, it will come back and worse things will happen.
After ingesting the blood of Leng and getting the quest for the Leng Rubies, he was stuck in the dimension for what felt like a week before waking up.
So I've told my player than this will take place when the whole party sleeps. So he'll only lose his negative level next sleep. Which would be soon for the next session since it was night time.
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My party straight up just didn't care and didn't ask how he got rid of his Negative Levels. They're more focused on Iris Hill.
I guess I can't blame them, the druid player has a tendency of not telling the party everything he knows so they've sort of given up on asking him things. Shame though.
Well, they'll probably be more interested once he has to take the Rubies and can't explain why he needs them.
Agreed that as a revenant that's what he SHOULD do. Also agree that isn't very fun for the players (I had a similar situation in another AP).
Note - This is going to be a pretty long post, but will hopefully serve as an excellent resource for other GM's to pick apart and use. I've spoilered simply to keep things tidy.
So when this happened my friends were level 5 at the time, but the Ranger it was targeting saved against both baleful shrieks and the only one that failed both times was the crossbow fighter who it wasn't even targeting. They only had a party of 3 at that point but they wrecked it with just the Druid (Ursa) and the target Ranger (Draken).
Draken of Valenhall
- Human (Ulfen) Ranger (Guide) 6/Alchemist (Vivisectionist) 1
From: Unknown, The Lands of the Linnorm Kings
Mysterious Man (GMPC they wanted me to play with them and love everything I create which is mega refreshing)
A mysterious character with a hidden purpose who's solidly linked to Draken, Naureen and Ursa's past. Also a regular guest of the party who's saved them more than once.
- Human (Taldan) Swashbuckler 2/Fighter (Dragoon) 1/Cavalier 5
From: Oppara, Taldor
Naureen Lancaster
- Half-Elf (Mwangi) Fighter (Crossbow Woman) 7
From: The Fangwood
Teeler (the party found him locked up with Sholn in Fort Hailcourse' basement. He's the only surviving member of Omari's initial investigation team and had a little inside knowledge as a result)
- Human (Ustalavian) Paladin of Pharasma (Oath against Corruption) 7
From: Caliphas, Ustalav
Ursa Ostara
- Human looking (Ulfen) Skinwalker Were-Bear Fighter (Unarmed) 1/Barbarian 1/Druid (Nature Fang) 5
From: Olfden, Darkmoon Vale
Rather than villains, I made my initial party victims of circumstance (because I ran Hollow's Last Hope and a homemade sequel quest to retake Falcon's Hollow from Mayor thuldrin Kreed). Naureen was adopted and having been given a lead of her birth fathers whereabouts from their new Noble ally - Alexi Vandemir, Draken, Naureen and Ursa set out to find Naureens father. Alexi stayed behind as he was now Mayor.
This lead them to Caliphas, only her father wasn't there, but they caught a lead taking them to Thrushmoor. Cue the events of Strange Aeons.
Weiralai forced Naureen into slavery and told both Draken and Ursa if they ever wanted to see to it their friend would get out alive, they'd join her in working for the Count. Thus, they were coerced into working for Lowl's. The Ranger accidentally killed Klyn in self-defense (Klyn went for him, so he hit him in the face with the pommel of his sword, only for Klyn to stumble back and hit his head on the way down, killing him), the Druid punched out a punter at the Silver Wagon because he got a bit too handsy with her and Keldrin Mon sympathised with Naureen over drinks.
Note: I use Mysterious Man as a plot device, which is why he's mentioned so much.
As the party left the lobby, Draken was last to leave and fell victim to one of Tilsitari's more unique (homebrewed) abilities - Grabbing the Ranger, Tilsitari pulled Draken into some kind of monochromatic mirror world. Bashing on the glass, he tried to escape, but there was no way out. This was her realm and all the Ranger could do was watch as the Soulsliver took his form and his place among his allies, turning to flash a sinister smirk at him before walking off.
Note: At this moment I worked with the player of Draken to control Tilsitari.
After reaching the ramparts and watching as her enemies waged war on Deggorhbaatha, Tilsitari knew the party had no idea she had expertly integrated herself into their group. Taking a moment to weigh up the situation, she surmised that with Deggorhbaatha dead and Mysterious Man jumping on the Light Ballista earlier, enough noise was caused to alert the group of the 7 remaining Skum Fighters below and they were likely waiting to ambush the party from the lower floors of the Donjon....and waiting they were.
With Deggorhbaatha down, Sholn runs up to Ursa, Naureen and Teeler and excitedly says; "Did we get'em?"
Meanwhile, having finally broken a sweat, Mysterious Man crouches down and notices two potions of Cure Mod Wounds have rolled out of the bosses belt pouch.
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Dan - As Mysterious Man picks them up, Fake Draken asks; "What do you have there?"
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To which Mysterious Man replies; "It would seem two healing potions." as he downs one of his own, stands and nods at you before leaving the room.
Approaching Teeler, the Mysterious Man says "Well, brave Paladin. You're looking a bit rough there. Take this." as he hands you a potion of Cure Mod Wounds.
He then turns to you Naureen and says; "Woman, you came here looking for your parents, did you not? In fact, considering the circumstances, that's a stupid question - the three of you I'd previously met all seem to be suffering a state of fugue. I get this doesn't help build trust between us, but trust or don't trust me, if you plan to survive, I recommend staying at the back and pressuring your enemies with ranged attacks. You've got potential."
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Dan - Following Mysterious Man out of the room, you stop and look at everyone, taking in how injured they all are before saying; "Not to alarm you, but we made quite a bit of noise just then, especially with the Ballista. You're all in pretty rough shape and I'm still alright, all things considered. I'm gonna just check the coast is clear. The last thing we want right now are unwanted guests. Maybe there's a potion or something to get us back to good health."
Note - If the party show concern and want to join, just say; "Don't worry about me. I'll head back at the first sign of trouble. I know what my luck's like."
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Mysterious Man just says "Alright" and with no further word, he steps past Teeler and Naureen. Upon reaching you Ursa, he looks at you for a moment and seeing you're the most injured, he takes your right hand in his left and places a potion of Cure Serious and Cure Mod Wounds within it. Gently closing your hand, he rests his right hand over the top and simply says; "You're in bad shape", holding his gaze (to judge her reaction) as the moonlight shimmers within his Diamond-like eyes and his long, wild hair flows haphazardly in the wind.
- If Ursa says she's taken, he simply smiles and says "Lucky man.", before stepping away.
- If asked about the wand going missing, his mood drops as he replies with a heavy sigh; "Other than largely doing my own thing, have I given any reason not to trust me?"
- If Naureen intervenes, he says; "I needed to see how well you could fight. I'm piecing something together myself, but that's all I can say for now."
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Dan - What you're actually doing - You know full well the Skum are likely in the room up here getting ready to mobilise for battle. Having worked with them but not wanting to take any chances, you shift your entire front back to your normal Soulsliver form as soon as you turn away from the party and enter the Reading Room.
As suspected, all 7 of the creatures are here, getting ready to leave from the eastern and western exits in two groups. They don't attack, but you take this moment to prep them on your plan to come.
"I'm going to lure the invading adventuring party up to old Padgett's apartment above. They've already taken out Deggorhbaatha, but let's see how they do when they have me, you, Itsqaal-Thoal and the Doppeldrek to deal with all at once."
"What I need you to do is rush out and box them in on the stairs so there's no escape. Ready yourselves when I shout "Guys, I've found something, come here!" This is when the party will hopefully follow me up and when they're almost in the room I'll shout "Quick!" That's your cue."
Conveniently, there was a book here titled; Thrushmoor at a glance.
Back to the Party:
After only a couple of minutes, you head back to the party with a book in hand and call out; "it's clear, but I found this. Maybe it'll help us remember our pasts."
- The book is titled; Thrushmoor at a Glance.
- Move as close to the party as you want before the following:
Looking toward the upper floor of the building you just returned from, you tell the party; "Everything's clear on this floor, but it looks like there's only one way up to the room above and that's the outter staircase. I'll go check it out, but just in case, hang back a bit. I'll call out if it's safe. Naureen, you might want to ready your Crossbow for if anything goes down."
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As Draken says this, Mysterious Man holds the rest of the party back a bit and tells them "Draken seems eager. How do we want to go about this? We have Sholn with us and if anything comes from behind we need a rear guard. Draken's already gone, so Teeler and Ursa, that leaves us three to tank and decide on formation. Who's taking lead and who's on rear guard?"
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Dan - As mysterious man halts the group, you carry on up there, picking up the pace as you go, giving yourself enough time to tell Itsqaal-Thoal to hide under the bed, leaving the Doppeldrek motionless & dripping ooze in the corner.
- It's at this point you shout; "Guys, I've found something, come here!"
- As the final party member's on the stairs, you shout the trigger; "Quick!"
- The Doppeldrek only attacks when either fake Draken or Itsqaal do, or if the party attack it first.
- DC30 Sense Motive to see through fake Drakens ploy.
As the party enter the room, you're leaning against a desk, and with a nod you direct their attention to the weird creature across the room, commenting; "What....is this thing and why is it not attacking?". You then tell them; "I'm not getting a good feeling about this" as you casually draw your weapons, holding them by your side with feigned nervousness.
As soon as the party try to talk or interact with the Doppeldrek, provided at least 3 members are in the room, you activate Mirror Image and attack whoever's closest with both of your swords as a sneak attack!
Note - If the party attack it first: You already have a readied action to attack whatever party member is between you for the flanking bonus, which triggers before the attack against the Doppeldrek.
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At this point, if in the room, Mysterious Man says aggressively; "Knew it! What have you done with him?"
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Dan - Tilsitari playfully responds; "Wouldn't you like to know?"
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Itsqaal then comes out from under the bed and as he stands, EVERYONE ROLLS INITIATIVE!
- If rear guard, Mysterious Man says; "EVERYONE! I'VE CLEARED A PATH! JUMP THE RAILING AND GET TO A BALLISTA!"
*************************************************************************** ***DDan - If targeting Mysterious Man in combat, you say; "Time to die, you armoured freak!"
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Mysterious Man responds; "Oof, go easy on the insults. You might hurt my pride."
Things Fake Draken says in combat:
Note - Feel free to change Drakens voice to hers if the players react badly.
"You should never have come here!"
"You should have left while you had the chance!"
"You should have walked away the first time you called!"
"Deggorbaatha softened you up well. Now, it's time to finish the job!"
"Die, you insignificant beings!"
"I'm going to gut you just as I did those Paladins!"
@Teeler - "Oh look, one of them's out of their cage."
"This is the end for you!"
"I'll continue killing your friends one by one in front of you, just so you know true fear before you die!"
Tilsitari's dying breath: "You don't have a clue what's in store for you, ha.....ha....h......eurgh."
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Tactics:
Has 3 mirror images up
Always targets the character she's flanking
Always tries to flank the most injured character
Coup de grace's once 2 enemies are unconscious, mocking those still standing
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Conclusion:
Mysterious Man took quite a beating as he was flanked by Tilsitari and the Doppeldrek, but standing firm on about a third of his health, the party had his back.
Teeler (the Paladin) smashed Itsqaal-Thoal to death with one single, incredibly powerful critical hit from his Warhammer.
Boxed in, Ursa jumped out of the window and considered turning into a bear, but instead used one of her spells to blind almost all of the Skum in a 10ft radius. Tilsitari jumped out of one of the windows and Naureen jumped out of another to try and stop her escape. It wasn't enough however as Naureen landed badly and fell over. Sholn on the other hand, armed with a Longbow, fired at Tilsitari and landed a solid hit.
Weakened, Tilsitari ran to the reading room and used the mirror where the real Draken was waiting, ready. The real Draken was hardly damaged and after a lot of running around, he turned the Souslivers plan against her, killing her in her own mirror dimension which shunted the Ranger back out into the material plane, but not without a ton of explaining to do!
What happened from Drakens perspective:
"As we left the lobby, from the corner of my eye I noticed a ripple in the glass, almost like that of a rain droplet hitting water, and before I knew it I was grabbed from behind and pulled into this chromatic, luminescent realm. Once I noticed the mirrors surrounding me, I realised what had happened and the creature, having assumed my form just looked at me through the mirror and grinned before following you out.
I saw how Mysterious Man kicked in the door and handled the fishman through the broken shards of a glass mirror and it was the first time I truly saw our mysterious ally take damage. Frustrated by my situation, I could only watch as that last fight went down and focused all of my anger on my double. I tried to find a way out, but with no obvious escape I was stuck in that damn mirror prison, and so I waited...waited for an opportunity to strike that deceptive b$@*$."
At around 2.30am, Risi perched herself on a rooftop and sniped the unarmoured Paladin with 2 shots taking him down from 88hp to -3hp. The Ranger woke up to the sound of the window smashing (they share a room) and immediately pulled the unconscious Paladin off the bed. The Ranger then got sniped and lost about 50hp (nobody could see where Risi was sniping from and they weren't about to pop their head up to look) but managed to drag the Paladin into the hallway to safety and shouted for the others.
Risi then targeted the girls room with both Ursa (the Druid) and Naureen (the Fighter), hitting Ursa pretty hard. In response, Ursa rolled from her bed and shoved the sleeping Fighter (Crossbow wielder) off of her bed, both now awake and crouching down in an attempt to remain out of sight.
Risi couldn't get a clear shot lined up, so readied an action to fire a single bolt at anyone that popped up. It was here that the already injured Druid ran for the door to try and get out of the room, only for her to be sniped unconsciousness. Meanwhile, in the corridor, the Ranger crawled along to open the girls door and the Fighter managed to grab her Crossbow from the rooms trunk but still couldn't see Risi, so moved over to Ursa and crouched over her body to protect her.
Risi missed her next two shots, giving Naureen enough time to drag Ursa out of the room, after which she immediately knocked on the Tavern owners bedroom door, waking her up (to her displeasure), only to be told it was their problem and they'll be paying for any damages. The owner then slammed the door in her face and went back to bed.
Outraged, Naureen turned around and caught a flash of yellow (like that of a lightning flash), but still hesitant to go back into the room, shut the door and with the help of Draken, carried the unconscious Druid and Paladin downstairs, searching for any clean rags and strong alcohol they could find to treat the wounds and put their allies back on the road to recovery.
A brutal fight against sleeping, unarmoured and unarmed adventurers, but you know what they say - out of the frying pan and into the fire.
Twenty minutes later the acrobatic Mysterious Man returned through a window upstairs and while he had his own reasons for being out so early in the morning, he didn't expect to stumble across a deadly and dangerous sniper pinning his allies down under fire. Telling the others this and more, he explained the sniper caught sight of him and left, and describing a flash of yellow light before losing sight of her entirely, he thinks he managed to chase her off (this was her activating the teleportation function of the Star Stelae).
Slayer (Sniper) 6/Rogue (Roof Runner) 2
Str: 15
Dex: 20
Con: 14
Int: 10
Wis: 10
Cha: 8
Feats
Point Blank Shot, Rapid Shot, Deadly Aim, Expert Sniper, Skill Focus: Stealth and Master Sniper.
Rogue Talents
Snipers Eye, Combat Trick, Fast Stealth and Expert Leaper.
The damage she was able to deal was pretty horrendous from stealth - it worked out as 1d8+5+3d6+6+1 for being within 30ft on every shot, so a max of 38 damage without any exploding sneak dice on each shot, then with Studied Target active she gets another 2 damage, so a max of 40 damage on each bolt. I also add exploding dice to sneak attacks, criticals and healing. So when she rolled 4 6's out of the 6 total from both attacks, those re-rolls really ramped up the damage.
Memory flashes before your eyes - Draken, Naureen and Ursa: An unshakeable feeling of oppression washes over you as you remember serving the count as both servant and personal enforcer. You know you were in this situation against your will, but can't place how or why. You also remember disobeying Lowl's requests was never an option and something he all too often took pleasure in reminding you. Staring at the robed figure, you instinctively feel your blood begin to boil and sense that she did great wrong to you, but again are unable to place what it was exactly that she did. More interestingly, this odd looking woman was always by the counts side, aiding him with his research and serving as some kind of confidant when he needed personal guidance.
Weiralai's opening speech: Standing up from Omari’s body, the robed figure turns slowly to address you; "My, my. You have made a grave mistake returning here. Lowls should have finished the job of sacrificing you instead of sending you to that...doctor. You will interfere with Melisenn’s work no longer!”
Weiralai's closing speech (as the bear-turned Druid was ripping her head off): As you cut down the arabic looking woman, she gradually begins to fade out of existence, laughing arrogantly with broken damaged vocal chords as you ferociously rip and tear at her head; "Defeating me here will do you no good. A minor setback perhaps, but we will meet again. Of that, I am certain."
Just like they did with Fort Hailcourse, the party entered the Aqueducts via the well closest to The Silver Wagon came up against a keeper of the yellow sign. It hit three characters with energy drain (1 level) and each character passed each of those saves so while the drain hit, it did nothing and they trivialised it. A Denizen of Leng with some nasty Dex drain was the main sub-boss of the area and it failed every single one of its Dex drain bites against them, only connecting with its claws. Then the Druid started to rip its head off in bear form as it was telling them it'd be back...
Upon realising his leader (Omari) was the corpse before him, Teeler was all too happy to help put down Weiralai - The Denizen of Leng. After the encounter, he grabbed the Confabulation Plate while both Naureen and Draken spotted the secret passage hidden behind the statue of Pharasma.
Note: They entered via the aqueduct and cleared the floor, but have gone straight for the boss. So, I've created a distraction by sending the 4 Kuru down from the kitchen and into the Ice Cellar to investigate the explosion from the tripped rune trap and on her standard patrol, Risi is heading down to explore the basement from the other end of the complex (she entered via the hatch in the library).
If the 5 man party of 4 level 7's and a level 8 continue down to Melisenn, they're faced with this.
Note: All of the Cultists of Hastur are unarmoured in their robes. The only real threat is their Touch of Chaos ability. They have AC16, 28hp and can be dealt with easily with AoE's.
...is level 9 with:
Str: 8
Dex: 18
Con: 16
Int: 10
Wis: 22
Cha: 14
She has Magical Lineage: Murderous Command
Spells:
Level 1 - Entropic Shield, Murderous Command x3 (DC18 Bouncing), Protection from Good, Shield of Faith, Domain: Erase
Level 2 - Cure Mod Wounds x2, Hold Person x2, Bouncing Heightened Murderous Command x2 (DC19 Will due to Spell Focus) Domain: Secret Page
Level 3 - Bestow Curse x2, Cure Serious Wounds, Mind Maze, Domain: Fly
Level 4 - Divine Power, Terrible Remorse x2 (used up on both Blast Runes), Domain: Explosive Runes
Level 5 - Murderous Command x2 (DC22 Will, Bouncing, Heightened), Domain: Lesser Planar Binding
Feats:
Weapon Finesse, Spell Focus: Enchantment, Weapon Focus Rapier, Fencing Grace, Heighten Spell and Bouncing Spell.
I also gave her a +1 Keen Rapier instead of a standard +1.
Gear: Ring of Protection +2, +1 Keen Rapier, Headband of Inspired Wisdom +2
Earlier in the campaign I turned Red Destiny into a unique weapon and made a quick handout for it - Red Destiny
The map I made from existing google images for Tilsitari's mirror world.
I also found a bunch of maps on Reddit from a user name DaddyDMWP who's created maps in DungeonDraft for the first two books. I felt his version of Iris Hills grounds were good but nowhere near creepy enough, so I heavily modified his map for a creepy mist-filled night setting - Iris Hill Grounds (night)
Lastly, I've used an animated rain gif over the top of Iris Hill. I've also been compiling an OST as I go along.
Sound Effects - Heavy Rain
Iris Hill Main - FF7 Remake: Train Graveyard
Iris Hill Manor - Castlevania Symphony of the Night OST: Abandoned Pit
Nemira in the Attic - The Others OST: The Attic
Iris Hill Basement - Species OST: The Alien Underground
The Star Stela/The Court of the Unspeakable One - Onimusha 3 OST (S Side): Battle with Guildenstern
Battle with Melisenn - Nier Automata OST: A Beautiful Song
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Oh it happened alright. My druid player is a little dense, despite me telling him repeatedly that all he needs is the gems, he went to try and lap up whatever "blood" Weiralei bled.
The party has been keeping track of the debt that the druid owes them ever since they revived him. Him taking the gems has only added onto the debt.
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Has anyone come up with a map itinerary / handout for this adventure? I can trace a red line on an existing map like anyone, but I'm hoping one of you came up with an ancient parchment style looking map.
The PCs actually find this map in Lowl's study (page 48 of the adventure), as follows:
"An annotated map shows Lake Encarthan and the
lands to the south. The count has drawn a route from
Thrushmoor to Xer, traced a line down the Sellen
River to Cassomir, and then marked the coast to
Katheer, from which he plans to mount an expedition
to the lost city of Neruzavin."
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I made a little indiana jones style itinerary which starts playing automatically upon clicking it using the map another GM found for his campaign.
If some of you know where I can find the other half of the map all the way to Katheer I can add that leg of the journey to it... thanks!
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For anyone else that might want the full map...
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My players began infiltrating Iris Hill in our last session, but left fairly quickly, after one of the PCs was killed by the Hound of Tindalos. The cleric managed to blind the Hound and they ran away and out of Iris Hill.
I was wondering how the cult would respond to people breaking in, destroying the Topiaries, killing a few cultists, and leaving behind a corpse before leaving. Melisenn is definitely going to send the assassin after the rest of the party, but I'm not really sure how to handle Iris Hill itself.
I'm thinking that the Kuru thugs/guards could be actively patrolling around the grounds, for starters.
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We are in similar spots. My party has just cleared out the outer buildings, and entered the manor into F3 and then went upstairs, so they have not encountered the Hound yet.
They took out the star Vampire and the penanggelen, and have now left to rest and on their way back to the Stain will encounter nemira. And when they rest they will wake up level-6 which should help for the rest of the manor and the underground.
I also am pondering how to account for what damage the PCs have done. I plan to rearrange some of the cultists and the Kurus that are underground to different locations.
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I took my PCs three or four trips to finish Iris Hill, and one player specifically had his character die multiple times, which slowed down the endeavor.
The way I dealt with it was having whatever leftover cultist spy on them in town. Remember that these cultist are all nobles or at least dress like nobles, but the PCs started to notice that fact, so after they raided Iris Hill, the cultists started wearing plain clothes and pretend to go about their business in town during the day (evening and night had the town on self-imposed lockdown due to the lack of guards and all the recent disappearances)
The PCs have no memories so there's no way they can recognize long-standing citizen from 'new people in town', so the cultists basically had perfect intel on when they'd show up next.
Each trip became a death trap ambush, and the cultist leader lady (I cannot for the life of me ever remember her name) kept the kuru guards, the undead bard and the doppleganger outsider lady from the Fort near her, while making strategic use of the hound of tindalos to attack them from the rear. Remember this thing has plane shift...
The PCs somewhat became lost and almost gave up, seemingly incapable of defeating the cultists, and retreated at the end of a long day.
One PC went on an evening walk to get fresh air, and noticed a luxury sailboat being loaded for supply late at night at the docks. He alerted the rest of the PCs, and they all made it to the docks in time to find out the undead bard directing some dock workers into loading what was left of Iris Hill into the boat! (the cultists were now fleeing Thrushmoor after the PC's several forays, not wanting to risk future battles against a reinforced party or other Royal Accusers) The PCs ganged up on the undead bard and as other cultists began to arrive, they took them out one by one, with the climax of the battle being the hound of tindalos and the cultist leader. They defeated them all, now that the cultists no longer had the home advantage...
I was fully planning to have the bad guys 'win' and escape Thrushmoor. I told my players that the bad guys would 'react' to their continuous invasions but said nothing else. It was only due to that PC's actions and night scouting that they realized the cultists were leaving, which made the PCs' win even more memorable.
One PC went on an evening walk to get fresh air, and noticed a luxury sailboat being loaded for supply late at night at the docks. He alerted the rest of the PCs, and they all made it to the docks in time to find out the undead bard directing some dock workers into loading what was left of Iris Hill into the boat! (the cultists were now fleeing Thrushmoor after the PC's several forays, not wanting to risk future battles against a reinforced party or other Royal Accusers) The PCs ganged up on the undead bard and as other cultists began to arrive, they took them out one by one, with the climax of the battle being the hound of tindalos and the cultist leader. They defeated them all, now that the cultists no longer had the home advantage...
I was fully planning to have the bad guys 'win' and escape Thrushmoor. I told my players that the bad guys would 'react' to their continuous invasions but said nothing else. It was only due to that PC's actions and night scouting that they realized the cultists were leaving, which made the PCs' win even more memorable.
I really like this idea. I'll probably give my players one more chance to escape and rest if they really need it (although I'll increase the security outside again), but if it happens any more than that, the cultists are going to try to escape. My players get a little too complacent with resting sometimes...
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the cultists were now fleeing Thrushmoor after the PC's several forays, not wanting to risk future battles against a reinforced party or other Royal AccusersI really like this idea. I'll probably give my players one more chance to escape and rest if they really need it (although I'll increase the security outside again), but if it happens any more than that, the cultists are going to try to escape. My players get a little too complacent with resting sometimes...
I even had the cultists use the Star Stelae in Iris Hill's basement to teleport to the one on the island down south, by the docks... so the cultists didn't even need to come out of Iris Hill and walk down the streets to reach the boat... ;)
My players never investigated or touched any of the three Star Stelae, if you can believe it! thus, they had no idea of its powers...
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I imagine that since he was a rogue in life, he had quickdraw when alive. And ghosts retain most of the class features of the original living creature. That's why he has evasion, sneak attack trapfinding etc.
You could even flavor it as one second his arms are at his sides, and the next his ghostly hands are in your face.